Burnt Books: Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav and Franz Kafka

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav was a religious Jew responsive to the
challenge of Jewish secularism; Franz Kafka, a thoroughly secular Jew
who loved the paradoxical parables of hasidism. Their stories and
their lives reflect deeply on one another.  Each died tragically young
of tuberculosis. And each, at the very end, asked a close friend to
burn his books. 

In an era of digital books, what do their stories tell us about the deeper meaning of the written word for the people of the book?

Rodger Kamenetz  is the author of The Jew in the Lotus and a winner of the National Jewish Book Award.  He lives in New Orleans and works as a dream therapist. Burnt Books is his tenth book.  

Susannah Heschel is Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. The recipient of many fellowships and awards, her scholarship encompasses feminism as well as religion.

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