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God's Voice from the Void , livre ebook

State University of New York Press - Stephanie.Geary

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313 pages

English

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Description

Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav was one of the most celebrated masters of late Jewish mysticism and Hasidism, and his writings have become classics. This volume brings together translations of three seminal studies on Rabbi Nahman in German, Hebrew, and Yiddish with six new studies from scholars in various fields of Jewish studies. The presentation of new scholarly work widens the conversation about Hasidism in general and Rabbi Nahman in particular by viewing his ideology from the perspective of contemporary hermeneutic, philosophical, and literary perspectives incorporating the insights of postmodernism, gender theory, and literary criticism. New ground is covered in essays on Rabbi Nahman's attitude toward death, his approach to gender, his interpretation of circumcision, the impact of his tales on Yiddish literature, and his hermeneutic theory. The combination of classic and new studies in God's Voice from the Void offers a window into the trajectory of scholarship on Hasidism, including ways in which contemporary scholars of Hasidism and Hasidic literature both continue and develop the work of their predecessors.
Introduction and Acknowledgements

Part I
New Studies

Shir Yedidut: A Pleasant Cong of Companionship
Anonymous
translated and annotated by Aubrey Glazer

Chapter 1
Association Midrash: Reflections on a Hermenuetic Theory in Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav's Likkutei MoHaRan
Shaul Magid

Chapter 2
The Master of Prayer: Nahman of Bratslav
David Roskies

Chapter 3
The Cut That Binds: Time , Memory, and the Ascetic Impulse
Elliot R. Wolfson

Chapter 4
Adorning the Souls of the Dead: Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav and Tikkun Neshamot
Yakov Travis

Chapter 5
Nahman of Bratslav: The Zaddik as Androgyne
Nathaniel Deitsch

Chapter 6
Saying Nihilism: A Review of Marc-Alain Ouaknin's The Burnt Book
Martin Kavka

Part II
Old Studies

Chapter 7
Messiah and the Light of the Messiah in Rabbi Nahman's Thought
Hillel Zeitlin
translated by Alyssa Quint

Chapter 8
Rabbi Nahman, Romanticism, and Rationalism
Samuel Abba Horodetzky
translated by Martin Kavka

Chapter 9
Mystical Hasidism and the Hasidism of Faith: A Typological Analysis
Joseph Weiss
translated by Jeremy Kalmonofsky

About the Contributors

Index

Sujets

Judaism

History of religions

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780791489567
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	5 Mo

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Extrait

G o d ’sVo i c ef r o mt h eVo i d

OLD AND NEW STUDIES IN
BRATSLAV HASIDISM

E d i t e db y
U LM A

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God’s Voice

Void
from the

SUNY Series in Judaica:
Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion

Michael Fishbane, Robert Goldenberg,
and Elliot Wolfson, editors

God’s Voice

Void
from the

OLD AND NEW STUDIES IN

BRATSLAV HASIDISM

Edited by
Shaul Magid

State University of New York Press

Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany

02 ni Ursve S02teta Nofy itkor Yew

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press,
90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Dana Foote
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Yehuda
(who has made it to the other side)

This page intentionally left blank.

CONTENTS

Introduction and Acknowledgments/ix

P I
NEW STUDIES

Shir Yedidut:g of SonsantPlea A3/pihsnoinapmoC
Anonymous
translated and annotated by Aubrey L. Glazer

Chapter 1
Associative Midrash: Reﬂections on a Hermenuetical Theory in Rabbi Nahman of
Bratslav’s etukoM ikiLRaHan/ 15
Shaul Magid

Chapter 2
The Master of Prayer: Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav/67
David G. Roskies

Chapter 3
The Cut That Binds: Time, Memory, and the Ascetic Impulse (Reﬂections on
Bratslav Hasidism)/103
Elliot R. Wolfson

Chapter 4
Adorning the Souls of the Dead: Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav and
Neshamot/ 155
Yakov Travis

Chapter 5
Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav: The Zaddik as Androgyne/193
Nathaniel Deutsch

vii

Tikkun
Ha

viii

Contents

Chapter 6
Saying Nihilism: A Review of Marc-Alain Ouaknin’s
Martin Kavka

PI I
OLD STUDIES

The Burnt Book

Chapter 7
Messiah and the Light of the Messiah in Rabbi Nahman’s Thought/239
Hillel Zeitlin
translated by Alyssa Quint

Chapter 8
Rabbi Nahman, Romanticism, and Rationalism/263
Samuel Abba Horodetzsky
translated by Martin Kavka

Chapter 9
Mystical Hasidism and the Hasidism of Faith:
A Typogogical Analysis/277
Joseph Weiss
translated by Jeremy Kalmanofsky

