Relation to Hasidism in the early articles of József Patai in Egyenlőség (Equality)

József Patai (born as Klein 1882) can be considered as a pioneer not only as a translator of classic Hebrew poetry, but also as a writer who has adapted to the literary form of the tradition, which he knew inwardly.⁵ Under his name he published his translations and essays about topics of Hebrew literature, but after was hired to Egyenlőség (the end of 1903), under his pseudonym Secundus starting from the issue 20 December 1903 which signifies the second editor of the paper, started publishing texts of a different nature. Opposite to the publications under his own name of serious studies, poems or translations, prose written under the pseudonym was more journalistic (glosses, columns, reports, book reviews). Some of these articles, published in the supplements marking the main Jewish holidays, were elaborated reviews with great eloquence about certain Jewish traditions in aspect of folklore and history of culture with the mission to educate the readers and strengthen theirs relationship to Jewish traditions. In these

5 János Kőbányai in his monography deals with this author elaborately: Szétszálazás és újraszövés, pp. 80-144.

162

articles we can find several which use a form of epistle with the same narrative frame: Secundus writes to Primus, the chief editor (Miksa Szabolcsi) a letter to Budapest from his native village, where he travelled to join the holiday with his family, to share his new experiences. The narrative further contains not only descriptions of the manner of celebrating in this community (which can be a source also for research of folkloristics), and a living picture of the milieu and a mode of social life among local Jewry, but is also interwoven with very personal issues full of sarcastic humor and at the same time longing – memories of childhood, or anecdotic situations experienced or observed in the small community.

This group of articles also contains those which deal with Hasidism. As a part of article series about great Jewish thinkers he mentioned Hasidism in relation to their chief saint, Yitzchak Luria whom he compares to the character of Peer Gynt,⁶ and, similarly, to Baal Shem in the article published almost a year before. This article from 1904, In The World of Miracles⁷ starts with apological tuning by which author intends to reconcile the conflict of the rational modern world and the sphere of tales, phantasy, imagination and childhood.⁸

6 Secundus [József Patai], “Lurja,” Egyenlőseg, 24, no. 7 (12. February 1905), p. 17.

7 Secundus [József Patai], “A csodák világában,” Egyenlőseg 23, no. 25 (19. June 1904), p. 19.

8 “A gépek és számok e rideg korában csak gunyos mosoly kisérheti azt, akinek lelke még a csodák tarka világán elmerengeni tud; ki gyermekkorát visszasóvárogva, a mese képzelt birodalmába vágyik kalandozni! És engem talán majd hangos kacaj fogad, ha előre bocsájtom, hogy a csodák e szines világát, amelybe most bolyongani indulok hosszú kaftános, bolyhos szakállú és kuszált tincsü chaszidok

163

The defensive standpoint of these is not only because of the

‘disenchantment of the world’ of modernity by world of Max Weber, but also could be seen in the context of the contemporary discourse about Hasidism, the critique composed of maskilim and neolog fraction influenced by Haskalah described Hasidism as fanatics living retrograde under the power of theirs tsaddikim between poor social circumstances. This view dominated on the columns of the paper. Patai concedes, that he also doesn’t believe in these miracles. But the defensive argumentation by using literary allusions and comparison is very peculiar, and does not concern the polemics of religion, but leads to the seemingly neutral territory of literature. There is a protection of Hasidism not as a religious movement, but as a phenomenon of the active using of human phantasy which is common feature with literature.

…it occured to someone that belief in Faust’s invocation of the spirit of earth by spell-word? And his dog changed to Mephistopheles, who drew wine from a dry table? And after all who could not rejoice the adventurous play of fancy, the sumptuous creations of phantasy.⁹

“The Hasidic Peer Gynt,” as author designates the Baal Shem, is being led by an innermost intuition and emotions and not rational thinking. The comparison of two absolutely different figures remarks focus on the naïve and childish mind of the népesítik be! Ki hisz ma még a csodákban? hát a chassideusok csodáiban?!”(Ibidem)

9 “…kinek jutna eszébe hinni, hogy Faust felidézte egy varázsaszóval a föld szellemét? hogy kutyája Mephistofeles-szé változott, aki a száraz asztalól bort csapolt ki? és mégis, ki ne györnyörködnék a fantasia merész csapongásában, a képzelet pazar alkotásaiban.” (Ibidem)

164

believer, whose phantasy changes the surrounding world. Only after this context-making, the author begins to briefly describe the fundamental ideas of teaching of Hasidim suggesting at the end of the article their revolution against reality.

