S.A. Horodetsky, Hasidism and Hasidim (1923)
The Jewish woman was given complete equality in the emotional, mystical, religious life of Beshtian hasidism.
Jacob S. Minkin, The Romance of Hasidism (1935)
While Rabbinism subordinated the place and position of woman to that of man and made her an inactive member of the Jewish community, Hasidism assigned to her a place and importance almost equal to that of her male partner.
Ada Rapoport-Albert, S.A. Horodetsky and the Maid of Ludmir Tradition
Hasidism did not evolve an ideology of female leadership, any more than it improved the position of women within the family or set out to educate them in Yiddish...
No case can better illustrate this point than the case of Hannah Rachel, the Maid of Ludmir.
Nehemia Polen
Miriam's Dance: Radical Egalitarianism in Hasidic Thought
In the year 1899, a hagiographical work was published about Rabbi Hayyim Meir Yehiel, the wonder-working grandson of the Maggid of Kozienice, known as the "Seraph" of Moglienice. The work, Toledot ha-Nifla'ot, discusses, inter alia, the Seraph's mother, the daughter of the Kozienicer Maggid, whose name was Perl ('Pereleh'). It is related that Perl had a dream in which she saw a child of hers who had died at a young age. The child assured her that Perl, who was pregnant, would give birth to a son who would have a long life and who would "enlighten all the worlds"; this son was the aforementioned Hayyim Meir Yehiel.
The hagiography's author, Israel Moshe Bromberg of Lodz, assures us that he heard this story from Perl herself-three times. Then he writes, "And don't think that she and her dreams were simple, in the manner of other women; it is well known that she was of very elevated spiritual stature. She enjoyed revelations, in the waking state, of the souls of zaddikim."
Sefer Keter Shem Tov
שיחות הר״ן סימן מ
ובאמת דע כי כל העולם כלו הוא בחינת גלגל החוזר (בבא בתרא טז:) שקורין "דריידיל", והכל חוזר חלילה ונתהפך, מאדם מלאך וממלאך אדם, ומראש רגל ומרגל ראש, וכן שאר כל הדברים שבעולם כולם חוזרין חלילה ומתגלגלים ומתהפכים מזה לזה ומזה לזה מעליון לתחתון ומתחתון לעליון. כי באמת בהשרש הכל אחד. כי יש נבדלים דהיינו מלאכים שהם נבדלים לגמרי מן החומר, ויש גלגלים שהם בחינת חומר אבל חמרם זך מאד. ויש עולם השפל דהיינו זה העולם השפל שהוא חומר גמור, ואף על פי שבודאי כל אחד ואחד מאלו השלשה הנ"ל הוא נלקח ממקום מיוחד, אף על פי כן בשרש הכל שם כולו חד. ועל כן כל העולם כלו הוא בחינת גלגל החוזר והכל חוזר ונתהפך.
וזה בחינת מה שמשחקין בחנוכה בדריידיל, כי חנוכה הוא בחינת בית המקדש (עיין לקוטי תנינא, סימן ז'). ועיקר בנין בית המקדש היא בחינת הנ"ל, בחינת גלגל החוזר. כי בבית המקדש היה בחינת עליונים למטה ותחתונים למעלה (פסחים נ.), כי השם יתברך השרה שכינתו במשכן ובבית המקדש שזה בחינת עליונים למטה...
כי על פי חקירה הוא דבר רחוק מאד שה' יתברך, שהוא מרומם ומנושא למעלה מכל הרוחניות, יהיה מצמצם שכינתו בכלי המשכן, "הן השמים ושמי השמים לא יכלכלוך" וכו' (מלכים א' ח, כז). ואף על פי כן הראה השם יתברך שהוא דוקא להפך מדעתם כי באמת השם יתברך השרה שכינתו במשכן.
Sichot HaRan 40
And truly know that the whole world is like the wheel of repetition (Bava Batra 16) called "dreidel," and everything repeats and turns from Adam to angel and angel to man, from head to leg and leg to head, and the rest of all things in the world all repeatedly roll and turn from one to another and from one to the other, from top to bottom and bottom to top. For at its root, everything is one. Because there are differentiated beings, namely angels, which are completely different from the material, and there are spheres that are like clay but very fine. And there is a lowly world, namely this world, the low world which is complete matter. And although each one of these three is certainly taken from a distinctive place, nevertheless the root of everything there is one, and therefore the entire world is like a wheel of repetition…
This is why we play dreidel on Hanukkah, because Hanukkah is like the Temple (see Likkutei Tanya, 7). The essence of the Temple was this aspect of the upper and lower ones above (Pesakhim 50a), because Hashem blessed the Shekhina in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, which is like the upper one below... For upon investigation, it is a very unlikely that the Almighty, Who is exalted and elevated above all spirituality, will constrict his presence in the vessels of the Tabernacle; "the heavens and the heavens cannot contain You" (1 Kings 8:27). Nevertheless, God showed that He was actually the opposite of their knowledge, because the name of God endowed His presence in the Tabernacle.
