Journal Mitzvah

Journal Mitzvah

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, Apples from the Orchard [book review]




APPLES FROM THE ORCHARD / Gleanings from the mystical teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria—THE ARIZAL—on the weekly Torah portion.

Hardcover, 1070 pages. Translation and commentary by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky. Published by Thirty Seven Books.

B"H, we have a great work of Torah based on the mystical teachings of the holy Arizal, of blessed memory, the greatest master sage teacher of Kabbalah.

Thank you Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky and Safed's Kabbala Online Shop for kindly forwarding this beautiful copy to the Journal Mitzvah for the review. May many blessings fall from Heaven to you and to all of Israel. This was a special opportunity for me to be receiving a book with the wisdom of the ARI which is the central figure of Kabbalah.

The concern of Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky was to present the teachings with interpolated explanations that clarify the discreet prose of the original text and a commentary showing how these sometimes abstruse teachings can be applied to the relevant every day for both advanced students and beginners of Kabbalah. Contrary to what we may think, it is a complex and very profound study of the Torah which at the same time Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky was careful to decode and generate notes and references that we may gradually understand the high teachings of the ARI. The development of purity and personal sanctification is important in these studies and to serve Hashem. "As described by the wise Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto; We see that the Torah expects us to maintain an extremely high standard; we must be pure and clean in thought and behavior.”

Among the most fascinating of the Arizal’s teachings are his expositions on the Torah itself. Using the classic methods of rabbinic interpretation (with a marked emphasis on gematria, the numerical values of words), the Arizal unfolds before us a hidden dimension of the stories and laws of the Torah, showing how they reflect the inner dynamics of reality and how our knowledge and observance of the Torah is crucial to the proper functioning of creation.

This book is a collection of the Arizal’s teachings on the mystical dimension of the stories and laws in the Torah. The Arizal never wrote a commentary on the Torah per se. The present anthology are culled from several of Rabbi Chaim Vital’s works, chiefly Sha’ar HaPesukim, Sefer HaLikutim and Likutei Torah.


ABOUT AUTHOR:

Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky studied science and music at UCLA and USC, and Torah at yeshivas in Los Angeles, Kefar Chabad, and Tzefat. He is one of the founders of Ascent Institute of Tzefat and has translated and edited a number of works in the field of Jewish mysticism. He is presently continuing his studies in Jerusalem, where he lives with his family.

AVAILABLE AT KABBALA ONLINE SHOP:


[Review by Gilson Sasson]


No comments:

Post a Comment