Roni Bar Lev

This book offers a new approach to understanding the thought of one of the most fascinating personalities in Hasidism in particular and in Jewish life and thought in general – Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Through the reinterpretation of concepts in Rabbi Nachman's extensive and innovative teachings and a profound and comprehensive conceptualization of the central concept – the concept of faith, the book organizes thinking about the practical ideas and advice of Braslavian thought. The author claims that Rabbi Nachman's concept of faith conveys a human movement of man's place within his concrete life systems, and calls upon him to judge himself and to open up to renewed possibilities in mental and practical life. Faith and religiosity in this context are not escape or evasion of the concrete, but rather a tool through which one penetrates reality, responds to it, and governs it. The believer's gaze is not carried into heaven but into earthly reality, to the friend, to the land, and to the Divine Presence. Extensive research literature has been written about Rabbi Nachman and his philosophy, and has established different lines of thinking about it. This book offers a detailed and critical analysis of these approaches. A new method of analysis and interpretation – a new structure based on Rabbi Nachman's writing and research progress in the field – is proposed here. This way deals with the many challenges that Rabbi Nachman's philosophy holds for the researcher and learner. The interpretation offered by the author situates Rabbi Nachman and takes into account the different contexts of his life: the Jewish-Hasidic context, on the one hand, and the philosophical and cultural context of his days – the Enlightenment, on the other hand, and identifies these contexts through his life, his practical stories, his conversations with his students and relatives, as well as the humor, lyricism, and romance that lace his teachings. Special attention has been given in this book to Rabbi Nachman's theory of tests, his advanced explication and the intellectual richness he expressed through them. In the attempt to decipher Rabbi Nachman's thought and concepts, the book acquiesces to the different sides in the image of Rabbi Nachman, enabling his vital personality, cheerful spirit, lively thought and political sensitivity to be published. The spiritual and cultural phenomenon of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in contemporary life in Israel requires a discussion and explanation that deviate from the common thread of Hasidic philosophy, encompassing worlds, fields and disciplines. The attempt to develop such a discussion and explanation is at the core of this book.