Book Review: The Project of Hasidism by Rabbi Steven Gotlib

The Project of Hasidism and the Possibility of Prophecy Rabbi Steven Gotlib Dec 25, 2025 The Project of Hasidism (Kodesh Press, 2025) is R. Bezalel Naor’s latest gift to the Jewish people. Naor is best-known for his work on Rav Kook so it should come as no surprise that his interpretation of the subject matter is […]

On the Path of the Prophets, from the Past into our Future

Book Review by Rabbi Reuven Boshnack Title: The Project of Hasidism By: Rabbi Betzalel Naor Kodesh Press   R. Betzalel Naor’s latest offering, The Project of Hasidism, is a compilation of essays accompanied by his characteristically rich footnotes. It delves into the question: What is the contribution of chassidus to Yiddishkeit? More than merely a popular movement, chassidus has attracted […]

Ofer ha-Ayyalim

This article was published in the collection ‘Ofer ha-Ayyalim (‘Ofer Eliyahu Cohen Memorial Volume), Jerusalem, Ellul 5754 (1994). Ofer ha-Ayyalim-Ofer Eliyahu Cohen Memorial Volume

The Souls of Chaos

Rav Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook The Souls of the World of Chaos Translated and Introduced by Bezalel Naor Copyright © 2021 by Bezalel Naor   This classic piece, a chapter of the collection Zer‘onim (“Seeds”), first appeared in 1913 in the short-lived journal Ha-Tarbut ha-Yisraelit (The Israelite Civilization), edited by Tsevi Yehudah Kook. Since 1950, […]

Book Review: Navigating Worlds by Rabbi Reuven Boshnack

A Soulful Journey Through Jewish Thought By Rabbi Reuven Boshnack  – 22 Tammuz 5781 – July 2, 2021 Navigating Worlds By: Betzalel Naor Orot/Kodesh Press 2021, New York NY When opening Rabbi Betzalel Naor’s newest offering titled Navigating Worlds, one is met by a formidable tome of over 600 pages. If you aren’t familiar with […]

Book Review: Navigating Worlds by Shlomo Zuckier

Bezalel Naor, Navigating Worlds: Collected Essays (Kodesh Press) Shlomo Zuckier This summer I have the pleasure of reading through the recently released Navigating Worlds: Collected Essays by Rabbi Bezalel Naor, containing essays authored over the past 15 years. In his characteristic witty and creative writing style, R. Naor weaves together incisive readings of traditional texts with a broad knowledge […]

Book Review: Navigating Worlds by Elisha Paul

A GUIDE TO THE PERPLEXED by Elisha Paul Reviewing “Navigating Worlds” by Bezalel Naor. Kodesh Press. 2021. English. 680 pages. Not since The Aryeh Kaplan Reader was published in 1986 has there been as powerful a collection of essays in English–on such a broad array of topics, from one author–that explains complex Jewish concepts so […]

Book Review: Navigating Worlds by Steven Rohde Gotlib

Title: Navigating Worlds, Collected Essays (2006-2020) Author: Bezalel Naor Publisher: Kodesh Press Reviewed by Steven Rohde Gotlib As part of my rabbinic internship with Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, I gave a series of classes on approaches to Aggadah (Talmudic stories) within Judaism, focusing largely on the interpretations of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Rav Avraham Yitzchak […]

Book Review: Navigating Worlds by Zevi Slavin

Title: Navigating Worlds, Collected Essays (2006-2020) Author: Bezalel Naor Publisher: Kodesh Press Reviewed by Zevi Slavin Reading Naor is different. Reading Naor is exciting. I often wonder what it is about his writing that still manages to excite even the jaded reader. The answer is rather simple. Naor is excited by the words he spins […]