The Essential Kabbalah by Daniel C. Matt
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This is a compilation of original translations of various primary sources on the Kabbalah.
Prior to this book, most of my exposure to Kabbalistic material has come filtered through Hermetic authors or other writers in the western ritual magickal tradition. That is to say, I've mostly read syncretic attempts at interpreting Kabbalah by Christians or Pagans. I haven't had much direct contact with primary Jewish sources (e.g. the Zohar), and this book was a lovely entree to that particular garden of pomegranates.
The quality of the prose translation is generally excellent, and the underlying material itself is by turns mystical, lyrical, baffling, and hilarious. In short, it was a rewarding read for all the reasons that the best mystical texts are rewarding: it shed light on some questions, while hinting at unexplored depths. One long-standing question it answered for me was the origin of the recurring parable of the single righteous man as a pillar supporting all creation. I had seen it variously expressed in works over the years, and it was wonderful to finally see it in its original formulation.
But there were also lots of sections that were new to me, some of which were stunningly odd. For example, one section included a lengthy and detailed catalog of the precise dimensions of the body of god. It's clearly intended to metaphorically communicate the inconceivable vastness of deity, but if you take the numbers given and sketch them out, the proportions of that body look deeply, deeply weird. The text cautions against taking the numbers literally, but why choose those numbers at all? Do they have a deeper numerological significance? Or are they a faithful transcription of a Kabbalist's vision of a deity decidedly not in our own image?
In short, I loved the book. My only reservation is that I think a reasonable background in Kabbalistic concepts will be necessary for a reader to really grasp many of the sections. But, if an interested lay reader is willing to patiently follow the current and be carried along (without insisting on complete understanding), then the book can probably be read with at least some profit by anyone. Recommended.