THE SPECIFICITY OF HASIDIC PRAYER PRACTICE

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The relevance of this study lies in the need to comprehend Hasidic prayer as a phenomenon of spiritual experience that unites mystical aspiration for direct communion with God and the sociocultural dynamics of religious community. The article analyzes prayer as the central form of Hasidic anthropology – a way of being in which inner joy, love, and humility serve as essential paths to the Divine. The author traces how Hasidic prayer embodies the ideal of "living faith," transcending the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, between theological reflection and everyday life, thereby shaping a unique model of religious humanism.

M e t h o d s . The study applies a combination of phenomenological, hermeneutic, and comparative approaches. It draws on G. Scholem's ideas concerning the inner dynamics of Jewish mysticism, M. Buber's concept of religious ecstasy as dialogical experience, and W. James's philosophy of religious experience. The social dimension of prayer is analyzed using approaches from the anthropology of religion (C. Geertz, M. Eliade, V. Yelensky), which interpret ritual as a locus of collective meaning. The Ukrainian context is explored through the works of O. Kyselov and S. Sahan on the history of Hasidism in Podillia, Galicia, and Volhynia.

R e s u l t s . The study shows that Hasidic prayer is not merely a religious duty but an ontological mode of existence in which the individual experiences the divine presence within the heart. Its essence is captured by the notion of devekut – spiritual cleaving to God – whereby the self transcends its boundaries and attains union with the Infinite. Hasidic prayer is marked by emotional expressiveness, the unity of body and spirit, and the use of music (nigun) as a means of inducing ecstatic concentration. The ritual of prayer embodies communal unity: the tzaddikfunctions as a spiritual center through whom the collective faith acquires cosmic significance. The research reveals that Hasidic prayer serves both as an act of personal transformation and as a form of social integration, overcoming individual isolation in the modern world.

C o n c l u s i o n s . It is concluded that Hasidic prayer represents a synthesis of joy, repentance, and spiritual freedom, in which ecstasy becomes a path of divine knowledge and community a space of living sacred presence. It transcends the dualism of spirit and matter, sacred and profane, affirming harmony between humanity and the world as the foundation of religious humanism. Prayer thus emerges as the heart of Hasidic spirituality – not as ritual or duty, but as a mode of being in which the "new human" is created. In this sense, Hasidic tradition retains enduring relevance in the age of secularization, offering the vision of holiness as life infused with love, communal unity, and inner light.