Customer Reviews

The Bahir: A Translation and Commentary

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As far as the study of Kabbalah is concerned, this book is necessary and the only English version I'm aware of. This is certainly not light reading and very esoteric in nature. Without the commentary of Mr. Kaplan, this text would be incomprehensible to all but the very elite of the Kabbalistic scholars, which I'm not. Extreme patience and focus is required when reading and I highly recommend that one read the commentary for each of the 200 points as you go. Of course this makes for lots of page turning, but much easier comprehension. With that said, one can find many gemstones within the pages of this book that are largely allegorical in nature. Although I find the gematria a bit of a stretch at times, I certainly can't definitively discount the exegesis either. The work along the sefirot and the meditative implications I thought were the most useful of the teachings in these pages, but not intended for the beginner. The commentary on the levels of the soul and universes I also thought were particulary interesting and useful for understanding some of the Hebraic connotations of the Bible.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, of blessed memory, has accomplished much in the field of Judaic studies during his lifetime. By far the most amazing are his Kabbalistic works, like this, the Bahir. The Bahir is one of the oldest texts of the Kabbalah. Tradition assigns it to Rabbi Nehuniah Ben Ha-Kana of the first century CE. This fantastic book not only presents an accurate translation of the text, but also an interpretation which relates it to modern Judaism and as a supplement, the original Hebrew text. The Bahir is a revolutionary book; the Zohar and subsequent Kabbalah is literally based on its foundation. It is the oldest known book that actually presents the array of the Sefirot (Divine Emanations) and it deals largely with interpretations of the Bible.

Before his tragic death, Rabbi Kaplan was a practicing Kabbalist who wrote several ground-breaking books on Kabbalah. Notably, he wrote 3 books on Jewish Meditation and commentaries on both the Sefer Yetzirah and the Book Bahir. His "Bahir" provides considerable commentary and explanation of the text, though much of it is still a mystery--so don't expect a complete exposition of a definitive sort. None exists at least in English as far as I can determine. But, this one is a terrific start. The origins of the 3 greatest Kabbalah books (Yetzirah, Bahir, and Zohar) are shrouded in mystery. They are attributed to ancient Masters (pseudoepigraphic) which is actually not unusual in medieval times. Gershom Scholem popularized Kabbalah through his academic studies (though he may not have meant to do this at all) though he was not a Kabbalist. He was an historian-great historical data but absurd personal opinions. Not so for Aryeh Kaplan who is obviously a practitioner not just an academic. Nevertheless, "Bahir" is replete with esoteric symbolism. Symbols (as opposed to signs) do not have a definitive meaning. They aren't supposed to. They have many "meanings." Thus, this text, though obviously very heavy duty metaphysically, is very difficult to understand today. It's relationships to the other 2 main texts in Kabbalah is highly relevant and interesting. So, along with the Sefer Yetzirah, this is a book for the serious student of Kabbalah to ponder and meditate upon for a long, long...time.

Two things to keep in mind about this book; 1) it is ancient and 2) there were more than one sect of jewish Qabbalists running around at the time. This may not have some of the principle beliefs that most modern Qabbalists have via the Golden Dawn, but it is this growth that lets us learn about ourselves and the universe. Keep in mind that some corresponances may not be the same as the ones you have been studying, thus it is open for experimentation.

About the book itself...It is an astounding work that many early Qabbalists used as a reference before the Zohar became translated (only 35% of it). If you read and thought upon the things said on each page or section for one week, you may understand it, because it goes back and forth. What was not revealed before is later, so thus you must backtrack and make the connection yourself. This is a definite study book. You must STUDY this book to truly glean the maximum amount of knowledge from it.

This is not an easy read and it has no spells or magickal workings in it. It is a discussion between rabbi's about the Bible, Qabbalah, and other modes of Jewish thought and religion. This pertains mostly to the dogmatic Qabbalah that so many of us hear about, but really don't see or study.

It is well worth the money to buy this book if you are at all interested in the Qabbalah, the Bible, or Jewish teachings. It will reveal things for you if you have the patience and the tenacity.

Seek and ye shall find. <- It's not just an empty saying.

One of the best books to study dogmatic Qabbalah, and I would recommend this book to anyone who was a Magickal student, or someone who was merely interested in cultural religion. A MUST READ by all senses of the word. You are missing out on a lot of revealations if you don't buy this.

