ed during a decade of savage Cossack progroms." Despite the renewed enthusiasm it engendered, it also found strong opposition, namely from the misnagdim. For the misnagdim, study figures as the supreme religious act. This is not so for the Hasidim. The teachings of the Besht place an emphasis on the doing of mitzvahs. The literal translation of this Hebrew word is "commandment" but when used commonly "mitzvah" refers to any virtuous deed. The Talmud-studying community considered the Baal Shem Tov outrageous and heretical. However, this did not appear to bother the Besht over-much as he "...derided the learned Talmudists, branding them sterile pedants who "through sheer study of the Law have no time to think about God."" Despite the opposition the Hasidim grew to include approximately 10,000 Jews.
             After the death of the Baal Shem Tov in 1760, Rabbi Dov Baer took over as the leader of the Hasidim. It was during his leadership that the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov were organized into a set doctrine. Hasidim membership grew during this period, causing Jewish authorities to grow concerned and subsequently to impose a ban on Hasidim. Nevertheless, Hasidism continued to thrive in Europe until the rise of the third Reich. It was after the devastation of the Holocaust that the Hasidim immigrated to the United States. The decision to leave Europ
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