Customer Reviews

The Seventh Telling: The Kabbalah of Moeshe Katan

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What is Kabbalah? What is the purpose of doing it? How is it different from other spiritual disciplines? How is it similar to psychotherapy, yet different? These are complex questions that cannot be answered simply. However, this book has tried a new and not so new approach - storytelling. Inspired by Talmudic tradition, the Bible, ancient Jewish Kabbalistic texts, and modern spiritualist Rabbis such as Shlomo Carlebach and and Zalman Schachter, we get an introduction to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, through the retelling of the life of the fictional Moshe Katan. The retelling, which is also very much about Moshe's wife Rivkah, is carried out to a select group of students by a couple who are friends of Moshe and Rivkah, Stephanie and Sidney. In the process of the retelling, we get a direct example of how learning comes through storytelling by watching Stephanie and Sidney's lives transformed, and the lives of other characters as well.

We follow Moshe from his days as Michael Kaytan, wayward and bored young student, who gets accepted into MIT on a fluke, his talent to detect the pattern in an otherwise random field, who winds up in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, studies in a Yeshivah in Israel, and finally becomes an ordained rabbi in the U.S., a commodities trader, spiritual counselor, and teacher.

The first half of the book is mostly narrative, while the second half, although continuing the narrative and the storytelling, is also a beginner's guide into Kabbalistic philosophy, terminology, and meditation techniques.

A point not to be overlooked, is that Moshe's mystical pursuit is not done in isolation and that the spiritual community that he creates around him and the people with whom he prays and celebrates Jewish life, first as an official Rabbi, then small 'r" rabbi, then just Moshe, alternately referred to as Havurah or Minyan, is very much a part of it. As Moshe reminds people, we individuals are not the center of the universe, we are a part of the continuum. Moshe also makes the point that one does not have to be Jewish or know Hebrew to practice Kabbalah. There is a detailed glossary of terms (Kabbalistic, Jewish ritual, and Hebrew) at the end of the book, which is quite useful, and also keeps the flow of the story from being interrupted.

I truly commend the author for the painstaking work of this book. It is an act of humility and love. It never becomes preachy or dictatorial, rather seeks to suggest, to inspire, and provide guideposts for further study to anyone who is interested in a deeper and truer connection with the creator, the mysteries of creation, and doing some very real healing in the here and now.

I don't know why this book called my name as I chanced upon it at a bookstore. But, it did. I picked it up, began reading, read at every opportunity, ordered the sequel before I was finished, moved right on to the sequel, and am now re-reading the first book. I even e-mailed Mitchell Chefitz (he answered my e-mail, by the way). I hardly recognize myself.

This book is transformative. It took this hard-headed realist into the nature of mysticism, slowly, evenly and intelligently. (I think the ancient kabbalists were on to quantum mechanics well before the 20th century physicists were.) It can be read on so many levels that there is something in it for everybody.

It changed my view of death. Read it.

The Seventh Telling is a remarkable book that "works" on many levels. It introduces and explains kabbalistic thought in a very accessible way, and demonstrates how the theory can be put into practice by modern people. However, unlike other guides, this one is also a gripping story, in several layers, whose characters are compellingly human and complex. As we engage in the multiple narratives, we experience the power of the "telling" to open our consciousness to new insights. We are invited to accompany Moshe Katan, the protagonist, as he explores the relationship among the worlds of action, feeling, thought, and pure emanation in his daily life, as well as through the practice of kabbalistic meditation. For those who, for whatever reason, will never directly experience the power of this practice to change oneself and the world, reading The Seventh Telling the next best thing.

Ruth Goldston

This is a powerful,beautifully written novel that has the ability to speak to the reader in many different ways. The first time I read it was for pleasure and I could not put it down. I literally finished the last page and went back to the first page to read it again. Each reading has given me a different level of understanding and I am sure that when I read it again I will learn on still another level. What a rarity for Kabballah to be made so accessible and what a surprise to have it in the form of a very readable novel. You will be swept up in the lives of the characters and captivated by the stories. I am looking forward to the sequel that is due out next year!

