Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Editors and Advisers
- Contents
- Polin
- Dedication
- Statement From the Editors
- JEWS IN WARSAW
- ARTICLES
- DOCUMENT
- COMMENTARY
- EXCHANGE
- REPORTS
- REVIEW ESSAYS
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Paul Wexler, Explorations in Judeo-Slavic Linguistics by A. de Vincenz
- Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand-year History of the Poles and their Culture by Michael Hurst
- Michael Brocke, (ed.) Beter und Rebellen. Aus 1000 Jahren Judentum in Polen by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Stefi Jersch-Wenzel, (ed.) Deutsche Polen Juden. lhre Beziehungen von den Anfiingen bis ins 20. Jaharhundert. Beitriige zu einer Tagung by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Jerzy Kloczowski, et al. Histoire religeuse de la Pologne by Robert M. Kingdon
- Jacob Litman, The Economic Role of Jews in Medieval Poland by Jakub Basista
- Isaac Lewin, The Jewish Community in Poland by Jakub Basista
- Arnold Eisen, Galut. Modern Jewish Reflection on Homelessness and Homecoming by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Calvin Goldschider and Alan S. Zuckerman, The Transformation of the Jews by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Jewish-Polish Coexistence, 1772-1939. A Topical Bibliography compiled by G.]. Lerski and H. T Lerski by Tomasz Gąsowski
- M.A. Ouaknin, Le livre brule - Lire le Talmud by Daniel Tollet
- Daniel Beauvais, Polacy na Ukrainie 1831-1863. Szlachta polska na Wolyniu, Podolu i Kijowszci:.yznie by L. R. Lewitter
- John Doyle Klier, Russia Gathers Her Jews. The Origins of the ‘Jewish Question’ in Russia, 1772-1825 by Eli Lederhendler
- Jacob Katz, by David Sorkin (ed.) Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model
- Shlomo Avineri, Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and, Zionism by M. Mishkinsky
- Paul W. Massing, Vorgeschichte des politischen Antisemitismus by Peter Pulzer
- Martin Pollack, Nach Galizien. Von Chassiden, Huzulen, Polen unri Ruthenen by A. de Vincenz
- Robert S. Wistrich, Socialism and the Jews. The Dilemmas of Assimilation in Germany and Austria-Hungary by Jerzy Holzer
- Elzbieta Ettinger, Rosa Luxemburg. A Life by Mark Almond
- Stephen Birmingham, The Rest of Us. The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews by Ewa Morawska
- Miroslav Hroch, Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. A Comparative Ana(ysis of the Social Composition of Patriotic Groups among the Smaller European Nations by Michael Hurst
- Wolodymyr Kubijovyč, Etnichni hrupy pivdennozakhidnoi Ukrainy (Ha(ychyny) na l.l.1939. Natsionalna statystyka Ha(ychyny by Jerzy Tomaszewski
- Howard Aster and Peter J. Potichnyj, Jewish Ukrainian Relations: Two Solitudes by Michael Hurst
- Edward Prus, Wiadyka Swiftojurski: Rzecz of arcybiskupie Andrze.fu Szeptyckim (1865-1944) by Shimon Redlich
- Christopher R. Browning, Fateful Months. Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution; Moshe Zimmerman Wilhelm Marr. The Patriarch of Anti-semitism by A. J. Nicholls
- ‘Historikerstreit’. Die Dokumentation der Kontroverse um die Einzigartigkeit der national sozialistischen Judenvernichtung by Peter Pulzer
- John F. Sweets, Choices in Vichy France. The French Under Nazi Occupation by N. J. Atkin
- Janina Bauman, Winter in the Morning. A Young Girl's Life in the Warsaw Ghetto and Beyond, 1939-1945 by Wtadyslaw Bartoszewski
- Joža Karas, Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian FuksJoza Karas Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian Fuks
- John Coutouvidis and Jaime Reynolds, Poland, 1939-1947 by Józef Garliński
- Irena Grudzinska-Gross and Jan Tomasz Gross, (ed.) War Through Children's Eyes. The Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Deportations by Mark Almond
- Richard I. Cohen, The Burden of Conscience. French Jewry 's Response to the Holocaust by N. J. Atkin
- Irena Hurwic-Nowakowska, A Social Ana(ysis of Postwar Polish Jewry by Zygmunt Bauman
- Alexander Scheiber, Essays on Jewish Folklore and Comparative Literature by Raphael Patai
- Maria Brzezina, Polszczyzna Źydów by A. de Vincenz
- LEITER TO THE EDITORS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- OBITUARIES
M.A. Ouaknin, Le livre brule - Lire le Talmud by Daniel Tollet
from BOOK REVIEWS
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Editors and Advisers
- Contents
- Polin
- Dedication
- Statement From the Editors
- JEWS IN WARSAW
- ARTICLES
- DOCUMENT
- COMMENTARY
- EXCHANGE
- REPORTS
- REVIEW ESSAYS
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Paul Wexler, Explorations in Judeo-Slavic Linguistics by A. de Vincenz
- Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand-year History of the Poles and their Culture by Michael Hurst
- Michael Brocke, (ed.) Beter und Rebellen. Aus 1000 Jahren Judentum in Polen by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Stefi Jersch-Wenzel, (ed.) Deutsche Polen Juden. lhre Beziehungen von den Anfiingen bis ins 20. Jaharhundert. Beitriige zu einer Tagung by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Jerzy Kloczowski, et al. Histoire religeuse de la Pologne by Robert M. Kingdon
- Jacob Litman, The Economic Role of Jews in Medieval Poland by Jakub Basista
- Isaac Lewin, The Jewish Community in Poland by Jakub Basista
- Arnold Eisen, Galut. Modern Jewish Reflection on Homelessness and Homecoming by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Calvin Goldschider and Alan S. Zuckerman, The Transformation of the Jews by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Jewish-Polish Coexistence, 1772-1939. A Topical Bibliography compiled by G.]. Lerski and H. T Lerski by Tomasz Gąsowski
