The power of prayer for spiritual renewal and personal transformation is at the core of all religious traditions. Because Hasidic literature contains no systematic manual of contemplative prayer, the texts included in this volume have been culled from many sources. From the teachings of the Hasidic Masters-the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid Dov Baer of Meidzyrzec, and their immediate disciples-the editors have gleaned "hints as to the various rungs of inner prayer and how they are attained." Hasidism, the Jewish revivalist movement that began in the late eighteenth century, saw prayer as being at the heart of religious experience and was particularly concerned with the nature of a person's relationship with God. The obstacles to prayer discussed by the Hasidic masters-distraction, loss of spirituality, and inconstancy of purpose-feel very close to concerns of our own age. Through advice, parables, and explanations, the Hasidic masters of the past speak to our own attempts to find meaning in prayer.
Your Word Is Fire
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From Scientific American
Opens up some of the more accessible realms of the Jewish inner life.
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Text: English (translation)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I first read this volume in college, well over 20 years ago, and I was pleased to see it back in print, and in an attractive new format with a useful introduction. Most people think of Hasidim as ultra-Orthodox, incredibly strict people who wear funny old fashioned clothes and have bushy beards. This volume reveals to the general reader the ecstatic and contemplative nature of the devotional practices of the early Hasidic masters. The content of the book is gleaned from a number of volumes of "theoretical Hasidism" (to use Gershom Scholem's phrase), all of which are highly inaccessible to anyone not well versed in Hebrew and Yiddish, Bible, Midrash, Talmud and Kabbalah. While perhaps a deep understanding is not available to we other folk, this volume is a portal into a powerful world of mystical attachment to a very personal Lord of the Universe.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By benjamin
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful, wonderful reader in Hasidic perspectives on prayer. The book blossoms with deep insights into the spiritual dynamic between God and humans. Please consider the following:
"A father has a young child whom he greatly loves. Even though the child has hardly learned to speak, his father takes pleasure in listening to his words." (p. 102)
There is something both bold and humbling about and such a perspective on prayer. God is not only King, but Father as well. The Infinite One is both large and small, far and near.
Many of the different dynamics of prayer are explored in this work, each in its own section, and everything is referenced at the end of the book. The book opens with an academic essay that provides a good context for the Hasidic exploration of the vast sea of prayer, the experience of union with the Divine Presence (p. 80). As with most readers, any background knowledge of Hasidism is helpful, but at the same time not necessary to have in order to be touched by the wisdom of these mystics.
I think, though, that this book needs to be approached as an open door to the myster of prayer. Rather than just being read, it should be tested: to approach God as a child who is unable to speak is a humbling thing. To persist, nonetheless, and draw close to God as God draws us and pulls us close is to experience God's love. The reader of this book will have some far reaching light as s/he travels and progresses down the path of such prayer.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Ron Rogers
Format:Paperback
The authors have managed to create in this small volume a source book of meditation. The words of the Hasidic Masters have carefully been selected in such a way that each page is a meditation.
I have had this book in my library for many years,and return to it over an over again for comfort and wisdom.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
YOUR WORD IS FIRE.
re YOUR WORD is FIRE: Hasidic masters on Contemplative Prayer.
EASY to read and inspiring. Entries are a bit short, though.
EASY to read and inspiring. Entries are a bit short, though.
Published 4 months ago by Marthajoy Aft
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Work That Serves as a Gateway to Your Prayers
Words that are so simple, yet so profound: this illuminated text collected by Reb Green is often used as a simple yet direct means to prayer. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Amitai
5.0 out of 5 stars
MUST READ
Let me just say that if your reading this then buy this book now... fate has brought you here. Read this book over and over and be enriched and renewed angain and again---connected... Read more
Published on April 4, 2007 by WKT
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prayer as the service of God
In their introduction to this volume the authors distinguish between the prayer of the practicioneers of Lurianic Kabbalah and the prayer of the Hasidic masters featured here. Read more
Published on February 9, 2005 by Shalom Freedman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Your Word is Fire - Is A Spiritural Retreat
The Authors have managed to create in this small volume a source book of meditation. The words of the Hasidic Masters have carefully been selected in such a way that each page is a... Read more
Published on November 15, 2003 by Ron Rogers
