Customer Reviews

Palm Tree of Devorah

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Rabbi Moshe Cordovero was one of the greatest Kabbalists (Jewish Mystics) of the 16th century. He was a prolific author, and "The Palm Tree of Devorah" may be one of his most famous works. This edition includes an introduction, translation and annotations by Rabbi Moshe Miller.
The introduction includes a nice biography of Cordovero, a description of his works and a very brief explanation of the principles of his Kabbalah. The notes on the book follow after the translation, and include explanations of some difficult terms and sources.
"The Palm Tree of Devorah" is set forth clearly in Hebrew alongside an English translation. The Hebrew is pointed, and difficulty with the English is a result of the difficulty of the work rather than the translation.
This work is a Kabbalistic exposition of the biblical commandment to emulate God. Cordovero describes the attributes of God such as kindness, compassion and patience, and explains how to emulate these attributes.
This book is intended for laymen and scholars. I think that much of this book is easily understandable by those who know little or nothing about Kabbalah (including myself). The difficult sections may be best studied under the guidance of your local Hassidic Rabbi.
Readers may also be interested in the Feldheim edition of Luzzatto's ethical masterpiece, "The Path of the Just".

This book is so unusual that all I can say is that I don't see any reason to believe it was translated badly.

This book has 10 chapters- each focuses on one of the sefirot (attributes of God, according to Jewish mystics) and makes practical suggestions as to how its 16th-century readers could practice the sefirot in their daily lives. For example, one chapter focuses on God's chesed (kindness) and suggests ways of practicing chesed in the daily world (e.g. giving charity).

Although 400 plus years have passed since Cordevero wrote, most of the book still tells readers what they already know (at least if they are good Jews and good people). In other words, Cordevero, reminds us of our ethical obligations, but dresses his admonitions in mystical clothing. In other words, the book seeks to combine Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and Mussar (Jewish ethics).

The last few chapters are much more ascetic in their recommendations and abstract in their approach; someone not particularly knowledgeable in mysticism (me, for instance) is unlikely to get much out of the last 20% or so of the book.

An excellent book for anyone wanting to understand the 13 attributes of G-d and understand how to emulate them.

How should people behave toward each other? They should behave like HaShem (God).

This perspective is common to most religions. The Imitation of Christ is a notable example. For Judaism, The Palm Tree of Devorah stands without peers. A person should imitate HaShem, since the divine actions are inherently good and worthy of emulation. This work was influenced by the Spanish Kabbalah, so the imitation in question is of the divine attributes found in the sephirot.

This edition has the Hebrew text alongside the English, so the (lazy) Hebrew reader can take a crack at the original text. This work brings a Jewish classic to all of us, in the original and in a very functional translation.

I took a class that used this book, and it is a wonderful guide to life and to developing good character traits.