The Tremble of Love: A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov - Softcover

Tuzman, Ani

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0997484403 ISBN 13: 9780997484403

Publisher: Dancing Letters Press, 2016

Synopsis

A story inspired by the legendary spiritual master, Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezar, known as the Baal Shem Tov, the Good Master of the Name, who beckoned forth love from the hearts of rag pickers, ruby merchants, midwives, and murderers. 

Poor orphan.  Simpleton.   Harder to tame than the wind.

He hears what they call him.

But he listens to the presence his father promised would never leave him.

Yisroel finds his way to those who nurture his healing gifts and rare compassion—until he embraces a destiny he cannot yet fathom nor deny any longer.

Honoring women, children, and the poor as his teachers.  Celebrating life’s simplest deeds as worship.  Praying with joyous abandon.  Loving without condition.  Yisroel’s “irreverent” practices threaten the established authorities, among them an embittered rabbinic leader with a mission of his own: to destroy the irrepressible master known as the Baal Shem Tov and his growing community of followers.

Set in the richly textured Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 1700s, this exquisite reimagining of one of history’s most revered and revolutionary mystics transports readers back in time to experience the true meaning of power and the timeless grace of love.

About this title

About the Author

Ani Tuzman is a novelist, an award-winning poet, and a writing mentor.

Ani grew up on a back-road chicken farm, the daughter of Holocaust survivors.  At the age of eight, she began writing to an invisible companion, filling page after page with her questions about a world darkened by the shadow of the Holocaust.  But there was also the ecstasy of rain, the dance of the willow, the gleaming stars.  Writing about it all—in the silent, unconditional embrace of nature—became Ani’s path to the light.

Being awakened to the practice of meditation proved the perfect complement to writing, revealing a direct path to the inner wellsprings of love and creativity.

Along the way, Tuzman became captivated by legends of an eighteenth-century Eastern European mystic rabbi known as the Baal Shem Tov. A Kabbalist, he taught that divine sparks are hidden everywhere and it is one’s sacred duty to find and free the energy in these sparks whose essence is love. When Ani turned fifty, she experienced an inner call to write about this spiritual master. Her recent literary, historical novel The Tremble of Love: A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov, is the response to that call.

Ani lives in New England, where she savors long walks in the changing seasons, meditation, and inspiring others to find and free their voices.

Learn more about Ani at www.anituzman.com.

Review

"Ani Tuzman's lovely, heartfelt prose draws us into a tale filled with mystery and power, evoking a lost world and introducing us to one of the truly great mystics of the Western world. A beautiful book."
—Sally Kempton, teacher of yoga philosophy and author of Awakening Shakti and Meditation for the Love of It

"Ani Tuzman has written a rare novel in which her love, both of the subject and of the act of writing, is palpably present. Perhaps this is what has allowed her to bring to birth a new Ba'al Shem Tov, appropriate to the twenty-first century."
—Arthur Green, Neo-Hasidic teacher and rector, Hebrew College Rabbinical School

"The message of the Baal Shem Tov —ecstatic seeker, compassionate healer, mediator, mystical teacher, and peacemaker— is as needed today as it was in his lifetime: our capacity to love and care for the other is the path to lasting peace and harmony."
—Dr. Paula Green, founder and senior advisor, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding

"An historical novel of epic proportion, The Tremble of Love leaves the reader with a sense of connection to the great cycles of life and the holiness that pervades all things. The Tremble of Love is an invitation into the heart."
—Reverend Nanette Sawyer, author of Hospitality- the Sacred Art: Discovering the Hidden Spiritual Power of Invitation and Welcome

"The Tremble of Love presents a world where death, loss, tragedy, accident, and disease are never far away, but also where the human capacity to hold and heal are almost always nearer than imagined—because God, who is Love, is also nearer than imagined."
—Rabbi Nancy Flam, cofounder of the National Center for Jewish Healing, founding director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality

"I left the world while reading Ani Tuzman's novel and came to love the world more."
—Dan Shanahan, poet, The Lotus Seed Poems, The Alaska Poems, and Crystal Lake

"The Tremble of Love is a book that nourishes the spirit, a book for people of all faiths— as well as for those who have lost faith."
—Father Gilbert Aranha, Executive Secretary for the Bishops' Conference for Ecumenism and founder of JPK House of Love (Prema Nilaya), Mysore, India

"A bold navigation between historiography and fiction, presenting a richly colorful image of the Baal Shem Tov's personality and life story." —Immanuel Etkes, professor emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of The Besht: Magician, Mystic, and Leader

"The Baal Shem Tov is an authentic hero who communicates and celebrates empowering love, joy, and wisdom. This book is a delight to read and an engaging reflection on religious history. Even more so, it reminds us of how true spiritual resources can be cultivated and communicated in our own vulnerable time."
—Rabbi Sheila Weinberg, creator of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Program and author of Surprisingly Happy: An Atypical Jewish Memoir

"Ani Tuzman's prose sings with lyricism in this captivating mystical narrative that carries readers into the depth of their souls and the peace and beauty that can be found there. The Tremble of Love: A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov offers refuge for the soul-for our collective soul."
—Meira Warshauer, composer of Symphony No.1: Living Breathing Earth

"This work is destined for greatness, in the holiest sense of the word."
—Reverend Carlos Anderson, founder of One Life School Ministry & New Genesis Foundation

Edition details

• Publisher: Dancing Letters Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0997484403
• ISBN 13: 9780997484403
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 552
• Illustrator: Bissett Annie