R. MOSES HAYYIM EPHRAIM OF SUDYLKOW is one of the most important figures in the second generation of the hasidic movement. This is due in part to his family connections: he was the son of the Baal Shem Tov's daughter Edel, the brother of Baruch Jel)iel of Medzibezh, and the uncle of Nahman of Bratslav. 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 Po Ion no ye. 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 SIGNIFICANCE OF TORAH LISHMAH IN THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HASIDIM AND MITNAGGEDIM

The meaning of torah lishmah (study of Torah ‘for its own sake’ -without ulterior motives) occupies a place of prime importance in R. Moses Hayyim Ephraim's work. This can be understood in the context of the hasidic-mitnaggedic polemic of his time: one of the most bitterly contested points was the significance of the study of Torah, and the discussion of this controversy revolved critically around the concepts of torah lishmah and torah shelo lishmah.

R. Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudylkow states his position in a homily on the conflict between Sarah and Hagar in Gen. 16 that starts at Gen. 16:, ‘Go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her.’ Following R. Nahman of Horodenka, he interprets the conflict as an allegory addressing the question of how one is to proceed in the study of Torah and in divine worship. ‘Maid’ refers to the individual who studies or worships shelo lishmah (with ulterior motives); ‘it may be that I may obtain children by her’ comes to mean that even if he studies shelo lishmah, his study may prove to be productive. Sarah, who represents the Shekhinah, says: ‘it is possible that if in the beginning he learns from ulterior motives, he may come to learn for its own sake’ (mitokh shelo lishmah yavo lishmah).