zaddik

"Reb Mendel is a zaddik, that is to say a holy man, like a saint."

Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet Kemelman, Harry 1976

Although Miriam, the sister of Rabbi Samuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg (1726 – 1778), is mentioned by name and called “the zaddeket,” all anyone wanted of her was that she tell stories about her brother the zaddik.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

In another instance, the story reveals two completely different relationships that the zaddik has with his two wives.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

The clever wordplays attributed to her would have made any Talmud student or zaddik proud.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

Here, too, the woman has no status of her own but exists between the blessing and prophecy of one zaddik and the birth of another.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

Hasidim streamed to her as they did when her husband, the holy rabbi and zaddik, was alive.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

The famed female zaddik, the Maid of Ludomir, Hannah Rachel Werbermacher (1805 – 1892), who came to Erez Israel in the second half of the nineteenth century, was one of the more remarkable immigrants.

Old Yishuv: Palestine at the End of the Ottoman Period. 2009

The agunot seem to constitute the largest group of women who themselves come to the zaddik to ask for help.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

Women who ask for the help of a zaddik are usually childless, have difficulty giving birth, seek salvation from the zaddik through their husbands, or are agunot.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009

They are not referred to by name or by any identifying detail, but exist solely in order to convey the power and greatness of the zaddik.

Hasidic Hebrew Fiction: Portrayal of Women. 2009