The Writings of R' Yashe the Shochet

Kesavim fun Reb Yashe Shochet ("The Writings of R' Yashe the Shochet") is among the earliest books of Chassidic stories about the first generations of the Chassidic movement.

Title page of Kesavim fun Reb Yashe Shochet

Gravestone of Rabbi Chaim Yosef Aryeh (known as Yashe) and his wife Rachel Perger, in the cemetery in Tzefas.

The book was written by Rabbi Chaim Yosef Aryeh, a Slonimer Chassid who served as a shochet u'bodek — ritual slaughterer and inspector — in Brisk.

About the book

The writings contain stories about the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples, and about the Maggid of Mezeritch and his disciples (primarily the Rebbes of Poland), as they were transmitted through Chassidic oral tradition. The author wrote these notes for his own use, and they circulated among Chassidim until they were eventually published in stencil format — typed on a typewriter and reproduced by mimeograph machine.

A number of questions have been raised about the stories and their accuracy, such as an account of the Baal Shem Tov meeting with the author of the Mishneh LaMelech — a chronologically problematic claim.

Although the book deals extensively with the leading figures of Chassidus of that era, the Alter Rebbe is barely mentioned.

For a considerable number of the stories about the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezeritch, this book is the earliest known source.

Despite the fact that the book generally concerns itself only with luminaries of the Chassidic world, one section stands out as an exception: a chapter devoted to "the Taz and his generation" (situated within the section on the Maggid and his disciples), in which holy accounts are recorded about the Taz — Rabbi Dovid HaLevi Segal — as well as his father-in-law, the author of the Bach.

External links

• Kesavim fun Reb Yashe Shochet on HebrewBooks.org