distinctive folk literature of Hasidism, a populist canon, and in this form they still flourish, in Hebrew and Yiddish, in America, Israel and Europe. That they often resemble the narrative, aggadic passages of the Mishnah and the Talmud, rather than the abstract metaphysical speculations of hard-core Kabbalah, is not a coincidence. Whether by luck, instinct or calculation, Hasidic literature made itself earthy as well as heavenly; comforting rather than bullyingly didactic. It winked an eye rather than wagged a finger. And even when it turned to a more teacherly manner, the most artful of the
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