Hasidism

For this remarkably well-researched and expansive history of Hasidism, a team of scholars has collaborated to produce an intelligent and eminently readable exploration of a branch of Judaism that has made an extraordinary mark on Jewish life. . . . This effort is rich with detail and insight, and captures the vibrancy and innovation of a thriving, multifaceted movement. It belongs on the bookshelf of any serious student of Jewish history.--Publishers Weekly This extensive and authoritative volume is unprecedented in its scope, breadth, and depth. It provides the first real comprehensive history of Hasidism that spans the entire movement from its beginnings to the present. --Shaul Magid, author of Hasidism Incarnate: Hasidism, Christianity, and the Construction of Modern Judaism A landmark book--the only one that treats the entire history of Hasidism. --Gershon David Hundert, author of Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century The world of Hasidism can be enthralling with just the double edge that the word implies. But how did it come into being and how has it survived, this uncanny Jewish cousin of European modernity itself? Hasidism answers that compelling question better than it has ever been answered before. --Jack Miles, general editor of The Norton Anthology of World Religions Hasidic Jews are among the most highly visible and fastest growing of all the world's Jewish subcultures. They are also among the least understood and enigmatic of Jewish communities. The veil of obscurity has been lifted thanks to this volume, which represents the very latest and best scholarship on Hasidism's history and culture. A cause for celebration, Hasidism is a magnificent achievement. --John M. Efron, author of German Jewry and the Allure of the Sephardic Hasidism: A New History . . . is a monumental scholarly achievement and a great contribution to the understanding of one of the most important movements in Jewish life in the modern period.---Moshe Halbertal, New York Review of Books Likely to be the definitive work on Judaism's equivalent of charismatic Protestantism.---Marvin Olasky, World Enormously informative, monumental volume.---George Prochnik, Los Angeles Review of Books These eight modern sages managed to produce a fascinating book that embodies their collective wisdom and style in a seamless and highly illuminating work of authorship. This, too, strikes me as something of a miracle.---Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal Hasidism . . . is a tremendous work of research.---Shalom Auslander, Times Literary Supplement The book is notable for smashing various well-worn myths about Hasidism, and presenting new insights that place the movement at the center of European Jewish history, a major shaper of that history rather than a marginal aberration.---Sue Fishkoff, Jweekly