Customer Reviews

Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of The Hasidic Masters

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Schacter has written a very accessible presentation of the main philosophies of Hasidim. Rather than focus on the outward behavior of present sects, religious practices, or current political and socioeconomic conditions of Hasidim, he returns to the roots of Hasidism and exposes them for the layman (bot Jew and Gentile) to view. Most telling is his presentation of the evolution of CHABAD philosophy, often overlooked and overshadowed by its current practitioners' behaviour, demeanor, and "in your face" presence.

Boldly, the author includes in his roster of Hasidic masters Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach - "modern" and non-Chasidic but acting as Rebbes to multitudes of Jews.

One can fault his lumping of Heschel and Buber together at the beginning of the book. Buber was a student and teacher of Hasidim; he explained it and made it somewhat accessible to the modern, Western world. Heschel was a Hasid; he was a Rebbe with a universal constituency. As a teacher, scholar, and social activist he brought his own Hasidut to the world.

Zalman Schacter- Shalomi presents in this book his own very personal view of Hasidism. He selects favorite texts, provides short biographies of figures who are personally of great importance to him. He provides one introduction which speaks in the language of what he calls, 'Jewish restoration' and another in which he speaks in the language of , the movement he himself is identified with, Jewish renewal.
He opens with a critique of the Hasidic approaches of Buber and Heschel who according to him do not go 'far enough' in their explorations. But Buber and Heschel each in his own way have a poetic power which makes their renderings and interpretations at a higher level of feeling, a deeper level of intensity, than his.
He knows Hasidism well , and he wishes to teach it not as a doctrine but as a practice as 'Hasidizing' In this work he provides translations of fundamental Hasidic texts, the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Pinhas of Koretz, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Reb Nahman of Bratzlav.
He also writes movingly of Hillel Zeilin and the Piaszetner. He gives a short biography of Shlomo Carlebach who was a longtime friend, and who started outreach work with him at college campuses the bequest of the Lubavitch Rebbe.
One of the most beautiful sections of the book is his telling of his friendship with Shlomo Carlebach of blessed memory. They met as boys of eleven . Zalman Schacter Shlomi tells of two parallel sacrifices made by Shlomo Carlebach. One is that he did not stay in Lakewood and become the heir of Rabbi Aharon Kotler because it was not enough for him to worry about his own spiritual development. After the Shoah ( the Holocaust) Reb Shlomo saw the Jewish world as destroyed and needed any kind of spiritual help it could get. So he went out to the world and gave it his all, though this meant in a certain way the loss of his own spiritual development. In a parallel way Reb Shlomo according to Reb Zalman was capable of much more complicated and higher music than that he gave the world. But he gave himself to writing the music which would reach others. The love of Zalman for his great friend is one of the most beautiful parts of this book.
This is a book very rich in ideas, insights, personal anecdotes and reflections.
A wonderful book and one especially so for Shabbat reading.

A wonderful book of teachings from Reb Zalman. Much of this material is clearly transcribed from tapes of classes. This turns out to be a very good thing as the reader can clearly "hear" Reb Zalman's voice as he discusses the material. Highly recommended!