Description
Book SynopsisMichael Levi Rodkinson is today 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 on those writings and their reception to present a completely different picture of this colourful and influential writer.
Trade ReviewJonatan Meir portrays the career of one of the most ambivalent characters of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, Michael Levi Rodkinson, and his move from the propagation of popular Hasidism to his more grandiose attempts to reframe and restructure the entire Jewish canon. This look into the world of the late nineteenthcentury Jewish Enlightenment will be an eye-opener.""—Pinchas Giller, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University
""Meir has taken the relatively neglected figure of Rodkinson and created a detailed and fascinating portrait. He ably demonstrates that the boundaries between Hasidism and Haskalah were frequently crossed, and this markedly improves our understanding of the dynamics of Jewish intellectual history in the crucial period of the late nineteenth century.""—Ira Robinson, Concordia University