Likkutei Moharan Kama 1:15:6
And one merits to this [attaining the inner secrets of Torah] through prayer, because the Holy One Blessed Be He desires the prayers of the people of Israel. So when the people of Israel pray before Him and fulfill His desire, then He, as it were, becomes the aspect of woman, since He receives pleasure from us. As it is written, “a fire-offering, an appeasing fragrance to God.” Through the appeasing fragrance which He receives, He becomes the aspect of woman. And “a female shall surround a male” (Jeremiah 31:21) since the Holy One Blessed Be He becomes the aspect of the garment, the revealed. That is, the aspect that was originally hidden is now revealed through prayer. And the Holy One Blessed Be He and the Torah are all one; so through prayer the Torah has been revealed, that is, the secrets of the Torah.
Likkutei Moharan Kama, 1:76
And it is known that whoever receives pleasure from someone else is called female - that is, in relation to the other. Therefore, when The Blessed Name receives pleasure from the people of Israel, from their prayers, He becomes, as it were, female in relation to the people of Israel. So it is written, “a fire-offering, an appeasing fragrance to God” - because through the appeasing fragrance which The Blessed Name receives from the prayers of the people of Israel, He mystically becomes woman. “And a female shall surround a male”; if so, the inner becomes the outer.
רבי שמעון בן פזי רמי כתיב (בראשית א, טז) ויעש אלקים את שני המאורות הגדולים וכתיב את המאור הגדול ואת המאור הקטן אמרה ירח לפני הקב"ה רבש"ע אפשר לשני מלכים שישתמשו בכתר אחד אמר לה לכי ומעטי את עצמך אמרה לפניו רבש"ע הואיל ואמרתי לפניך דבר הגון אמעיט את עצמי אמר לה לכי ומשול ביום ובלילה אמרה ליה מאי רבותיה דשרגא בטיהרא מאי אהני אמר לה זיל לימנו בך ישראל ימים ושנים אמרה ליה יומא נמי אי אפשר דלא מנו ביה תקופותא דכתיב (בראשית א, יד) והיו לאותות ולמועדים ולימים ושנים זיל ליקרו צדיקי בשמיך (עמוס ז, ב) יעקב הקטן שמואל הקטן (שמואל א יז, יד) דוד הקטן חזייה דלא קא מיתבא דעתה אמר הקב"ה הביאו כפרה עלי שמיעטתי את הירח והיינו דאמר ר"ש בן לקיש מה נשתנה שעיר של ראש חדש שנאמר בו (במדבר כח, יא) לה' אמר הקב"ה שעיר זה יהא כפרה על שמיעטתי את הירח
“Rabbi Shimon ben Pazzi notes a contradiction: ‘And God made the two great lights; as it reads ‘The large light, and the small light.’ The moon said to the Holy One, Blessed Be He, ‘Master of the Universe, How can two kings share one crown?’ He said to her, ‘Go and diminish yourself!’ She said to him: ‘Master of the universe, because I said a logical thing before you, I should diminish myself?’ He said to her, ‘Go and you will rule by day and by night’. She said to him, ‘What is the greatness in that, How does a lamp help in the daytime?’ He said to her: ‘Go! Israel will count through you the days and the years.’ She said to him, ‘Day is the primary unit of time, and I can’t be used to count for days, as it says “And let them be for signs of the seasons and days and years”.’ He said, “Go! And great people will be called by your name: ... Yaakov the Small, Shmuel the Small, David the Small." God saw that the moon was still not happy at the time. The Holy One said, “Bring an atonement on Me for I have diminished the moon.” And so that is what is meant when Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, “What is the difference in how the New Moon offering is written, “A he-goat on the new moon, for the Lord?’ Because the Holy One is saying, ‘Let this he-goat be an atonement for Me, for the diminishment of the moon.”
