Jewish Spiritual Growth by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira

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Translator Yaacov David Shulman

Jewish Spiritual Growth is a translation into English of one of the great Jewish spiritual treasures of the twentieth century, which was miraculously rescued after the Holocaust. This book was written by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, one of the great Hasidic masters of the twentieth century, living in pre-World War II Warsaw (author of the famed Aish Kodesh). Seeking to revitalize the Hasidic movement, Rabbi Shapira wrote a number of books discussing visualization, contemplation and emotion in the life of a person as an individual and as a member of a spiritual community. Jewish Spiritual Growth (Hakhsharat Ha’avreikhim) offers a theory and practicum of Hasidism with unparalleled clarity and eloquence. (Tragically, Rabbi Shapira was killed by the Nazis in 1943.)

Professor Shaul Magid describes this book as “a tour de force focused on developing one’s emotions and spiritual core, unprecedented in modern Hasidic literature.” He goes on to state that “Yaacov David Shulman’s felicitous and textured translation retains the flavor of Shapira’s traditional Hasidic approach while opening this text to an English-speaking audience interested in how one Hasidic master understood Hasidism as a path toward inner growth and, eventually, toward prophecy. An important contribution to Hasidic literature in translation.”

The translator has authored, translated and edited fifty books of Jewish spiritual and literary value. His work may be viewed at shulman-writer.com and dotletterword.com.