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When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: ‘Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer’. And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbit Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: ‘I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient’. It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: ‘I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient’. And it was sufficient.
God made man [and woman] because he loves stories. (Elie Wiesel, Gates of the Forest)
This complex ‘autobiographical journey’ (p. 354) is appropriately dedicated to Dan Levinson, the late friend and colleague of Marshal Edelson and guide and teacher to many of us who study and teach about adult human development. With David N. Berg, Marshall Edelson rediscovers and deepens his own ideas about teaching and psychotherapy, about the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and social science systems theory, and about the inevitable tension between the individual and the group. As he is writing this book and reviewing his own life through his writings, he talks with David Berg. These discussions become a part of a new story and lead to an inventive collaboration between the two men, one in his si