PROBABLY as a result of renewed interest in the work of Martin Buber, the impression has spread that Hasidism is the only modern ex- pression of Jewish mysticism. That this is not so is proved by the many works of mystical exegesis issued by the Mitnagdim, the rabbinic critics of Hasidism. They, following the lead of the great Gaon of Vilna, saw Hasidism as a threat because of its tendency to shift the emphasis from Talmudic learning to religious experience of a more direct nature. This appeared to mean a weakening of the binding power of rabbinic law, which for the Mitnagdim was synonymous with Judaism. But because they also understood that Hasidism's main stress was mystical, they saw that it would have to be met on that level as well as in the field of law.

Thus a number of works challenging Hasidism were written under the inspiration of the Lurian Cabala. Their purpose was to endow the everyday observance of rabbinic law with mystical depth. Avoiding any implication that would read magical powers into rabbinic practice, they succeeded, nevertheless, in finding a previously unsuspected religious significance in the performance of the most insignificant-seeming precepts. These discoveries of meaning had an enormous influence both on the Mitnagdim and the Hasidim. As a matter of fact, they saved the latter for historic Judaism.

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