Editing Hasidic Judaism (section)

==Organization and demographics==
{{Main|List of Hasidic dynasties}}
The various Hasidic groups may be categorized along several parameters, including their geographical origin, their proclivity for certain teachings, and their political stance. These attributes are quite often, but by no means always, correlated, and there are many instances when a "court" espouses a unique combination.<ref name="DAS"/><ref>Dynner, pp. 29–30.</ref> Thus, while most dynasties from the former [[Kingdom of Hungary|Greater Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]] are inclined to extreme conservatism and [[anti-Zionism]], Rebbe [[Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam]] led the [[Sanz-Klausenburg]] sect in a more open and mild direction;<ref>Benjamin Brown, [https://www.academia.edu/14979968 היהדות החרדית והמדינה], in: '''כשיהדות פוגשת מדינה''', Israeli Democracy Institute, 2015. pp. 234–236.</ref> and though Hasidim from Lithuania and Belarus are popularly perceived as prone to intellectualism, David Assaf noted this notion is derived more from their [[Misnagdim|Litvak]] surroundings than their actual philosophies.<ref name="DAS">David Assaf, [https://www.academia.edu/11968450/ חסידות פולין" או "החסידות בפולין": לבעיית הגיאוגרפיה החסידית'], in: '''גלעד: מאסף לתולדות יהדות פולין'''.</ref>
Apart from those, each "court" often possesses its unique customs, including style of prayer, melodies, particular items of clothing, and the like.

On the political scale, "courts" are mainly divided on their relations to [[Zionism]]. The right-wing, identified with [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar]], are hostile to the [[State of Israel]], and refuse to participate in the elections there or receive any state funding. They are mainly affiliated with the [[Edah HaChareidis]] and the [[Central Rabbinical Congress]]. The great majority belong to ''Agudas Israel'', represented in Israel by the [[United Torah Judaism]] party. Its [[Council of Torah Sages]] now includes a dozen Rebbes. In the past, there were Religious Zionist Rebbes, mainly of the Ruzhin line, but there are virtually none today.<ref>Brown, היהדות החרדית והמדינה. pp. 1–14, etc.</ref>

In 2016, a study conducted by [[Marcin Wodziński]], drawing from the courts' own internal phone-books and other resources, located 129,211 Hasidic households worldwide, about 5% of the estimated total Jewish population. Of those, 62,062 resided in Israel and 53,485 in the United States, 5,519 in Britain and 3,392 in Canada. In Israel, the largest Hasidic concentrations are in the Haredi neighbourhoods of [[Jerusalem]] – including [[Ramot Alon]], [[Batei Ungarin]], et cetera – in the cities of [[Bnei Brak]] and [[El'ad]], and in the [[West Bank settlement]]s of [[Modi'in Illit]] and [[Beitar Illit]]. There is considerable presence in other specifically Orthodox municipalities or enclaves, like [[Kiryat Sanz, Netanya]]. In the United States, most Hasidim reside in New York, though there are small communities across the entire country. [[Brooklyn]], particularly the neighborhoods of [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]], [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]], and [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], has an especially large population. Another large population resides in the hamlet of [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]] in the [[Hudson Valley]] region of New York; in the same region, [[New Square]] and [[Kiryas Joel]] are rapidly growing all-Hasidic enclaves, one founded by the [[Skver]] dynasty and the other by Satmar. In Britain, [[Stamford Hill]] is home to the largest Hasidic community in the country, and there are others in London and Manchester. In Canada, [[Kiryas Tosh]] is a settlement populated entirely by [[Tosh (Hasidic dynasty)|Tosh]] Hasidim, and there are more adherents of other sects in, and around, Montreal.<ref name="Wodz">All numbers are from: Marcin Wodziński, ''Historical Atlas of Hasidism'', Princeton University Press, 2018. pp. 192–205.</ref>

There are more than a dozen Hasidic dynasties with a large following, and over a hundred which have small or minuscule adherence, sometimes below twenty people, with the presumptive Rebbe holding the title more as a matter of prestige. Many "courts" became completely extinct during the [[Holocaust]], like the [[Aleksander (Hasidic dynasty)]] from [[Aleksandrów Łódzki]], which numbered tens of thousands in 1939, and barely exists today.<ref>Jacques Gutwirth, The Rebirth of Hasidism: From 1945 to the Present Day, Odile Jacob, 2004. pp. 106–108.</ref>