In another article, quite similarly titled From the World of Miracles¹⁰ (which contains some smaller passage taken from the abovementioned article about Yitzhak Luria), despite of its briefness, the author's inward competence in Hasidism an its ideals or way of life is clearly visible – he remarks the joyfulness, the unworldliness and a perfection of Self. Beside the relevant information about the evolution of the movement readers are enrapt with the poetic passages:

Because everything lives, everything speaks in the word of Baal Shem. The bird spells psalms, the leaf of tree whispers divine secrets, the wind wuthers the world-weariness, the stream is flowing hymn, the rock is a curdled poem. Everything, what we see in front of us, everything is curdled spirit: incarnated spirit, which’s only desire is to unification with God, but in this endeavor is hindered by demons and evil spirits comes out from the people’s sin. All of the word is therefore a constant combat of good and evil spirits in which takes a part organic and inorganic beings.¹¹

10 Secundus [József Patai], “A csodák világából,” Egyenlőseg 25, no. 1 (07. January 1906), p. 17-18.

11 “Mert minden él, minden beszél a Bál-Sém világában. A madár zsoltárokat csicsereg, a falevél isteni titkokat suttog, a szél vilagfajdalmat süvölt, a patak, folyó hymnus, a kőszikla megdermedt költemény. Amit magunk előtt látunk, mind megmerevedett szellem; testet öltött lélek, melynek egyetlen yágya, hogy istennel egyesüljön, de ebben a törekvésében megakadályozzák a démonok es a gonosz lelkek, melyek az emberek büneiből származnak. Az egész világ tehat nem más, mint a jó és rossz

165

The writer, beside his pantheistic view and allusions to Lurianic and Hasidic concept of yihud (unification) underlies the liberation and vivifying of the forms of religion.

…thought makes place of form, tying chains fall and the deeds/acts are liberated! With this new perception they drew to the sphere of spiritual world not only the materia but also the deed; no one is indifferent between the act of man in the spiritual world, let the starting thought stay clear, because the thought as an Indian atman is the whole shebang.¹²

Afterward the writer briefly retells nine Hasidic legends about Baal Shem. The ending sentences make an odd comparison between the legends of Hasidim and the German and antique pagan myths:

Let’s make a parallel between miracles made by Baal Shem and his fellows with these what are assigned to heroes of Germans, Romans, or Greeks, and we will realize the moral superiority, which Jewish folk-soul is able to keep even if he comes into the world of miracles.

Hercules is cleaning the stable of Augeas and fornicates with Venus, while the Jewish wonder-maker washes away ashes of sin and consoles the sufferers. The blood of murdered Fafner makes Siegfried invulnerable in order to steal an alien woman, while the Jewish wonder-makers make invulnerable the lifesaving in szellemek folytonos küzdelme, melyben szerves és szervetlen lényeknek egyaránt részük van.” (Ibidem, p. 17)

12 „…a forma helyébe lép az eszme, a nyügöző láncok lehullanak és a cselekedet felszabadul! Ezzel az uj felfogással belevonták a szellemi világ körébe nemcsak az anyagot, hanem a cselekedetet is ; semmi sem közömbös az ember tettei közül a szellemi világban, csak tiszta legyen az inditó gondolat, mert a gondolat, miként az ind atman, a mindenség.” (Ibidem, p. 17)

166

order to sacrifice own selves for others. The fantasy of other people is discursive and gets lost in the swamps, while the Jewish folk-imagination opens its wings toward the clear ether of the skies.¹³

A strange comparison hardly defensible on the scientific field could be read in the context of the contemporary culture, as an allusion to the recovery of national myths supported by the movement of romanticism. As well as in this distinction is not a lonesome in the writings of young Patai,¹⁴ it could be considered as a propaganda of Jewish culture built upon the legacy of religious consideration (the chosen people) and chiefly on the self-awareness of the young modern and secular Jewish culture for the aim not only to legitimate its own tradition, but also the assertion of its self-sustainability. Moreover, this could been Patai’s motivation of translations of classic Hebrew poetry.

