Strashelye (Hasidic dynasty)

Strashelye, is an extinct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism, named after the town Strashelye in the Mohilev Province of present-day Belarus, where its leader lived. Like all Hasidim it is based on the teachings and customs of Chasidut as taught by the Baal Shem Tov, in turn based on the Kabbalistic works of Rabbi Isaac Luria (also known as the Arizal).

The first Rebbe of Strashelye was Rabbi Aharon HaLevi Horowitz, a student of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), the founder of the Chabad Chassidic school of thought.

As Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon was said to be incredibly charismatic. Stories related by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, claimed that some Chassidim of Rabbi Dovber went to visit Rabbi Aharon and were so taken by his charisma that they stayed despite their promises to the contrary.

While both Strashelye and Lubavitch consider Rabbi Shneur Zalman to have been the first rebbe of their respective schools, the former considered Rabbi Aharon HaLevi Horowitz to be his successor. The latter consider Rabbi Dovber Schneuri (the son of Rabbi Schneur Zalman) the second rebbe. Inasmuch as that is the case, the Strashelye branch of Chabad Chassidus began in 1812, when Rabbi Shneur Zalman died.

While both were good friends, Rabbi Dovber and Rabbi Aharon disagreed about the emphasis on, and correct method of, emotional expression in Chassidic prayer. According to Rabbi Dovber, the greatest service a Jew can perform in worship is to totally nullify himself before The Creator. Therefore, maintained Rabbi Dovber, a person's meditation can appear to be cold and emotionless on the exterior, where the prayer causes the person praying to feel oneself one with The Creator. To that end, Rabbi Dovber prayed with great D'veikus (cleaving), rather than with Hispaylus (excitement), where the one praying gets excited over the Creator but remains, in his own feeling and understanding, a separate entity and existence. Rabbi Dovber prayed while perfectly still, hardly moving. His outward countenance remained completely unaffected. It is important to note this mode of davening was something personal to him, as he was able to conceal his emotions, rather than something he recommended for everyone. When the Rebbe DovBer noticed that his chassidim (followers) thought that they should be devoid of any emotional appearance, he wrote a public letter stating that this is wrong. His disagreement with Rabbi Aharon was rather that he felt that there must be an understanding of Godliness and a cleaving, in other words that one's emotional feeling be a lasting one, not one that would evaporate after a short time.

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