Aryeh Kaplan Z''L, is the only kabbalist I've been able to understand. He uses every text in Jewish literature available to explain such mystical teachings. He is not afraid of showing some of the deepest secrets of G-d. The best of it is that you get the hebrew text, then the translation and finally his commentary, followed by many notes. He follows the kabbalistic teaching regarding: "Reveal one cubit, buy always hiding two".

There are several very old Texts in the Kabala, besides the Zohar, the Sefer Yetzirah and a series of Midrashim dealing with Esoteric concepts among others, there is the Sefer HaBahir, or the Bahir as know through Rabbi's Kaplan book. This book is classic in the language and concepts of the time of the Tanaim (and before): the sages that composed the Mishna. Because of it, it is not without a poetic flavor that what really does is veil the content. If you are looking for operational more practical knowledge of the Kabala, The Sefer Yetzirah of Rav Kaplan will do better for you, or The Structure of Creation of Shlomo Weiss if you are looking for the cosmological outlook. Yet if you want the feeling and have some comprehension on the Topic, this is one of the sources and you can be thankful to Rav Kaplan for daring to publish this.

While I have read part one (the english text), and have almost finished part 2 (the commentary), It is very clear to me that this authentic book is extremly powerful. The Authors commentary is very helpful.
Part 3 (the aramaic or hebrew text) could have been printed in a larger more clear font. However this is one book that I have not been able to put down. I find that it is required reading d\for anyone truly interested in Kabbalah or Judaism.

This book is the foundation for the vast amount of teaching brought forth in the Sefer Yetzirah and the Sefer ha-Zohar. The system of Rabbi Isaac Luria was also heavy influenced by this tract. It is also a window into Kabbalistic thought and philosophy. Its most endearing quality, however, is the infinite number of insights which are gleaned every time you pick up the book.

Difficult but necessary to those who love Kabbalah

After researching and studying Kabbalah for over 20 years, I found this book to contain detailed technical translations of Jewish Mysticism so often unavailable to a beginning student of Hebrew. After studying 12 languages, actually 13 including Hebrew now, I found detailed alphabetical descriptions and related materials to be a great primer for the Hebrew language, especially in relation to Jewish Kabbalistic interpretation of its relativity to this religion. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to study this language, although there are relatively little provisions for syntax, linguistic descriptions, etc. other than a detailed descriptions of letters relating to interpretations.

I still recommend Gershom Sholem's translation for the beginner Kabbalah student, although one should really wait (as recommended by the sages) until at least their 35th birthday! It can get very depressing and mess with your heart, mind and soul, if you are not already prepared for the depth of Kabbalah study in general!

The Bahir is very unique from previous Kabbalistic works that I have studied in the past, including the Sefer Yetzirah, the Zohar, etc. I had studied these for quite some time before indulging in the study of the Bahir, and I am very glad I did, because I would probably be very lost in some of the interpretations and relative inferences to what I had previously studied.

In relation to previous studies, the Bahir is EXTREMELY detailed and technical in orientation and provides a deeper understanding of the values of Hebrew letters in relation to their "relative mystical meanings", especially in relation the the 10 Seiferot and their mystical significance.

Aside from a few English typos, I found the book to be quiet professional in addressing details about interpretations of Kabbalistic mysticism. For a gentile lacking general knowledge of many aspects of the Jewish language, religion and culture, except for a few friends in Malibu that probably have never heard of this book, or if so, probably are barely aware of its contents, just as I am pretty unfamiliar with my Catholic religious heritage...(I flunked freshman religion at my Catholic high school!) I really learned more about the "Christian" old testament through studying the Jewish religion(s)and Kabbalah, as I found mysticism to be more intersting and closer to truth than mainstream "religions".

Kaplan provides exceptional translations of this work, however I have nothing with which to compare this work, as this was my first Bahir experience. I found several of the other reviews here to be quite helpful and accurate in representing the significance of this work and translation, also contributing to my selection of this work by this specific author/translator. He does give a very detailed historical representation of progression of Kabbalah in general in the introduction.

My primary interest in this book was the "technical interpretations" of more detailed aspects of mystical interpretation of the Sefer Yetzirah, the ten Seiferot, etc.