by Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff
The Sfas Emes (aka the Gerre Rebbe (1871-1905 )) is well known for
his innovative, mind-stretching Diverei Torah . Unfortunately , his
writing style is sometimes hard to understand. As a result, many people
who would enjoy learning the Sfas Emes--and grow in their Avoda if they
had access to his thought-- lose out. Hence, the all-too--frequent
cases of "burn out '' with rebbeim and "off the derech '' with talmidim .
Many of those sad stories could be avoided if people would open
their intellectual windows to let in the fresh air of exciting, new
ideas like those offered by the Sfas Emes.
In its own very small way, my Sefer ( Emes Ve'emunah : A Sfas Emes
Companion ), attempts to deal with this situation. It does so by
presenting a ma'amar of the Sfas Emes for every Shabbos and Yom Tov of
the year. The presentations are done in clear, concise English. And to
show why I interpret the Sfas Emes' ma'amarim the way I do, the
Sefer also includes the text of the Sfas Emes' own words in leshon hakodesh.
The availability of the ma'amarim in both Hebrew an English has two
favorable consequences. First, it gives people who know only English
access to the Sfas Emes' Diveri Torah. Second, the fact that the same
substantive message comes in both languages ( and also appears in
close proximity to each other) makes it easier for novices to learn
the language of the Sfas Emes, and thus to gain more direct access
to his thought.
This account of the Sefer may make it sound too good to be true. I suggest
that you relax and enjoy the Sefer . Note that the Sefer comes with letters of
approbation from all sides : R.Mordechai Willig ; R. Reuvain Feinstein ; and
R. Zev Leff (no relation ), shelita.
Copyright © 2003 by Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff and Project Genesis
