THE HASIDIC PARABLE: An Anthology with Commentary

A congregational rabbi in Troy, N.Y., Wineman is also a scholar specializing in Kabbalah and Hasidism. He has combined these interests to produce this anthology of Hasidic parables, providing extensive commentary that draws on Kabbalah. Wineman begins with a useful introduction in which he defines parable as "an imaginative story whose meaning refers to something quite beyond itself." (A more useful definition would also include reference to the moral or lesson drawn from the tale.) Wineman next examines the structure of the Hasidic parable and the Hasidic homily, which generally includes a parable. He groups the parables and his analyses into four categories: Paradox and the Unexpected; Redefinitions; Deepening the Implications of Divine Oneness; Echoes; and Transformation of Older Motifs. His classification system is a bit faulty, since there is considerable overlap. Nevertheless, he succeeds in illustrating how Hasidic rebbes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries taught their followers by using allegory to drive home their instruction. Wineman's comments on the parables sometimes wander far beyond their possible meaning as he plunges into Jewish mysticism. However, he has achieved his objective of exploring parables to demonstrate "the preciousness of the spiritual core of Hasidism's worldview and of its value system." (July)