Memory of Hasidic Courts and Childhood in Ego-Documents of Court’s Insiders

• In Event: Between Experience and Memory: East European Jewish Childhood in Ego-Documents

Abstract

This paper explores the memory of Hasidic courts and childhood there as reflected in ego-documents written in the first half of the twentieth century by both the elite—tsadikim and their families—and lay insiders, including servants and court attendants. By analyzing autobiographies, memoirs, letters, and diaries, it examines how different voices within the court constructed, preserved, and contested its memory. Through these firsthand accounts, the study sheds light on the ways childhood in Hasidic courts was experienced, remembered, and narrated from within, revealing the complex interplay between personal recollection and collective memory.

Author

• Gadi Sagiv, Open U (Israel)