Failed Friendships (Hardcover, illustrated edition)

In the last book he wrote, A Passion for Truth, Abraham Joshua Heschel asks regarding Reb Menahem Mendl of Kotzk, the Hasidic tzaddik, who lived the better part of his life during the first half of the nineteenth century, "Did the Kotzker lack a sense of human worth?" Then, answering his own question, Heschel replies, "He had many ... harsh things to say about self- centeredness and the nature of man. Yet they did not stem from disparagement but, rather from an overestimation of man's capacities if he but exercise his powers of will. The Kotzker set exalted goals for his disciples because he believed in their ability to make the prodigious efforts required to reach them." This was as true of Martin S. Dworkin as it was of the Kotzker. If I were asked to characterize Marty