The Hasidic Parable

Preface

Preface .9l£ter exammmg narrative dimensions of earlier phases of Jewish mysticism, I was drawn to the hasidic parable as a logical continuation of my previous research and writing. This book is the natural culmination of my immersion over the past several years in a study of the parables. While seeking to clarify their meaning as well as the historical and literary significance and concepts inherent in them, I also became interested in the nature of the genre of the hasidic parable itself. I hope that I have been able to cast some light upon the parables in this collection and perhaps upon the phenomenon of the hasidic parable. I have tried to convey to the reader my own appreciation for many of the parables included in this volume along with the preciousness of the spiritual core of Hasidism's worldview and of its value system. The hasidic legacy is an indispensable key in the quest for a spirituality rooted in Jewish sources, and in discovering an inwardness and depth often overlooked in more conventional expressions ofJewish teaching. An examination of some of the parables found in the classical hasidic texts reveals spiritual directions that might have become lost in the context of Hasidism's historical hostility toward modernity throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The parables convey that beyond the facade of contemporary institutional Hasidism and its cultural identification with the past, the very core of its teaching is soulfulness itself. I wish to thank the editors ofJudaism, Hebrew Studies, and Prooftexts: A Journal ofJewish Literary History for permission to draw upon studies I've written that first appeared in those journals. I am grateful for opportunities to present papers relevant to the subject of this book at conferences of the Association for Jewish Studies and the xi Preface 5tter examInIng narrative dimensions of earlier phases of Jewish mysticism, I was drawn to the hasidic parable as a logical continuation of my previous research and writing. This book is the natural culmination of my immersion over the past several years in a study of the parables. While seeking to clarify their meaning as well as the historical and literary significance and concepts inherent in them, I also became interested in the nature of the genre of the hasidic parable itself. I hope that I have been able to cast some light upon the parables in this collection and perhaps upon the phenomenon of the hasidic parable. I have tried to convey to the reader my own appreciation for many of the parables included in this volume along with the preciousness of the spiritual core of Hasidism's worldview and of its value system. The hasidic legacy is an indispensable key in the quest for a spirituality rooted in Jewish sources, and in discovering an inwardness and depth often overlooked in more conventional expressions of Jewish teaching. An examination of some of the parables found in the classical hasidic texts reveals spiritual directions that might have become lost in the context of Hasidism's historical hostility toward modernity throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The parables convey that beyond the facade of contemporary institutional Hasidism and its cultural identification with the past, the very core of its teaching is soulfulness itself. I wish to thank the editors ofJudaism, Hebrew Studies, and Pro~ftexts: A Journal ~fJewish Literary History for permission to draw upon studies I've written that first appeared in those journals. I am grateful for opportunities to present papers relevant to the subject of this book at conferences of the Association for Jewish Studies and the xi xii THE ttAflDIC PA~ABLE National Association of Professors of Hebrew. I would also like to thank my congregation for affording me the opportunity to utilize the resources of the National Library in Jerusalem and the Gershom Scholem Center there in order to complete my research for this project. My appreciation to Dr. Ellen Frankel, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Publication Society, for her interest and encouragement in this project, and to Carol Hupping, managing editor, and editor Sam Cardillo for all their assistance in preparing my manuscript for publication. ~ -Aryeh Wineman Troy, New York Fall, 1999 xii Til L tt A I I [) I CPA R A 13 L L National Association of Professors of Hebrew. I would also like to thank my congregation for affording me the opportunity to utilize the resources of the National Library in Jerusalem and the Gershom Scholem Center there...