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Presentation
The Editors

Much has been written to date in celebration of the eighth centenary of the birth of Francis of Assisi and much more will certainly appear. What is particularly interesting for Jewish-Christian relations is that there has been quite an effort to make a comparison between the spirit of Francis and that of the Hasidim, both those who were contemporary with Francis and the movement which developed much later. This issue of the SIDIC review seeks to bring together these two movements of spirituality and to ask what relevance they have for our world today.
The spirit of Francis of Assisi can easily be defined: a spirit of joy and simplicity, a spirit of peace and fellowship that extends not only to every man and woman but to the whole of creation as well, so that harmony is created between persons, and between them and the whole of the cosmos. Let us be on our guard, however, against dis missing franciscan simplicity as sentimental religiosity or pious escapism. On the contrary, the spirit of Francis, properly understood, is one that exacts a true conversion of heart and a seeking to live deep biblical values.
The hasidic movement in Judaism takes its name from the Hebrew word hesed which cannot adequately be expressed by any one English word. Its biblical meaning is lovingkindness, generosity, the total gift of love, pious, zealous. The talmud defines a hasid (a man who lives according to the concept of hesed) as one who says: what is mine is thine and what is thine is thine. The first hasidic movement, that treated by Nazareno Fabbretti in his article, grew up in Germany during the twelth century and lasted until the following. The movement was ethical in one direction and mystical in another. It both reacted against Christian pietist movements and was influenced by them. It spread over the whole of Germany and, to a certain extent, over France also; it even spread to Spain in the second half of the thirteenth century. The second hasidic movement, that brought to us by Neal Rose, claims descent from this first movement, even though it did not emerge until the eighteenth century, and in Poland. Founded by Israel Ben Eliezer who took the name of the Baal Shem Tov (literally, Master of the Good Name, from whose initials comes the appellation Besht), it brought to a people who had been overwhelmed by persecution and suffering a spirit of simple joy in the Lord which helped them bear their oppression.
Both these two movements, franciscan and hasidíc, were revolutionary in the best sense of the word. They reacted against the world of their time that had lost a true sense of religion, that was steeped in materialism and plagued by violence. Both by example and by parable Francis sought to show the people of his time where their true values should lie. To the materialism of his day he opposed poverty of spirit, to its violence he preached peace, to its spiritual aridity he brought his mysticism. The hasidim, too, whether we speak of the contemporaries of Francis or the later movement of the Baal Shem Tov, brought the same message of healing to a chaotic world and sought to change society, not by the overthrowal of governments or of regimes, but by its mystic joy which brought new hope to an oppressed people. Mysticism, it has been rightly said, is the soul of renewal. This is why, doubtless, there is such an upsurge at the present time of charismatic movements of all kinds, and of a seeking from eastern sources a mysticism which is lacking, at least to the superficial observer, in the west.
It is impossible to contemplate and feel the spirit of joy and peace left us by the hasidic and franciscan movements without asking what this spirit can mean for the troubled times through which the whole world is passing. We are not referring now to the problems of the latter half of the twentieth century in general but to the events which have disturbed our world over these past few months. The spirit of dialogue above all, so recently born, has been shaken at its very foundation as never before. While this spirit is above politics in one sense, it cannot help but be affected by it, unless it seeks to act outside of the reality of our lives, which would be quite impossible. Whatever be our political opinions, however, let us all, as believers in the One God and Father, whether we be Jew or Arab, Christian or Moslem, turn to him as our one hope. Each of us without exception has need of reconciliation and of pardon; each without exception has rights which the other must respect; each without exception also must be prepared to turn from the mistakes that all have made in the past (including the very recent past), learn from these mistakes in order to go forward with new hope and courage to help build a better world with the help of our God.