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Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
with Netanel Miles-Yepez
A Hidden Light is the much awaited sequel to A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters. While the earlier volume discussed the Baal Shem Tov and his heirs, A Hidden Light explores the stories and teachings of the early twentieth century Hasidic masters.
“Hasidism calls our attention to the mobility that takes place throughout the life of an individual Jew: an inner journey. Hasidic teachings, texts, and stories come as guides to that journey. In this beautiful book, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Netanel Miles-Yepez recreate the world of early Hasidism, and through their retelling of the journeys of the Rebbes, they bring us to the spiritual landscape of Ukraine, letting us travel from the court of one Rebbe to another, tasting the different traditions and personalities.”
-- Prof. Susannah Heschel
Dartmouth College
with Michael L. Kagan
In these interpretations of Jewish sacred literature Reb Zalman leads the reader to new understandings of spirituality.
“Zalman explains that these poems are not translations. They are, instead, free verse evocations of themes and imagery inspired by our liturgy and collective psyche. Their nuance marks the intersection of an often undecipherable tradition and contemporary life. They bring what might otherwise be lost into the light of everyday spirituality.
After all, that is what Zalman does, who he is. He takes old Jewish stuff (legend, mime, gibberish, and gesture) that people either didn’t know existed or, if they did, don’t know what to do with it, and slips it back into our back-pockets when we’re not looking. And then we say, months, years later: “Oh, yes, Zalman taught me how to sing / pray / meditate on / dance / understand / do that. Indeed, Zalman has been doing that for almost three generations of otherwise rootless and assimilated American Jewish spiritual seekers. He is our way “back in” and “back home.” And these poems are a complete set of VIP entry passes.”
-- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
