Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales [Hardcover]

Howard Schwartz (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0195062922 | ISBN-13: 978-0195062922

A vast bounty of tales recounting mystical experiences among the rabbis can be found in the Talmud, the Zohar, Jewish folktales, and Hasidic lore. Now, in Gabriel's Palace, scholar Howard Schwartz has collected the greatest of these stories, sacred and secular, in a marvelously readable anthology.
Gabriel's Palace offers a treasury of 150 pithy and powerful tales, involving experiences of union with the divine, out-of-body travel, encounters with angels and demons, possession by spirits holy and pernicious, and more. Schwartz provides an informative introduction placing these remarkable tales firmly in the context of centuries of post-biblical Jewish tradition. The bodyof the text present spellbinding tales from the Talmud, Zohar, the Hasidic masters, and an enormous range of other sources. Here are stories of Shimon bar Yohai, reputed to be the author of the Zohar; Isaac Luria, known as the Ari, who was the central figure among the Safed mystics of the 16th century; Israel ben Eliezer, known as Baal Shem Tov, who founded Hasidism; Elimelech of Lizensk, possessor of legendary mystical powers; and Nachman of Bratslav, the great storyteller whose wandering spirit is said to protect his followers to this day. Together, these tales paint a vivid picture of "a world of signs and symbols, where everything that took place had meaning, a world of mythic proportions....A world in which the spirits of the dead were no longer invisible, nor the angels," where the master and his disciples labor to repair the world so that the footsteps of the Messiah might be heard.
Drawn from rabbinic, kabbalistic, folk, and Hasidic sources, these collected tales form a rich genre all their own. In Gabriel's Palace, the powerful tradition of Jewish mysticism comes to life in clear, contemporary English.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Schwartz has collected modern Jewish folktales in Gates to the New City ( LJ 10/1/83), folktales from around the world in Miriam's Tambourine ( LJ 1/87), and tales of the supernatural in Lilith's Cave (Harper & Row, 1987). Here he brings us 150 rabbinic, kabalistic, Hasidic, and other mystical tales from the international Jewish tradition. The appendix listing the tales by theme shows their broad range: the nature of God (a dominant concern in Jewish mysticism and folklore), the mysteries of creation, the power of the word, dreams and visions, communicating with the world above, miracles, awaiting the messiah, and more. The source of each tale is given, and a glossary provides clear and concise definitions for unfamiliar Hebrew words and other terms. Schwartz delivers another monumental masterpiece that will inform, illuminate, and entertain. Highly recommended.
- Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"There are 80 pages of scholarly notes about the tales, and an extremely helpful Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish words."--The Living Church

"Gabriel's Palace offers tales on such intriguing topics as meditation and spiritual growth, psychic phenomena like clairvoyance and precognition, dreamwork, healing, near-death and out-of-the-body experiences, and potent encounters with angelic and demonic forces. It is impossible to come away from this book without absobring a good deal of Jewish mystical teaching about these subjects, especially since Schwartz's simple but poetic style helps bring the tales to contemporary life."--Gnosis Magazine

"150 rabbinic, Kabalistic, Hasidic, and other mystical folktales from the international Jewish tradition....Schwartz delivers another monumental masterpiece that will inform, illuminate, and entertain. Highly recommended."--Library Journal

"A wise book."--Sr. Anna M. Denbla, Spalding University

"In recent years Howard Schwartz, combining the accumulative skills of scholarship with the lucently pure voice of the storyteller, has become the preeminent Jewish folklorist in America. What the Grimm brothers and Martin Buber gave to the German language, what Italo Calvino gave to the Italian, Schwartz now gives to English: a landmark collection of tales that expands our common patrimony of legend and mystical treasure. Where Gabriel's Palace is uniquely Jewish, however, is in its God-soaked search, under the light of Torah, for the saintly deed."--Cynthia Ozick, author of The Messiah of Stockholm and The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories

