Although I have a copy of the book , I have never commented on it since its publication.
I am honored to be placed in the same league as rabbis Levin and Moonshein, but I am not in their league .
I have not read the book although many of the essays in it have previously seen print in various Israeli scholarly and serious journals.And those I have indeed read.
Once I read it completely , I may comment concerning it like any other baser vedam has the right to do.
Assaf is a Orthodox Jew as far as I know.
Just one quick comment here .
I fail to see how the tragic saga of Reb Moshe had any impact on the path of Jewish history, Hasidism, the development of Chabad or Russian Jewry.
Nor did he(Rav Moshe ) contribute any new intellectual currrents to Judaism that altered the path of Jewish intellectual and spiritual thought.
Yes its interesting in as much People and US magazines are too.
On the other hand there are controversial chapters in Chassidic history that directly impacted on the course of Jewish history like the Rizhin-Sandz controvery, (which he did not write about) the Breslov-Savron controversy,. Other chapters such as the letters of the son in law of the Belzer rebbe have an interesting first person primary source interest.
But besides showing how Chassidim (and for that matteranyone and any group ) can obfuscate history its only serious and objective importance is as a human interest story.
schneur | 08.24.06 - 11:44 am | #

Schneur, what's wrong with "human interest"? The lines between human interest and human history and for that matter non human are very thin. As in mentalblog.com: Schneur Zalman of NY on the "non human" family for example.
Tzemach Atlas | Homepage | 08.24.06 - 11:51 am | #

Does he write about the 19 year seclusion of the Kotzker Rebbe?

How about the episode of the Ruzhiner's son R' Ber of Liova?
moosik | 08.24.06 - 12:00 pm | #

moosik, read the first post about the book. I mean read it.
Tzemach Atlas | Homepage | 08.24.06 - 12:11 pm | #

Human interest stories are of course interesting.I love such stories but they are not scholarship.
But they do not represent serious scholarship for the most part.
They also have a limited shelf life. For example will anyone in a hundred years from now be interested in the fact that Rabbi Shmaryahu Gourary wanted to be the rebbeor that the rebbe's brothers were not up to snuff in certain areas.
Interesting - perhaps significant -NO.
Thus if the materials concerning rabbi Moshe were published in the mid 19th century , one could see the interest. But close to 200 years later its importance if it can be called that, is in my opinion strictly in the realm of humaninterest. His "conversion" did not alter the course of Jewry, Chasidism or Chabad.
Let me add most great rabbis of the 19th century had skeletons in their family closets.I will not enumerate them publically. Either children, grandchildren , brothers or sisters, yet few have chosen tow rite about these characters.
In a well known case did the fact that the son of Rav Israel Salanter became a maskil, affect the Mussar movement or the Purity of Person that marked rav Yisroel ?
To me its clear why Rabbi Moshe was singled out by the Israeli "scholarly" community.
Schneur | 08.24.06 - 5:03 pm | #

Schneur, yes it is clear why he was singled out. But the cause of it is the annoyance at dehumanization and mythological hyperbole that has been fabricated by the movements and Chabad is the worst offender in this, up to the messianic glory. Force creates counterforce. I don’t need to tell you that.
I forgot I quit this subject; it is not healthy for me or for the environment.

P.S. 200 years matters? I thought we are still talking about Moshe Rabeinu and his education at the Pharos court? The bottom line you are a Chosid up to Rayatz. Everything before Rayatz "doesn’t matter for the scholarship" everything after Rayatz is human interest for you. That’s OK. One has to have some rules ;-)
Tzemach Atlas | Homepage | 08.24.06 - 5:27 pm | #

On good authority: Assaf publishes much of Mondschein's scholarship that he (Mondschein)cannot publish himself. I cannot discuss this further....
Tzfania | 08.24.06 - 9:30 pm | #

it is significant for me to know that the Alter Rebbe had a personal tragedy of this magnitude. skeletons in closets have nothing to do with this. no one will respect the Rebbe or Chabad philosophy less because of that. the irony is that this way of thinking ("oy, his son had strayed, so his family must be a bad shiduch") is exclusively frum in its nature. non-religious people would not care. on the other hand, frum people had made up their minds already.
faruq | 08.24.06 - 10:03 pm | #

