G-d, Man and the World

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi articulated a model of divine unity that expands the quintessence of faith into the circle of reason, and fits the square of dissonance into the circle of life.

Unraveling the paradoxes of a biblical verse reveals a spiritual path via which we can reach infinitude, not despite our finitude, but because of our finitude. Based on the discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe beginning with the verse ‘The number of the Israelites... cannot be numbered” (Hosea 2:1-2), delivered on the 2nd of Sivan, 5726 (1966).

On the "hard" problem of consciousness, Hasidic panpsychism, and the transformation of the abject into the exalted

Maimonides is often portrayed as a rationalist who opposed any form of mysticism. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi is generally seen as a mystic, albeit one of moderate rationalist inclination. A comparative textual reading reveals that these two greats may have far more in common than is usually thought.

Excerpts from various mystical texts illustrate how different kinds of ecstatic spiritual experiences may be attained including "death of the ego" and "union with G-d."

Ethics can be understood as the vehicle that moves the self, and the world at large, towards the ontological good. For Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, that good is synonymous with G-d, and the path prescribed by the Torah is the vehicle which draws humanity and the world into the singularity of the divine good.

Which is greater, the natural or the miraculous? Rabbi Freeman charts the development of a kabbalistic doctrine from the Ari, to the RaSHaB to the Rebbe.

In June 1941 Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the future Lubavitcher Rebbe, arrived in Lisbon together with his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka (Moussia). Poised to leave Nazi-occupied Europe for the free world, an entry in the Rebbe’s private journal reveals how he drew on his past to chart a dual vision for the future.

Reconciling the pursuit of spiritual ecstasy with the idea of creating a “dwelling place for the divine in the lower realms of creation.”