Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah [Paperback]

Eliahu Klein (Editor, Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2005

Kabbalah of Creation is a new translation of the early Kabbalah of Rabbi Isaac Luria, founder of the most influential Jewish mystical school of the last 400 years. Living in relative obscurity in Northern Galilee, Luria experienced a powerful epiphany that influenced his lyrical, influential text. Poetically and meditatively described, the range of subjects includes the revelation of the Godhead's light in the world and its relationship to every aspect of the human life cycle, including lovemaking, conception, gestation, birth, and maturation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eliahu Klein's translations of the Lurianic canon are faithful and yet poetic. His understanding of Isaac Luria's relationship to World Spirituality has an integrity that few have attained. Klein's writing provides the English reader with a rare window into the Kabbalah as it really is."
-Pinchas Giller, Professor of Jewish Thought, Unviversity of Judaism

"Kabbalah of Creation offers readers a readable, verse translation of the intriguing text, 'The Gate of Principles,' that is printed in the beginning of the Hebrew edition of Rabbi Chaim Vital's The Tree of Life. However, this book is much more than a translation. Kabbalah of Creation considerably increases the accessibility of the text with a very useful commentary that explains many otherwise obscure references. With the addition of an informative introduction, containing much useful historical information, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography, Rabbi Klein's work can easily serve as an introductory text for those seeking to enter the gates of Lurianic Kabbalah. Even experienced kabbalists may find something to learn from Rabbi Klein's sometimes daring insights—the fruit of decades of study, meditation, and spiritual experience."
-Rabbi Miles Krassen, Naropa University

"Eliahu Klein helps us move toward the Real. Unlike many translations of Luria's work, Kabbalah of Creation(Klein's rendition of some of the never-before-translated early work of Reb Luria) is filled not only with Luria's words (as they have come through his disciples—we have nothing of Luria's own writing) but with Klein's, whose commentary makes abundantly clear to us that even while he is ensconced in traditional Judaism, he understands the large implications of Luria's work. His style is human, forgiving, supportive, challenging, and often deeply insightful, everything a guide should be. We could not ask for a better door opener than Luria and his new translator, Eliahu Klein."
-Jason Shulman, Tikkun Magazine

About the Author

Eliahu Klein has taught Kabbalah and Hassidism for over twenty-five years throughout North America, England, and Israel. He apprenticed under some of the greatest Jewish spiritual teachers of this generation, including Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and Rabbi Shlomo Twerski of Denver. Rabbi Klein received a private simchah (rabbinic ordination) from the late Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in 1983, and in 1995 he published Meetings with Remarkable Souls: Legends of the Baal Shem Tov (Jason Aronson). In 2001 he was a visiting scholar at the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, an affiliate institute of Oxford University in England. Rabbi Klein has taught at San Francisco State University and The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and is currently on the faculty of Chochmat Halev Jewish Meditation Center in Berkeley, California, and the Academy of Jewish Religions in Los Angeles. Along with writing meditative commentaries on the Bible, the Haggadah, and the Jewish prayerbook, he is completing a degree in Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Rabbi Klein lives with his family in Berkeley, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (July 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556435428
• ISBN-13: 978-1556435423
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.1 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #512,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Creative interpretation, but not entirely reliable, December 21, 2005

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A reader "seferor" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah (Paperback)

Rabbi Eliahu Klein has done a service for those studying kabbalah in English by providing the first-ever translation of Shaar HaKlalim, the introductory section to Etz Chaim. He also includes a concise and insightful commentary, which is filled with interesting chiddushim (new teachings).

Unfortunately, one must take some chaff with the wheat. He uses somewhat idiosyncratic translations to refer to basic terms; for example Binah he calls "Intuition," which in truth probably better describes the nature of Chochmah. Hod he calls "Praise," and so on. These terms are probably better left transliterated, as they usually are in English translations, to avoid misunderstandings. The reader will most likely need to mentally translate these translations back into their usual terms as they read, thus making the text a bit unwieldy in places.

In his commentary, Rabbi Klein also misunderstands the RaMChaL, one of the most important and brilliant commentators on Lurianic kabbalah, dismissing his work as "a failure," and inexplicably criticising it again elsewhere. Rabbi Klein is also so PC that he misrepresents the Ari's views of women and is deliberately vague on the Ari's view of homosexuality.

"The Kabbalah of Creation" is, in summary, a personal interpretation of the kabbalah of the Ari, and it shows the translator's creativity and insight. It is not entirely reliable, however, and thus I hesitate to recommend it for those new to the field. For those seeking an authentic overview of Lurianic Kabbalah in English, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's "Inner Space: Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation, and Prophecy" remains the best text available.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radical translation of a classic text, January 19, 2006

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Gregory Olsen "renaissance man" (San Ramon, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria, Founder of Modern Kabbalah (Paperback)

This particular text is the Second Revised edition by the translator. Rabbi Klein has produced a translation and running commentary on the Shaar HaKlalim, the introductory chapter to Haim Vital's Etz Chaim. Rabbi Haim Vital was a disciple of Isaac Luria, the 16th Century mystic from Safed. The provenance of Shaar HaKlalim is uncertain. Rabbi Klein speculates that it is by a student of Isaac Luria, Moshe Jonah.

This translation is radical. Specific kabbalistic jargon has been idiosyncraticly translated by the author into English, rather than leaving the jargon untranslated as other English translations of kabbalistic works do. This leaves the reader who is familiar with kabbalah continually flipping back to the glossary to figure out which of the sferot are being referenced.

Apparently, the first edition was printed with the original text, this edition is only the English translation, which limits the utility for the serious scholar. Unfortunately, the Lurianic system is very complicated and is really only accessible to more serious scholars.

The utility to the seeker is limited. As Rabbi Klein recommends, the book is best used in the context of a havurah - i.e. in group study - preferably with a spiritual guide.

15 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Radical translation of classic Jewish mysticism, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Kabbalah of Creationisaac Lur (Hardcover)

This is a radical breakthrough translation of an earlier work by the Ari -Rabbi Isaac Luria, the founder of the Tree of Life school. Check out, the Kabbalah of Kissing, the Gay tikkun and the thoughtfull readers notes at the end of every chapter.This is first time someone has translated an entire mystical text with an ongoing commentary and comprehensive Lexicon of Kabbalah in the back.Professor Miles Krassen of Oberlin College has written, "Even advanced scholars in Jewish mysticism can learn soemthing new from Klein's insightfull approach."