The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto

by Nehemia Polen

The Holy The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto is a journey into the mind and spirit of a sublime hasidic master in his moments of joy and tranquillity, and later, in his time of personal and communal catastrophe. The reader takes a voyage into the rich and variegated world of twentieth-century Hasidism in Poland, a world destroyed by the Holocaust. This is a volume inspired by a deeply sensitive and poetic individual of faith who is grappling with an unfolding disaster. While the Holocaust has engendered a voluminous body of religious and philosophical writings attempting to probe the issues this unfathomable period raises in all their enormity, virtually all were written after the war, when a modicum of distance and reflection is possible. Contemporaneous diaries and chronicles written as the events were happening concentrate on the descriptive accounts of the horrors. The Holy Fire , however, engages a sustained theological reflection and stands alone as an extended religious response from within the heart of darkness itself while the catastrophe takes place, and is, for this reason, an extraordinary document and an astonishing personal achievement.

Genres: Judaism, Religion, Holocaust, Biography, History, Philosophy, Judaica

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1977

Reviews

[Lorelei · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a long time to read this - well worth the effort. My only regret is that I can't read the original in Hebrew.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

THis is the most well known of the writings of R Shapira; I would have preferred a word for word translation in addition to the commentary

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Yossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

…a must read for anyone concerned not only with theodicy but with personal and spiritual growth of the most profound kind.

Favorite quote from the book:
“Abraham Joshua Heschel has said that there are no proofs for the existence of God, only witnesses. [The book] Esh Kodesh is such a witness. It is a testimony to one man’s faith in God. It is also a testimony to faith in learning, teaching, human communication, language, and - most of all - the redemptive power of compassion.”

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, Frightening and Phenomenal Read. I learned MORE about life reading these writings than I could have ever imagined.

A MUST read for anyone interested in Kabbalah, Talmudic Studies, WW2 History and Philosophy!

[Denise DeRocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking philosophical musings from a brilliant man...