מדרש תהלים עג
אמר ר' שמואל בר נחמני לפי שבעולם הזה הזכר מסבב את הנקבה, אבל לעתיד הנקבה תסבב את הזכר, שנאמר נקבה תסובב גבר, לפי שבעולם הזה הקדוש ברוך הוא מחזיר על ישראל שיעשו תשובה ויעשו רצונו, אבל לעתיד ישראל מחזירין אחר הקדוש ברוך הוא שיעשו רצונו.
כלי יקר שמות טו:א
וכדי ליישב יתור השירה הזאת, כי היה לו לומר אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל לה', אומר אני שיש בו רמז למה שארז"ל (מכילתא בשלח ג) ראתה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראה יחזקאל, ועל פלא זה נאמר את השירה הזאת ר"ל השירה של זאת הנקיבה, כי גם הנקיבות אמרו זה אלי ואנוהו ודבר זה היה פליאה בעיניהם שנקיבה תסובב גבר מעין דוגמא שלעתיד, ואולי שעל זה ארז"ל (סנהדרין צא:) שר לא נאמר אלא ישיר מכאן לתחיית המתים מן התורה, ומה ענין שירה זו לתחיית המתים אלא לפי שכשם שלעה"ב יהיו כולם מופשטים מן החומר ואז זכרים ונקבות שוין, כך גם על הים ראתה גם השפחה זיו כבודו ית' מעין דוגמא שלעתיד שנאמר (ירמיה לא כב) נקבה תסובב גבר.
Kli Yakar Shemot 15:1
In order to reconcile this chord, for he had the right to say Moshe and the children of Israel to God, I say that there is an allusion to what the sages said (Mekhilta Beshalach, Parsha 3), “A slave saw on the sea what Yehezkel did not see. The rabbis (Sanhedrin 42b) said that a minister is not said but direct from here to the resurrection of the dead from the Torah. And what is the meaning of this verse? This matter of poetry is for the resurrection of the dead, but just as the next world will all be stripped of matter and then males and females are equal, so too on the sea did the slave see his blessed glory as a kind of example for the future. As it is said, “A female will encircle a man” (15:1).
Ma'or va-Shemesh, Tel Aviv, 1964, 77c-78a (Rav Kalonymous Kalman Epstein, 1753-1823)
In the [eschatological] future, however... the line and the circle will be equal, and there will no longer be the categories of masculine and feminine. All will come to realize His divine light equally. This is just like a round object which has no beginning and no end. Then no one will need to learn from his neighbor. This is just like a circle dance, where every part of the circle's circumference is equidistant from the center. So will all absorb the clear light of His divinity equally, as it is written, "No longer will they need to teach one another [and say to one another, 'Know the Lord'], for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall know Me, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:34)..."
This was the intention of the prophetess Miriam. She had all the women follow her and performed circle dances with them, with the intent implicit in the verse "A woman shall encircle a man" (Jeremiah 31:22), in order to draw upon the supernal light from the place where the categories of masculine and feminine do not exist. Now Moses said, "I will sing unto the Lord." This was because Moses spoke while still under the categories of masculine/feminine, for the light of supernal clarity had not yet appeared...
But Miriam, through her circle dance, drew down the supernal light. Then they came to such realization than which no greater realization is possible. So she said, "Sing” - now. For their realization was such that no greater realization is possible... By making a circle-dance, she drew down the supernal light from the place where the categories of masculine/feminine do not exist.
ליקוטי תורה לרב שניאור זלמן מליאדי פרשת ויגש
ליקוטי תורה שיר השירים
ליקוטי שיחות לרמ״מ שניאורסון, חלק יד
Polen, ibid.
Sarah Horowitz Sternfeld of Checiny (the "Chentshiner Rebbetsin"), mentioned briefly by Rapaport-Albert, was a well-known figure in the hasidic world of interbellum Poland, as the obituaries which appeared in the Yiddish press of both Poland and America at the time of her death in 1937, at the age of 99, make clear. Warsaw's Der Moment wrote that "after the death of her husband, hasidim traveled to her with kvittlakh. She was the only woman in Poland who conducted herself as a Rebbe." A subsequent article in Der Moment reported that about 10,000 people attended her funeral, and that she was survived by 250 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dos Yiddishe Togblatt, published by Agudat Yisrael, carried a lengthy article on her passing in its edition of March 4, 1937, focusing on her piety, wisdom, and devotion to the poor and needy, for whom she would even pawn her household belongings. According to the Togblatt, on Simhat Torah she would summon all her strength and dance in honor of the Torah; she prayed with a minyan three times daily. The last few days of her life are described as a period of conscious preparation for death: "Tuesday she recited the Song of Songs, and each day she recited the Song for the Sabbath Day (Psalm 92).”