Tag: Hasidut

Tanya's description of the Godly soul as a literal portion of divinity is an empowering notion for many spiritual seekers. It is also, however, inconsistent with longstanding Jewish theological doctrine regarding the unity of God. Elisha Price examines several possible interpretations of Tanya's words, placing them in a broader kabbalistic and rabbinic context, to suggest that Chabad's conception of the soul is both "rational and precedented."

The masters of hasidut and psychoanalysis both arrived at a counterintuitive understanding of human nature, according to which narcissism is a reflection of self-hate rather than self-love. Admiel Kosman traces this idea as it appears in the works of Erich Fromm, the Rebbe of Warka, and Martin Buber, focusing on the commandment to love one's neighbor as a behaviorist correction.

Poet Yehoshua November notices a defining characteristic of contemporary poetry—fixation on the ordinary. In light of Hasidic theology, November argues that appreciation for the holiness of the ordinary underlies Megillat Esther and the celebration of Purim.

Ben Frogel reviews a new volume that introduces thirty-five different Jewish approaches to virtue ethics and attempts to link them into one continuous tradition.

In his latest for Lehrhaus, Steven Gotlib considers Neo-Hasidism’s continued inroads into Orthodox thought and practice in his review of Contemporary Uses and Forms of Hasidut, the Orthodox Forum volume edited by Shlomo Zuckier.

Tamar Ron Marvin argues for the importance of recognizing a Jewish idea of Aliyat Ha-Dorot.

Natan Oliff explores the theological implications of teshuva in a world that is God’s prescripted story.

Eli Rubin presents a stirring passage from the Zohar, with the Lubavitcher Rebbe's commentary.

Yehuda Fogel comments on the nature of controversy and dispute through the eyes of R. Nahman of Bratslav

Ariel Evan Mayse considers the neo-Hasidic approaches of Shlomo Carlebach and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.