Chabad

https://www.idi.org.il/books/17580
היהדות החרדית הולכת וכובשת לעצמה מקום ונוכחות בחברה הישראלית. מקהילה קטנה שנתפסה
ככת ורק מעטים התעניינו בה היא נהייתה אחת הקהילות המסוקרות והמסקרנות ביותר בארץ. ההצדקות לכך ברורות: קצב הגידול של הקבוצה מדהים; השונות שבין אורחות חייה ובין המקובל על הרוב הישראלי גדולה ביותר; ההשפעה שלה על המרחב הציבורי ועל הפוליטיקה הישראלית בולטת מאוד; ומערכת היחסים שבינה ובין הרוב הישראלי הלא חרדי מתאפיינת אפוא בקשיים ניכרים. ואולם בתוך מבול החומרים האקטואליים מחבר ספר זה מבקש להציג את העולם החרדי בחתכי רוחב ועומק. הוא מציג את ״מפת״ היהדות החרדית לסיעותיה השונות — חסידים, ליטאים וספרדים - ועוסק ביחסה של החברה החרדית לסוגיות רעיוניות מרכזיות הנוגעות לחיי כולנו: למדינה, לדמוקרטיה הישראלית ולגיוס לצבא. בכל אחד מן הפרקים הוא סוקר בקצרה את שורשיה ההיסטוריים של הקהילה הנדונה ומגיע עד ימינו, תוך כדי הבחנה בין הגוונים השונים שיש בתוך היהדות החרדית עצמה בעניינים שונים.

הספר כתוב מתוך גישה ביקורתית — אך מכבדת. המחבר מבקש לשלול את דימוי החרדים כגוש אחיד וסגור ולהראות שיש בו גוונים ואף מצביע על הגורמים השונים שמתוכם נוצרו גוונים אלה, בין הרוחניים ובין הארציים. המחבר מבסס את טענותיו על נתונים ועל מחקרים מעמיקים, ועם זאת ספרו מנוסח בשפה קולחת ושווה לכל נפש, שאינה מחייבת את קוראיו בידע מחקרי קודם. הוא מבקש לתת תמונה מקיפה, יסודית ומועילה.

לעמוד הספר באתר הוצאת עם עובד:
http://www.am-oved.co.il/%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9A_%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%99%D7%AA

לגירסה דיגיטלית ללא תשלום באתר המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה:
https://www.idi.org.il/books/17580

The Rebbe once told a story1 of the Rebbe Maharash taking his son on a tour of the heavenly realms.  Among the “sights” they saw was a chossid sitting in a brightly lit heavenly chamber with his eyes closed.  The great light in his chamber was generated by the many chapters of Tanya this chossid had learned b’al peh. But, despite all that light, his eyes were closed: he lacked understanding.  The lesson for us, explains the Rebbe, is that we need to open our eyes; not just to repeat b’al peh, but to understand what we are talking about.

We find many instances where the Rebbe declares that  the histalkus of the Previous Rebbe on Yud Shevat 5710 is only a test — in truth, nothing has changed.  To quote the gemara, “Yaakov Avinu did not die” (even though the Torah itself testifies to his embalming and burial) and “hu bachayim”—he is alive. “Just as his children are alive, so, too, he is alive.”

What about those who attempt to offer gentle interpretations that Previous Rebbe left  us a legacy and “it is as if he is alive”?  The Rebbe rejects them as trying to cool things off when the fact is: He is alive! He merely exchanged his garments.2

Sixty five years ago, the Rebbe instructed that one who questions the claim that the Moshe of the generation did not die, he was to be answered with the response: “When you grow up you’ll understand”3—because, in truth, the chossid making the claim didn’t understand this himself!  But now, after 40 years of the Rebbe’s teaching, we now have “eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to know”—the time has come to open our eyes and understand.

The Rebbe’s directive is that the “straight path” to opening our eyes to the Geulah lies in learning about Moshiach and Geulah.  The goal of this booklet is to present the explanations of Torah (in particular, pnimiyus Hatorah) to assist in “opening our eyes” to understand how Yaakov Avinu, Rabbeinu Hakadosh and the Previous Rebbe are in fact alive, and also Moshe Rabbeinu—the first redeemer—when he ascended Har Sinai, and also to Moshiach—the final redeemer—who remains “chai v’kayam” during the period of concealment which follows his initial revelation.

1) Sicha, parshas Mishpatim, 5714.

2) Sicha of Yud Shevat, 5726.

3) Sicha of Leil Simchas Torah, 5711.,  ch. 2.

