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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yosef Bronstein—a rabbi, writer, and scholar—about the philosophy of Chabad and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. 

For much of the Jewish world, the Chabad movement plays a part in our lives, but it’s not necessarily something we understand deeply. Rabbi Bronstein, author of the newly published Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Koren), helps us fix that. In this episode we discuss:

• What draws a Litvak to the Torah of the Lubavitcher Rebbe? 
• What were the Rebbe’s essential innovations of Judaism?
• How might a messianic consciousness enhance our Torah lives?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what Orthodox Jews outside of the Lubavitch community can learn from Chabad. 

Interview begins at 15:33

Yosef Bronstein received rabbinic ordination and a PhD in Talmudic Studies from Yeshiva University. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of Machon Zimrat Ha’aretz, a community learning center and rabbinical training program in Efrat, Israel, and also teaches Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College. Rabbi Dr. Bronstein is a beloved lecturer, writer, and teacher on topics of Jewish thought, and is the author of The Authority of the Divine Law: A Study in Tannaitic Midrash and Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

References:

Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

Tanya

The Steinsaltz Tanya

Lessons in Tanya

Heaven on Earth Reflections on the theology of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Faitel Levin

Halakhic Man by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

18Forty Podcast: "Yosef Bronstein: Rav Tzadok & Rav Kook on Jewish History"

Pirkei Avot 1

Kuzari

Mishneh Torah

Open Secret by Elliot R. Wolfson

The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference by David Berger

Sichos

“Bittul Torah or a Taste of the World To Come? Fathers and Young Children” by Yosef Bronstein