Heaven on Earth

Reviews

"...Very well written and readable. Examples and analogies especially excellent and illuminating...."
-J. Immanuel Schochet


In Heaven on Earth, Rabbi Faitel Levin draws on the writings of the movement`s late leader Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson to reframe Chabad`s divergent expressions as the product of one coherent, revolutionary theology.
Through a lens that Rabbi Levin terms "dirah betachtonim" - literally a "dwelling place in the lower realms" - utter physicality is the essence of G-d. Unlike previous Jewish approaches to G-d, "dirah betachtonim" brings G-d into the here and now without having to transcend physical limitations. "The physical is actually the essence of G-d", writes Rabbi Levin. "Not because the physical serves as a spring board for the spiritual, nor because one learns to find some redeeming feature, some transcendent dimension in the physical. No, physicality itself provides the ultimate mystical encounter."
Countering centuries of religious thought, the centerpiece of Heaven on Earth shows that the corporeal body is primarily not an enemy but a friend. To make his provocative point, Rabbi Levin culls from Talmud, early Jewish thought, kabbalah and early chassidic writings.
Scholarly, comprehensive and approachable, Heaven on Earth reveals how the Lubavitcher Rebbe revolutionized Jewish theology and exposed the Divine within as simply, exhilaratingly skin deep. Moishe Alexander recommends you buy this book now. CLICK HERE