This essay traces R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi's use of Rambam's (Maimonides) complex and contradictory Doctrine of Divine Cognition, a concept originally sourced in Aristotle. In his classic formulation of the Doctrine Rambam paradoxically writes that although Divine Cognition appears to be a complex intradivine process, in fact, "all is one" meaning, cognition adds no complexity to the Divine. As we trace R. Shneur Zalman's use of the Doctrine, we see it re-read to ground myth and mysticism, ultimately supporting the assertion that "all is One" the metaphysical claim that only One substance exists. Rambam's doctrine becomes a linchpin for R. Shneur Zalman's monism-and many of his most central doctrines.

"Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), ed. Jonatan Meir, Three volumes, Mosad Bialik, Jerusalem

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.


The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.


Contents

Volume 1  - Critical Edition

Concerning this edition
Key personalities
Sefer Megale Temirin – Critical Edition


Volume 2 - Appendixes:
1. Glossary, Abbreviations, Acronyms
2. Explanation of the Speaking Names
3. Perl’s Hasidic Sources
4. Manuscripts of Sefer Megale Temirin
5. Yiddish Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin
Bibliographic Abbreviations

-------------------------------
Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl Blog, http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/

Following the passing of Arizal the import of the tzimtzum narrative became a matter of disagreement among the Mediterranean kabbalists, and later became a seminal bone of contention in the explosive confrontation between Chassidim and Mitnagdim in the latter half of the 18th century.

I am posting the Preface from our forthcoming book: "The Shpoler Zeida -- The Life Legends and Descendants of the Grandfather of Shpola."  We invite all interested readers, especially descendants of the Shpoler Zeida, to contact us with any questions that you might have about the Shpoler Zeida's family tree, or about the book itself.

הדרגות השונות של אינסוף  במתמטיקה המודרנית שופכות אור על העיסוק החב"די באינסוף - הן במה שנאמר בעיון החב"די על האינסוף הא-לוהי, והן במה שלא נאמר ואף נשלל מן האינסוף המתמטי או הממשי.

נציג בקצרה את החידוש העיוני שהמחשבה על אינסוף מספרי במתמטיקה המודרנית  (והקשרים אל העולם של האינסוף המיסטי, שעיון זה פתוך בו לכל עומקו) מכניס בהתבוננות החב"דית באינסוף. הנופך הכמעט מתמטי-לוגי לעיון באינסוף הא-לוהי של חב"ד, בעיני המתבונן המכיר את החקירה בדרגות האינסוף של המתמטיקה מועשר בצורה משמעותית. בבדיקת העיון באינסוף המספרי במשנת חב"ד לאור התובנות של האינסופיות המספרית, נחשפת הכפילות הבסיסית של העיסוק באינסוף המספרי והמיסטי: מצד אחד אימוץ עמוק של תובנת הרצף והאינסוף הלא-ניתן-להימנות, ומצד שני הדחיה של מציאות אינסופית בפועל ממש בעלמא הדין.

The original title of this my article, which is published now in 'Moreshet Yisrael', was "Specail Providence on Animals: Innovation of the Ba'al-Sham-Tov Or of Jesus Christ?". This title was changed by the editor into the vague title "Special Providence over Animals: A Comparison of Cultural Sources", In order not to offend the feelings of the Chsidim, who may, God forbid, be very offended if the title cries out what the article details and proves at length: the idea that God supervises animals individually, contrary to the position of Maimonides and all the great Jewish rationalists, is not an Innovation of the 'Baal Shem Tov', as the Hasidim confidently claim, but was expressed nearly two thousand years before him by another Jewish rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. The article discusses the absurd, how a Christian-Muslim-Karaite belief that was vehemently rejected by almost all Jewish authorities became the consensus in the Judaism of the modern era. You can read about the chain of events surrounding this article here: http://whatgodcannot.blogspot.com/2020/11/blog-post.html  And draw your conclusions regarding academic freedom and free academic writing in Israel in the twenty-first century.

L’article a pour sujet la personnalité extraordinaire du kabbaliste le Rabbin Levi Isaac Krakovsky (1891–1966), un des étudiants oubliés du Rabbin Yehuda Leib Ashlag (1885–1955). Krakovsky diffusait l’enseignement de son maître en Amérique en anglais, écrivait des douzaines de livres et essayait d’établir des yeshivot de Kabbalistes. Contrairement à son maître, il présentait un enseignement exotérique et une vision de diffusion de la Kabbale dans le monde entier. Son influence était minime, mais un de ses élèves était Shraga Philip Berg qui continuait son chemin et le complétait de plusieurs points de vue. L’article se base sur de riches matières archivales, parmi lesquelles de longues essays de l’auteur en manuscrit qui sont décrits ici pour la premiere fois. D’une telle façon, nous décrivons le dévelopment de la Kabbale en Amérique du début du vingtième siècle jusqu’ aujourd’hui.

