The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition [Hardcover]

Lawrence Kushner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Way Into... | Publication Date: March 2001

For everyone who wants to understand the concepts of Jewish mysticism, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism, and allows you to interact directly with the sacred mystical texts of the Jewish tradition. Guided by Lawrence Kushner, a leading teacher of Jewish mysticism and Rabbi-in-Residence of Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion, The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition helps us explore the world of Jewish mysticism, its religious and spiritual significance, and how it relates to our lives. The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition allows us to experience and understand mysticism’s inexpressible reverence before the awe and mystery of creation, and celebrate this rich tradition’s quest to transform our ordinary reality into holiness.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Jewish mysticism is not something one can 'do'" but rather "an attitude toward reality," writes Lawrence Kushner, the prolific Massachusetts rabbi whose books on mysticism include Honey from the Rock and The River of Light. Kushner notes this distinction at the beginning of The Way into Jewish Mystical Tradition, an excellent primer for lay readers who know nothing about mysticism, and a useful refresher for more advanced students of mysticism. The book's organization is inspired by Psalm 19, which Kushner says summarizes the "ways of Jewish mysticism" into three parts. It begins with "an inexpressible reverence before the awe and mystery of creation" then moves toward "the conviction that sacred text contains the key to unlocking the secret of being," and finally results in a "yearning to lead a life of holiness and righteousness." In The Way into Jewish Mysticism, each of these three stages is illustrated by key Jewish mystical ideas, drawn from every phase of Jewish history: Heikhalot mystics (beginning in the first century B.C.), for instance, developed a metaphor called shiur koma, which "attempted to describe the size of God's body"; and Lurianic mystics (in the 16th century) were preoccupied with the possibility of past lives and the transmigration of souls. Each of these ideas is preserved in a pithy phrase or biblical verse, offered in both English and its original Hebrew or Aramaic. And each idea, Kushner suggests, is just one part of the larger mystical worldview, which sees that "beneath the apparent contradictions, brokenness, and discord of this everyday world lies a hidden divine unity." --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

Jewish Lights adds another installment to its The Way Into... series with this examination of Jewish mysticism, which fails to live up to the standard of earlier volumes on such subjects as prayer and God. While those books each succeeded in presenting a basic introduction to one important concept in Judaism, most readers will find that Jewish mysticism continues to be a mystery after reading Kushner's murky primer. This is a shame, since Kushner is a genuine expert on Jewish mysticism and has authored much better books (Honey from the Rock; The River of Light) on the subject. Here, he relies largely on "classical texts" that turn on unfathomable passages drawn mostly from obscure 18th-century Hasidic rebbes. The material is organized into three parts, based on his division of Psalm 19 into a "triptych of Jewish mystical tradition." Throughout, Kushner offers 50 "Jewish mystical ideas": phrases, words or brief biblical quotations that are supposedly explained by the citations from the Hasidic rebbes. Some attempts at clarification become gross oversimplifications; for example, Kushner confounds Jewish mysticism with political activism, asserting that the mysticism of Abraham Joshua Heschel, "like most Jewish mysticism, was one of political activism." Such dubious statements are disappointing in a work that ought to elucidate the Jewish mystical tradition, not shroud it in further layers of obfuscation.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580230296
• ISBN-13: 978-1580230292
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,897,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brief Journey into the World of Kabbalah, May 9, 2005

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L. Young "palmtree2000" (West Orange, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition (Paperback)

The extraordinary Rabbi Kushner takes the novice on a journey into the world of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. He does this by presenting the reader with 50 short chapters that contain text from the great works of Jewish mystical literature with commentary on them by Rabbi Kushner. Some of the things examined are the ineffable name of God, nothingness, the shattering of the holy vessels, the repair of the world, the sefirot the ten emanations of God, and Adam Qadmon the cosmic template of the primal and ultimate human form (not to be confused with Adam haRishon the first Adam of the Garden of Eden). Included is a glossary of Hebrew terms used, as well as a bibliography for those who want to learn more. I didn't find this book as inspirational as some of his others, but still it is a very worthwhile basic introduction to Kabbalah for the beginner.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to as difficult subject, December 20, 2005

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David E. Levine (Peekskill , NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition (Paperback)

It is very difficult to write about mysticsm because the mystical experience is just that, an "experience." Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, for example, could write about the structure and purpose of Jewish prayer in another book in this series. Although there are deeper meanings to prayer, the structure and meaning of prayer can be categorized. Here, however, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, who is actually very prolific in his writings about mysticism, has the daunting task of writing coherently about something that must be experienced. He does a very creditable job but, the difficulties in doing so are apparent. Although all of the books in this series use direct quotes of primary sources, Rabbi Kushner's text is more than fifty percent direct quotes rather than his own writing. I found the text a little difficult to follow since direct quotes were used to make points rather than to merely illustrate them.

