ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that inherent to the Hasidic conception of life is the notion that man's participation in the cosmic ebb and flow of ratio vashov is expressed in his natural vacillations between mental states of katnut and qadlut. According to the "ascent through descent" conception, however, the descending phase of depressive katnut is seen as a functional and preparatory stage in the process of steady ebb and flow that leads one toward an ascending phase of manic joyful greatness. The chapter shows how the need to control transcendental inputs is met by the Hasidic practice of social-material joy and/or by the individual technique of ecstatic meditation. Social joy may therefore be conceived in terms of material activities geared to counteract the detrimental consequences resulting from past material deviance. The reflective interdependence between spiritual singing and dancing and the material body can be compared to the effect of a feather blanket on the human body.
