Book | Engaging the Essence

by Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein '03
Maggid Books

The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s colossal achievements in the service of world Jewry are well known. From his office in 770 Eastern Parkway, he initiated some of the most successful and innovative programming that the Jewish world has ever seen. What is not so well known is his scholarly prowess and his impressive mastery of the entire range of Torah disciplines. In this book, scholar Yosef Bronstein explores the philosophy and genius of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zt”l.

Engaging the Essence addresses abstract philosophical issues, such as the nature of the material world and free will, as well as pressing contemporary issues, such as the Rebbe’s approach to the State of Israel and the role of women in our generation. It also investigates the Rebbe’s exceptional perspective on and push for “the true and complete redemption.”

Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein received rabbinic ordination and a PhD in Talmudic Studies from Yeshiva University. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of Machon Zimrat Ha’aretz, a community learning center and rabbinical training program in Efrat, Israel, and also teaches Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College. He is the coauthor of Reshimot Shiurim al Masekhet Kiddushin (Rabbi Joseph b. Soloveitchik’s Talmud lectures on tractate Kiddushin) and the author of The Authority of the Divine Law: A Study in Tannaitic Midrash (Academic Studies Press, 2024).