A wonderful read, a book to be read on many levels and thoroughly engaging from beginning to end. I loaned a copy to my Mom of 83 who after reading it won't return it because she wants to re-read it again. I doubt I'll get it back...ever! This has happened two more times with friends!

The reader becomes such a genuine part of the story and I didn't realize that at the beginning. There is a "story," and within there is almost a manual for learning Kaballah. It is hard to go to bed while reading this,you just don't want to put it down. A compelling book that I would very much recommend to anyone who is looking for something absolutely exceptional. The characters are real, they are people we can relate too and we come to care about them. The time spent reading is so worthwhile!

Don't hestiate to purchase this book as you'll be going back to it again and again. I am ready to purchase the next book the second it comes out in print! The author has insight, knowledge

that his can effectively transmit and a remarkable ability to tell a thoroughly wonderful story. You'll absolutely be hearing a lot more of this new novelist!

The other reviewers talk about how The Seventh Telling is a key to the Jewish Kabbalah which I suppose it is. But I am not Jewish and knew virtually nothing about the Kabbalah when I read it-- and I say it is a key to the spiritual path with heart. It is a doorway out of the labyrinth of life and to the divine. If God is a great river then this is one of the wells deep enough to touch the divine and sate our thirst for spiritual truth. The Seventh Telling is transformational because it includes EVERYTHING as part of our spiritual lives, part of our deep connection with everything else. In this novel, spirituality does not exclude sexuality and all the juiciness of life or even money and the financial/physical energy that moves through our lives. Love, art, death, motorcycles, it is all here. There are lots of secrets (but they are whole, clean, exciting secrets, not dirty little secrets). This book is a parable, a story and not a bunch of bullet points. There is a reason Jesus, Buddha, and all great teachers have spoken in stories and not provided "how to" lists. Instructions make it easy to stay on a mental level and never actually allow yourself to be affected by the truth, to acknowledge your spiritual yearning, to glimpse the real meaning of suffering and obstacles and get to the joy. And here it is. For everyone. Christian or Jew or for those who walk a path with no name. Read it. Read it on every level. Tell your friends and loved ones to read it. I did. And I'm planning to read it again soon. And yes, I am happier, richer, more loved, more joyful than when I first read it. You bet. If you learned something from The Celestine Prophecy you might be ready to read The Seventh Telling, a far more interesting and well written novel containing far more profound and enlightening truths.

The fictional rabbi at the center of this novel is a thoroughly modern mystic who is all too aware that some lessons can be dangerous if the teacher doesn't meet the student where he/she stands. Goldberg's "Bee Season" suggested that mystical strains of Judaism could propel American fiction; Chefitz's "Seventh Telling" proves that American fiction can teach mystical Judaism. "The Seventh Telling" is the more ambitious and more successful of the two novels. It is the best book I've read this year and the only book for which I've ever been moved to offer a testimonial.

I could not put this book down. I want to start it over again now to learn. The first time was for pure pleasure. The jumping in time, the layers of stories within stories, the intensity of the relationships portrayed and the Kabbalistic content were amazing. I have read books on Kabbalah but none were as clear and experiential as yours.

As a freelance editor, for personal and professional reasons I generally do not review books I have worked on, but there are a very few novels for which I make exceptions because for me they are exceptional. More than well crafted novels, they are work that is outside the box in some rare and moving way that broadens my mind and deepens my soul personally and professionally. It was with considerable humility that I offered editorial comment on The Seventh Telling. The author's fine mind and great talent shine in the writing itself, in the revealed power of story and story telling, through elegance of characterization and structure. This is a one in a million book that thrills the emotions, delights the mind, and awakens the soul, that teaches by inspiring not preaching, that never loses touch with the power of words or the necessity of well crafted story. The Seventh Telling is a brilliant novel.

For the novice, the curious, or the serious student, this tale opens the gates, connects the threads and takes us on holy journey of understanding the higher worlds, while connecting us to the divine in our day to day encounters. A gem to read and share, to enjoy in your dreams, in the spaces of creation, and in the world of healing. The story of the "Curse of the Blessing" grows a soul for the seemingly souless individual who can't see life through veils of arrogance and lack of compassion. Chefitz empowers the reader to expand their spirit, fire their imagination, engage in community and to learn that we each have the capacity to love, to create and to heal.