Living Waters - The Mei Hashiloach: A Commentary on the Torah

Rating:
Summary: The holy Ishbitzer in English - Gevalt
Review: Bezalel Edwards has done a service to the entire Torah- loving- through - English - primarily world by translating the Mei Hashiloach into English. This is one of the great Hasidic commentaries on the Torah. Many are those who champion it and find in it the deepest of Torah insights. The Ishbitzer in some ways has a psychological acuity which seems to speak most strongly to those of the present generation. Of course Rav Shlomo Carlebach repeatedly learned from and taught Ishbitz. So too did one of his greatest pupils , the Holy Teacher David Hertzberg whose profound insights into the Ishbitz were part of the Torah given over in his own sefer ' Pri Mayim Chayim' Bezalel Edwards shows a good command of the text. One would like very much however to see this translation printed with the original text alongside, a dual- language volume. Perhaps some enterprising publisher in the world of Judaica could start bringing out such dual- language volumes. Another candidate for this would be the Ishbitzer's great teacher, the Kotzker.Somehow for certain readers anyway the dual- language works add a dimension to our learning which having the text in the language of translation alone does not.
But again Yishar Koach to Bezalel Edwards on this excellent work.

Rating:
Summary: Good Find
Review: The Mei Ha'Shiloach is not a relatively popular commentary when compared to those commentaries written by other Chassidic masters. It was therefore pleasantly surprising to find an English translation. The translator (Edwards) sticks to a fairly literal translation of the text without offering a whole lot of explanation into the author's meaning. This is great for the passages in which The Iszbitzer (author of original) provides more expansive comment. For some of the passages that are somewhat esoteric or cryptic almost, the reader would have been served by some expansion by the translator. That said, Edwards did a fine job in bringing this hard-to-find but important commentary to the public. He does go out of his way to break the language down so that the comments are understandable by even the uninitiated without going so far as to alienate more experienced readers.

Finally, Edwards does provide some welcome historical context relating to The Iszbitzer in which he refers the reader to the translation of the book's original forward (also provided). Additional objective historical detail would have good inasmuch as that forward was written by the author's own grandson. But that's just being picky. All in all, this is a good addition to one's library.

Rating:
Summary: Good Find
Review: The Mei Ha'Shiloach is not a relatively popular commentary when compared to those commentaries written by other Chassidic masters. It was therefore pleasantly surprising to find an English translation. The translator (Edwards) sticks to a fairly literal translation of the text without offering a whole lot of explanation into the author's meaning. This is great for the passages in which The Iszbitzer (author of original) provides more expansive comment. For some of the passages that are somewhat esoteric or cryptic almost, the reader would have been served by some expansion by the translator. That said, Edwards did a fine job in bringing this hard-to-find but important commentary to the public. He does go out of his way to break the language down so that the comments are understandable by even the uninitiated without going so far as to alienate more experienced readers.

Finally, Edwards does provide some welcome historical context relating to The Iszbitzer in which he refers the reader to the translation of the book's original forward (also provided). Additional objective historical detail would have good inasmuch as that forward was written by the author's own grandson. But that's just being picky. All in all, this is a good addition to one's library.