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]
