The Rebbes' Revolution

Radical trends in 19th century Polish Chassidic thought
(LSJS - January - March 2009)

From the LSJS website:

19th century Chassidic Poland produced some of the great radical thinkers of modern Jewish history, including R. Simchah Bunim of Przysucha, R. Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, and the Rebbes of Kotzk, Ishbitz, Sochaczew, Radzin and Gur. Combining the Zeitgeist, traditional scholarship and Kabbalistic knowledge with profound psychological insight, these thinkers offered a revisionist understanding of Jewish philosophy, Biblical narrative and even of Judaism itself. This course will explore these figures, their ideas, writings and the controversies surrounding them.

Rebbe chart and bibliography

Part 1 - Introduction and early thinkers
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Session 1a - From the Baal Shem Tov to the Noam Elimelech
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Session 1b - The Chozeh of Lublin and the Yid HaKadosh
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Part 2 - Przysucha and Kotsk
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Session 2a - Rabbi Simchah Bunim of Przysucha
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Session 2b - Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk
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Part 3 - Ishbitz (1)
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Session 3a - Rabbi Mordechai Yosef of Ishbitz and Determinism
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Session 3b - Ishbitz Uncertainty and Antinomianism (1)
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Part 4 - Ishbitz (2)
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Session 4a - Ishbitz Antinomianism (2) and Radical Revisionism
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Session 4b - Rabbis Yaakov and Gershon Henoch of Ishbitz/Radzin
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Part 5 - Sochaczew
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Session 5a - Rabbi Avraham of Sochaczew in this own writings
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Session 5b - Rabbi Avraham of Sochaczew in his son's writings
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Part 6 - Rabbi Tzaddok HaKohen and Gur
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Session 6a - Rabbi Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin
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Session 6b - Rabbis Yitzchak Meir and Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Gur
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