Black hat tip to R Reuven Boshnack.
Perfect for Elul and Tishrei! I have been a teleconferencing Rav Weinberger’s Oros Ha’Teshuva shiurim forever, it seems. They were my Friday morning companion for the eight years I lived in Indianapolis and after that, too. Thanks to Reb Yaakov Dovid Shulman, the commentary of Rav Weinberger has now become available in book form. Oros Ha’Teshuva is not (for me) easy to learn just on it’s on. Like most of what Rav Weinberger teaches, his ability to clarify ideas and bring them home to our level is a gift. My copy is ordered already.
From the publisher’s website:
Includes the original Hebrew text of Oros HaTeshuvah, a new translation into English by Yaacov Dovid Shulman, and commentary from Rabbi moshe Weinberger.
“Teshuvah – repentance – does not come to embitter life but to sweeten it.”
HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook wrote these inspiring words in Oros HaTeshuvah, a work in which he delivers the message that teshuvah is not a somber process of self-deprivation but a joyful journey back to Hashem and to the core of who we are.
When Oros HaTeshuvah was published in 1925, it was immediately accepted as a classic of Jewish thought and hailed for its brilliance of ideas, warmth of feeling, depth of psychological insight, holiness of spirit and mastery of Torah knowledge.
However, because of the difficulty of its language and the profusion of its exalted concepts, Oros HaTeshuvah has remained for many a sealed book.
Now Rav Moshe Weinberger, Mara D’Asra of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, New York, has composed a commentary that reveals the treasures embedded within Oros HaTeshuvah. Based on an extensive knowledge of Jewish philosophical and inspirational literature, Rav Weinberger’s commentary is profound, moving and fresh, richly explicating Oros HaTeshuvah’s ideas in a clear and accessible but not superficial manner. His masterful expositions on a variety of topics (such as the difference between depression and a broken heart) are both lucid and invigorating.
This book will fulfill the hopes of those who are looking for a holy text written in a contemporary style that will inspire them to renew their spiritual passions, strengthen their religious commitments and energize their personal growth.
Place your order here or contact your local seforim store.
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this for a while since someone in school told me they were working on it.
Yeah. The English translantion that Rav Weinberger has used at times in the shiurim ( Classics of Western Spirituality) is readable, but you really don’t get the jist of what’s going on.
Speaking of translations, I still like the orignal translation of Chovos HaTalmidim over the newer Feldheim one. Maybe it’s just me.
No, I agree with you. The Feldheim version is adequate, but not a loyal translation at all. I have minor qibbles with it (e.g. the fact that they distinguish between the C.HT. and the 3 Ma’amarim, making it two separate entities), but my chavrusa used it this past z’man to supplement our learning and it certainly helped him catch the gist as well. I still prefer Micha Odenheimer’s translation, as it is very loyal to the poetic nature of the Rebbe’s prose (Jason Aronson Publishers ROCKED…R.I.P).
Genhennom, yeah! Totally agree with your view.
I was zoche in 1998 to get all of the Rebbe’s translations at Half-Price books in Indianapolis when we moved there (along with a number of other now classics). They were a grear publishing house.
>Genhennom, yeah!
🙂
Rav David Samson and ? published a running commentary on Orot Hateshuvah some years ago. It was really more of a stand-alone teaching than a commentary sticking to the text. It was part of a series they did on several of Rav Kook’s writings, and the talks given by Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook.
Did Rav Weinberger use the original edition of Orot Hateshuvah, or Rav Drukman’s expanded edition?
I believe the original. My copy of the book was just shipped (so an email from the publisher tells me).