Rabbi Schneerson, known to many simply as “the Rebbe,” was one of the most remarkable personalities of the 20th century. In 1994 he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his “extraordinary life and work.” Despite the Rebbe’s fame as the inspiring leader of a global movement, Social Vision is the first book to seriously explore his social ideas and activism, persuasively demonstrating that he was a keen social analyst whose ideas are as original as they are practical. Schneerson’s engagement with the American counterculture of the 1960s, his vocal and controversial championship of a cabinet-level Department of Education, his advocacy for criminal justice reform, and his ecological philosophy, all bear directly on current policy debates in the 21st century.
“ ... illuminates the Rebbe’s distinctive views on American society, the role of the individual and the community, the purpose of education, and much more ... a bracing introduction to the central ideas that shaped Chabad-Lubavitch in America ...”
“ ... original ... provocative ...
Wexler’s artful and engaging study will be
of great interest to scholars of religion, spirituality and society and to educated
readers alike.”
— RACHEL WERCZBERGER,
Professor of Sociology,
Ariel University
“... a remarkable study ... combining Hasidic
and sociological understanding of the well-being of the individual and the flourishing of society, Wexler expounds on the Rebbe’s social vision as inclusive, dynamic
and modern ...”