The Hasidic parable

"The teachers of Hasidism gave new life to the literary tradition of parable, a story that teaches a spiritual or moral truth. In The Hasidic Parable, acclaimed author Aryeh Wineman takes readers through the great works of the hasidic storytellers." "Telling parables, explains Rabbi Wineman, was a strategy that the hasidic masters used to foster a radical shift in thinking about God, the world, and the values and norms of religious life. Although these parables date back 200 years or more, they deal with moral and religious themes and issues still relevant today. Each is accompanied by notes and commentary by the author that illuminate their ideological significance and their historical roots and background."

"These parables have been culled from classical hasidic homiletic texts, chosen because of their literary qualities, their explanation of key concepts in the hasidic worldview, and also because of what they say to us about the conflicts and tensions accompanying Hasidism's emergence and growth."--Jacket.

Includes 40 parables translated from Hebrew.

Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Paradox and the Unexpected -- Sadness in Finding a Treasure -- The Clown on the Day of Judgment -- Chipping Away at the Mountain -- God in Transit -- The Correct Motivation -- The Talking Bird -- Compassion as Punishment -- That Each Occasion Be like the Very First -- The Evil Inclination -- Redefinitions -- The Crown and the Container -- Beyond Request -- Sound without Words -- On the Language of Melody -- When Truth Confronts Limited Understanding -- When a House of Sticks Is Shattered

The Suffering of the ShekhinahUnconventional Ways to Serve -- On the Need for the Spontaneous -- The Miraculous within the Everyday -- Seeing a Woman's Beautiful Clothing -- Deepening the Implications of Divine Oneness -- The Barriers to the Palace -- The King's Two Messengers -- On Evil as a Divine Instrument -- On Intruding Thoughts -- It Is God Who Awakens Our Minds -- Child and Parent -- The Ultimate Disloyalty -- Transforming Sadness from Within -- Echoes and Transformations of Older Motifs -- The World Is Like a Wedding Feast: A Parable Tradition

The Exiled Prince and the Gem on the Ocean Floor: A Parable TraditionThe Polemics of an Hour of History --…