Lectures on Likutei Moharan – Part 2

For many years Rabbi Shagar studied and taught the teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in a variety of settings. He found in them a window onto questions of faith, the meaning of existence and the purpose of human life, and saw Rabbi Nachman as a guide precisely for our generation, which lives in the “vacated space” of the modern, and even postmodern, world. His engagement with Rabbi Nachman’s words includes not only discussion of fundamental issues but also in-depth explanations of his teachings and stories. This book is the second of two volumes collecting his lectures on Likutei Moharan, and it preserves the special, intimate atmosphere of the spoken word.

In his lectures Rabbi Shagar argues that just as Rabbi Nachman had to translate the Torah in a way suited to the people of his generation, so too a work of translation is needed to make Rabbi Nachman’s teaching accessible to our generation. To this end he uses, as is his way, ideas, language and tools from the worlds of various modern and postmodern thinkers; through their words, and out of sensitivity to the challenges of the age, he reveals a new dimension of Rabbi Nachman’s teaching. At the same time, he weaves this teaching into the world of Jewish thought – from the Rishonim, through Hasidic teaching, to Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Soloveitchik.

In his lectures Rabbi Shagar sets out Rabbi Nachman’s teaching, and through it his own teaching as well: on faith, doubt and covenant; on religious sincerity and Torah study; on hitbodedut, on refining one’s character and on social repair, and on life as a whole.