The Tales of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz begins this book by describing Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav as an “original and outstanding thinker,” a phrase that surely describes the reputation achieved by Rabbi Steinsaltz himself. It is therefore no surprise that The Tales of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, retold with commentary by a world-renowned rabbi such as Adin Steinsaltz, is a remarkable volume.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810) emerged from the hasidic world as a great leader with devoted followers both in his lifetime and to this very day. He produced several masterpieces of religious writing, but of all his works, his tales are considered to be at the peak of his creative life. As Rabbi Steinsaltz These stories, which are essentially fairy tales dating from Nachman’s last years, are a mixture of intellectual and poetic imagination, simplicity of form, and complexity of content. On the one hand, any child can read them as one would a tale of ancient days, as the author himself put it; and, on the other hand, one can as an adult read them again and again, analyze and study them, and constantly discover in them layer upon layer of hitherto unrevealed symbol and meaning.
Rabbi Nachman’s tales were originally told in Yiddish. They were recorded by his outstanding pupil, Rabbi Nathan, who translated them into Hebrew and published them after Rabbi Nachman’s death. While these tales are structurally similar to folk or fairy tales, they include highly compressed and clearly defined Torah teachings expressed in literary and poetic form. Rabbi Nachman’s stories are a medium for conveying hidden aspects of Torah, yet in such a veiled way that the content is not outwardly apparent. These complex allegories, intended by their author to have several dimensions, are presented here by Rabbi Steinsaltz with his own commentary, pointing the way for the modern reader to begin to grasp Rabbi Nachman’s profound tales.
Of the thirteen major tales by Rabbi Nachman, this volume offers six of them, each with extensive commentary. Also included is a richly informative introduction to the life and teachings of Rabbi Nachman by Rabbi Steinsaltz. The volume concludes with “Nine Questions Toward a Better Understanding of Rabbi Nachman,” a series of inquiries asked of Rabbi Steinsaltz that helps to further our understanding of the uniqueness of the hasidic master, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.