On introductions to Kabbalah
Jay Michaelson wrote up in Forward a guide about the many books that are intended for novice students of the Kabbalah as introductions to the topic: “Perplexed by the Guides? When It Comes to Kabbalah, Some Introductions Are More Illuminating Than Others“. His introduction explains the need for such a guide:
“the commercialization of Kabbalah has been concealment, too. Whereas the secrets of Jewish mysticism had previously been obscured by difficult Aramaic texts, they’re now obscured beneath piles of literary manure.”
After a brief detour on what to avoid (anything by The Kabbalah Center and anything spelled Qabalah) he suggests that Edward Hoffman’s new anthology, “The Kabbalah Reader” may be the best, because it includes original texts. Other books approved and annotated by Michaelson in this article are:
- Daniel Matt: The Essential Kabbalah
- Rabbi Louis Jacobs (ed): Schocken Book of Jewish Mystical Testimonies
- Alan Unterman: The Kabbalistic Tradition
- David Meltzer: The Secret Garden
- Rabbi Arthur Green: A Guide to the Zohar
- Rabbi David Cooper: God is a Verb
- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner: Honey from the Rock
- Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: The Thirteen Petalled Rose
- Byron L. Sherwin: Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
- David Ariel: Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest in Judaism
- Rabbi Arthur Kurzweil: Kabbalah for Dummies
- Arthur Goldwag: The Beliefnet Guide to Kabbalah
- Melila Hellner-Eshed: A River Flows from Eden
