Piety and Rebellion
Essays in Hasidism
Piety and Rebellion examines the span of the Hasidic textual tradition from its earliest phases to the 20th century. The essays collected in this volume focus on the tension between Hasidic fidelity to tradition and its rebellious attempt to push the devotional life beyond the borders of conventional religious practice. Many of the essays exhibit a comparative perspective deployed to better articulate the innovative spirit, and traditional challenges, Hasidism presents to the traditional Jewish world. Piety and Rebellion is an attempt to present Hasidism as one case whereby maximalist religion can yield a rebellious challenge to conventional conceptions of religious thought and practice.
Shaul Magid is the Jay and Jeanie Schottensten Professor in the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University and Kogod Senior Research Fellow at The Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He is a member of the American Academy of Jewish Research. His work spans the areas of Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Modern Jewish Thought and Culture.