I have read other books in this series and, when you read about Judaism's conception of G-d, or of prayer, or of Torah, there are of necessity, allusions to Jewish mysticism. Therefore, I was aware of some of the concepts explored in this book, such as the Kabbalistic concept of broken vessels during creation and the attempt to repair the world by gathering the scattered sparks. Still, this is a complex topic and is difficult to understand unless the vision is experienced.

One important theme in this book is the importance of words. Since G-d created the universe by the use of words, obviously words must have greater power than appears on the surface. Accordingly, mystics ascribe deeper meanings to the words of Torah and the level of meaning goes deeper and deeper upon its study. Therefore, the words are parsed, the use of particular letters has deep significance and hidden codes are discovered. This is a fascinating topic; difficult to fathom but fascinating nonetheless. Rabbi Kushner has made a worthwhile contribution to the "Way Into" series published by Jewish Lights.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inroduction to Jewish mysticism by analysing mystical texts, August 15, 2010

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Israel Drazin (Boca Raton, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition (Paperback)

Lawrence Kushner has written quite a few books on Jewish mysticism that are published by Jewish Lights Books, including volumes on Chassidic thinking, stories, and several introductions to mysticism, even one directed to Christians. This volume is part of Jewish Lights Publishing's The Way Into series, which includes volumes such as The Way into Torah, The Way into Women and Men, and The Way into Jews and Non-Jews. Kushner offers a large number of page-length quotes from various mystical sources and his interpretations of them to show how different people understood mysticism.

Some people define mysticism as follows: Thinking people want to know the truth. There are three broad approaches to the truth. The first, the method of the ancient philosophers, is the scientific method, by carefully examining the world, just as a scientist dissects an animal and puts its pieces under a microscope to discover what one can about the makeup of an animal. This scientific method uses logic. It insists that it is a human obligation to think. The second approach is religion, which is based for the most part on ancient traditions, that is ideas that ancients had, and a belief that there was once a divine revelation that passed on information about the world and proper behavior. Passive people who are only interested in religion do not experiment or think independently, and most of them are bothered by people who do. The third approach is mysticism. Mysticism has its own traditions and its own view of revelation, even insisting that God revealed mysticism, but, like religion, it does not experiment and does not use logic. Mystics depend on intuition, on a flash insight they achieve that is not, like logic, based on any facts or reality. There are also many people, in fact most people, who combine aspects of each of the three approaches.

Kushner does not take this analytical, perhaps over-scholarly approach to understand mysticism. As stated previously, he spices his book with interesting, usually down-to-earth, and always thought-provoking quotes from famous mystics and from scholars who analyzed them. These include the fifteenth century Chaim Vital, the student of Ari, who lived in Safed in Israel, who did not write down his own ideas; Moshe Cordovero, his contemporary; the earlier thirteenth century Zohar and the fourteenth century Nachmanides; the still earlier Sefer Habahir and Midrash Tehillim; as well as from many later Chassidic rabbis, such as Dov Baer of Mezritch.

Kushner introduces many selections with words that have become code phrases in Jewish mysticism, such as astir panim, "God hiding His face," sitra achra, "the other side," and or ganuz, "the hidden light." The volume is also filled with expansive explanations of mystical concepts generally as well as explanations of the specific selections that are quoted.

One example is the biblical Ezekiel 1:1-28, which mystics consider "the paradigm Jewish mystical experience." Kushner explains it. He describes how in the first century Ezekiel's "vision of the chariot spawned whole communities, yordei merkavah ("descenders of the chariot") seeking similar epiphanies." He relates the prophet's vision to passages in the biblical book Exodus. He acquaints us with the term maaseh merkavah, "the tale of the chariots", a term that mystics translate as mysticism (but which the rationalist Moses Maimonides understood as metaphysics). Kushner ends this section by quoting the 28 Ezekiel verses. Thus, in short, readers of Kushner's volume, which is a fine introduction to mysticism, will read a host of mystical texts, have them explained, and learn mystical terminology.