"But do you know who anticipated my entire psychology in the eighteenth century? The Hasidic Rabbi Baer from Meseritz, whom they called the Great Maggid. He was a most impressive man." — Carl Gustav Jung, interviewed on his eightieth birthday
Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch, was the successor of the Baal Shem Tov and the teacher of the generation of tzaddikim who carried Chassidus to every corner of Eastern Europe — among them the Alter Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, and the Rebbe of Lizhensk. Like his master, the Maggid wrote nothing himself; his disciples recorded his words as they heard them, and from their manuscripts came Or Torah, first printed in 1804 — teachings the early copyists called zikukin dinur, sparks of fire.
THE SEFER THE REBBES KEPT CLOSE
The Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch kept three sefarim in his private desk drawer — Kesser Shem Tov, Or Torah, and Tanya — and would learn from them before receiving chassidim in yechidus, before davening, and before Krias Shema at night. On the strength of that practice, the Frierdiker Rebbe recommended that chassidim study these three sefarim daily. The Tzemach Tzedek attested that key discourses in the sefer were transcribed directly by the Alter Rebbe from his teacher's words. And in our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe directed that a corrected and annotated edition be published so these teachings would be open to every learner.
Rabbi Shlomo of Lutzk, the disciple who first brought the Maggid's Torah to print, described these teachings as "words standing at the heights of the universe" — and at first hesitated to print them at all, out of sheer awe.
THIS EDITION
For the first time, the complete teachings of Or Torah on the Chumash — from Bereishis through VeZos HaBerachah — are presented in a full English elucidation:
- The Maggid's original Hebrew, fully vocalized, in clear bold type
- A phrase-by-phrase intralinear English translation
- A running elucidation that identifies the sources, traces the Kabbalistic framework, and clarifies the spiritual logic of each teaching
- An orientation summary at the head of every section: its derush, Torah basis, Kabbalistic framework, and avodah
- Diagrams where a teaching turns on the very form of the Hebrew letters
- Footnotes documenting sources and variant readings, plus a Subject Index and Index of Sources
Whether you learn a single teaching on the weekly parashah or study the sefer from cover to cover, this edition sets the wellsprings of the Great Maggid before the English reader — in his own words, at their full depth.
Hardcover, 7 x 10, 546 pages. Kesser Shem Tov Publishing.
