Torah lishmah as a Central Concept in the Degel maḥaneh Efrayim of Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudylkow

This chapter focuses on R. Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudylkow, who is one of the most important figures in the second generation of the hasidic movement. This is due in part to his family connections. But an even more important factor in accounting for his status is the numerous passages in his collected teachings, the Degel maḥaneh Efrayim , where he reports statements in the name of such hasidic luminaries as the Baal Shem Tov, R. Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, R. Nahman of Horodenka, and the Maggid of Mezhirech, making him one of the most valuable sources of information on the hasidic doctrine at its earliest stages of development. The Degel maḥaneh Efrayim is also important for another reason, in that it provides an insight into R. Moses Hayyim Ephraim's own method of integrating into his sermons the main themes of hasidic revivalism. The chapter then considers the torah lishmah —study of Torah ‘for its own sake’, without ulterior motives—as a central concept in R. Moses Hayyim Ephraim's work. It also looks at the significance of torah lishmah in the controversy between hasidism and mitnaggedim.