Kotzk Blog

by Rabbi Dr Gavin Michal

I have always been drawn to the teachings of the Rebbe of Kotzk. His approach was predicated upon uncompromising truth and intellectual independence. This allowed him to be fearless and never to succumb to societal pressures. He knew that Judaism was so much deeper and more profound than the way it was perceived by the masses and bent by religious populism. These essays, although not necessarily Kotzker in essence, are certainly Kotzk inspired.

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562) Was Maharal of Prague a philosopher or a veiled mystic?

557) The Roaring Lion returns: A contemporary polemic against Jewish mysticism

549) From Serafim to Sefirot: The Kedusha and the rise of human participation in the cosmic drama

534) Between Law and Magic: The Mezuzah as a test case in shifting cosmologies

527) Neoplatonic echoes in Chassidic Mysticism

522) Italian letters: The battle over the Zohar

513) Secret Mystical and Chassidic societies

496) Kabbalah: To print or not to print the ‘lost’ mystical tradition

491) A source trail defending the Baal haTanya’s definition of the soul as ‘a part of G-d’

473) ‘Der Pintele Yid’ − the evolution of the term and concept

469) Examining an unpublished manuscript of the Zohar

455) The three-pronged mystical revolution of the 16th century

448) R. Yosef Karo’s unusual mystical entries in his diary

441) Could the Zohar Chadash have engaged in a contemporary polemic with Chassidei Ashkenaz?

373) Kabbalah – a product of the East or West?

371) ‘Tikla’ and the zoharic concept that sin can bring redemption

369) Menachem Tziyoni’s kabbalistic writings on demonology

317) SHEMIRA: WHY PROTECT THE DEAD?

312) WHAT DOES MODEH ANI MEAN?

306) THE ZOHARIC EMPHASIS ON AVRAHAM AS DISSEMINATOR OF NON-JEWISH MYSTICISM: