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“How Puissant his Miracles Are!” Connections between the Biblical narrative and the folk stories about the Ribnitzer Rebbe

https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2020-3-40-67

Abstract

The article focuses on legends about miracles in Judaism. Particular attention is paid to miracles in the context of the early Biblical period of the prophets and modern Hasidism; similarities in motives and plots are found between the narratives of different times. The authors analyze in detail two 20th-century plots about miracles related to Chaim Zanvl Abramovich, known as the Ribnitzer Rebbe (1902–1995). The miracles that are told about him have many parallels with the legends about miracles performed by the founder of the Hasidic movement, Israel Baal Shem Tov (BeShT), who lived in the middle of the 18th century. The article reveals a connection between the Biblical and Hasidic miracle stories not only at the level of how the miracle is functioning in Jewish culture in general.

About the Authors

N. M. Kireeva
Russian State University of the Humanities
Russian Federation

Natalya M. Kireeva, Cand. of Sci. (History), associated professor, bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993, Russia



M. M. Kaspina
Russian State University of the Humanities
Russian Federation

Maria M. Kaspina, Cand. of Sci. (Philology), associated professor, bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993, Russia



References

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2. Rofe, A. (1997), Povestvovaniya o prorokah: literaturnye zhanry [The Narrations on the Prophets. Literary genres and history], Mosty Kultury, Moscow, Ierusalim.

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5. Schulman, S. (2016), “Undzer Rebenyu: religion, memory, and identity in postwar Moldova”, in Veidlinger, J. (ed.), Going to the People: Jews and the Ethnographic Impulse, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, pp. 219–236.

6. Walton, J.H., Matthews, V.H. and Chavalas, M.W. (2020), Bibleiskii kul’turno-istoricheskii kommentarii: Vetkhii Zavet [Commentary on Biblical Cultural History. Old Testament] [Online], available at: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Biblia/biblejskij-kulturno-istoricheskij-kommentarij-vethij-zavet/2_8_4 (Accessed 12 May 2020).


Review

For citations:


Kireeva N.M., Kaspina M.M. “How Puissant his Miracles Are!” Connections between the Biblical narrative and the folk stories about the Ribnitzer Rebbe. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2020;(3):40-67. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2020-3-40-67

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ISSN 2658-4158 (Print)