L’article a pour sujet la personnalité extraordinaire du kabbaliste le Rabbin Levi Isaac Krakovsky (1891–1966), un des étudiants oubliés du Rabbin Yehuda Leib Ashlag (1885–1955). Krakovsky diffusait l’enseignement de son maître en Amérique en anglais, écrivait des douzaines de livres et essayait d’établir des yeshivot de Kabbalistes. Contrairement à son maître, il présentait un enseignement exotérique et une vision de diffusion de la Kabbale dans le monde entier. Son influence était minime, mais un de ses élèves était Shraga Philip Berg qui continuait son chemin et le complétait de plusieurs points de vue. L’article se base sur de riches matières archivales, parmi lesquelles de longues essays de l’auteur en manuscrit qui sont décrits ici pour la premiere fois. D’une telle façon, nous décrivons le dévelopment de la Kabbale en Amérique du début du vingtième siècle jusqu’ aujourd’hui.

This paper utilizes Elliot R. Wolfson's analysis of Menahem Mendel Schneerson's thought in order to explicate the conceptualization of melody in Habad thought. Specifically its relation to the meontological Infinite, time-consciousness, and postmessianic messianism.
Firstly by clarifying key texts from Habad masters regarding melody showing that it is to be identified with the most transcendental strata of being and even with the Infinite itself. Following this the paper deals at length and in depth with the melody called 'Nigun Shamil' introduced by Schneerson in 1958 on Simhat Torah. Through contextualizing this melody in its surrounding teachings we are able to perceive how the linear-circular nature of melodic time interacts with a melody focused around exile and redemption and the performative function of melody.

This article begins by examining the themes of “hypernomianism,” “popularization,” and “subjectivity” in relation to early Hasidic minhag in order to better examine their reoccurrence—albeit in different forms and in the context of a different historical era—as salient elements in the new theorizations developed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. These themes, I argue, are manifest in his use of minhag as a hypernomian catalyst to enhance, expand and fortify nomian engagement and participation.

Part 1 - The Hypernomian Character of Minhag in Hasidism / Part 2 - Minhag and the Reshaping of Jewish Practice in the Post-War Era / Part 3 - Minhag and the Expansion of Women’s Participation in Nomian Practice / Part 4 - Nomos and Subjectivity in Ramash’s Harmonization of Halakhah and Minhag

These lectures will present a broad view of the history of Habad Hasidism, from its origins in the latter half of the eighteenth century to its most visible manifestations in the twentieth century. In a challenge to commonly-held views, the lectures will uncover the dynamic nature of Habad and the changes the group has undergone in three key areas: its sense of mission, literary activities, and messianism. In doing, so the lectures will address the dominant trends of internal Habad literature, as well as those of modern scholarship. ||

First Lecture: The Struggles of R. Shneur Zalman of Liady and the Formation of Habad Hasidism ||  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMufZR6agsU  ||

Second Lecture: Habad in the Nineteenth Century: Haskalah, Politics, and Orthodoxy. ||  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXAE8TjODk8  ||

Third Lecture: Habad in the Twentieth Century: Romanticism, Messianism, and Mission ||  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXUR2UxvZ3A  ||

שלוש הרצאות על חסידות חב"ד | ההרצאות יציגו תמונה רחבה של תולדות חסידות חב"ד, מראשיתה במחצית השנייה של המאה השמונה עשרה ועד לגילוייה המוחצנים במאה העשרים. בניגוד לתמונה המקובלת נעמוד על הדינמיות שבחסידות זו ועל השינויים שעברה בשלושה נושאים מרכזיים: תודעת השליחות, המעשה הספרותי והמשיחיות. בתוך כך ננסה לעמוד על מגמות מרכזיות בספרות חב"ד ובמחקר המודרני

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov tarafından yazılmış olan "Key to Kabbalah - Discovering Jewish Mysticism" kitabı Türkçe'ye çevrildi.

Türkçe'ye Çeviren: Gökhan Duran

Kabala terimlerine giriş niteliğindeki bu eserin, ilgilenenler için faydalı olmasını umuyorum.

