The Rebbe's Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood

By Malkah Shapiro

Book Overview

Malkah Shapiro grew up in Poland, the daughter of a noted Hasidic master. The Rebbe's Daughter tells her story: a rare glimpse of the world of the Hasidic Jew in pre-World War I Eastern Europe. This is a learned text, filled with biblical, talmudic, kabbalistic, and hasidic allusions and direct quotations, demonstrating that, in contrast to the stereotype of traditional Jewish girls' education at the turn of the century, the author was blessed with a thorough education in Judaic classics. Shapiro's tale, translated and presented in Rabbi Polen's capable hands, is poetic and sensitive, providing a rich and inviting history for its readers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0827607253
• ISBN13: 9780827607255
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Jewish Publication Society
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 3 years and up
• Grade Range: Preschool and higher

Customer Reviews

Window into a remarkable world

This beautiful memoir opened a window into a world that I knew once existed, but that I had never actually seen before. We have all heard rebbe stories, have learned from the books left by these men, and have read of the lives of their followers. This, however, is a glimpse into the private lives of the aristocrats of European Hasidism. I do not use the word aristocracy lightly. The world of European Hasidism was highly stratified. The Rebbe's Daughter was top drawer. She lived in a large compound of servants, storerooms, and guest rooms for visitors to her father. There were coachmen, cooks, and governesses. There was no idle luxury. Every member of the rebbe's family lived a life of constant and devoted service. They served the Rebbe's followers, but also, and far more importantly, they served God. Devotion to Torah pervaded every aspect and every moment of life. There is a kind of awe-filled beauty to a life in which every action, every thought is examined and consecrated to divine service. Devotion to Torah was so complete that even in the icy Polish winter the family shunned clothing made of wool. Better to shiver in silk and cotton than to risk a chance linen fiber that may render a woolen coat forbidden shatnes. I cannot decide which aspect of the Rebbe's Daughter is more remarkable. The way it shows us a vivid picture of a vanished time and place, or the way it opens before us the way of thinking of a mind totally devoted to Torah.