Customer Reviews

The Enneagram and Kabbalah: Reading Your Soul

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
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this is one of my favorite books on the enneagram. as a long time student of the enneagram i continue my discussion on the topic through an online discussion group. so many of the topics we discuss are very clearly laid out, and organized in this book, making it an excellent reference resourse. the rabbi has combined a very complete over view with fresh archtypes from the kabbalah for expansion of the characterizations of type. this is also one of my favorite books to get for friends that i am introducing to the enneagram, because it is so comprehensive and easy to understand.

This is my favorite book on the enneagram and definitely the best written by an author speaking out of his religious tradition. Addison does a remarkale job writing from a pastoral model, that is he comes from a place of Hearing, a place of hesed. Compassion, but more.
I had great difficulty with the enneagram and resisted it as my introdcution to it was harsh. This is the book for introduction to the enneagram; and the Kabbalah adds depth to its meaning.I particulary love how Addison employs characters from scripture to illustrate certain types. Kudos to Addison for hearing and speaking truth in the spirit of chesed. Please forgive any misunderstanding of terms . . . I speak fom a Christian orientation.

A good book for enneagram enthusiasts, and also a good way to get a taste of Jewish mysticism. The author writes responsibly and carefully and offers some real insights. Of course, one has to accept the correlations he makes between the enneatypes and the points on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life -- but he does argue from a place of scholarship. This reader wishes that he could have been a little more careful to reiterate the meaning of certain phonetic Hebrew terms that he uses freely throughout the book. But, overall, an impressive and worthwhile addition to enneagram literature and a good primer on Kabbalah.

Let me offer the opinion of a person who is familiar with the elementary concepts of Kabbalah and for whom Enneagram is a new topic.
Rabbi Addison has done an excellent job presenting the fundamental principles of Enneagram and identifying parrallels and connections between constructs from Enneagram and Kabbalistic concepts. The presented information can be very helpful in self-understanding and understanding those other people whom we know more intimately. When the presentation turns to suggestions for personal development based on the knowledge of one's personality type, however, Rabbi Addison only quotes excerpts from the works of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Cordovero, without adding insights or opinions of his own, and that is why I am taking one asterisk away.
Nevertheless, I would genuinely recommend this book to anybody who's eye the book has caught. To have maximum benefit from the book, a reader who is completely unfamiliar with Kabbalah should first learn some basic concepts of Kabbalah, including the Lurianic myth about the seven broken vessels, because this topic is introduced rather briefly in this book. Some quick information can be obtained from Wikipedia, but, ideally, the reader should be willing to spend some time with a book about the elementary topics of Kabbalah coming from an authentic Jewish source. One possibility that occurs to me could be Hidden Treasures by Chaim Kramer or, alternatively, some chapters from Kabbalah Concepts by Rabbi Raphael Afilalo.