Customer Reviews

Kabbalah: The Way of the Jewish Mystic

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This book was first written back in the '60's and published in the early 70's, when so many Jews were going to Eastern religions in search of the spirituality that (they thought) was not in Judaism. At that point in time, there was -- hard as it is to believe now -- very little material available about Jewish mysticism for the popular-level English reader. Seekers either had to struggle through the post-Ph.D.-level heaviness of Gershom Scholem's academic style, or learn Hebrew and read the source texts. Either was a daunting task for the casual seeker who just wanted some authentic info about kabbalah and how the Jewish mystics practiced its forms of meditation, etc..

Enter Perle Epstein (now Perle Besserman). She was already doing a series on the various forms of mysticism, and had already covered Buddhism, Zen, etc., so she decided her next project would be on the mysticism of her own Jewish background.

(As an interesting aside: Like so many assimilated Jews of that era, Epstein came to mysticism and meditation through yoga and Hinduism first, and was not a religious Jew when she began the "Kabbalah" project. So, she had a two-fold struggle: (1) to find the teachings, and (2) to confront her own issues and stereotypes about the Orthodox Jews she was interviewing. The personal story of these struggles and how she collected the material for "Kabbalah" is told in "Pilgrimage: Adventures of a Wandering Jew" which, as far as I know, is out of print but well worth tracking down a copy.)

The influence of her Eastern studies and practical experience with Hindu gurus and Zen masters can be seen in "Kabbalah," such as the way she describes the 16th-century Safed community of Rabbi Isaac Luria as a "Jewish Shangri-la" and a sort of ashram community, -- which, in a sense, it was. This made the teachings very understandable people who were already familiar with the Eastern forms of meditation. In fact, it was the first popular book I know of that clearly identified some of the practices as forms of visualization, use of mantras, etc.

In my opinion, these types of cross-cultural comparisons are very helpful to Jews (and others) who want an introduction to how Jewish mysticism has been practiced down through the centuries. The book is not an academic tome, but is written in a clear popular, almost poetic style that I found a delight to read the first time around, and have returned to again and again. For many years during the 70's and 80's, this book was my #2 recommendation to Jewish beginners in kabbalah, as well as non-Jews wanting to know something about our spirituality. (my #1 recommendation was "9 1/2 Mystics" by Herbert Weiner).

I am delighted to see that Epstein's book is available again, so I can recommend it on my website.

This book presents a history of Jewish Mysticism from Rabbi Akiva and Merhabah (throne mysticism), Safed to Hassidism and the Baal Shem Tov. Epstein presents a view of Safed, as a Jewish Shangri-La, as a center of creation of Kababalist tradition five centuries ago. "Because of its communal nature, Jewish mystical practice presents a double burden: one must not only learn to cleave to God, but he must take the entire community, the entire creation with him.". The largest part of this book is on Kabbalist practices, with an introduction to the path of the spheres; path of the letters; and path of ecstasy. The introductory tales of Rabbi Akiva, presents how ridiculous it is to someone to "casually" pick of Kabballah, and that should not be the intent of the reader. This is not a how to book, but rather an exploration of different practices. She presents interesting parallels between the Jewish saint (tzaddik), and the Buddhist bodhisattva as well as parallels to Taoist meditation. . I found this to be a good accompaniment to The Teaching Company course on "The Mystical Tradition".

i highly recommend this book along with meditation and, as a means to
heal and uplift perhaps the entire world, the entire soul, and yeah...

this book is where i would start, before even the torah, or the bible and really even as a substitute for those books
because it contains the essence of the teachings with what seems like an honest atttempt at the minimum
amount of ego manipulation and maybe it really is completely selfless, its effect is pure though the names are there, its apparent that its from something beyond all that

truly a sacred text

peace and love

I bought this book believing it would teach how to practise the Kabbalah.

This book is more a history of Kabbalistic though and practises since the middle ages.

If you want to learn the history of the Kabbalah this is a very good book, and is clearly written.

If you want to learn to practise the Kabbalah keep looking. This is the seventh Kabbalaistic book I have read, and I can not recommend any of the others in clear conscience. I have have heard good things about "9 1/2 mystics:..." but I have not read that one yet.

I will say one thing the "the tree of life" on page 15, and other places does not match the tree of life diagrams in other kabbalistic books I have read.

Please E-mail me if you have questions or comments about my review. Two Bears.

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)