The Kabbalah Reader: A Sourcebook of Visionary Judaism

By Edward Hoffman and Arthur Kurzweil

This comprehensive and accessible entrée into the world of Kabbalah covers 1,600 years of Jewish mystical thought and features a variety of thinkers—from the renowned to the obscure—unavailable in any other volume. It’s a fresh take on an ancient tradition compiled by Edward Hoffman, a psychologist and respected scholar of Judaism, who reveals how this supposedly esoteric material is relevant to a host of contemporary concerns, such as ethics, emotional health, intuition and creativity, meditation, social relations and leadership, and higher states of consciousness.

Contributors include: Moses Chaim Luzzatto, Moses Cordovero, Abraham Abulafia, Maimonides, Nachmanides, The Maharal, Nachman of Breslov, The Baal Shem Tov, The Gaon of Vilna, The Netziv, The Ben Ish Chai, Yehudah Ashlag, Kalonymus Shapira, Baba Sali, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, Adin Steinsaltz, Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi, Jonathan Sacks, and many others, along with excerpts from the Sefer Yetzirah, Sefer HaBahir, and Sefer HaZohar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trumpeter
• Release date: Apr 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9780834822474

Book preview

PART ONE

The Seminal Period of Jewish Mysticism

ca. Fifth to Fifteenth Century

1

Sefer Yetzirah

The Book of Creation

THE SEFER YETZIRAH is the oldest esoteric book in Judaism. Though attributed by tradition to the patriarch Abraham of the Bible, no actual historical evidence supports that view. The Sefer Yetzirah first appeared anonymously during the third through sixth centuries C.E. in the Holy Land, and was closely studied in small groups for generations to come, generating many commentaries. Because of its brevity and succinct style, some scholars have viewed the Sefer Yetzirah as a summary statement or syllabus, rather than as a full text in its own right. Until the appearance of the Zohar (Book of Splendor) in the late thirteenth century, the Sefer Yetzirah was decisively the most important Kabbalistic work.

The Book of Creation (sometimes known in English as the Book of Formation) sets forth the view that the cosmos is comprised of thirty-two divine forces. These correspond to ten mysterious emanations of God, called sefirot, and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The more we understand the nature of these forces, the Sefer Yetzirah intimates, the better we comprehend ourselves and the entire universe. Over ensuing centuries throughout the Jewish world, the sefirotic matrix and the Hebrew alphabet became the focus of metaphysical speculation and meditative techniques. This excerpt from the Sefer Yetzirah presents chapter 1 in its entirety, highlighting concepts in the five chapters that follow.

CHAPTER 1

In thirty-two mysterious paths of wisdom did the Lord write, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the Living Elohim, and King of the Universe, the Almighty, Merciful and Gracious God; He is great and exalted and eternally dwelling in the Height, His name is holy, He is exalted and holy. He created His universe by the three forms of expression: Numbers, Letters, and Words.

Ten ineffable sefirot and twenty-two basal letters: three mothers, seven doubles, and twelve simple [letters].

Ten ineffable sefirot, corresponding to the ten fingers, five [over] against five and the only token of the covenant in the middle: word of the tongue and [the circumcision] of the flesh.

Ten ineffable sefirot, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven: understand with wisdom and apprehend with care; examine by means of them and search them out; know, count, and write. Put forth the subject in its light and place the Formator on His throne. He is the only Creator and the only Formator, and no one exists but He: His attributes are ten and have no limits.

The ineffable sefirot: their totality is ten. They are, however, without limits: the infinity of the Beginning and the infinity of the End, the infinity of the Good and the infinity of the Evil, the infinity of the Height and the infinity of the Depth, the infinity of the East and the infinity of the West, the infinity of [the] North and the infinity of [the] South; and only one Lord God, the trusty King, rules them all from His holy dwelling in all eternity.

Ten ineffable sefirot: their appearance is like that of a flash of lightning, their goal is infinite. His word is in them when they emanate and when they return: at His bidding do they hasten like a whirlwind; and before His throne do they prostrate [themselves].

Ten ineffable sefirot: their end is in their beginning and likewise their beginning is in their end, as the flame is bound to the burning coal. Know, count, and write. The Lord is one and the Formator is one and has no second (beside Him): what number can thou count before one?

Ten ineffable sefirot: close thy mouth lest it speak and thy heart lest it think; and if thy mouth open for utterance and thy heart turn toward thought, bring them back [to thy control]. Therefore, it is written: And the living creatures ran and returned (Ezekiel 1:14); and hence was the covenant