Honey from the Rock, Special Anniversary Edition

Lawrence Kushner describes Honey from the Rock as "an attempt to synthesize some of the world view of classical Jewish mysticism, or Kabbala, with the ordinary life experience of its author." In the introduction, Kushner also explains that the book "works best, not as a primer on Kabbalah, nor as a glimpse into the private places of a liberal Rabbi, but as a means of enticing the reader to allow a Kabbalistic world view to inform his or her everyday life." After providing that explanation of his project, Kushner's book takes flight. He begins: "There is a place as far from here as breathing out is from breathing in. For the word is very near you.... Where life forever holds gentle sway over death, where people are human with the same grace that a willow is a willow, where the struggle and the yearning between male and female is at last resolved. It is, to begin with, all inside us." There are no false words in this book, no straining logic, no lazy vagueness, no awkward didacticism. Honey from the Rock walks through 10 different "gates" to Jewish mysticism, from the "Wilderness" of preparation for prayer to the "Higher Worlds" of which some are granted glimpses. Each chapter will help clarify your vision a little more and teach you to become a little more present. Each one will also make you smile. --Michael Joseph Gross