"Once in a while, a book appears that is truly important. Gabriel's Palace is just such a volume. Howard Schwartz has gathered the essential tales that reflect the very foundations of Jewish mystical thought. His writing, as always, is beautiful, his research is breathtaking, his contribution is extraordinary."--Arthur Kurzweil, author of From Generation to Generation

"Howard Schwartz, the foremost Jewish anthologist, has defined genres through his various collections of tales. In Elijah's Violin, he explored Jewish fairy tales; in Lilith's Cave he examined Jewish tales of the supernatural. Now, in Gabriel's Palace, he has collected mystical tales from a wide range of Jewish sources in the first book of its kind. These brief imaginative stories, written in a fluid oral style by a master storyteller, are truly marvelous and miracle-filled. Through these stories, we see the circle forming, the mystical dance beginning, and we are drawn into the circle to continue the spiritual journey of the Jewish people."--Peninnah Schram, author of Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another and Tales of Elijah the Prophet

"A handsome collection of little known tales, lyrical enough to read at children's bedtime and scholarly enough to be assigned in class."--Alan F. Segal, Professor of Religions, Barnard College, Columbia University

"Tales drawn from the long traditions of Jewish mysticism and retold by Schwartz in an incomparably beautiful style for modern readers....The stories have been painstakingly researched, collected, and retold....An excellent gift book, a rare treasure trove. It's fascinatingly appealing and enduring."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"You don't, of course, have to be Jewish to relish these sharp, clever, instructive anecdotes."--The Washington Post Book World --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195062922
• ISBN-13: 978-0195062922
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,937,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Howard Schwartz is Professor of English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has published three books of poetry, and several books of fiction, including The Captive Soul of the Messiah and Adam's Soul. He has also edited a four-volume set of Jewish folktales, which includes Elijah's Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales, Miriam's Tambourine: Jewish Folktales from Around the World, Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural and, most recently, Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales. He has also edited three major anthologies: Imperial Messages: One Hundred Modern Parables, Voices Within the Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets (with Anthony Rudolf), and Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales. His recent book, Reimagining the Bible: The Storytelling of the Rabbis, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award for 1999. In addition, Schwartz has also published ten children's books, including The Diamond Tree (with Barbara Rush, which won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in 1992), Next Year in Jerusalem: 3000 Years of Jewish Tales (which won the National Jewish Book Award and the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society, both in 1996), A Coat for the Moon (with Barbara Rush, which won Anne Izard Storyeller's Choice Award for 1998 and the 1999 Honor Title of the Storytelling World Awards, and The Day the Rabbi Disappeared: Jewish Holiday Tales of Magic (which won the National Jewish Book Award and The Aesop Prize of the American Folklore Society for 2000). His major book, Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism, won the National Jewish Book Award for 2005 in the category of Reference. Schwartz lives in St. Louis with his wife Tsila, a calligrapher, and his three children, Shira, Nathan and Miriam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars mystical tales, April 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales (Paperback)

Howard Schwartz is an extremely prolific story teller, both for children and adults. Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Folktales is a very good collection of stories involving Jewish mysticism. Many of them are suspenseful and leave you thinking about the true meaning and implications. It is also interesting to compare some of the stories with non Jewish folk tales. I found a number of the stories somewhat dark, but not terrifying. It is interesting to try to determine what reality led to the initial establishment of such ledgends.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gabriel's Palace, where Sacred Revelations and Mystical Tales are set, March 11, 2007

By 

Didaskalex "Eusebius Alexandrinus" (Kellia on Calvary, Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales (Paperback)

"A vast bounty of tales recounting mystical experiences among the rabbis can be found in the Talmud, the Zohar, Jewish folk tales, and Hasidic lore. ... , sacred and secular, in a marvelously readable anthology. Drawn from rabbinic, cabalistic, folk, and Hasidic sources, these collected tales form a rich genre all their own. In Gabriel's Palace, the powerful tradition of Jewish mysticism comes to life in clear, contemporary English."

