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Kabbalah (Meridian)

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I read the 'Kabbalah' for the 1st time in the early '90's. I can still open it up, to this day, and learn something brand new.

Gershom Scholem was a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem until his death in 1982. Among his works are 'Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism', 'The Messianic Idea in Judaism', 'Origins of the Kabbalah', 'Kabbalah', 'On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism', 'On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead', and 'Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah'. Every book is a treasure in and of itself. Mr. Scholem put the Kabbalah back on the 20th century map. His studies on the 'Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation)', 'The Bahir (Bright)', and 'The Zohar (Splendor)' show the brillance of this unique individual.

The 'Kabbalah' is written in 3 parts. The 1st is the Kabbalah itself; from the beginings of mysticism up to modern times (including the disaster brought on by Sabbatai Sevi, that very nearly destroyed Judaism for 250 years afterwards). He also shows the Hasid's (the Ultra-Orthadox Jews) and how the Kabbalah and the Zohar influance their teachings and beliefs. He also shows why regular Orthadox Jews avoid the Kabbalah (calling it Jewish withcraft) and why they considear the Hasid's to be cultists of a sort (even though the Kabbalah WAS Orthadox Judaism for 300 years before the advent of Sabbatai Sevi - which Mr. Scholem painfully points out). He also shows the inept handling by the 'Christian Kabbalists' and occultists in general - neither group prepared to do the initial research that was needed. Both groups had different agendas and used the Kabbalah to further those particular goals.

The 2nd part is chocked full of enough goodies to make you swear off dieting for good. The Zohar, the Shabbatean movement, the Frankists, demonology, gemaria (bible codes that change what the Torah says to something else entirly [the book 'The Bible Code' is an excellent example] to eventualy write a '6th Book of Moses' written entirly out of codes is the Kabbalists eventual goal), how to make a Golem, Thrown (merkabah) mysticism, and much much more.

Lastly, it has the peaple and their histories that make this book such a delight to read. Azriel of Gerona, Moses Cordovero, Joseph Gikatilla, and many more. The 'Lion' and his 'Cubs' give their roar as well.

If you have to buy one book on the Kabbalah, then this is the book to get. You will not be sorry in the least.

Sincerly, Shawn W. Ooten

The great historian/scholar of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, wrote a huge entry on Kabbalah to be used in an encyclopedia of Judaism. This was later published in book form--this is that book. It is NOT a good first-timer, entry-level book on Kabbalah. It IS a wonderful reference work on the subject--probably the best in existence. It's entries are voluminous, even exhaustive. He includes short biographies of major Kabbalists as well as chapters on the main concepts of Kabbalah, origins, etc. etc. etc. Kabbalah, by its very nature, is not a unified study or set of beliefs, but the thinking of many, varied mystics over centuries. Many of the ideas evolved, and like virtually all of Judaism, includes disagreements, antithetical arguments, and historical developments (see the Talmud or even, to a smaller extent, the Zohar). As Scholem stated elsewhere in reference to the Kabbalists, "Like all mystics, they were at once conservatives and radicals" in "The Messianic Idea in Judaism" Schocken Books NY 1971 page 48. Furthermore, as he stated in "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism" (Schocken Books NY 1972) on page 229, "The study of mysticism is similar to the attempt to imagine the content of a shell whose core has never been seen by the scholar" quoted by Moshe Idel in "Kabbalah: New Perspectives" (Yale University Press New Haven, CT 1988) on page 37. Thus, while this book is a work of art (or at least of scholarship), is not a practitioner's manual. However, practicing Kabbalists would do well to absorb the important concepts, background, and context provided so well in this and other Scholem works. As Knowledge Management teaches us, you don't have knowledge without context, and knowledge is actionable, information is not.

While working on my BA in Religious Studies at CSUF in '74 I took a course in 'Jewish Mysticism' taught by the distinguished and late Rabbi Joseph Kalir. Our one and only textbook for that class was Gershom Scholem's 'Kabbalah.'

This is not an easy read by any means, not one of those recent releases that have become so popular in the last couple of years. One of those, 'Living Better Through Kabbalah' pieces of trash. This is the real thing. 'Kabbalah' will demand your time and attention to read and understand, but if you put in the supreme effort you will be rewarded with real knowledge and depth of what awaits for the true devotee. It's a book you'll keep in your library and refer back to over and over again because there's no way to remember so much.

One of the essential texts on the subject. If you haven't read this, you aren't a kabbalist.

I have learned a great deal from KABALLAH. It is a cross-section of the research of Herr Doktor Gershom Scholem. Each topic is given a concise explanation, including personalities and bibliographic references. When I first read this book, I found the explanations a bit terse. The density of information was overwhelming. Now, that I am more familiar with the work of Professor Scholem, I find this text to be an excellent review. If you are interested in the research of Professor Scholem or in the Kabbalah's historical development, this will be interesting to you.

