Review Essay by Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer The Souls of the World of Chaos by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook Translation, Introduction and Notes by Bezalel Naor Orot/Kodesh 5783/2023 Today is an appropriate day to write this review. It is 3 Elul, Rav Kook’s 88th Yahrzeit. It is also shortly after the end […]
There’s a story that mathematician and physicist John von Neumann was told that besides him, there were only five people in the world that truly understood quantum mechanics. He replied incredulously, “Really, who are they?” I don’t know how many people truly understand the esoteric works of Rav Avraham Kook, but I know Rabbi Bezalel […]
What the Straus Center Is Reading — Souls in the World of Chaos Souls in the World of Chaos features a translation, introduction and notes by Bezalel Naor of one of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook’s lesser-known essays, included in the 1950 edition of Orot. The essay first appeared in 1913 and described the Second Aliyah in spiritual […]
From the Politics of Tohu to the Politics of Tikkun by Rav Netanel Elyashiv מפוליטיקה של תוהו לפוליטיקה של תיקון רב נתנאל אלישיב ** במהלך השבת הספקתי להתקדם סוף סוף בספרו החדש של הרב בצלאל נאור – ‘הנשמות של עולם התוהו‘. מפעל חייו של הרב נאור הוא עריכת תרגומים מעולים של כתבי הרב קוק לאנגלית, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Review of The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook BY JACK ABRAMOWITZ The Talmud and Midrash contain a number of outlandish tales. Neophytes may take such aggadot at face value, while detractors will point them out as untenable. More seasoned students, however, will recognize these as esoteric ideas […]