The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition

by Lawrence Kushner

Book Overview

An accessible introduction to the concepts of Jewish mysticism and how they relate to our lives. Allows us to experience mysticism's inexpressible reverence before the mystery of creation and celebrate the quest to transform ordinary reality into holiness.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580230296
• ISBN13: 9781580230292
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

demystifying the mystic

Kushner somehow manages to explain kabbalah in an easily digestible and easy to comprehend way that does not overly simplify nor "dumb down" the material. It is one of those few non-fiction books that I find hard to put down.

Good introduction to as difficult subject

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.

A Brief Journey into the World of Kabbalah

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.