Hasidism Beyond Modernity

The Habad school of hasidism is distinguished today

from other hasidic groups by its famous emphasis on outreach, on messianism, and

on empowering women. Hasidism Beyond Modernity provides a critical,

thematic study of the movement from its beginnings, showing how its unusual qualities

evolved. Topics investigated include the theoretical underpinning of the

outreach ethos; the turn towards women in the twentieth century; new attitudes

to non-Jews; the role of the individual in the hasidic collective; spiritual

contemplation in the context of modernity; the quest for inclusivism in the

face of prevailing schismatic processes;

messianism in both spiritual and political forms; and the direction of the

movement after the passing of its seventh rebbe,

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in 1994. Attention is given to many contrasts:

pre-modern, modern, and postmodern conceptions of Judaism; the clash between maintaining

an enclave and outreach models of Jewish society; particularist and

universalist trends; and the subtle interplay of mystical faith and rationality.

Some of the chapters are new; others, published in an earlier form, have been

updated to take account of recent scholarship. This book presents an in-depth

study of an intriguing movement which takes traditional hasidism beyond

modernity.