Scroll of Secrets

Dr. Zvi Mark is a Senior Lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and a Research Fellow of Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. His previous publications include Mysticism and Madness; The Religious Thought of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (Continuum, London and New York, 2009) and numerous articles examining the esoterica of Bratslav Hasidism.

“R. Nachman of Breslav’s Scroll of Secrets is indubitably the most esoteric document in the entire history of Hasidism and arguably the most obscure. For the first time in the scholarship of Breslav Hasidism, Dr. Mark has printed its Hebrew original from manuscripts to which he gained access, decoded the numerous cryptic abbreviations and hints, and treated in detail its major concepts, offering an incisive analysis of its contents, which removes the veil of secrecy. He demonstrates the major role played by R. Nachman’s messianic self-perception in the formulations found not only in the scroll, but also in some other writings, where this issue has been obfuscated. Dr. Mark highlights the innovative self-understanding of R. Nachman and his feeling o f being the final revelation of Hasidism, higher even than that of his great-grandfather, the Baal Shem Tov and the Great Maggid of Medzerich. No doubt scholarship of the Breslav Hasidism, and of Hasidism in general will benefit from the magnificent work of patiently and cautiously revealing the content of this fascinating document. The study of mysticism too, will be enriched by a better understanding of one of the most original Jewish mystics.”

• Introduction by Shaul Magid. Translator's Introduction. Foreword. Section 1: The Scroll of Secrets. Opening Scroll. Section 2: Deciphering the Tepliker Manuscript. Section 3: Chapter One: the Messiah as a Breslavian Tzadik: Made in the Image of R. Nachman. Chapter 2: The Messiah as Baby and Child in the Scroll. Chapter 3: The Nature of the World in Messianic Times. Chapter 4: The Temple. Chapter 5: King Solomon and the Scroll's Messiah. Chapter 6: Is There a Secret Belief that R. Nachman Never Died or Will Return from the Dead? Chapter 7: The Scroll in Light of the Other Secret Writings of R. Nachman. Chapter 8: The Scroll as Esoterica: Social and Spiritual Aspects of the Sanctified Secret. Chapter 9: The Messianic Revolution and the Echoes of the Scrolls among the Breslav Chasidim Today. Chapter 10: Epilogue. Appendix One. Appendix Two: Further Testimony on the Scroll and its Transmission. Appendix Three: The Manuscripts. Appendix Four: R. Avraham Chazan on the Scroll of Secrets: The Sichot Me'anash Manuscript. Appendix Five: The Return of the Baal Shem Tov as the Messiah. Appendix Six: Where is the Golden Tree? Bibliography. Index.