Sadigura Hasidim (Yiddish: Sadogerer chasidim) – one of the most multi-branched and influential Hasidic dynasties in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It was founded by Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn (Friedmann or Fridman, 1779–1851), also called Israel Ruzhin. His father, Sholom Shachne of Prohobisht (Pohrebyshche), was a son of Dov Ber of Mezeritch. Israel Friedman founded a Hasidic community in Ruzhyn. He became a tzaddik thanks to his family background rather than his education and knowledge. The luxury of his court and the reverence of his followers became a cause for concern of the tsarist authorities. In 1838, Friedman was sentenced to 22 months in prison, having been accused of encouraging people to kill a Jewish informant. After completing his sentence, Friedman left the Russian Partition and settled in Sadhora, Bukovina. Regarded a martyr for the faith, he gained an even greater following than the one he had enjoyed in Ruzhyn. In his teachings, he emphasised the importance of emotional, unreflecting religious experience. He believed that only a tzaddik is capable of a more profound understanding of mystical texts.
Friedman was known for his lavish lifestyle; his court imitated the estates of Galician magnates. He was a composer and author of popular parables, many of which have become a part of Hasidic folklore. He was involved in a long dispute with Tzaddik Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (Nowy Sącz), who condemned his extravagant lifestyle and accused him of ignorance. The scandal was exacerbated when one of Israel’s six sons – Dov Ber, the tzaddik of Lelov – came under the influence of the ideology of the Haskalah and announced that the belief in the power of tzaddikim is based on deceit.
Although his family deemed him mentally ill and kept him isolated from his followers, Halberstam accused him of deviation and ruled a herem (curse) against the entire Sadigura dynasty, which in retaliation put a curse on the Sanz tzaddik. Israel Friedman’s descendants founded a number of dynasties and Hasidic centres in Eastern Galicia and Moldavia: in Chortkiv – Dovid Moshe (1828–1903), Israel (1854–1934); in Chernivtsi – Aharon (d. 1941); in Husyatyn – Israel (1856–1949), Yitzchak Yaakov (1900–1968); in Przemyśl – Mordechai Shalom Yosef of Sadigura (1897-?); in Boiany – Moshe of Boyan (1881–1943), Mordechai Shlomo (1891–1971).
Alina Cała
The entry was originally published on the Diapozytyw portal, previously owned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. It is an excerpt from the book Historia i kultura Żydów polskich. Słownik by Alina Cała, Hanna Węgrzynek, and Gabriela Zalewska, published by the WSiP.
