Dovber Schneuri - Works

Works

Rabbi Dovber wrote many works on Chabad philosophy and Kabbalah. He was a brilliant thinker and a prolfic writer. His Chassidic works tend to be very long and intricate. It is said that when he finished writing the bottom line on a sheet of paper, the ink of the top line had not yet dried. Nineteen of his works have been published so far, a good many of them during his lifetime.

He wrote a commentary on the Zohar, "Bi'urei HaZohar". Chasidic philosophy is based on Kabbalah, but interprets it in light of Chasidic thought. It seeks to uncover the inner "soul" of Kabbalah, by relating it to the inner consciousness of man. This can them allow Jewish mysticism to be grasped inwardly. The mystical revival and popularisation of Chasidism allowed the Jewish mystical tradition to be expressed outside of the language of Kabbalah, by uniting and spiritualising other dimensions of Judaism. Nonetheless, the more involved Chasidic texts interpret Kabbalistic ideas extensively, and relate them to personal spirituality.

The different schools in Chasidic thought gave alternative articulations of Chasidic mysticism. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad, differed with general Chasidism, by seeing the mind as the route to the heart. Many of the historic works of Chasidic thought across the movement, comprise collected teachings and explanations of Torah, often delivered orally, and compiled by the disciples. As Chabad sought to express Chasidus in systematic philosophy, its writings are usually more structured than other schools'.

Rabbi Dovber greatly expanded on the illucidation of Chabad philosophy, so that his followers could understand and internalise its spirituality. The path of Chabad demanded and valued inner depth and refinement over external emotional fervour. In the devotion of Chabad, the service of prayer became the central time for self transformation, through the unique Chabad approach of profound intellectual meditation (Hisbonenus) on Chasidic philosophy during prayer. While businessmen could fulfil their weekday prayer obligations in the regular way, in the early generations of Chabad, it was expected that the Sabbath could offer individuals time to extend their prayers in mystical rapture. In Chabad lore, stories are related of legendary Chasidim who would spend hours devoted to personal prayer, through meditation accompanied by Chasidic melody (Niggun). In his "Kuntres HaHispaalus" (Tract on Ecstasy), Rabbi Dovber gives a remarkable document in Jewish thought. While personal accounts of the mystical life are rare in Judaism, in this work Dovber guides the devotee through the many intellectual and emotional levels of Chabad meditation. It differentiates between the external emotional fervour of general Chasidism, with the Chabad ideal of inner ecstasy in prayer. It is related that Rabbi Schneur Zalman's prayers were so ecstatic that he could not contain their outer emotional expression, and without self-awareness, would roll on the floor or end up in a different location. His son Dovber, meanwhile, would pray for hours in static ecstasy, until all his clothes would be soaked in perspiration.

One of his most famous works, entitled "Sha'ar HaYichud" (The Gate of Unity), now translated to English, describes the creation and entire make-up of the world according to Kabbalah. The work begins with the "Essence of G-d," and traces the creation of the universe down to the physical world itself, using complicated parables to illustrate difficult points. The book also describes, in its first ten chapters, the proper way to meditate on these Kabbalistic ideas.