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Literary Hasidism : the life and works of Michael Levi Rodkinson / Jonatan Meir ; translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey G. Amshalem.

By: Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Hebrew Series: Judaic traditions in literature, music, and artPublisher: Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, [2016]Copyright date: ©2016Edition: First editionDescription: 1 online resourceContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780815653714
  • 0815653719
Uniform titles:
  • Shivḥe Rodḳinson. English
Related works:
  • Container of (expression): Meir, Jonatan. Shivḥe Rodḳinson. English
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Literary Hasidism.DDC classification:
  • 296.8/332 23
LOC classification:
  • BM198.2
Other classification:
  • online - EBSCO
Online resources:
Contents:
Polemics and perspectives -- The life and works of Michael Levi Rodkinson -- The beginnings of Hasidic hagiography -- Images of Hasidism : history, critique, and religious reform -- Rodkinson and neo-Hasidic literature.
Summary: Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845-1904) was a journalist, author, and publisher whose literary projects spanned numerous countries and continents. Hero to some and scoundrel to others, Rodkinson was a polemical figure whose beliefs underwent many transformations over the course of his life, most significantly from Hasidism to combative Haskalah to eventually anticipating the neo-Romantic trends of the early twentieth century. Throughout his career, Rodkinson's writing challenged the familiar genres of the literature of Hasidism and the Haskalah, shaping the religious realities of his readers and articulating a spiritual and community life among Jews, who took his ideas to heart in surprising ways. Today, Rodkinson is frequently referred to as a minor Hasidic author and publisher, a characterization based on the criticism of his opponents rather than on his writings. In Literary Hasidism, Meir draws upon those writings and their reception to present a completely different picture of this colorful and influential writer. Examining Rodkinson's lifelong role as a catalyzing agent of different cultural phenomena, his diverse publishing activities, and his writings in their respective stages, Meir grants readers a provocative new vantage point from which to consider this divisive, enigmatic figure.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Polemics and perspectives -- The life and works of Michael Levi Rodkinson -- The beginnings of Hasidic hagiography -- Images of Hasidism : history, critique, and religious reform -- Rodkinson and neo-Hasidic literature.

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

Translated from the Hebrew.

Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845-1904) was a journalist, author, and publisher whose literary projects spanned numerous countries and continents. Hero to some and scoundrel to others, Rodkinson was a polemical figure whose beliefs underwent many transformations over the course of his life, most significantly from Hasidism to combative Haskalah to eventually anticipating the neo-Romantic trends of the early twentieth century. Throughout his career, Rodkinson's writing challenged the familiar genres of the literature of Hasidism and the Haskalah, shaping the religious realities of his readers and articulating a spiritual and community life among Jews, who took his ideas to heart in surprising ways. Today, Rodkinson is frequently referred to as a minor Hasidic author and publisher, a characterization based on the criticism of his opponents rather than on his writings. In Literary Hasidism, Meir draws upon those writings and their reception to present a completely different picture of this colorful and influential writer. Examining Rodkinson's lifelong role as a catalyzing agent of different cultural phenomena, his diverse publishing activities, and his writings in their respective stages, Meir grants readers a provocative new vantage point from which to consider this divisive, enigmatic figure.