Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of the intellectual branch of Chassidism - Chabad - is credited with bringing the deepest secrets of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah "down to earth," so they could be read and understood by even the average person. He broke the paradigm: it was no longer, "first perfect yourself spiritually, then you will be fit to study this"; now it was, "study this and it will help you to perfect yourself spiritually." The worldwide spread of Chabad - appealing to people of all backgrounds, and in every conceivable culture - in the centuries since bears elegant testimony to the power of these ideas to tap the very Jewish soul.
And yet, written in scholarly Hebrew, these keys to the essential core of Judaism were locked away, untranslated, for almost 200 years. In this series, Rabbi Yitzchok Wagshul, a master teacher, does not merely translate the original material, he clearly explains it in friendly, articulate English for scholar and lay person alike. No background in Jewish knowledge is required; just a willingness to think&
Hardcover 369 pp.