The chapter looks into the religious-Zionist criticism of rabbi Ginzburg, asking why he is ostracized by mainstream religious-Zionists while other radicals are not. I argue that religious-Zionists use him as a scapegoat, in order to not take responsibility on the violent fringes of their own community. This scapegoating is enabled (and justified) by Ginzburg's affiliation with Chabad and the idiosyncratic mystical theology he presents, which sometimes stands in contrary to the mainstream Kookist dogma.

A late Habad text attributed to Rabbi Yosef Yitshak Schneerson speaks of the Maskilim in the following way: "All the Maskilic writers, their students, and their students' students take every chance to disparage the honor of Hasidism and its princes (that is, Habad) and to belittle the value of their service to the ethical and financial good of the Jewish people."  Even though some Maskilim did see Habad as a particularly dangerous form of Hasidism, it is hard to accept the impression left by Habad historiography that the Maskilim saw only the negative elements of Habad -- in fact they presented the group in a decidedly and uniquely positive light -- even if their own motives in doing so were clear. The portrayal of Habad in Maskilic literature is important on three counts: first, because these images commanded a central place within the self-consciousness of Maskilim over different periods; second, because the Hasidic movement itself adopted certain elements of those Maskilic portrayals; and third, because these portrayals influenced -- and continue to influence -- scholarly understandings of Hasidism. The Article presents a few of those images who frequently appear throughout the nineteenth century.

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.

The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Contents


Introduction                                                                                     
Scholarship on the anti-Hasidic writings of Josef Perl • Hasidic hagiography and the emergence of satire • Two-fold reading of Perl’s writings and the gematriyot • Satire, literature, and history • ‘Holy Books’ and subversive books

Chapter 1: Josef Perl, Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, and the ‘Holy Books’
Prayer of the fall of Hasidism and the expungement of their books • Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht and the critique of hagiography • Sefer Sipurey Ma‘asiyot and the parodic response to it • Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, ‘heretical books’ and the ‘Holy Books’ • In praise of the true Tsaddikim • ‘Laughter of the heretics’: testimonies about the polemics against Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • ‘Holy Books’, ‘sacredness of hagiography’, and parodies of hagiography • Appendix: Parodic manuscript about an opponent of the ‘Holy Books’ who was reborn as a horse

Chapter 2: Speaking Names in Sefer Megale Temirin                             
Time of the composition of Megale Temirin, censorship, and a note on the Buch • Hasidic books and the emergence of parody • Structure of Sefer Megale Temirin • The Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin • Main Hasidic courts • The court in Żołyń (Łożne) and the peregrinations of the Buch • The court of Dishpal (Międzyboż), moneyboxes of the Besht, the holy relics • The court in Aklo (Olika) and the ritualized reading of Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • Function of the footnotes and the parodic hagiography • History of the rabbis – clandestine opponents of Hasidism • The Besht in Tarnopol • Rabbi Meir Jacob of Zasław and the letters from Galicja  • Zaddikim in Galicja • Ciphered stories • ‘Holy Places’: reincarnations of a praise from Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • The revelation of the Buch and the death of the secretary • ‘Gang of criminals’: another death and an escape to the Land of Israel • The End: Ovadia Ben Petahia and the rabbi of Opatów

Chapter 3: Joseph Perl, Hirsh of Zydaczów, and the Polemics of Gematriyot
Reb Zevi Hirsh of Zydaczów and Hasidism in Galicja • Maskilic opposition to the Zydaczówer • Letters concealed in Sefer Megale Temirin • A manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Books, education, and a note on Reb Nathan of Nemirov • Zydaczówer’s ban on the Maskilim and the first Gematria • Parodic letter of Perl and the second Gematria • About the parodic letter and the jumble of gematriyot • Denunciation and expulsions of R Zevi Hirsh • ‘Father of impurity’: Joseph Perl and the writings of the rabbi of Komarno • Final note • Appendix: Parodic letter against the Zydaczówer

Chapter 4: Speaking Names in the Book of Sefer Bohen Zaddik               
The manuscript of Sefer Bohen Zaddik and the difficulties with its publication • Structure of the book • In search for the true Zaddik and the rabbi of Opatów • Travels of Ovadia Ben Petahia between the towns of Galicja • Kromcza Ruska (Zaleszczyki) or the entrance to Galicja • ‘Briks’ (Tarnopol): Rabbi Jehoshua Heschel Babad and the school • ‘Bicik’ (Lemberg) Rabbi Jacob Orenstein and a ban on the Maskilim • ‘Abdera’ (Brody) Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margaliot and Sefer ha-Zoref • The explanation of the names of the rabbis • Utopia and dystopia • The hidden butcher and his kabbalistic writings • The discovery of the colonies • The image of the disciples of the Gaon and the ‘true Hasid’ • ‘The solution for the East’ or heterotopia •  The will to flee and the emissary

