Books

Hasidic historiography, inter-sectarian violence, the struggle against Breslov, and the case of Yitzchak Nachum Twerski.

Ne'echaz Basvach
By David Assaf
Mercaz Zalman Shazar

This weekend I read a book called Fiedler on the Roof, a collection of essays about literature and Jewish identity by Leslie Fiedler. I received this book from a cyber-friend who, unaware that…

BOOK REVIEW: Unlike most books, which I approach with an objective eye and mind, books about Hasidim instinctively arouse my jaundiced cynicism. My cynicism is justified: nearly every article or book or film about Hasidim gets it wrong. Most of these works are informed by presuppositions and stereotypes, and tend to overuse/misuse kitschy “Jewish”...
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Let’s start by judging this book by its cover, which cleverly illustrates the title. (I have a degree in design, so I’m allowed to do that.) The photo shows a Chasidic man, complete with shtreimel and bekishe, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge towards Manhattan. Thus, it highlights the ambivalence that many Chasidic rebels feel...
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