WHAT we know of the life of R. Naphtali Zevi Horowitz of Ropczyce is drawn mainly from collections of hasidic hagiography published many years after his death. These are: Devarim arevim (Munkacz, 1903-4); Eser tsaḥtsaḥot (Piotrkow, 1910); and Ohel Naftali (Lemberg, 1910). The hagiographicalliterature of hasidism-a large body of oral traditions committed to writing long after the events they describe-is highly problematic and its validity as historical source material has been frequently questioned, not least in connection with the figure of Israel Baal Shem Tov (the Besht), the founder of hasidism. Reports of his activities were circulating by word of mouth for several decades but they were not printed until 1814, some fifty-five years after his demise. No methodology for the exploitation of such source material has yet been proposed, and an examination, for example, of G. Scholem's classic biographical study of the Besht reveals that he utilized almost every possible exegetical instrument to extract historical information from Shivḥei haBesht. Although in the case of R. Naphtali of Ropczyce a much longer period had elapsed before his ‘life’ was committed to writing, we are fortunate in having at our disposal a number of contemporary or near-contemporary sources, including his own correspondence with his circle of associates (Imrei sheftr (Lemberg, 1874)). Furthermore, it is possible to cross-check the information contained in the hagiographical collection Ohel Naftali against other hagiographical works written in R. Naphtali's own times. D. Ehrman, who first gathered all this material between 1881 and 1903, presents a wide range of traditions and notes all his sources. Additional information is contained in the responsa volume entitled Derekh yivḥar (Munkacz, 1893) by Hayyim Bezalel Panet, where the redactor, Dov Friedman, also supplies his sources.

In general, my approach in utilizing these traditions has been to distinguish between didactic material, which offers virtually no insight into the historical reality of R. Naphtali, and such concrete historical details as do occasionally occur in the tales, furnishing the background against which the plots are developed. The historical details are usually incidental to the tales, and this, on the whole, lends them greater credibility, particularly as in many cases they can be verified by comparison with parallel sources.