The Gift of Kabbalah: Discovering the Secrets of Heaven, Renewing Your Life on Earth

Kabbalah, the tradition of Jewish mystical wisdom, has found popularity of late among New Age gurus and Hollywood celebrities like Madonna. In The Gift of Kabbalah, Tamar Frankiel offers a practical guide for reclaiming Kabbalah's religious meaning, beginning with its origins in ancient times. The word's Hebrew root means "to receive"; Kabbalah means "the received tradition," which probably originated several centuries B.C. Until the Middle Ages, the tradition was shrouded in secrecy. Since then, it has become increasingly public, notably in the Hasidic movement, which began in 18th-century Ukraine. Frankiel guides readers through the primary concerns of Kabbalah (its theology, cosmology, and anthropology). And practical exercises draw readers' attention to Kabbalah's imperative: "Bring God into the world. You and I, each one of us personally, has the job of bringing God in, daily, nightly, weekly, yearly." In plain language, this book describes the awesome responsibility and great pleasure of receiving Kabbalah's gifts, and makes some of Judaism's greatest mysteries more accessible to readers of all religious traditions. --Michael Joseph Gross