The largest sect in the world, with some 26,000 member households, which constitute 20% of all Hasidim, is Satmar, founded in 1905 in the namesake city in Hungary and based in [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn]], and [[Kiryas Joel]]. Satmar is known for its extreme conservatism and opposition to both ''[[World Agudath Israel|Agudas Israel]]'' and [[Zionism]], inspired by the legacy of Hungarian Haredi Judaism. The sect underwent a schism in 2006, and two competing factions emerged, led by rival brothers [[Aaron Teitelbaum]] and [[Zalman Leib Teitelbaum|Zalman Teitelbaum]]. The second-largest "court" worldwide, with some 11,600 households (or 9% of all Hasidism), is [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]], established in 1859 at [[Góra Kalwaria]], near [[Warsaw]]. For decades, it was the dominant power in ''Agudas'', and espoused a moderate line toward Zionism and modern culture. Its origins lay in the rationalist [[Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz|Przysucha School]] of [[Congress Poland|Central Poland]]. The current Rebbe is [[Yaakov Aryeh Alter]]. The third-largest dynasty is [[Vizhnitz]], a charismatic sect founded in 1854 at [[Vyzhnytsia]], [[Bukovina]]. A moderate group involved in Israeli politics, it is split into several branches, which maintain cordial relations. The main partition is between Vizhnitz-Israel and Vizhnitz-Monsey, headed respectively by Rebbes Israel Hager and the eight sons of the late Rebbe Mordecai Hager. In total, all Vizhnitz sub-"courts" constitute over 10,500 households. The fourth major dynasty, with some 7,000 households, is [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)|Belz]], established 1817 in namesake [[Belz]], north of [[Lviv]]. An [[Eastern Galicia]]n dynasty drawing both from the [[Seer of Lublin]]'s charismatic-populist style and "rabbinic" Hasidism, it espoused hard-line positions, but broke off from the [[Edah HaChareidis]] and joined ''Agudas'' in 1979. Belz is led by Rebbe [[Yissachar Dov Rokeach (fifth Belzer rebbe)|Yissachar Dov Rokeach]].<ref name="Wodz"/>

The [[Bobover]] dynasty, founded 1881 in [[Bobowa]], [[West Galicia]], constitutes some 4,500 households in total, and has undergone a bitter succession strife since 2005, eventually forming the "Bobov" (3,000 households) and "[[Bobov-45]]" (1,500 households) sects. [[Sanz-Klausenburg]], divided into a New York and Israeli branches, presides over 3,800 households. The [[Skver]] sect, established in 1848 in [[Skvyra]], near [[Kyiv]], constitutes 3,300. The [[Shomer Emunim]] dynasties, originating in Jerusalem during the 1920s and known for their unique style of dressing imitating that of the [[Old Yishuv]], have over 3,000 families, almost all in the larger "courts" of [[Toldos Aharon]] and [[Toldos Avraham Yitzchak]]. [[Karlin Stolin]], which rose already in the 1760s in a quarter of [[Pinsk]], encompasses 2,200 families.<ref name="Wodz"/>

There are two other populous Hasidic sub-groups, which do not function as classical Rebbe-headed "courts", but as de-centralized movements, retaining some of the characteristics of early Hasidism.<ref>Brown, היהדות החרדית והמדינה. p. 86.</ref> [[Breslov (Hasidic group)|Breslov]] rose under its charismatic leader [[Nachman of Breslov]] in the early 19th century. Critical of all other Rebbes, he forbade his followers to appoint a successor upon his death in 1810. His acolytes led small groups of adherents, persecuted by other Hasidim, and disseminated his teachings. The original philosophy of the sect elicited great interest among modern scholars, and that led many [[Baal teshuva movement|newcomers to Orthodox Judaism ("repentants")]] to join it. Numerous Breslov communities, each led by its own rabbis, now have thousands of full-fledged followers, and far more admirers and semi-committed supporters; Marcin Wodziński estimated that the fully committed population of Breslovers may be estimated at 7,000 households. [[Chabad-Lubavitch]], originating in the 1770s, did have hereditary leadership, but always stressed the importance of self-study, rather than reliance on the Righteous. Its seventh, and last, leader, [[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]], converted it into a vehicle for Jewish outreach. By his death in 1994, it had many more semi-engaged supporters than Hasidim in the strict sense, and they are still hard to distinguish. Chabad's own internal phone-books list some 16,800 member households.<ref name="Wodz"/> None succeeded Schneerson, and the group operates as a large network of communities with independent leaders.