- M.A. Ouaknin, Le livre brule - Lire le Talmud by Daniel Tollet
- Daniel Beauvais, Polacy na Ukrainie 1831-1863. Szlachta polska na Wolyniu, Podolu i Kijowszci:.yznie by L. R. Lewitter
- John Doyle Klier, Russia Gathers Her Jews. The Origins of the ‘Jewish Question’ in Russia, 1772-1825 by Eli Lederhendler
- Jacob Katz, by David Sorkin (ed.) Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model
- Shlomo Avineri, Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and, Zionism by M. Mishkinsky
- Paul W. Massing, Vorgeschichte des politischen Antisemitismus by Peter Pulzer
- Martin Pollack, Nach Galizien. Von Chassiden, Huzulen, Polen unri Ruthenen by A. de Vincenz
- Robert S. Wistrich, Socialism and the Jews. The Dilemmas of Assimilation in Germany and Austria-Hungary by Jerzy Holzer
- Elzbieta Ettinger, Rosa Luxemburg. A Life by Mark Almond
- Stephen Birmingham, The Rest of Us. The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews by Ewa Morawska
- Miroslav Hroch, Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. A Comparative Ana(ysis of the Social Composition of Patriotic Groups among the Smaller European Nations by Michael Hurst
- Wolodymyr Kubijovyč, Etnichni hrupy pivdennozakhidnoi Ukrainy (Ha(ychyny) na l.l.1939. Natsionalna statystyka Ha(ychyny by Jerzy Tomaszewski
- Howard Aster and Peter J. Potichnyj, Jewish Ukrainian Relations: Two Solitudes by Michael Hurst
- Edward Prus, Wiadyka Swiftojurski: Rzecz of arcybiskupie Andrze.fu Szeptyckim (1865-1944) by Shimon Redlich
- Christopher R. Browning, Fateful Months. Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution; Moshe Zimmerman Wilhelm Marr. The Patriarch of Anti-semitism by A. J. Nicholls
- ‘Historikerstreit’. Die Dokumentation der Kontroverse um die Einzigartigkeit der national sozialistischen Judenvernichtung by Peter Pulzer
- John F. Sweets, Choices in Vichy France. The French Under Nazi Occupation by N. J. Atkin
- Janina Bauman, Winter in the Morning. A Young Girl's Life in the Warsaw Ghetto and Beyond, 1939-1945 by Wtadyslaw Bartoszewski
- Joža Karas, Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian FuksJoza Karas Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian Fuks
- John Coutouvidis and Jaime Reynolds, Poland, 1939-1947 by Józef Garliński
- Irena Grudzinska-Gross and Jan Tomasz Gross, (ed.) War Through Children's Eyes. The Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Deportations by Mark Almond
- Richard I. Cohen, The Burden of Conscience. French Jewry 's Response to the Holocaust by N. J. Atkin
- Irena Hurwic-Nowakowska, A Social Ana(ysis of Postwar Polish Jewry by Zygmunt Bauman
- Alexander Scheiber, Essays on Jewish Folklore and Comparative Literature by Raphael Patai
- Maria Brzezina, Polszczyzna Źydów by A. de Vincenz
- LEITER TO THE EDITORS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- OBITUARIES
Summary
It is not every day that an author orders one of his own books to be burned, particularly when he never repudiates anything he has written. Yet that is exactly what Nahman of Bratslav, grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, did in 1808. This unusual act is at the origin of the questions M.A. Ouaknin has asked himself about Nahman, his work and the rabbinic and mystical teachings on which the famous Hasid was nourished.
Initially, it is a question of knowing what the status of the book is; are all books equal? The Talmud, in chapter 16 of the tractate Shabbat, explains that, although it is not permitted to put out a fire on the Sabbath day, it is possible to save certain objects. Of these, holy books have absolute priority. All books are therefore not holy, even among those devoted to deepening the study of religion. This explains Nahman's view that books distance us from the Blessed Name. In actuality, referring to the concept of tsimsum (retreat), Rabbi Nahman considers that God has withdrawn from the world, that he is totally separated from it, although the world cannot exist without Him.
Next, to reach out towards God, one needs to ask oneself questions. Rabbi Nahman refers to the tradition of mahloket (Talmudic debate) but he makes it more extreme, thinking, in accordance with cabbalistic tradition, that ‘the real question does not expect an answer and that if there is an answer, it does not settle the question …’. The distance between the teachers who discuss the Talmud, through time and space, is not abolished; on the contrary, it is, as Blanchot states, preserved and made pure by the precision of the word. What is more the word must be precise, because Rabbi Nahman thinks that ‘whosoever speaks more than is necessary introduces errors’. Here we have a criticism of the institution of the rabbinate where teachers are confused by their gigantic knowledge.
In order to innovate one must act like someone who does not know, in other words, escape from the dogmatic discourse produced by the institutions. In the cabbalistic and Hasidic tradition, reading has to be done with 'designifying’ eyes and immediately ‘resignified’, more unconsciously than consciously; with new eyes. In the Talmudic tradition, Rabbi Nahman resists the dogmatic world which violently and shamelessly faces us.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Jews of Warsaw , pp. 376 - 377Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2004