The festive holiday of Shavuot is best known for its all-night Torah learning. The Jewish Sages teach that staying up all night is more than just a celebration of Torah, it is a tikkun, a spiritual rectification. The 16th-century mystic Rabbi Itzchak Luria, the Arizal, prepared a study guide for the night of Shavuot. This guide is presented here, in both Hebrew and English, together with a selection of penetrating insights and commentaries drawn primarily from the mystical teachings of the Zohar and the Arizal.
Garments of Light is a collection of seventy revealing essays that take you on a deeper journey through the Torah and Jewish holidays. How could Adam have lived 930 years? Was Joseph really sold by his own brothers? Why is Rosh Hashanah the New Year? When is Mashiach coming? How do we deal with apparent contradictions between Torah and science? Find the surprising answers to these and other enigmatic questions in the pages of this book. Unravel ancient mysteries and prophecies, and explore the Jewish perspective on reincarnation and the afterlife, astrology, the Messianic Era, and more.
Mayim achronim-the washing of the fingers after a meal-is a little-known ritual in Judaism, yet one that carries tremendous significance. Explore the origins and mysteries of mayim achronim in the pages of this book. Along the way, unravel some of Judaism's most enigmatic stories, including the Garden of Eden, the destruction of Sodom and the transformation of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt, the Talmudic narratives of Kidor the innkeeper and the four sages who ascended to Heaven, as well as the angelic child of the Zohar. 'Secrets of the Last Waters' will reveal the mystical dimensions of salt and water, the spiritual purpose of the meal table, the power of hospitality, and the very nature of the Heavens. Learn the secrets of mayim achronim and see why the Jewish sages insisted that this often overlooked practice is mandatory for all-mayim achronim chova!
"The book collects a wide variety of interpretations of Torah passages, commentaries, and midrash rooted in the mystical side of Jewish tradition, translated by Rabbi Larry Tabick ... The quoted authors span many centuries and speak from many schools of thought"--Page 4 of cover.
Virtually every Jewish man, woman and child knows what Passover is and has participated at a Seder using the Passover Haggadah. It is the most beloved and universally popular Jewish book. The Haggadah has been published and printed in hundreds if not thousands of versions, and despite the fact that people have been adapting this ancient text and amending the ritual to reflect the consciousness of modernity, it remains remarkably impervious to changes in fashion.Part of the reason for its endurance is the fact that it is a very precisely worded and profoundly mystical text of fabulous complexity and brilliance. It should come as no surprise that all the characters mentioned by name in the Haggadah, R. Akiba, R. Yosi Haglili and R. Yehuda, were known to be active in the mystical arts in first and second century Palestine. Some, like R. Eliezer the Great and R. Akiba were leaders of their esoteric schools and authored Kabbalistic texts of their own.For the first time, the English reader is invited to join a Seder with some of the protagonists of those discussions, to make the personal journey out of slavery, to prepare for personal Giluy Shechinah - Divine Revelation.The Kabbalist Haggadah gives the reader a compelling reason and a marvelous tool for revisiting the original Haggadah. Every line of text and every detail of the ritual is given its basic Kabbalistic description and appropriate Kavanah - Intention. Besides providing a wealth of information to the would-be Kabbalist, a how-to manual of the Mystical Seder, Rabbi J. Hershy Worch takes the reader into the rarified world of Practical Kabbalah where every thought is mirrored and every act brings a response: As below so above - as above so below.The subtext of the Haggadah is the primal trauma, Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, resulting in the loss of intimacy, referred to in the Kabbalah as the Exile of Da'at - Knowing. Slavery is undoubtedly the most prevalent and ancient of human sicknesses. Compulsive behaviors and what are commonly considered `addictions', all the modern barriers to intimacy, are merely the current forms of Egyptian Exile. The Haggadah is an ancient Self-help book, because that's what Kabbalah is all about.
The Tzniyus Book presents not only explanations for, but also the Biblical and Talmudic sources of traditional practices of dress and comportment among observant Jews. If a person has an idea what's what, but may not be sure why, The Tzniyus Book lays it out in a down-to-earth, contemporary fashion.
Selected discourses from the founder of the Chabad Chasidic philosophys great works: Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah. This bi-lingual, Hebrew/English, rendition focuses on Rabbi Schneur Zalmans insights on the festivals. It has been the custom for Chasidim to study the discourses in Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, affectionately known as the "Chasidic Parsha," weekly and at festival time.
