Books
"Rubin's book offers an exciting new way of thinking about Jewish modernity, making this one of the most original and interesting books in Jewish Studies of our time."
— Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
"Chabad's rich intellectual history and its place in the broad existential currents of modernity finally get their due with Rubin's stupendous book, which like its author, is a wonder of erudition, insight, and humility."
— Yehudah Mirsky, Brandeis University
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ORDER FROM PUBLISHER & USE CODE RUPTURE20 FOR 20% OFF
This is a little book you can actually read in full over one Shabbos! While it’s suited for children ages 8–12, adults will no doubt enjoy reading it—especially those interested in the tension between modern sensibilities and traditional sensitivities.
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A biography of Rebbetzin Devorah Leah of Vitebsk, it is newly adapted and translated by two-time 18Forty podcast guest Eli Rubin, who is also soon releasing Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity.
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As a girl, Devorah Leah (who, for context, eventually becomes the aunt of the Baal HaTanya), is dejected that she isn't given a Torah education and that she must learn by secretly listening in on the cheider next door.
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“Eventually,” we read, “Devorah Leah became a great lamdonis, a lady who knew lots and lots of Torah, just like her mother.”
I don’t know how the rest of Rebbetzin Devorah Leah’s story goes, which is just one reason why I’m so grateful for the coming Shabbos.
— Cody Fitzpatrick, I Read This Over Shabbos
“... a remarkably bold and challenging book ... [it] will appeal to scholars of Jewish spirituality, and challenge sociologists of religion and social movements with its innovative theoretical model.”
— Catherine Casey, Loughborough University
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“... uncompromisingly sophisticated but eminently accessible ... the social is infused with the mystical and the mystical with the social ... a book that amply demonstrates the need to avoid disentangling the ethnographic and phenomenological threads.” ​
— Elliot R. Wolfson, University of California, Santa Barbara