Reading the Zohar


Book Description

The compilation of texts known as the Zohar represents the collective wisdom of various strands of Jewish mysticism, or kabbalah, up to the 13th century. This text examines how central doctrines of classical kabbalah took shape around the Zohar.




The Kabbalah – Sacred Texts


Book Description

Beautiful hardback edition of essential texts from the Zohar (the Book of Splendour) - the key work of the Kabbalah. Part of Watkins' popular Sacred Texts series and with an illuminating foreword by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, this is perfect gift or self-purchase for those interested in mysticism and spirituality. Includes a foreword by Kabbalah scholar Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, whose life and work is now being assessed following his death in September 2020. A highly attractive yet very accessibly priced gift edition containing the essential doctrines of Jewish mysticism. Kabbalah or Jewish esoteric wisdom continues to be much discussed and referenced by well-known figures such as Madonna, Demi Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow.







Zohar, the Book of Enlightenment


Book Description

This is the first translation with commentary of selections from The Zohar, the major text of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. This work was written in 13th-century Spain by Moses de Leon, a Spanish scholar.




The Kabbalah Unveiled


Book Description

A subject of perennial study and the focus of a recent surge of popular interest, Kabbalah is an ancient Jewish doctrine of esoteric knowledge concerning God, creation, and nature. This essential guide was written by one of the most influential figures in modern occultism. And unlike lesser works, it focuses on the actual sacred texts to offer an objective, reliable interpretation. The Kabbalah Unveiled explores three important books of the Zohar or "Splendor": "The Book of Concealed Mystery," the book of equilibrium or balance, concerning the central point, at which rest succeeds motion; "The Greater Holy Assembly"; and "The Lesser Holy Assembly." Together, these three books examine the gradual development of the creative deity, and of creation itself. Author S. L. MacGregor Mathers, a founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, presents his exegesis in a clear and scholarly style. Three fold-out charts enhance this volume's value as a tool for understanding the Kabbalah and enjoying the benefits of its teachings.




The Book of Concealed Mystery


Book Description

This is a book of the key text of the Kabbalah, a work known as the Zohar ("Splendour"). The Zohar is a commentary on the Torah and although it is sometimes ascribed to a second-century rabbi, Simon Bar-Yochai, the form in which it is most widely known originates with Moses of Leon, a native of Granada, who died in 1305.The kabbalists believe that the undefinable origin of all things is Ein Sof - the cause of causes, the infinite, that which underlies everything. The universe emanates from the divine in successive layers called esefiroti. Everything exists in God, but God extends infinitely beyond existence. All we know and are is linked together, pervaded and maintained by the divine. According to this work, the light of God must be concealed in order to be revealed to creation. Even though the kabbalists believe that ultimately Ein Sof is beyond expression or understanding, the contemplation of God's presence in all things causes our thoughts to be purified.




Absorbing Perfections


Book Description

In this wide-ranging discussion of Kabbalah—from the mystical trends of medieval Judaism to modern Hasidism—one of the world’s foremost scholars considers different visions of the nature of the sacred text and of the methods to interpret it. Moshe Idel takes as a starting point the fact that the postbiblical Jewish world lost its geographical center with the destruction of the temple and so was left with a textual center, the Holy Book. Idel argues that a text-oriented religion produced language-centered forms of mysticism. Against this background, the author demonstrates how various Jewish mystics amplified the content of the Scriptures so as to include everything: the world, or God, for example. Thus the text becomes a major realm for contemplation, and the interpretation of the text frequently becomes an encounter with the deepest realms of reality. Idel delineates the particular hermeneutics belonging to Jewish mysticism, investigates the progressive filling of the text with secrets and hidden levels of meaning, and considers in detail the various interpretive strategies needed to decodify the arcane dimensions of the text.




The Kabbalah


Book Description

The Zohar is the ultimate encyclopedia of Jewish esoterica and the most famous title in kabbalistic literature. The Kabbalah in this volume is primarily concerned with the origin of existence and the metaphysics of the primordial world of the Divine.




The Kabbalah


Book Description

This is a scholarly study of the origin and evolution of the Kabbalah. Originally published in French in 1843, with a second French edition in 1889, this book traces the origins of the philosophical concepts of the Kabbalah to the ancient Zoroastrians. Franck goes into fascinating detail about the doctrine of the Kabbalah, as expressed in the Sepher Yetzirah and the Zohar. He uses internal evidence to trace the origins of these texts many centuries prior to their first known publication in the thirteenth century C.E. Franck carefully compares the philosophy of the Kabbalah with Greek philosophy, the Alexandrians, Philo, and the Gnostics, and concludes that, although there are similarities, none of them can claim to be the source of the Kabbalah. However, he does find many more similarities with the ancient Zoroastrian beliefs. By this process of elimination, he comes to the conclusion that the doctrines of the Kabbalah had their origin during the Babylonian exile circa 500 B.C.E., which was also the time when Zoroaster was active in the same geographical region. This thesis is worth considering, and potentially adds more weight to the already numerous contributions of Zoroastrianism to world culture.




The Early Kabbalah


Book Description

Here are previously unavailable texts, including The Book Bahir and the writings of the Iyyum circle, that were written during the first one hundred years of this movement that was to become the most important current in Jewish mysticism. This movement began in the late 12th century among Rabbinic Judaism in southern Europe.