Jewish Mystical Tales:
In his informative introduction, Schwarts gives a compelling overview of history, psychology, and the symbolic meaning of allegorical Jewish tales recounting the mystical experience of key figures in those circles. He starts with comparing them to tales about Zen and Sufi masters, and Christian Mystics, and delves in the next paragraph into Jewish mystical tales, starting with a famous tale of the sages who upon entering paradise, one lost his life, another his mind, the third his faith, a warning about the dangers of mystical contemplation. Like fairy tales, fables, and parables found in every phase of Jewish literature, and the teaching of Yeshua of Nazareth, which emanated revealing the Jewish hope of the coming of the Kingdom.
The author takes you in a tour of the mystical worlds which started with the early Kabbalists who developed mystical consciousness in Judaism. Moshe de Leon's Zohar became the central text of Jewish mysticism in the thirteenth century when Kabbalistic tradition was established. And, in spite of the numerous anecdotes about talmudic sage Rashbi, or Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, who lived in the second century was not the author of Zohar, still his model together with Rabbi Issac Luria, Schwartz' favorite, with Baal Shem Tov, and those who follow their path are formed by tales drawn from their impressive legends.

Gabriel's Clusters of Mystics Tales:
The body of the text presents spell binding tales from the Talmud, Zohar, the Hasidic masters, and an enormous range of other sources. Starting with stories of Shimon bar Yohai, alleged author of the Zohar; Isaac Luria, known as the Ari, a central figure among the Safed mystics (16th century); Israel ben Eliezer, or Baal Shem Tov, who founded Hasidism; made famous by Martin Buber, Elimelech of Lizensk, the mystical powers; and Nachman of Bratslav, the avid storyteller with a wandering protective spirit. Drawn from rabbinic, kabbalistic, folk, and Hasidic sources. These tales paint a vivid virtual picture of "a world of signs and symbols," where everything taking place had internal meaning, of Philonic allegory, "A world in which the spirits of the dead were no longer invisible, nor the angels,..." where the labor to repair the world for the Jewish Messianic hope, in John the Baptist's own words, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord."

Sacred Narratives:
Our descriptive language should be altered, writes John C. Reeves in the Society of Biblical Literature, "we should perhaps speak of 'biblically allied,' biblically affiliated,' or 'biblically related' literatures. As we enter the twenty-first century, biblical scholars are in the process of gauging the significance and assessing the implications of a vast treasure-hoard of primary texts which shed a penetrating light on the very centuries surrounding the emergence and production of what eventually becomes the canonical form of the Hebrew Bible. The evidence supplied from such diverse resources as the Cairo Geniza, the Nag Hammadi corpus, and the Dead Sea Scrolls has stimulated a number of intriguing questions regarding the possible relationships of one text or group of texts to another, both within and across religious boundaries. Is a proto-gnostic ideology visible at Qumran? Do the Scrolls attest Christian concepts in nascent form? Can one speak intelligibly of a Jewish Sufism in Fatimid Egypt? And just who copied, studied, and eventually deposited documents like the Qumran Damascus Covenant or the Aramaic Levi apocryphon in a medieval synagogal rubbish heap over one thousand years after the time period of their original composition?"

A Unique Narrator for a Treasury:
This vast treasury of Jewish folktales, recounting mystical experiences selected by Schwartz, a foremost Jewish anthologist has collected a vast treasury of clusters of sacred and secular fables, Rabbinic, Kabbalistic, Hasidic tales, and mythical folklore, in his mystical tour de force. Gabriel's Palace, a marvelously engaging anthology, presents amazing experiences involving encounters with angels and demons, out-of-body travel, possession by holy and demonic spirits, even of union with the divine, selected from the Talmud, the Zohar, and Hasidic lore. Howard Schwartz, the contemporary mystical troubadour, is Professor of English Literature at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, author of collections of Jewish folklore that include Elijah's Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales , Miriam's Tambourine: Jewish Folktales from Around the World, and Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural. He has also edited other modern Jewish anthologies. "We narrate unto thee the best of narratives" (Qur'an, sura 12:3).