The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her WorldHannah Rochel Verbermacher, a Hasidic holy woman known as the Maiden of Ludmir, was born in early-nineteenth-century Russia and became famous as the only woman in the three-hundred-year history of Hasidism to function as a rebbe—or charismatic leader—in her own right. Nathaniel Deutsch follows the traces left by the Maiden in both history and legend to fully explore her fascinating story for the first time. The Maiden of Ludmir offers powerful insights into the Jewish mystical tradition, into the Maiden’s place within it, and into the remarkable Jewish community of Ludmir. Her biography ultimately becomes a provocative meditation on the complex relationships between history and memory, Judaism and modernity. History first finds the Maiden in the eastern European town of Ludmir, venerated by her followers as a master of the Kabbalah, teacher, and visionary, and accused by her detractors of being possessed by a dybbuk, or evil spirit. Deutsch traces the Maiden’s steps from Ludmir to Ottoman Palestine, where she eventually immigrated and re-established herself as a holy woman. While the Maiden’s story—including her adamant refusal to marry—recalls the lives of holy women in other traditions, it also brings to light the largely unwritten history of early-modern Jewish women. To this day, her transgressive behavior, a challenge to traditional Jewish views of gender and sexuality, continues to inspire debate and, sometimes, censorship within the Jewish community. |
Contents
Ansky Visits Ludmir | 1 |
1 A Dybbuk Trilogy or How the Maiden of Ludmir Became a Literary Figure | 12 |
2 Writing the Maiden | 34 |
Remembering the Maiden | 46 |
Ludmir Before the Maiden | 60 |
5 Birth and Childhood | 75 |
6 Love and Death | 87 |
Illustrations | 100 |
9 The Witchhunt in Ludmir | 144 |
10 The Wedding and Its Aftermath | 173 |
11 In the Holy Land | 190 |
Tracing the Maiden | 211 |
Journey to Ludmir | 227 |
NOTES | 241 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 285 |
299 | |
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Common terms and phrases
According accounts Ada Rapoport-Albert Ansky Ansky's appear Archives authority Baal Shem Tov Bardach began beys medresh Biber biographers Bratslav cemetery cultural daughter David depict devekut dybbuk dybbuk possession Eastern European Jewish Ephraim Taubenhaus father female followers former residents Frank Frankist gender girl gornshtibl hagiographical Halakhic Hannah Rochel Hasidic Hasidic holy Hasidic movement Hasidim Hebrew holy women Horodezky Horodezky's important Israel Jerusalem Jewish Jewish community Jewish women Jews Judaism Kabbalah kabbalistic lived Ludmirer Moid Maiden of Ludmir male Hasidic married Meir Mekler Menasheh Menasheh Unger monastery Mordechai of Chernobyl Moshe of Ludmir mother mystical Nahman Nechama Netiv ha Yahid Palestine Pinkas Ludmir Polish prayed prayer rabbi Raddock rebbe religious residents of Ludmir role ruah Russian Sabbatean Scholem sexual Shekhinah Shlomo Karliner shtibl soul spiritual story tefillin tkhines Tog-Morgen Zhurnal Torah town's traditions Ukrainian University Press vision visionary Volhynia woman Women in Hasidism writes Yiddish YIVO York zaddik zaddikim