The modern Hasidic movement was founded in Poland in the 18th Century by Baal-Shem-Tov, who called for a spiritual renaissance, not merely through prayer, but also through singing, dancing and ecstatic joy.
What excited Kafka, and surely had an impact on his stories, was the mystical, anti-rational side of Hasidism, where earthly reality was continuous with unearthly reality, where mystical value was to be found in the details of everyday life, and where God was everywhere and easily contactable.
David Zane Mairowitz ⬩ R. Crumb’s Kafka
added January 02, 2023 ⬩ random excerpt