József Patai also published his Hasidic short stories, the first

13 „Vonjunk csak párhuzamot ezek között a csodák között, melyeket a Bál-Sém és társai hajtanak végre és azok között a csodák között, melyeket a germánok, rómaiak vagy görögök az ő hőseiknek tulajdonitanak és meglátjuk az erkölcsi felebbvalóságot, melyet a zsidó népszellem még akkor is meg tud tartani, ha a csodák világába téved. Herkules Augias-istallókat tisztit és Vénusokkal üzi fajtalanságait, a zsidó csodatévő bünös lelkeket tisztit meg a salaktól és megvigasztalja a szenvedőket. Szigfriedet a legyilkolt Fafner vére sérthetetlenné teszi, hogy elrabolhasson egy idegen nőt, a zsidó csodatévőket életmentés teszi sérthetetlenekké, hogy aztán önként áldozhassák föl magukat másokért. Más népek fantáziája elcsapong és lidérczes mocsarakba téved, a zsidó népképzelet kibontja szárnyait és az egek tiszta éterébe tör. Secundus.” (Ibidem, p. 18)

14 Shortly after the quoted article similar comparison is catched in article Our Poetic Legends in which autor propagates Talmudic legends at the expense of Siegfried and Saint Peter. Secundus [József Patai],

“Költői Legendáink,” Egyenlőseg 25, no. 13 (01. April 1906), p. 22.

167

attempt of young author with this literary genre, under the pseudonym Secundus on the pages of Egyenlőség. The distinguishing of these short stories by name form the more intellectual or scientific role of Hebraists leads us to read them as something dealing with his folkloric interest and touched with personal issues of author. These stories written between the years 1908-1911 are not only the first Hungarian literary adaptations of Hasidic tales, but also are parallel with discovering Hasidism by contemporary German modern Jewish writers, namely by Martin Buber.¹⁵ To find out how could József Patai be acquainted with the works of Martin Buber in these years is pretty hard, because he didn’t mention him. Although the first introductory sentences of above mentioned article From The World of Miracles makes the impression that he could have some idea about the trends of western Jewish renewal:

Currently the science and research makes its object the miraculous elements of legends, myths and tales of certain folk-conceptions to draw consequence on their ethical content. Appropriately, the Jewish scholars choose these tales about tsaddikim – which were unnoticed by literature, because of their prejudice – and enucleate their core, make conclusion about their moral system. Insofar that science speaks about the philosophy and ethics of kabbalah as well as distinguishes the ethical systems of Luria, Vital, Baal Shem, etc, and each of them could draw interesting conclusion.¹⁶

15 Martin Buber publish his first Hasidic story collections in these years:

Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman (The Tales of Rabbi Nachman) in 1906 and Die Legende des Baalschem (The Legend of the Baal-Shem) in 1908.

16 „Ujabban a tudomány komoly kutatás tárgyává teszi az egyes népek mondáinak, regéinek és meséinek csodás elemeit, hogy azokból a külömböző népfelfogások etikai tartalmára következtessen. Ennek megfelelően a zsidó tudósok is előszedegetik

168

Analyzed articles are quite important for understanding the author’s standpoint to Hasidism. As it can be seen, the short introduction added before the first part of the series of short stories at the beginning published under title Tales from the World of Hasidim (Mesék a chászid-világból) mentioned the same topics as in the discussed articles. This series of short stories after first publication where remodified and constituent of the story collection, a book.

To summarize these topics the author’s purpose to write down Hasidic stories could be motivated by several reasons or aims, as the revolutionary liberation of fantasy in literature, the charm of the tradition (the mysticism, pantheistic world view, the ideas and way of thinking) and an intimate relationship with it (family, childhood and cultural background), the authenticity of self-sustaining Jewish culture elaborated its element into artistic forms in accordance with western trends of renewal.

3. Lajos Szabolcsi’s relation to Hasidism: two different