About the Contributors/287

Index / 289

/ 217

INTRODUCTION AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Scholarly inquiry on the Hasidic ideology and personal religiosity of Rabbi
Nahman ben Simhah of Bratslav (1771–1810) remains essential for understanding the
nature of Jewish mysticism as it developed in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries in Eastern Europe. Although Martin Buber’s studies in the ﬁrst
part of the twentieth century and Arthur Green’s intellectual biography of R.
Nahman, To,retsaM detnemrthep reosanilytt oiqun rueigelusiortnicudot de sih
English-speaking scholarly world, little else has appeared since and many of the
older German and Hebrew studies remain untranslated and, in some cases,
unavailable. Although other scholarly articles have appeared in various journals
throughout the years, both in Hebrew and in English, I felt it would be of use to
the larger academic community to produce a volume dedicated to some
interesting new approaches to the study of Bratslav Hasidism and to include translations
of some of the classic literature into English, enabling the academic and religious
communities to more fully comprehend this seminal ﬁgure’s contribution to
Hasidic thought.
This volume is divided into two parts. Part 1 includes new studies either on
the Bratslav tradition or on Rabbi Nahman. Part 2 includes translations of three
classic studies on Bratslav Hasidism, published in German, Yiddish, and Hebrew.
Most of the new studies in part 1 take a fresh approach to the study of
Hasidism in general and Bratslav Hasidism in particular. Aubrey Glazer’s
translation and annotation of t,dudiYer iuShs Brymouanon an nybtiet mrwp eo aslatav
Hasid and printed at the beginning of many editions of Bratslav literature, serves
as the antechamber to this collection. The poem resonates with many of the
themes dealt with in the writings of R. Nahman and his disciples. The ﬁrst chapter
maps out i MokiukteLnHaRa’s sr eidevocpmna drmhex lecatieuenyroeht lyb
suggesting various ways in which the ambiguous term behinoti su s.bR d ey
Nahman to create a “frame of meaning” into which his ideas are developed.
Utilizing theories from the general area of hermeneutical theory, this chapter
serves as an introduction to the creative and complex world of R. Nahman’s
discourse. David Roskies presents a provocative thesis that the modern Yiddish

Introduction and Acknowledgments

story as it developed in Jewish Enlightenment literature draws heavily from R.
Nahman’s “Tales” piupS(aMa’er i).siotf Res aoski tat Yheuergths etiro sriddiw hs
the nineteenth century used the “Tales” as a model for their own creative
contribution to Jewish literature. Elliot Wolfson, developing his many earlier studies on
gender in medieval Kabbala, takes a new look at the issue of gender as it unfolds in
R. Nahman’s understanding of circumcision. Nathaniel Deutsch offers a new
approach to the Hasidic doctrine of the zaddik as androgyny as developed in
Likkutei MoHaRan, viewing it from the context of contemporary gender theory
and literary criticism. Yakov Travis revisits R. Nahman’s move from Bratslav to
Uman, a central theme in Bratslav Hasidism. Taking issue with Mendel Piekarz’s
earlier study on this topic, arguing that R. Nahman’s move largely had to do with
his infatuation with the Maskilimos so emf Ts,virares adre reheritac ldiae and thei
the Bratslav sources on this issue, without necessarily adopting their conclusions.
Martin Kavka offers a critical appraisal of Marc-Alain Ouaknin’s recent book
entitled The Burnt Book es lcuss disthaton hiserity areoth aryT dnumlaab d des
interpretation of the legend of R. Nahman’s “Burnt Book” r HaSeferaf)-Nis,( a
treatise that R. Nahman commanded his disciples to destroy before it could be
made public. Kavka analyzes the ﬁnal chapter of Ouaknin’s book that deals
speciﬁcally with this legend and its implications. Ouaknin then offers a response
to Kavka’s criticism.
Part 2 is a collection of three seminal articles on Bratslav written in German,
Hebrew, and Yiddish. One of these older studies deals with issues that are revisited
in part 1. Zeitlin’s chapter on R. Nahman as Messiah deals with some of the same
material Wolfson and Deutsch analyze in their chapters. Samuel Abba
Horodetzky’s comparative analysis of Schleiermacher and R. Nahman is
important, albeit somewhat dated, in that it attempts to see common threads in the
spiritual lives of two important thinkers in Christianity and Judaism in the
nineteenth century. Finally, Joesph Weiss’s chapter constructs a typology of Hasidism,
placing Bratslav on the side of “faith,” as opposed to the more intellectual trends of
Hasidism, such as Habad.
The preparation of this volume was a long time coming. In some sense it
began the instant I left the Bratslav community in Jerusalem many years ago,
although many more years passed before the idea began to take form in words.
Scholarship is usually about criticism—criticism for the sake of clarity—and in
that sense this volume is no different. However, for those of us who have lived with
R. Nahman’s words for some time, criticism does not adequately express what
appears on these pages. It is also a testament to his creativity, some say his genius,
while acknowledging the dangerous edge, the narrow bridge one must walk in
order to remain on the margins of his larger circle of admirers. Many voices hover
over these words, many of whom I’d like to thank, some of whom may feel
uncomfortable being mentioned. Thanks to Franci Levine-Grater for her editing

Introduction and Acknowledgments

and for providing helpful comments to many of the chapters included in this
volume. Rabbi Chaim Brovender, whose Friday morning classes in Likkutei
MoHaRany,lm n z”d DiDoviill iwllf rovereb eappreciated as w ni e thrlea19y s 80
teacher in the deepest sense, one who knew R. Nahman like few others. I’m
grateful to my old friend, roommate, and study partner (havruta), G hcuraB,rentra
although we took different exits on the path of Judaism, memories, especially good
ones, remain. Thanks to Ben Zion Solomon and his family for bringing R.
Nahman to life in their music. You have been a constant source of inspiration. To
friends who have