| Preface | ix |
| A Note on Translation and Transliteration | xiii |
| Introduction | 1 |
I. | Method | 1 |
II. | On the State of Research and Hasidic Historiography | 8 |
III. | The Sources and Their Nature | 21 |
Part I | The Young Rabbi Israel | |
1. | "But I Was Never a Boy": Accession to Leadership | 31 |
I. | "That Child Understood Everything": Childhood | 31 |
II. | Rabbi Abraham of Pohorbishch | 33 |
III. | "I Myself Have No Time to Study": Adolescence | 35 |
IV. | The Power of Inferiority | 41 |
V. | Conclusion | 44 |
2. | "The Main Thing Is One's Own Distinction": The Argument over Succession | 47 |
I. | Hereditary Leadership and Schism in Nineteenth-Century Hasidism | 47 |
II. | "Ancestral Merit" or "One's Own Distinction"? | 51 |
III. | Ancestral Lineage in the Ruzhin Clan | 57 |
IV. | The Victory of the "Sons of Zaddikim" and Its Implications | 63 |
Part II | From Ruzhin to Sadgora: The Making of a Hasidic Leader | |
3. | "The Untrod Path": Emergence and Expansion | 69 |
I. | On the Throne of Leadership | 69 |
II. | From Pohorbishch to Ruzhin | 72 |
III. | Avenues of Expansion and Growth | 76 |
IV. | His Personality and the Secret of his Charisma | 81 |
V. | A New Mode of Worship | 89 |
VI. | Opposition | 94 |
VII. | Rabbi Israel as Seen by the Maskilim | 98 |
4. | "The Jewish Kingdom Is Falling": The Ushits Case | 105 |
I. | Informers and the Law of the "Pursuer" | 105 |
II. | The Murder Case and the Investigation | 108 |
III. | Historical Significance of the Ushits Case | 114 |
5. | "Princes Have Persecuted Me Without Reason": In Prison | 116 |
I. | The Imprisonment and Its Repercussions | 116 |
II. | Rabbi Israel versus Nicholas I | 121 |
III. | Affliction and Its Significance | 124 |
6. | The Fugitive: Flight from Russia | 128 |
I. | The Memoirs of Yossi Rath | 128 |
II. | Return to Ruzhin | 129 |
III. | Flight from Russia | 131 |
7. | "A Guest at the Inn": The New Court at Sadgora | 136 |
I. | The Danger of Expulsion and Legal Problems | 136 |
II. | "For I Have No Strength to Endure": Instability and Discontent | 144 |
III. | Between Center and Periphery | 147 |
IV. | The Geographical Context | 149 |
V. | Economic Consolidation: Purchase of the Potik Zloty Estate | 153 |
VI. | The Fame of the New Court | 156 |
8. | "Broken and Mortified": The Last Years | 163 |
I. | In the Evening of Life | 163 |
II. | The Zaddik's Death and Succession | 168 |
Part III | Rabbi Israel as a Hasidic Leader | |
9. | "The Law of People": Rabbi Israel's Approach to Communal Leadership | 175 |
I. | Between Rebbe and Rabbi | 175 |
II. | Appointments and Dismissals | 181 |
III. | "A Remedy to Aid Israel": Intercession for the Jewish Community | 187 |
IV. | Working for the Land of Israel | 202 |
V. | Conclusion: Rabbi Israel as a Leader | 209 |
10. | "All the Money in the World Is Mine": Visions of Wealth and Royalty | 212 |
I. | The Novelty of the Regal Way | 212 |
II. | The Claim of Descent from King David | 216 |
III. | "Hidden Worship": The Ideological Basis | 218 |
IV. | Objection to Self-Mortification | 225 |
V. | Criticism of the Regal Way | 228 |
VI. | Musicians and Singers, Carriages and Horses | 233 |
VII. | Wealth and Honor as a Religious Test | 238 |
11. | "The True Zaddik of the Generation": Rabbi Israel as Zaddik | 244 |
I. | The Question of Uniqueness and Superiority | 244 |
II. | On Messianism and Redemption | 255 |
III. | Objection to Wonder-Working | 261 |
Part IV | Rabbi Israel's Court | |
12. | "Like a Small State within a Large One": The Royal Court and Its Members | 267 |
I. | The Sources and Their Nature | 267 |
II. | The Physical Framework | 269 |
III. | Social Aspects | 278 |
13. | "Money for Household Expenses": Economic Aspects of the Hasidic Royal Courts | 285 |
I. | Zaddikism as a Profession | 285 |
II. | The Meaning of the Pidyon | 288 |
III. | The Cost of the Pidyon and Methods of Amassing a Fortune | 292 |
IV. | The Zaddik's Travels | 296 |
V. | The Ma'amadot Taxes | 299 |
VI. | Concessions and Privileges | 303 |
VII. | The Decline of the Hasidic Royal Court | 307 |
14. | "Under One Tent": The Hasidim and Their Zaddik | 310 |
I. | The Pilgrimage to the Zaddik | 310 |
II. | Access to the Zaddik | 315 |
III. | Around the Zaddik's Grave | 321 |
| Afterword: Dynamic Adaptation to a Changing World | 325 |
I. | Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin as an Object of Biographical Research | 325 |
II. | Stagnation versus Innovation in Ruzhin Hasidism | 327 |
III. | Decline of the Generations or the Power of Inferiority? | 330 |
IV. | The Hasidic Court in an Era of Upheaval | 334 |
| Notes | 341 |
| Glossary | 409 |
| Works Cited | 413 |
| Indexes of Names, Places, and Subjects | 445 |
| Alternate Forms of Place Names | 455 |