Arthur Green is currently Rector of the post-denominational Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Newton, Massachusetts, and has held several distinguished academic and rabbinic positions. A historian and interpreter of the Jewish mystical tradition, he has promoted neo-Hasidism as a contemporary Jewish spirituality.

Branches is the very first volume to diverge from the classical Hasidic path in modernizing influential writings from bygone eras for our times. Eighteen offerings by leading neo-Hasidic thinkers treat such delicate issues as what is halakhah, does a new Hasidism need a rebbe, how might women newly enter this heretonow gendered universe of God-aspects created by and for men, and how to honor and grow from other religions' teachings.

In this ground-breaking presentation of Neo-Hasidic philosophy, Green and Mayse draw together the writings of five great twentieth-century European and American Jewish thinkers--Hillel Zeitlin, Martin Buber, Abraham Joshu Heschel, Shlomo Carlebach, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, plus some of Green's own youthful writings -- sharing each of their reflections on the inner life of the individual and their dreams of creating Neo-Hasidic spiritual communities.

_National Jewish Book Award winner __ An internationally recognized scholar and theologian shares a Jewish mysticism for our times in this " humane, accessible " book (_Publishers Weekly_, Starred Review)__ “Green challenges traditional notions of God, Israel, and Torah, offering a radically new understanding and stimulating the reader to join him in a journey of discovery.”—Daniel Matt, Graduate Theological Union_ Judaism, one of the world’s great spiritual traditions, is not addressed to Jews alone. In this masterful book, winner of the (...) 2020 National Jewish Book Award in the Con­tem­po­rary Jew­ish Life and Practice category, Arthur Green calls out to seekers of all sorts, offering a universal response to the eternal human questions of who we are, why we exist, where we are going, and how to live. Drawing on over half a century as a Jewish seeker and teacher, he shows us a Judaism that cultivates the life of the spirit, that inspires an inward journey leading precisely toward self-transcendence, to an awareness of the universal Self in whose presence we exist. As a neo-hasidic seeker, he is both devotional and boldly questioning in his understanding of God and tradition. Engaging with the mystical sources, he translates the insights of the Hasidic masters into a new religious language accessible to all those eager to build an inner life and a human society that treasures the divine spark in each person and throughout Creation. (shrink)

The present volume honors Rabbi Professor Nehemia Polen, one of those rare scholars whose religious teachings, spiritual writings, and academic scholarship have come together into a sustained project of interpretive imagination and engagement. Without compromising his intellectual integrity, his work brings forth the sacred from the mundane and expands the reach of Torah. He has shown us a path in which narrow scholarship is directly linked to a quest for ever-broadening depth and connectivity. The essays in this collection, from his (...) students, colleagues, and friends, are a testament to his enduring impact on the scholarly community. The contributions explore a range of historical periods and themes, centering upon the fields dear to Polen's heart, but a common thread unites them. Each essay is grounded in deeply engaged textual scholarship casting a glance upon the sources that is at once critical and beneficent. As a whole, they seek to give readers a richer sense of the fabric of Jewish interpretation and theology, from the history of Jewish mysticism, the promise and perils of exegesis, and the contemporary relevance of premodern and early modern texts. (shrink)