This is really a great reference work on Kabbalah. You should read it through from cover to cover once, and then refer back to it from time to time while reading other books on Kabbalah as needed. I don't think there is another book which covers every period and teacher of Kabbalah from every period, even to the pre-medieval roots of Kabbalah in Old Testament times, as well as it's influences such as gnosticism and neoplatonism. How one relates to the other, etc. it's all in here. As other reviewers have noted, this is not a "how to" book, but a book for serious students of Kabbalah which you will always need to find other texts for studying Kabbalah.

The book Kaballah by Gershom Scholem is certainly an extensive, and complete (to my knowledge) examination of the kaballah, however, it contains some major drawbacks that prevent it from recieving my full recommendation.

As a high school junior doing an independent study on religion, I chose this book from the recommendations that said that it was a good overview, a good book for a beginner. I found, however, that this praise was highly misleading.

The book is divided into sections: history, basic ideas, topics, and personalities. Each of these sections are subdivided into chapters, each a few pages long.

Many of these chapters are interesting, but they lack full explaination of the ideas included. Often, there was just a list of facts and opposing viewpoints, and when i found a sentence that was interesting, Scholem would immediately move on to another source, another name, another viewpoint. Pages would go by before the point of the chapter could be discerned, and even then, was often revealed only vaguely. The hebrew transliterations were also difficult to navigate, for after the english translation was given once, it was as though the reader was simply expected to know it. The chapters often consisted of page after page of other books to look at, other authors to read.

As a general overview for a beginner, Kaballah certainly does not qualify. I later learned that the book was written as an encyclopedia, a reference book for scholars. For someone who already had a knowledge of the Kaballah and its ideas, as well as a knowledge of hebrew, Kaballah is most likely a much more interesting and useful book to own. As for someone beginning their studies into this esoteric and mysterious branch of judaism, a more simple, fact based book would serve a much more useful purpose.

Scholem originally intended much of the material in this book to be entries in an encyclopedia and anyone approaching this book without that knowledge may find it's organization confusing. However his detailed & scholarly (dare I say intellectual) analysis of Kabbalah's fascinating history and colorful characters is unparalleled. He digs deep into the similarities and contradictions between the different Kabbalistic traditions & teachers, citing an exhaustive list of references in the process. The research into this material is quite deep and I have yet to see another work which comes as close to an indepth analysis of Kabbalistic history & literature as this one does.
Having said that, this book is NOT for the layperson. And by layperson I mean anyone not familiar with Judaism and the basic religious/spiritual Hebrew vocabulary. Despite the fact that this wasn't originally intended as a "book" per se, the writing is awkward at times even within the major chapters as he jumps from concept to concept with little transition. In order to really get an idea as to the full exposition of any one topic it is necessary to go to the index and refer back page by page as he does not organize material concisely or summarize anything.
All in all, this is a MUST for anyone seriously interested in Kabbalah--I do pronounce that this book has probably and might continue to separate the wheat from the chaff as far as serious students of Hebrew mysticism & dabblers are concerned. Anyone who can read this book and understand it's contents has already put in a great deal of study into the topic and those who don't understand but get called into a further understanding through additional investigation can honestly call themselves students of Kabbalah if they so wish. Everyone else may only be armchair enthusiasts and that's OK too - this book is not for the dabbler but for the serious student.

Sholem is so far the most rigorous historian of the jewish mysical mouvements.This book is an audacious attempt to give us a synthesis of a period of almost 2000 years, on all the different philosophical streams and popular beliefs that brought to the birth of the kabbalah. Describing how rich and influent it was in its speculative quest through out History, Sholem shows on the impact the kabbalah had on Science because of its approach of a "mathematical world".But Sholem denounces the other aspect of the kabbalah, the superstitions , the black magic,and even the white magic and other aspects that he classifies as tools in the hands of manipulators.

Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem is not for the beginner. He traces the history and roots of Kabbalism and the Zohar. He was a professor of Jewish mysticism and writes as an academic. A beginner will be lost in the technical explanations. If you are familiar with Kabbalism, and want to understand the roots, history and how it has influenced everything from Freemasonry to Mormonism to mainstream Christianity, it is an excellent book. Gershom Scholem was the acknowledged authority on Kabbalism.

The late professor G. G. Scholem has penned the second best historical record on the mystery cult of the Pharisees. Dr. C. David Ginsburg by far did the best job in his published 1865 essay to the Philosophy and Literature Society of Liverpool entitled Kabbalah: Doctrines, Development and Literature.