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201 Introduction 1 Citation appears in Dor Yesharim, Lublin, 1925, 6. On the significance of some of the differences between the first and second editions of this book, see Rachel Elior, “Temurot” 403, n. 32. 2 In Polish, the family name is spelled “Lajner.” It was anglicized variously to “Lainer” and “Leiner.” The name often appears in family records as Leiner—e.g., the printing press in Warsaw managed in the early 20th century by some of R. Ya‘akov’s descendents, called Drukarnia Leinera. The branch of the family that settled in New York adopted the spelling “Lainer.” 3 The title of this chapter is borrowed from Catherine Chalier’s pioneering work, Figures du feminin: Lecture d’Emmanuel Levinas. Chalier’s approach to and engagement with traditional Jewish sources in all her works has been inspiring and encouraging to me in many ways. 4 R. Gershon H . anokh Henikh, Introduction to Beit Ya‘akov (1998), 16. The full title of this two-part essay is Ha-Hakdamah ve-ha-Petih . ah le-Beit Ya‘akov. It was originally published at the beginning of the first volume of Beit Ya‘akov al-ha-Torah, Sefer Bereshit. A new edition of the same essay was retitled as Sha‘ar ha-’Emunah ve-Yesod ha-H . asidut: Hakdamah u-fetah . ha-sha‘ar le-Beit Ya‘akov, edited and annotated by R. Elh . anan Reuven Goldhaber and R. Judah Joseph Spiegelman (Bene-Berak, 1996), with parallel Hebrew translation of passages in Aramaic from the Zohar. I will refer to both parts of this text as Introduction. Page citations refer to the Jerusalem 1998 photocopy edition and note the Bene-Berak 1996 edition as well. 5 Introduction to Beit Ya‘akov, 17; (1996) 57–58. These words (based on Isaiah 8:6) would become the title of the published volumes containing R. Mordecai Joseph’s teaching, Mei ha-Shiloah . . The meanings of this title are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2. 6 The significance of these events is treated in Chapter 2. A great deal of scholarly attention has been devoted to this enigmatic episode in Hasidic history. Most extensive is Morris Faierstein, “The Friday Night Incident in Kotsk: The History of a Legend,” Endnotes 202 re-published most recently in All Is in the Hands of Heaven (Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2005), 111–125. 7 Most prominently, Faierstein, Elior “Temurot,” and Magid. Primary sources documenting the controversy are cited in the research of these scholars. 8 Yoetz Kim Kadish Rakatz, Siah . Sarfei Kodesh (Lodz, 1928–1931). See, for instance, 1: par. 298; 5: par. 8. Other works that have been widely used by academic scholars in search of bibliographical information should be handled with caution. One such work is HaAdmorim mi-Izbica by Judah Leib Levin, a Gerer Hasid. Levin borrowed extensively from Dor Yesharim and other Izbica-Radzyn sources without citation and with a good measure of editorial license; he altered names, dates, and other important details. Shlomo Zalman Shragai, a great admirer of Izbica-Radzyn teaching, devoted a number of publications to its central figures. His generous appreciation, unfortunately, was not always matched with scholarly precision. Shragai, too, borrowed freely without reference to his primary or secondary sources, and erred frequently in the information he offered. His relevant works are cited in the bibliography. 9 Many speculations relate to the unusual circumstances of the publication of the first volume of Mei ha-Shiloah . . Printed in Vienna by a press owned by the non-Jewish Anton della Torre, with no approbations, or haskamot, like traditional Jewish religious works, the work was the first written record of R. Mordecai Joseph’s controversial teachings. Another hint of the tension surrounding this tradition is audible in the Introduction that R. Gershon H . anokh Henikh included in this first edition of Mei haShiloah . . Shragai testifies that soon after publication, copies of Mei ha-Shiloah . were burned by opponents to Izbica. Cf. “H . asidut ha-Baal Shem Tov be-tefisat IzbicaRadzyn ,” 166. 10 Dor Yesharim (1925), 44. 11 Dor Yesharim (1925), 83. R. Abraham Joshua Heschel voiced this explanation on his deathbed, as he reflected on his own life and his desire, unfulfilled, to move in the 13th year of his leadership in the community of Chelm. Another descendent notes that R. Gershon H . anokh also passed away in his 13th year as rebbe. Cf. Preface by R. Mordecai Joseph Lainer to Beit Ya‘akov 4 (Brooklyn, 1976; Jerusalem, 1997). See Chapter 2 for...

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