{"id":5168,"date":"2024-09-27T09:14:31","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T09:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehoraschool.com\/website_6e701a35\/?page_id=5168"},"modified":"2024-10-08T10:38:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T10:38:09","slug":"master-of-the-ladder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/master-of-the-ladder\/","title":{"rendered":"Master of the ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Master of the ladder<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\" A Jewel of a Book\": Review by Writer and Translator, Yaacov David Shulman<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Master of the Ladder: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag (by Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Gottlieb, translated and edited by Yedidah Cohen) is a presentation of Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s life and teachings.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The book may be described not so much a full-fledged biography as a series of anecdotes stretched across a chronological framework. These are interspersed with sections in which the author, himself a leading student of the teachings of Rabbi Ashlag, offers his own presentations of Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s thought.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThroughout the book the figure of Rabbi Ashlag appears as an intense and holy man, and the stories have an intensity and purifying quality, verifying the Hasidic teachings that stories of tzaddikim are in themselves a powerful means of transmission of Torah and holiness.\u00a0\u200bhe book begins with a particularly powerful spiritual testimony: Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s own writing on how he experienced an encounter with his own teacher, the Belzer Rebbe (Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach) in 1919. Interestingly, this document was one of a number of pages that Rabbi Ashlag wished to consign to the flames but which were fortunately saved. In this document, Rabbi Ashlag describes how he was immersed in a state of elevated consciousness that he calls the Light of Wisdom. He comes to the Belzer Rebbe for guidance, and the entire encounter is conducted in an indirect manner of inference and implication. Rabbi Ashlag is in a state of consternation because apparently the Belzer Rebbe wishes him to descend from this state of consciousness in order to operate on the level of a state of consciousness called the Light of Lovingkindness. With misgivings, Rabbi Ashlag accepts this directive, and that new approach marks the direction of the remainder of his life.\nThis brief autobiographical document\u2014which is presented twice: once in itself and once with a detailed commentary and explanation\u2014is an extraordinary description in which Rabbi Ashlag describes his own powerful emotions, ranging from distress to delight, his relationship with the Belzer Rebbe\u2014his questioning the Belzer Rebbe and his shame at doing so\u2014and his sense that the this-worldly aspect of this encounter was only a part of a broader reality.
\nRabbi Ashlag reveals his inner world and his bond with his students in his letters, in which he tells of a master kabbalist whom he learned from and offers his students counsel and guidance. One letter is particularly revealing of his deep concern for his students, and that letter too is presented with a commentary.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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He gathered a group of dedicated students around<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Under his direction they formed a spiritual society, learning from him throughout the night with great personal sacrifice\u2014a society similar to others, such as that around the Ramchal and that described by the Piaseszner Rebbe.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In 1921, Rabbi Ashlag told his wife, \u201cI have nothing more to do in this world. I have already rectified that which was laid on me to rectify.\u201d In order to remain alive, he and his family moved from Warsaw to the Land of Israel, where he spent the rest of his life (with a couple of exceptions, such as a few years\u2019 stay in London).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s great mission in life was to present the teachings of the Ari in language that would be clear and accessible. Prior to writing his magnum opus, the Sulam<\/em>, he wrote voluminously directly on the cryptic teachings of the Ari.
However, Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s intent was not to make Kabbalah accessible to one and all, religious and non-religious, but to make it accessible to those who are committed to the path of the Torah. Thus, when a review of his book on the teachings of the Ari was published in a Warsaw newspaper, he was deeply shocked, states Rabbi Gottlieb. \u201cCopies of the manuscript of the Panim Meirot Umasbirot<\/em> were sent to Poland. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSomehow, one fell into the hands of one Hillel Tzeitlin, a Jew, who, originally from a Chasidic background, had renounced his upbringing and become involved in the ideas of western philosophy. Tzeitlin published an article in the Jewish newspaper, Der Moment, praising the innovative work of the holy Sage. But when Rabbi Ashlag learned that his work had fallen into the hand of Tzeitlin he was deeply shocked. Praise from such a man would only arouse opposition to his work in the orthodox circles in Warsaw.\u201d I quote this passage at length because it is puzzling.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The author\u2019s disparaging reference to Tzeitlin\u2014\u201cone Hillel Tzeitlin, a Jew\u201d\u2014indicates that he is unaware that Tzeitlin, after renouncing his Chasidic background, returned to the observance of the Torah and to publicizing its spiritual treasures among the non-religious intellectual classes of Warsaw. It is also puzzling that Rabbi Ashlag would have been so upset that Hillel Tzeitlin\u2019s article might lead the \u201corthodox\u201d to dismiss his work, when he himself encountered so much opposition and denunciation of his innovative work in Jerusalem from the traditional Sephardic kabbalists and from the \u201cold yishuv\u201d Orthodox community. (A second edition of this book would do well to rectify this description of Hillel Tzeitlin and clarify Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s concerns. )
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 It is clear from the many comments quoted in this book of Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s relatives and students, and from the many narratives, that Rabbi Ashlag was a rare and holy individual who lived on a plane different than the plane on which ordinary mortals live. Reading this book offers the ability to experience something\u2014at least an echo or a reflection\u2014of that holy, the ability to glimpse a reality beyond that of the every day, and the opening of the heart to yearn for that reality.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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    \n\t\t\t <\/ul>\n <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Master of the ladder ” A Jewel of a Book”: Review by Writer and Translator, Yaacov David Shulman The Master of the Ladder: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag (by Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Gottlieb, translated and edited by Yedidah Cohen) is a presentation of Rabbi Ashlag\u2019s life and teachings. The book may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"postBodyCss":"","postBodyMargin":[],"postBodyPadding":[],"postBodyBackground":{"backgroundType":"classic","gradient":""},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5168","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9441,"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5168\/revisions\/9441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehorapress.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}