The Path of the Just/Mesillat Yesharim [Hardcover]

Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (Author), Shraga Silverstein (Translator)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Feldheim Pub (June 1993)
• Language: English, Hebrew
• ISBN-10: 0873062396
• ISBN-13: 978-0873062398
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,305,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Masterpiece, October 7, 2008

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TiZ - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Path of the Just/Mesillat Yesharim (Hardcover)

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto composed some of the most beautiful and profound poetry and plays in the Hebrew language. He also composed some of the most systematic expositions of Jewish theology and mysticism, besides for works on logic and Talmud. "The Path of the Just" combines his elegance, clarity and profundity, and is the most sublime ethical treatise ever written.
The book is a commentary on a famous teaching of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, who explains how one virtue can lead to another. The virtues include watchfulness, zeal, cleanliness, separation, purity, saintliness, humility, fear of sin and holiness. Luzzatto carefully explains what each of these virtues involves, and how they may be acquired.
This Feldheim edition includes the pointed Hebrew text alongside an English translation by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, and an extensive Hebrew index of scriptural and rabbinic references. The translation by Silverstein is excellent, and begins to capture the beauty of the original. There is another Feldheim edition that includes the Hebrew text alongside a translation by Rabbi Yosef Leibler, as well as helpful shoulder-captions and a study schedule.
There is also a new edition by the Ofeq Institute, "The Complete Mesillat Yesharim". This includes both the thematic version and the recently discovered dialogue version in Hebrew and English translation, along with extensive and scholarly commentary. However, it is less portable than the Feldheim editions.
"The Path of the Just" is required reading for anyone interested in Jewish ethics. All of these editions are excellent, and which is preferred will depend upon the reader's needs and taste.