Hasidic Tales

Rami Shapiro

Description

The Tales of the Hasidic Masters Can Become a Companion for Your Own Spiritual Journey.

"The wisdom of the Hasidim is earthy, realistic, rooted in the simplicity of the heart. It is alive with the awareness of the holiness of Creation and the boundlessness of God’s mercy, and is utterly honest about the necessity of living such awareness in loving service to all beings. It is a wisdom that fuses the highest mystical initiations with the most down-home celebration of life and a rugged commitment to social and political justice in all its forms. In other words, it is a wisdom that is never, as my old prep school headmaster would put it, "too divine to be of any earthly use."
—from the Foreword by Andrew Harvey

Martin Buber, author of Tales of Hasidim, was the first to bring the Hasidic tales to life for modern readers in the middle of the twentieth century. His groundbreaking work was the first time that most readers had ever encountered the lives and teachings of these profound and enigmatic spiritual masters from Eastern Europe.

In Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained, Rabbi Rami Shapiro breathes new life into these classic stories of people who so marvelously combined the mystical and the ordinary. Each demonstrates the spiritual power of unabashed joy, offers lessons for leading a holy life, and reminds you that the Divine can be found in the everyday. Without an expert guide, the allegorical quality of Hasidic Tales can be perplexing. But Shapiro presents them as stories rather than parables, making them accessible and meaningful. Now you can experience the wisdom of Hasidism firsthand even if you have no previous knowledge of Jewish spirituality. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that explains theological concepts, introduces major characters, offers clarifying references unfamiliar to most readers, and reveals how you can use the Hasidic tales to further your own spiritual awakening.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Birdman of Alcatraz
• Pie Grande
• Robert Franklin Stroud
• Juneau, Alaska
• Judaism
• Bigfoot
• Religion
• Sasquatch
• Le Prisonnier d'Alcatraz
• Juneau

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 23 avril 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781594733406
• Langue: English

