In Jerusalem’s alleys and Brooklyn’s streets, they’re seen as relics of the past — black hats, long coats, and a life that looks untouched by time. But the Hasidic world didn’t emerge from tradition. It rose from revolution.
In 18th-century Ukraine, amid violence and despair, a mystical rebellion upended the rabbinic elite with joy, dance, and devotion. Preaching spirit over scholarship, Hasidic Jews were mocked, exiled, even jailed. But they endured — and reshaped Judaism as it’s known today, from the margins.