Schneour,
C'mon you are not serious are you?! ''To me its clear why Rabbi Moshe was singled out by the Israeli "scholarly" community'' This is your comment, something not very smart from a guy like yourself that usually thinks before he writes.Your insinuation that Assaf and others are 'picking' on this because of some hate harbored towards Lubavitch is ludicrous.The real truth why this story was 'picked up' is that Lubavitch have always made up history and portrayed history to their advantage.Unlike with other groups, chasidic and non chasidic, some details of history are ommited or glossed over, only Lubavitch actually make up stories! The 'Harry Potter' book which in reality is a bedtime story for the chasidic child has been turned into 'history' (this is the book with the fairy tail about Moshes wanderings).With this type of rewriting history you bring up a generation of partisan morons
Zanky | 08.25.06 - 3:21 am | #

I don't think these stories have value only for the human interest aspect. Instead, as Assaf has documented it is the cover up that is perhaps the most troubling. Having a son convert to christianity or not follow in the way of his father is unremarkable, and happens all the time and in truth doesn't necessarly speak to anything else. Yet, if soemone is unwilling to face the facts that happened, that is when an unremarkable story becomes important.
Dan Rabinowitz | Homepage | 08.25.06 - 4:58 pm | #

If the biography of R. Moshe is of no interest (or merely "human interest" [sic]), then why in the world did Habad historiography create such a vast, and false, hagiographical literature about it. And, though I find it distasteful to call a Khsidisher Rebbe a liar, why did Rayatz lie about it, knowing full well that his tall tale about the disputation was a load of ferd-drek ?

Apparently it is only when scholars actually provide accurate accounts of these distorted events that they are accused of having some nefarious agenda.

Der Roiter Rov

P.S. Re: tghe post asserting that David Assaf is an Orthodox Jew: I think that the good professor, and his friends, would find that very amusing.
Der Roiter Rov | 08.26.06 - 1:41 pm | #

TA; Stories aim at more than "human interest" and "scholarship". It would be interesting to see whether the soviet habit of reinventing history came from the chassidische parentage OR the other way around.
Snagdisz | 08.26.06 - 8:01 pm | #

I actually read the book today. I am not sure how to describe this but I am blown away. The actual chapter on Reb Moshe is 120 pages! I have 10 pages to go. I will write about this soon but the only thing I can say is that it is not what commentators here or in the press wrote or expected.
Tzemach Atlas | Homepage | 08.26.06 - 9:34 pm | #

Tzemach:
I am waiting for your review!I don't mean this cynically at all.Your good posts are masterpieces. (your angry ones are not....lol)
Please post soon.
P.S I really believe that this new book and its revelations are massive and it seems that Lubavitch is smart enough to try and tone down the rhetoric, because there is no way they can come out smelling well.Other Chasidic groups have never placed such importance on their own 'self importance' and have accepted human failings on the most part
Zanky | 08.27.06 - 2:29 am | #

It has come to my attention that -- contrary to the implication in my previous posting -- that Professor Assaf, while not precisely Orthodox -- is very makpid on certain mitzves.

Eydei re'eya have come forth to testify that Assaf spends a large part of Choydesh Elul wandering the forests of Lithuania, "with his staff in his hand" (like the Khoyze) searching for nests so that he can fulfill the mitzvah of shiluach ha-kan. In the same spirit, he is makpid about kibud em and hosts his mother for Shabbes lunch on a regular basis.

I have also been informed that Prof. Assaf is extremely diligent regarding the mitzvah of Yichud and refuses to share elevators on the campus of Tel Aviv University, with his female colleagues. He has also been observed reciting asher yotsor in the corridors of the campus.

I therefore retract my previous comment.
Der Roiter Rov | 08.28.06 - 2:34 pm | #