Kabbalah

David Ariel is President of the Laura and Alvin Siegal College of Judaic Studies in Cleveland. He is the author of the best selling book What Do Jews Believe? The Spiritual Foundations of Judaism, and Spiritual Judaism: Restoring Heart and Soul to Jewish Life. Ariel lives in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

• Chapter 1 Seekers of Unity: The Nature of MysticismChapter 2 Visionaries, Mystics, and Kabbalists: The History of Jewish MysticismChapter 3 The Hidden and the Revealed: The Infinite God of Jewish MysticismChapter 4 The Calculus of the Divine World: The Teaching of the SefirotChapter 5 The Shekhinah: The Feminine Aspect of GodChapter 6 Entering the Garden: The Meaning of TorahChapter 7 The Oneness of Being: The Destiny of the SoulChapter 8 The Mystic Drama: The Religious Life of the Jewish MysticChapter 9 Raising the Sparks: Modern Jewish MysticismChapter 10 Mysticism and Meditation: The Mystic Quest

Ariel (Laura and Alvin Siegal College of Judaic Studies) offers a helpful, readable introduction to the complex, arcane world of kabbalah. Most importantly, the book is an accurate description of its subject (not always true for books on Jewish mysticism). Following a useful review of scholarly views on the nature of mysticism, Ariel presents a brief history of Jewish mysticism from the 6th century BCE and the prophecy of Ezekiel following the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, to the composition and publication of the most famous work of kabbalah, the Zohar, at the end of the 13th century. Two chapters review the esoteric doctrines of the Zohar, especially the Sefiroth, God's emanated attributes; included is a discussion of the Shekinah, the feminine aspect of the divine. Four additional chapters take up other central topics, such as the meaning of Torah according to the kabbalists, the destiny of one's soul, the mystical meaning of Jewish ritual obligations (mitzvot), the practice of meditation, and the influence of kabbalah in Hasidism. Overall, this is a wide-ranging, thoughtfully constructed, user-friendly introduction to kabbalah. Libraries serving Judaica and religion programs will want to purchase it. . . . Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students.