Introduction to the Kabbalah

Moshe Hallamish is Full Professor of Jewish Mysticism, Bar-Ilan University, Israel. He has authored and edited many books, and is editor of DAAT, a journal of Jewish Philosophy and Kabballah.

"An Introduction to the Kabbalah is a lucid, scintillating guide to the esoteric teachings of Judaism. The book is very readable without sacrificing scholarly sophistication." — Daniel Matt, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; Author of The Essential Kabbalah and God and the Big Bang"This is an important work. It provides an overview of the world of Jewish mysticism with particular attention to the issues that are philosophically generated within that tradition. It examines these issues in a phenomenological way, free of the historiographical approach practiced by many students of Gershom Scholem. The book addresses a number of significant aspects of Jewish mysticism in light of their relationship to general Jewish thought, not in the light of other traditions. It also provides the newcomer to the field with important sources from across the historical continuum of the Kabbalah." — Pinchas Giller, Washington University

• Preface Part One: The Kabbalah and its Attainment 1. Mysticism and the Kabbalah2. The Kabbalist and His Kabbalah3. Prerequisites4. Early Preparations5. The Dangers Facing the Mystic6. Techniques of Exploring Mysteries7. Evaluation of the Kabbalah8. The Origins of the Revelations Part Two: The Basic Concepts of the Kabbalah 9. The Doctrine of the Sefirot10. Good and Evil11. The Doctrine of Creation12. The Torah13. The Doctrine of the Soul14. The Doctrine of Transmigration Epilogue Notes Bibliography Indexes