Eli Rubin, "Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Apr 6, 2025
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Eli Rubin, a contributing editor at Chabad.org and PhD holder from UCL, explores the fascinating world of Chabad Hasidism in his latest work. He discusses the Kabbalistic concept of ṣimṣum and its implications for modernity and Jewish identity. Rubin reflects on the movement's historical evolution, the role of mentorship, and the impact of Kabbalistic ideas on individual spirituality. He also delves into the dynamic relationships among Chabad leaders and how their intellectual pursuits shaped the movement's response to modern challenges.
Eli Rubin highlights that the Kabbalistic concept of ṣimṣum instigated profound debates in Chabad Hasidism, influencing notions of existence and divine presence.
The philosophical divide between Rabbi Schneer Zalman and the Vilna Gaon exemplifies Chabad's engagement with modernity and its ramifications within Jewish communities.
Rabbi Shalom Dovber Schneerson's leadership represents the balancing act of preserving tradition while navigating the challenges of modernity and secularizing trends.
Deep dives
The Emergence of Chabad Hasidism
Chabad Hasidism emerged in the 18th century, shaped by the Kabbalistic concept of Tsimtzum, which describes a divine act of contraction that creates space for the cosmos. Eli Rubin, through his analysis, connects the historical roots of Chabad to earlier Kabbalistic traditions and the philosophical developments that followed. This understanding positions Chabad as a dynamic movement that evolved, responding to various historical and intellectual challenges. By tracing the lineage of Chabad thought from its origins through different generations, Rubin illustrates the significant changes and adaptations evident in its approach to spirituality and modernity.
Philosophical and Historical Methodologies
Rubin emphasizes the importance of employing rigorous philosophical, philological, and historiographical methods to understand Chabad Hasidism. He critiques both traditional readings within the Hasidic community and secular academic interpretations that may homogenize diverse ideas. His approach showcases the necessity of distinguishing between various strands of thought, highlighting how different historical contexts influenced the evolution of Chabad philosophy. This nuanced examination reveals that Chabad is not merely a static doctrine but a rich tapestry of ideas shaped by cultural and intellectual currents.
The Conflict Between Rasha and Grah
The disagreement between Rabbi Schneer Zalman of Liadi (Rasha) and the Vilna Gaon (Grah) regarding the interpretation of Tsimtzum exemplifies a critical philosophical divide within the Jewish enlightenment. Rasha argued for a view where God's presence is concealed yet accessible within the cosmos, while Grah posited a complete removal of divine presence from the physical world. This conflict led to broader social ramifications within Jewish communities, including book burnings and arrests, as their differing interpretations sparked deep ideological rifts. Rubin highlights how these debates reflected significant tensions between traditionalism and emerging modern thought in the Jewish world.
Rashab and the Influence of Modernity
Rabbi Shalom Dovber Schneerson (Rashab) became a significant figure in Chabad during a transformative era marked by modernity and the Jewish Enlightenment. He actively contested secularizing trends and worked to preserve traditional Jewish values, emphasizing the importance of a comprehensive Jewish education. Rashab's approach to Hasidic thought integrated modern philosophical insights while remaining deeply connected to his Chabad predecessors. This tension between innovation and tradition illustrates how Rashab's leadership helped navigate the challenges of Jewish identity amidst a rapidly changing sociopolitical landscape.
Rashab's Encounter with Freud
The consultation between Rashab and Sigmund Freud represents a focal point of modern Jewish intellectual convergence amid systemic shifts. Their meeting not only underscores the contrasting approaches to Jewish identity and modernity but also illustrates how both figures grappled with the questions of origins and originality within their respective fields. Rubin suggests that their philosophies reflect broader Jewish modernity themes, addressing how rupture and continuity coexist within the contemporary Jewish experience. By exploring this intersection, Rubin invites readers to reconsider how Hasidic thought dynamically engages with modernity's philosophical and social challenges.
In Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism (Stanford University Press, 2025), Eli Rubin provides a comprehensive intellectual and institutional history of Chabad Hasidism through the Kabbalistic concept of ṣimṣum. The onset of modernity, Eli Rubin argues, was heralded by this startling idea: existence itself is predicated on a self-inflicted "rupture" in the infinite assertion of divinity. Centuries of theoretical disputations concerning ṣimṣum ultimately morphed into religious and social schism. These debates confronted the meaning of being and forged the animating ethos of Chabad, a dynamic movement in modern Judaism. Chabad's distinctive character and self-image, Rubin shows, emerged from its spirited defense of Hasidism's interpretation of ṣimṣum as an act of love leading to rapturous reunion. This interpretation ignited a literal conflagration, complete with book burnings, denunciations, investigations, and arrests. Chabad's subsequent preoccupation with ṣimṣum was equally significant for questions of legitimacy, authority, and succession, as for existential questions of being and meaning.
Unfolding the story of Chabad from the early modern period to the twentieth century, this book provides fresh portraits of the successive leaders of the movement. Innovatively integrating history, philosophy, and literature, Rubin shows how Kabbalistic ideas are crucially entangled in the experience of modernity and in the response to its ruptures.
Interviewee: Eli Rubin is a contributing editor at Chabad.org and received his PhD from the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London.
Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com.
