Details
| Size | | Length: | 370 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 19.2 oz |
Industry Reviews
Kamenetz, who, in The Jew in the Lotus, recorded his impressions of a historic meeting between rabbis and the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, here continues his quest for a more tangible and immediate experience of Jewish meditation practices. Using short vignettes and meditations, Kamenetz mines the gold from the teachings of Jewish mystical masters. The Dalai Lama and Rabbi Zalman Schachter provide the starting point for Kamenetz's quest. The guiding stars of his quest are Jewish mystics like Rabbi Shefa Gold, leader of a spiritual retreat center in Rose Mountain, N. Mex.; Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man; and Judith Halevy, who teaches classes in meditation and Jewish mysticism in Omer-Man's "school of Jewish wisdom" in Beverly Hills, Calif.; and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, the author of She Who Dwells Within: A Feminist Vision of a Renewed Judaism (HSF, 1995) and rabbi for Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque, N. Mex. Kamenetz encounters this array of spiritual teachers both through personal meetings and through their written works. The book is completed by a helpful glossary of the vocabulary of the various mystical traditions Kamenetz draws from, as well as a bibliography of "Books to Read and Places to Go" on the mystical quest. With a fresh and energetic voice, Kamenetz offers readers an enthusiastic introduction to the thought and practice of some very intriguing contemporary Jewish mystics. (Nov.)
Lopate
Kamenetz's philosophically complex yet lucid chronicle of his one-on-one studies with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man, and pioneer feminist Rabbi Lynn Gottleib, to name just a few, creates a brilliant collage of various facets of contemporary Jewish mysticism. . . . Many Jews believe that change is essential to Judaism's continued vitality, and Kamenetz's vivid, illuminating, and dramatic narrative energetically supports that perception.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Seaman
Using Schachter-Shalomi's four-worlds mantra meditation--'I am holy./ All is clear./ You are loved./ It is perfect,' four states of the emotional mind that correspond to worlds within the Kabbalistic teaching--[Kamenetz] carries his inquiry into ancient Jewish meditation practices across the country. He and his wife had suffered the loss of his infant child, and that pain is used as a gate to spiritual connections. Here Judaism complements the quiet mind of Buddhism and modern culture's new-age philosophies. . . . [This book] is valuable not only for Jews interested in the mystical tradition as practiced today but for Jews yearning to find a clearer expression of the divine in their lives. In fact, Judaism is not a prerequisite for learning from this book. Kamenetz's message is: If I can do it, so can you.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Seaman
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