Selected as a Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)“Significant Jewish Book”Jacob was running away from home. One night he lay down in the wilderness to sleep and had one of the great mystical experiences of Western religion. He dreamed there was a ladder, with angels ascending and descending, stretched between heaven and earth. For thousands of years, people have tried to overhear what the messengers came down to tell Jacob, and us.Now in a ...

Giacobbe stava fuggendo dalla sua casa. Una notte, coricatosi nel deserto per dormire, fu protagonista di una delle maggiori esperienze mistiche della religione occidentale. Sognò una scala che andava dalla terra al cielo e, su di essa, angeli che salivano e scendevano. Per migliaia di anni gli uomini hanno cercato di cogliere il messaggio che quegli angeli erano venuti a portare a Giacobbe, e a noi. Operando un ardito amalgama di erudizione e inventiva, psicologia e storia, Lawrence Kushn...

In a daring blend of scholarship, imagination, psychology and history, Lawrence Kushner gathers an inspiring range of interpretations of Genesis 28:16 given by sages, what each discovered about God's Self and what we can learn about ourselves as we ascend and descend Jacob's ladder. A 25th anniversary edition with a new preface from the author.

An accessible introduction to the concepts of Jewish mysticism, their religious and spiritual significance, and how they relate to our lives.The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition allows us to experience and understand mysticisms inexpressible reverence before the awe and mystery of creation, and celebrate this rich traditions quest to transform our ordinary reality into holiness.Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, one of the most widely read authors on Jewish spiritual life, is th...

Flashes of insightsurprising, entertaining, inspiringfrom one of the most creative spiritual thinkers in America. The goal of all spiritual life is to get your ego out of the wayoutwit the sucker; dissolve it; shoot it; kill it. Silence the incessant planning, organizing, running, manipulating, possessing, and processing that are the ineluctable redoubts of the ego. Not because these activities are bad or wrong or even narcissistic … but because they preclude awareness of the Divine. ...

This is an invitation to wade into a deeper spiritual consciousness. Taking us step by step, Kushner helps us to allow “the river of light”—the deepest currents of consciousness—to rise to the surface and animate our lives. Imaginative, philosophical and intellectual, this book explores the meeting point of ancient journeys, current psychological theory and the practicalities of modern life to guide you on your own journey into deeper spiritual awareness.

According to the Hebrew Bible, God made the world with words. God just spoke and the world became reality. (The Aramaic for I create as I speak is avara kdavara, or in magicians language, abracadabra.) . . . This does not protect words from the numbing effects of overuse in any religious tradition. . . . We need to dust off the words, shake away the accretions, wonder again about what they originally might have meant and enable ourselves to live in the word.from the IntroductionWi...

Suppose there is something going on in the universe which is to ordinary, everyday reality as our unconcious is to our daily lives? Softly, but unmistakably guiding it. Most of the time, we are unaware of it. Yet, every now and then, on account of some fluke, we are startled by the results of its presence. We realize we have been part of something with neither consciousness nor consent. It is so sweetand then it is gone. You say, But I dont believe in God. And I ask, What makes you think it m...

Flashes of insight—surprising, entertaining, inspiring—from one of the most creative spiritual thinkers in America."The goal of all spiritual life is to get your ego out of the way—outwit the sucker; dissolve it; shoot it; kill it. Silence the incessant planning, organizing, running, manipulating, possessing, and processing that are the ineluctable redoubts of the ego. Not because these activities are bad or wrong or even narcissistic … but because they preclude aw...

"The prayer book is our Jewish diary of the centuries, a collection of prayers composed by generations of those who came before us, as they endeavored to express the meaning of their lives and their relationship to God. The prayer book is the essence of the Jewish soul." This stunning work, an empowering entryway to the spiritual revival of our times, enables all of us to claim our connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book. It helps rejuvenate Jewish worship in today...

Quite simply, the easiest introduction to Jewish mysticism you can read.An insightful and absorbing introduction to the ten gates of Jewish mysticism and how they apply to daily life."There is a place that is as far from here as breathing out is from breathing in. For the word is very near to you. Where life forever holds gentle sway over death, where people are human with the same grace that a willow is a willow, where the struggle and the yearning between...

A Charming tale to remind us all that our kindness works miracles.“When the sun sets and stars fill the sky, the square in the little town grows quiet and still. The cool air of distant hills mingles with the sweet scent of baking bread. The moon rises and glows softly. It’s the sort of place where miracles could happen.”David and Jacob live in the same little, ordinary town, but it’s almost as if they’re from different worlds. David is so poor he can barel...