Extrait

Books in the SkyLight Illuminations Series
The Art of War-Spirituality for Conflict: Annotated & Explained
Bhagavad Gita: Annotated & Explained
The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated & Explained
Celtic Christian Spirituality: Essential Writings-Annotated & Explained
Chuang-tzu: The Tao of Perfect Happiness-Selections Annotated & Explained
Dhammapada: Annotated & Explained
The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained
Ecclesiastes: Annotated & Explained
The End of Days: Essential Selections from Apocalyptic Texts-Annotated & Explained
Ethics of the Sages: Pirke Avot-Annotated & Explained
Ghazali on the Principles of Islamic Spirituality: Selections from Forty Foundations of Religion-Annotated & Explained
Gnostic Writings on the Soul: Annotated & Explained
The Gospel of Philip: Annotated & Explained
The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained
Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained
The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained
The Hidden Gospel of Matthew: Annotated & Explained
The Infancy Gospels of Jesus: Apocryphal Tales from the Childhoods of Mary and Jesus-Annotated & Explained
The Lost Sayings of Jesus: Teachings from Ancient Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, and Islamic Sources-Annotated & Explained
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated & Explained
Native American Stories of the Sacred: Annotated & Explained
Philokalia: The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts-Annotated & Explained
The Qur an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad: Selections Annotated & Explained
Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses-Annotated & Explained
The Sacred Writings of Paul: Selections Annotated & Explained
Saint Augustine of Hippo: Selections from Confessions and Other Essential Writings-Annotated & Explained
St. Ignatius Loyola-The Spiritual Writings: Selections Annotated & Explained
The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel-Annotated & Explained
Selections from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Annotated & Explained
Sex Texts from the Bible: Selections Annotated & Explained
Spiritual Writings on Mary: Annotated & Explained
Tanya, the Masterpiece of Hasidic Wisdom: Selections Annotated & Explained
Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained
The Way of a Pilgrim: The Jesus Prayer Journey-Annotated & Explained
Zohar: Annotated & Explained
Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained
2011 Quality Paperback Edition, Third Printing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to SkyLight Paths Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address/fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to [e-mail].
Translation, annotation, and introductory material 2004 by Rami Shapiro Foreword 2004 by Andrew Harvey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shapiro, Rami M. Hasidic tales : annotated & explained / translation and annotation by Rami Shapiro. p. cm. - (SkyLight illuminations) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-893361-86-1 (pbk.) 1. Hasidim-Legends. 2. Rabbis-Legends. 3. Legends, Jewish. 4. Hasidism. I. Title. II. Series. BM532 .S485 2003 296.8'332-dc22 2003015351 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Manufactured in the United States of America
SkyLight Paths Publishing is creating a place where people of different spiritual traditions come together for challenge and inspiration, a place where we can help each other understand the mystery that lies at the heart of our existence.
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Walking Together, Finding the Way Published by SkyLight Paths Publishing A Division of LongHill Partners, Inc. Sunset Farm Offices, Route 4, P.O. Box 237/ Woodstock, VT 05091 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] www.skylightpaths.com
Contents
Foreword by Andrew Harvey
Preface
Introduction
Hasidism, a Brief Introduction
Cast of Rabbis
Distractions
Why Are You Here?
Know Your Path
Idle Speech
Ten Letters
Light
Hospitality
Deeds Not Words
Seeking a Precedent
A Kosher Tongue
A Recipe from Heaven
A Hidden Tzaddik
The Successor
You Are What You Think
Horse Sense
Receive and Detach
Nothing New
The Sermon
The Frog s Song
Come with Me
Why Cry to Me?
Show Me
The Hidden Spark
Nothing
The New Rebbe
Eating in the Presence of God
Avoiding the Mud
The Alphabet of Sorrow
A Healing Broth
A Holy Appetite
Seeing or Believing
To Be an Angel
Placing the Self
Direct Seeing
The Prophetic Squire
Salvation Now
Ask Yourself
A Leather Belt
Hard Work
Fooling the Evil Inclination
Alien Invaders
Salvation through Joy
The Tailor s Due
The Rebbe s Love
The Value of Wisdom
The Making of a Rebbe
Without a Doubt
Two Yids, Two Yuds
Knowing
Partners
What I Deserve
Good Night God
Stone Soup
Livelihood
The Loaf s Complaint
Nothing but God
Praying with the World
A Kiss Good-Bye
Praying with; Praying among
Stick Angels
The Connoisseur
Bursting the Gates
Perfect Repentance
The Value of Sin
A Four-legged Esrog
The Better Leg
Two Rules
A Powerful Silence
The Leaf
Rules of the Game
Time to Visit
Selfless Service
Robbing Yourself
Until Our Completion
The Turkey Prince
The Whistler
The Child and the Thief
You!
Your Way
Learn from Everything
True Prayer
The Reminderer
Finding the Way
A Bet
Where Am I?
Suggested Readings
About SkyLight Paths
Copyright
Foreword
Andrew Harvey
It is joy that reveals our true nature.
-The Rebbe of Hanipoli
Many years ago when I was a fellow of All Souls College at Oxford, I was invited by the Israeli government, along with a group of other writers and intellectuals, to visit Israel. It was one of the happiest journeys I ever undertook, mostly because, towards the end, I met a Hasid whom I will call Isaiah. This wild middle-aged Russian Jew, whose hilarity, passion, wit, and sense of the holy in all things-from the way sunlight hit the stones of old walls to the sweetness of stray cats-astonished me and lifted me up from the young man s despair and cynicism I was mired in.
I met Isaiah at a rambunctious conference of poets, artists, and seekers in old Jerusalem. We immediately became friends. I loved his exuberant Einstein-haired appearance; his flights of quote-studded mystical passion; the surreal way he dressed in old sneakers, tattered purple and pink tee shirt, and baggy black pants out of a pirate film. He appointed himself quickly as my guide to the real Jerusalem and to the real Jewish mysticism, and I spent two timeless days rambling and laughing with him around the old city. I listened to his stories and imbibed from the way he talked and occasionally burst into song or prayer some of the vibrant spontaneity of the tradition he loved with all his heart. Many years later when I read the famous Hasidic story about how the Rabbi Leib went to study with the Mezritcher Rebbe not to learn Torah but to watch him tie and untie his shoelaces, I immediately thought of Isaiah and smiled. He had a way of patting my shoulder or ruffling my hair, pulling out a chair for me to sit on or stirring lumps of sugar into my thick local coffee, that was breathtaking in its intimate sweetness and in the sense it gave me of his warm and tender respect, not just for me but for all beings. One of my happiest memories of Isaiah is of watching him, near the Wailing Wall, bow to a mangy old dog whose left ear had almost been bitten off in a recent fight. Old warrior, he said as he bowed, I salute you! May God bless you. The dog that had been snarling and cowering suddenly fell quiet and gazed up at him with something like wonder.
Isaiah radiated so much natural joy I was astonished when he told me at the end of our first evening together that he had been in Auschwitz as a child. It seemed impossible to me that someone who had seen and known such final desolation could now be living in such obvious-and contagious-love for life. I told him so and he smiled. God is in hell, too, he said gently. Some of my fellow Hasidim in the camp went to their deaths in the gas chamber singing and dancing.
I did not tell him at the time but what he said about his fellow Hasidim singing and dancing their way to certain death disturbed and even repulsed me. How could singing and dancing be a response to such horror and butchery? Were the Hasidim crazy? Was the tradition that had shaped such a response-one that claimed to be inspired by God-in fact rooted in denial and an almost obscene ignorance of the truth and power of evil? I was a young man much preoccupied by the brutality of the civilization I had been born into, profoundly pessimistic about human nature, and so appalled by what I had learned about the Holocaust that I could hardly bear to read books about it for fear of losing what little remained in me of hope and trust in life. For a long sleepless night, I wrestled with what Isaiah had told me. As dawn broke, I decided I would have to ask him to explain himself. I did not want to challenge him. Rather, I wanted with my whole being to know why, in his opinion, the Hasidim had danced, and what that meant for him. The next day we met for lunch in a quiet sun-drenched square not far from the Via Golgotha. As soon as we sat down, I leaned forward, fixed I