Customer Reviews

Kabbalah and the Art of Being : The Smithsonian Lectures

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This is a rather advanced book on Kabbalah. The 1st 6 chapters are well written & quite enlightening. They include some psychological references (especially to Jung) as well as some philosophical references (e.g. Aristotle & Maimonides). They also demonstrate the similarity of Jewish mysticism to Eastern approaches (esp. Tibetan Buddhism)-though without mention of them. For example, the author states: p. 34: "The entire process of the creation is an internal transformation, occurring inside the mind of God Himself, shifting His unconsciousness into consciousness" & p. 53: "Since God is `everywhere,' the world itself has no reality, it is Acosmic. The only entity that does have a true reality is that of God Himself, whereas all other existence is an illusion devoid of substance." The apparent differences are also addressed: p. 65: "Jewish mysticism teaches repeatedly that its anthropomorphic language is merely symbolic." The Tzaddik parallels the Buddhist Bodhisattva & inner creativity of God parallels inherent Buddhahood. This is not at all outlandish considering Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious--p. 92: "The Kabbalah is the concealed collective unconscious of the Jewish people, yearning to become conscious" & p. 78: "Awakening is the natural urgency of the Divine & of every living thing, striving to bring something new into being, as the light breaks through the darkness in the dawn of a new day." The Kabbalah has much to contribute even to other major mystical traditions such as: p. 80: "Awakening is build into the nature of God...awakening is built into the nature of man as well" though the anthropomorphic representation of Divinity could be represented as Being or (per Dzogchen) the Ground of Being. Unfortunately, IMHO the last two chapters do not continue the high level of mystical achievement of the 1st 6--especially chapter 7 in which IMHO an informative, but somewhat biased presentation on Messianism is out of proportion to its importance not only to Kabbalah but even more in contemporary Judaism-most certainly in the U.S. & even in Israel (which is religiously highly secular despite vocal extremist segments). The author's "Waiting for Godot" analogy, while certainly clever, seems inappropriate in modernity. Indeed, strangely, while there seems to be much archetypal/universal wisdom in the 1st 6 chapters, chapters 7 & 8 seem to be more dogmatic & informational. However, I must admit that I am neither Hasidic or a Lurianic Kabbalist though I have considerable regard for them. There are other kinds of extant Kabbalists too. Despite what the author & Maimonides state, Messianism is not central Jewish doctrine to the majority of Jews & Kabbalists today. I would suggest that readers employ Discriminating Wisdom in tackling the last two chapters. After all, per p. 55: "Rabbi Levi Yitzkhak of Berdichev teaches us that the world is created anew ad infinitum" & p. 89: "The Kabbalists' journey of life becomes a creative expedition in hyper-reality."