Chapter 5: The Imaginary Influence of Sefer Megale Temirin                     
The myth about the success of the book • Pamphlet Megale Sod • The manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Dialogues about Sefer Megale Temirin • For whom Sefer Megale Temirin was intended and who read it • Note concerning Sefer Megale Temirin in Yiddish • Influence real and imagined • Was Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht written by a parodist? • Temerl Bergson and Sefer Megale Temirin • Writ of defense of Hasidism • Sefer Megale Temirin and the Hebrew literature • Appendix: writ of defense of Joseph Judah Lob Sossnitz

Afterword: Note on the Anti-Hasidic Outlook                                       

Bibliographic Abbreviations   

Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/
(9) Ariel Evan Mayse, 'Review', Jewish History (2015)ת  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10835-015-9245-2
(10) Review - Gal-Ed

​ Yiddish has always been the oracular mainstay of Chabad's intellectual and spiritual trajectory. Initially it was simply the vernacular of the Jews in Eastern Europe, and its use, even in Hasidic publications, merely reflected its utility as a linguistic medium for the dissemination of Hasidic teachings. From the mid-nineteenth century, however, Yiddish became a contested language, an ideological and cultural battleground. In response to the linguistic interventions proposed by proponents of Haskalah and Zionism, Yiddish became subject to broader ideological considerations for Chabad's leaders. By the 1920s, processes of urbanization and migration had dramatically changed the linguistic environment in which Chabad sought to perpetuate its teachings, and the use of Yiddish began to be seen as a link to the past, but also as a gateway for the translation of Hasidic teachings into other languages, an initiative in which women played important roles. In this period, Yiddish also began to be framed as a linguistic bridge between alienation and intimacy, reflecting the classical Chabad concern with the sacralization of the self and the world. In the post-Holocaust era, the movement's seventh Rebbe enfolded earlier Chabad conceptions of Yiddish within a fuller theorization, drawing on the classical Hasidic doctrine of divine immanence to recast Yiddish as the language of redemption, a language whose true significance must ultimately transcend the particularity of any Jewish language, and resonate in every language.

In this paper Shachter-Shalomi's thought is analyzed regarding his views on prayer in the coming "messianic" age. In order to do so we must understand his conception of the divine and human and his views regarding regarding Jewish and non-Jewish meditation. Following this path we judge his innovation of "socialized meditation" and if it fulfills the needs of the reality map of the Age of Aquarius. Surprisingly along the way we encounter that Menahem Mendel Schneerson and Schachter-Shalomi may have seen eye to eye (or I-Thou) on his innovations as appropriate forms  of Jewish mediation.

This essay argues that programs for the “repair of the world” (tikkun olam) are often marked by arrogance, overzealousness, and injustice. I consider the biblical interpretations of Meir Kahane and Yitzchak Ginsburgh and point to the need to acknowledge our human limitations as we develop our visions for tikkun olam.  Part of what this essay suggests is that figures like Kahane and Ginsburgh participate in the musar tradition through their arguments about the nature and application of various virtues and vices.  The improvement of the musar tradition, I think, requires guarding against the sorts of moral and intellectual errors that are exemplified in their teachings.

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/eweChYipJ6YRQASJvcgb/full

The portrait of Shneur Zalman of Liady is one of the most popular images in modern Jewish iconography. Published at the end of the nineteenth century, the portrait has quickly gained popularity both within and without the Chabad community. However, unlike the religious audience, which reveres the portrait as a faithful representation of the founder of Chabad, the secular, academic audience rejects it as fraudulent, together with all the supporting evidence provided by Chabad. This article revisits the history of the portrait’s creation and publication, paying particular attention to Russian documentation produced by Chabad in the 1930s, which has so far been entirely ignored by the scholarship. It identifies the portrait’s alleged painter and owner as well as other characters mentioned in these documents, with the aim of verifying Chabad’s version of events. Although this article does not answer conclusively whether the portrait is authentic or not, it proffers corroborating evidence for the Chabad point of view, and briefly discusses future research possibilities for the topic. Furthermore, the article considers the ways in which the leadership of Chabad used the history of the portrait to consolidate the movement and discusses the challenges that Chabad partisan historiography poses for the academic study of Hasidism.