Tanya, the masterpiece of hasidic wisdom by Shapiro

A small, surprising book, Shapiro benefits greatly from the fantastic forward by Rabbi Shachter-Shalomi, a Hasidic scholar par excellence who draws on his own personal religious experience to discuss some of the aspects of the Tanya that stand out to him. Shapiro begins by introducing the key philosophical ideas in the Tanya - the mystical, the metaphysical, the technical and the spiritual. As you would expect, the mystical concept of 'the five worlds' is looked at closely as well as the more traditional theological positions such as divine non-duality ('simplicity'). This is a much needed 'toolkit' in order to understand the chapters that come afterwards.

The way the chapters are written themselves are a little bizarre, and requires some getting used to! Basically, each chapter is titled with the 'headline' of the corresponding chapter in the Tanya itself. For example,  chapter 32 is 'love your neighbour', since love between man and his fellow is the point of that chapter in the Tanya. The content of the chapters themselves are an interesting fusion of translation and commentary, where Shapiro tries to capture the essential message of the Tanya and explain it accordingly.

Overall, especially with the much sought-after and thought provoking introduction, Shapiro's 'Tanya, the masterpiece of hasidic wisdom' is a useful addition to one's library on hasidism.

Tanya, the masterpiece of hasidic wisdom is published by SkyLight

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