Kabbalah: Tradition of Hidden Knowledge

by Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi

Book Overview

Traces the evolution of various forms of kabbalah, outlining the early period of biblical and talmudic cosmology and using ideas developed during the medieval era to set forth a kabbalistic view of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500810230
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to the Qabbalah

Halevi is a respected authority who has written several good books on the Qabbalah. This one is a gem. The concise text introduces several key concepts of Qabbalistic thought. Like all the books in Thames & Hudson's "Art & Imagination" series, this one is profusely illustrated ---- after 30 pages of text are 60 pages of pictures & diagrams, all amply explained in accompanying notes. Most of the diagrams have the original Hebrew writing, so this book is a tremendous resource for anyone who reads Hebrew. In particular, I am a big fan of the "extended Tree of Life" diagram on p. 41, showing how the Sefirot play out in the worlds of Azilut, Beriah, Asiyyah, and Yesirah; I have never seen such a detailed diagram of this anywhere else. Between the text and the notes accompanying the diagrams, Halevi makes clear the scriptual origins of the Qabbalah, the beliefs & practices, as well as the influence of the Qabbalah on non-Jewish traditions. I think this book is a wonderful introduction for a modern reader seeking an "in" on the Qabbalah. Even after reading other books, I find myself going back to this book again and again. It is a treasure.

Extremely good overview

Well, I still don't unserdtand all this crazy stuff but this book is an extremely good overview with lots of pictures. I am not Jewish but it looks like this book would be really good for Jewish people who want to understand how Kabbalah relates to their religous practices.