This groundbreaking volume invites readers into the transformative encounter between ancient wisdom and contemporary Jewish spiritual exploration. It features nineteen scholars and master educators who explore and interpret Hasidic homilies as vibrant sources of meaning, renewal, and ethical insight. Through close readings and thoughtful pedagogical reflections, they reveal how these texts, rooted in mystical depth and poetic imagination, can inspire modern seekers to navigate the complexities of today’s world. More than a collection of academic essays, this book offers a rare glimpse into the lived experience of teaching Hasidic homilies. It includes a programmatic introduction by Elie Holzer, outlining the innovative line of scholarship he leads, which aims to develop pedagogies for hermeneutical, spiritual, and existential transformation. The authors share their interpretive processes, classroom dilemmas, and the spiritual impact of these teachings on their students and themselves. For those passionate about Hasidic thought or the art of spiritually infused pedagogy, this volume is an indispensable resource, opening pathways to renewed Jewish spirituality and to a divine-centered life awareness, through the timeless voice of Hasidic masters.
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Renewed Hasidism and the Teaching of Hasidic Homilies
Elie Holzer
1. Hermeneutics and the Hasidic Homily:
A Spiritual Phenomenology of Appropriation
Michael Fishbane
R. Dov Ber of Mezeritsh (?–1772), Maggid Devarav le-Ya‘akov
2. Wading into Infinite Waters: Mediation in Theology, Pedagogy, and Revelation
Ariel Evan Mayse
R. Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chernobyl (1730–1787), Me’or Einayim
3. The Me’or Einayim: Social and Spiritual Activism—Does God Really Care?
Mimi Flam
4. Neo-Hasidic Pedagogy: Bringing Awareness and Middot out of Exile
Nancy Flam
5. Teaching Jewish Values from the Me’or Einayim
Avraham Yizhak (Arthur) Green
6. Neo-Hasidic Approach to Working with Middot
Jonathan Slater
7. “What Goes Down, Must Come Up”: The Me’or Einayim on Spiritual Progress
Dena Weiss
R. Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717–1787), Noam Elimelekh
8. Learning from the Noam Elimelekh with Rabbinical Students
Ebn Leader
R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740–1809), Kedushat Levi
9. Moses at Meribah: Teaching a Hasidic Homily on Leadership in an Interreligious Context
Or Rose
R. Moshe Chayim Efrayim of Sudilkov (1748–1800), Sefer Degel Maḥaneh Efrayim
10. Torah from the Mountain, Torah from the Well: A Road Map for Standing at Sinai Today through Mindfulness Practice
Sam Feinsmith
11. Mystical Consciousness and Homiletical Method in Sefer Degel Maḥaneh Efrayim: Critical Hermeneutics, Theology, and Neo-Hasidic Pedagogy
Eitan P. Fishbane
R. Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica (1801–1854), Mei Hashiloach
12. Facing the Holy One
Ora Wiskind
R. Ya’akov Leiner (1839–1854), Beit Ya’akov
13. Mount Sinai. From Light to Darkness and Back Again: A Contemporary Reading of R. Ya’akov Leiner’s Beit Ya’akov, Parshat Mishpatim
Batya Hefter
R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (1889–1943), Bnei Machshava Tova and Derekh ha-Melekh
14. From My Flesh I Will See God: Embodied Learning and Spiritual Practice as a Transformative Pedagogy of Hasidic Texts
James Moshe Jacobson-Maisels
15. Awareness (Da’at) and Working through Resistance: The Tough Effort That Precedes Self-Discovery and Bliss
Nehemia Polen
Hebrew Section
16. Teaching Hasidism in Academic Settings—Introductory Remarks
Dov Schwartz
R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745–1812), Likutei Torah and Siddur Im Dash and R. Nachman of Breslav (1771–1810), Likutei Moharan
17. From Niggun to Homily and From Homily to Niggun
Sarah Friedland Ben Arza
R. Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica (1801–1854), Mei Hashiloach
18. The Price and the Danger of Anarchistic Messianism: The Thought of Redemption of the Mei Hashiloach
Ruth Kara-Ivanov Kaniel
Contributors
Index
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