Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow

by Arthur Green

Overview

What can Kabbalah teach us about our lives today? What can it teach us about our future?

According to the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, Ehyeh, or "I shall be," is the deepest, most hidden name of God. Arthur Green, one of the most respected teachers of Jewish mysticism of his generation, uses this simple Hebrew word to unlock the spiritual meaning of Kabbalah for our lives.

When Moses experienced his great moment of call at the Burning Bush, he asked God, “When people ask me, 'What is His name?' what should I say to them?” God answers with this mysterious phrase, “I shall be what I shall be,” and says to Moses, “Tell them that ‘I shall be’ sent you.”
God’s puzzling answer makes the conversation sound like a koan-dialogue between a Zen master and disciple…. Like the koan, the text here is reaching to some place beyond words, seeking to create a breakthrough in our consciousness. What is it trying to tell us?
—from the Introduction

Blending Jewish theology and mysticism, Arthur Green invites us on a contemporary exploration of Kabbalah, showing how the ancient Jewish mystical tradition can be retooled to address the needs of our generation.

Drawing on the Zohar and other kabbalistic texts, Green examines the fundamental ideas and spiritual teachings of Kabbalah, encouraging today’s modern seeker to stretch to new ways of thinking with both heart and mind, setting us on a rewarding path to the wisdom Kabbalah has to offer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580232135
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	07/01/2004
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	2.36(w) x 3.54(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Arthur Green, PhD, is recognized as one of the world's preeminent authorities on Jewish thought and spirituality. He is the Irving Brudnick professor of philosophy and religion at Hebrew College and rector of the Rabbinical School, which he founded in 2004. Professor emeritus at Brandeis University, he also taught at the Universityof Pennsylvania and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he served as dean and president.

Dr. Green is author of several books including Judaism's Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers; Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow; Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology; Your Word Is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer and Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (all Jewish Lights). He is also author of Radical Judaism (Yale UniversityPress) and coauthor of Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from around the Maggid's Table. He is long associated with the Havurah movement and a neo-Hasidic approach to Judaism.

Table of Contents

Confession, by Way of a Preface
Introduction: Ehyeh as a Name of God

PART I: REREADING THE OLD TRADITION
1 Kabbalah Old and New
2 There Is Only One
3 Torah: Creation's Truth Revealed
4 Sefirot: The One and the Ten
5 'Olamot: Four Steps to Oneness
6 Shemot: The Way of Names

PART II: LOOKING TOWARD TOMORROW
7 Seeking a Path
8 Great Chain of Being: Kabbalah for an Environmental Age
9 All about Being Human: Image, Likeness, Memory
10 What about Evil?
11 The Life of Prayer
12 Community: Where Shekhinah Dwells

Afterword: To Keep on Learning—Where Do I Go from Here?
Notes

Editorial Reviews

"If you read this as I did, with a pen in hand, underlining sentences and writing 'Yes!' in the margins each time your heart echoes back a resounding confirmation, you will end up as I did, with a completely underlined book, an uplifted heart, renewed zeal—and instructions—for the spiritual practice of life."
—Sylvia Boorstein, author of Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake

"Arthur Green rescues Kabbalah from fundamentalists on the one hand and faddists on the other. Drawing on forty years of intense textual study and profound inner search, he fashions a revolutionary Kabbalah for those who yearn for a genuine spirituality, who cherish both heart and mind."
—Daniel C. Matt, author of Zohar: Annotated & Explained

“If you only have time to read one book on Jewish mysticism, this is it. Arthur Green, surely one of the great teachers of our generation, has brought the Kabbalah (back) to life. His book is informed, passionate and wise. It is the first door.”
—Lawrence Kushner, author of The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition

From the Publisher

In Hebrew, the word "Ehyeh" ("I shall be") is the most sacred and secret name for God. It is this word that drives Arthur Green's Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow, a well-informed introduction to Kabbalah for the spiritual seeker. It is tremendously refreshing to read a Kabbalah book that draws from the well of Jewish scholarly tradition but also successfully speaks to a larger audience. Green, who has studied Jewish mysticism for more than 40 years, has evolved from one who dabbled in psychedelics and Kabbalah in the 1960s to a teacher whose erudition bridges the gap between Kabbalah scholarship and popular interest. After a sensitive autobiographical introduction, Green settles into chapters that explore Kabbalah in the past, present and future. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

This book's title is, according to Jewish mystical teachings, the deepest and most hidden name of God and can be translated as "I shall be." Green (Jewish thought, Brandeis Univ.) claims to be writing for seekers, whether they are Jewish or not, though he does presume "some experience in the spiritual realm" on the part of his readers. He provides an easily digested overview of the history of Kabbalah, the central works and teachings, its relevance for today, and thoughts about its future. Green comfortably shares much of his own personal search while providing suggestions and opportunities for readers to incorporate elements of the Kabbalah into their own spiritual practice. An especially valuable epilog gives suggestions for further study in English, an exhortation and broad method for learning Hebrew, and a detailed road map for even deeper learning once Hebrew is mastered. Substantive but not overwhelming, the book serves well as an introduction to this complex and often oversimplified tradition. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Stephen Joseph, Butler Cty. Community Coll., PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal