The Essential Zohar The Source of Kabbalistic Wisdom by Berg, Rav P.S. [3 Rivers,2004]

by Philip S. Berg

Excellent Book

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy, Judaism, Nonfiction, Jewish, Literature

Paperback

First published March 26, 2002

About the author

aka Rav P.S. Berg

Reviews

[Graham Cammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

This book is timeless even though it was published on 1999, it has not dated at all. I have learned so much about the Zohar and it is absolutely right to read about the Zohar as well as read the actual Zohar itself. The stories of the Torah, which are elucidated by the Zohar are essential. I highly recommend this book in conjunction with the actual Zohar.

[Andy Oram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the explanations of brief Zohar passages in this book and was impressed with Berg's knowledge and passion, but the book is about one-third an explanation of the Zohar and two-thirds exhortations to lead a better life guided by spiritual exploration. I do think the book offers a lot for its size. But I would like a bit more depth and a good deal less sermonizing.I also recommend that readers learn at least a bit about traditional Talmudic commentary (the logic and methods it uses) because this book builds on that tradition and it may be hard to follow if you're totally new to the field.

[Ismail Erk Deliormanli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Çevirdiğim ilk kitap. Bu sene Destek Yayınlarından çıkacak. Aslında Eski Ahit ve Museviliğe yabancı olanlar için gayet bilgilendirici bir kitap. Ama çoğu bilgiyi sadece Eski Ahit’i okuyarak da elde edebilirsiniz.

Kabala geleneğinin Zohar kitabına yoğunlaşan bir eser. Giriş mahiyetinde olması derinleşmesini engellemiş. Bu nedenle oldukça yüzeysel kalmış. Yine de dediğim gibi bu konulara yabancı olanlar için Zohar, Kabala, Sefirot, Tzaddik, Şekinah, Talmud vb. birçok Museviliğe dair kavramı öğrenebileceğiniz bir eser.

[Murlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. This book has changed my life, my view point of GOD and the world. Every time I read a chapter, a dream came to me at night to reveal more of me to myself. The chapters about soulmates answered all my questions. I have been having so many dreams about my soulmate for years and I did not know where to turn to find answers and this book answered everything. It was the missing puzzle piece in my life. I will be rereading this book throughout my life. There was so much information, I had to read these books chapter by chapter every night.
Chapter 23
Soulmates: But Kabbalah teaches that we are one partners with the Creator, not His puppets....when I started believing that, manifestions started to happen more rapidly in my life.

Once again, our ultimate goal is oneness with the nature of GOD:......Ancient Mystics have been teaching this for years in many different religions and cultures.

Soul mates are two halves of a single soul, divided by the Creator Himself in the supernal realm....I had this dream 3 years ago

Its amazing when you receive a dream and you find a book that confirms your dreams and visions.

I love this book.

[Brett C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of Biblical passages, figures, and events that have been interpreted in the mold of Kabbalah. Apparently there are several (if not many) volumes of the complete Zohar. This book gives you an overview of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, and the sefirot. In my opinion I think the Bible is good on its own and does not need all these mystical and meditative interpretations. I appreciate what the Zohar brings to the table and I found several of the chapters interesting (the interpretation of Noah and the Flood, Esau and Jacob, Joseph sold into slavery to be specific). Maybe I'll read it again and look for deeper meaning. All in all, it was an interesting read but exactly my thing.

[Jeff Soule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Berg’s “Essential Zohar”
I’ve explored a lot of esoteric literature both in reading and in practice. I was looking forward to the Zohar, which is often referred to as Judaic esotericism. I came away disappointed. For the most part, I would sum up the book’s depiction of God as an insufferable bully.
First, it seems incredible that the One, the master of the universe, has time to play mind games with his chief protagonists—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in particular. While the good author goes to great lengths to reminds us at every step that these people were real flesh and blood he also simultaneously retreats into explaining away God’s regular pettiness and insecurities by calling the text allegorical. Well, sorry, you can’t have it both ways. God is supposedly talking directly to his chosen prophets regularly saying these things, so to me, turning them into nice allegories which aren’t really as mean and judgmental as they seem is just making excuses for his behavior. Take Essau for example. Why does the almighty excuse Jacob’s deception to get his father’s blessing, yet make sure the Essau doesn’t get into heaven at the end of time? Why does he tempt David with a trial—a pretty silly trial at that—only to see him fail immediately, then let him have the toast at the end of judgment?
The whole series of stories are one nasty trick after another on people who are supposed to be founding a basis for the world to live harmoniously. I don’t want any part of this sort of system. Another issue is if God is omnipotent and all, why does he get jealous? Jealousy implies a need and the One by definition cannot have needs. The One is everything and complete. Second, why does he care what the “Dark Angel” thinks? He puts Job and Abraham through the wringer to prove to the Dark Angel that these people have faith in him. Why does he care? Again it shows him having a need which is against the idea of unity and completeness of the creator.
And the Patriarchs themselves are no great lot, either. So Noah curses his son Ham for “seeing him naked”. Now the Rabbi says this is a euphemism for having sex. Is it? The Old Testament seems pretty clear when sex is being had and when it’s something else. “David laid with Bathsheva” for example…is pretty clear. Seeing him naked? Again when you go all over the place to either excuse things or take them literally when it doesn’t fit your philosophical story telling doesn’t engender much confidence in the stories or the morals. In another example, the leaders of the tribes get jealous of Joseph for more petty reasons…he has a nice outfit and studies the Torah. So they throw him into a pit and then sell him into bondage. Great relatives! Berg again tries to cover this up by saying Joseph knew all this was part of the divine plan so it’s ok. This doesn’t strike me as a very compelling plan at all. Same issue with the golden calf: so Moses goes to great lengths literally, plagues, the angel of death and parting the Red Sea, and then these righteous folks can’t wait 6 hours for Moses to come back so they fall into idolatry? Are you kidding me? So we are told that God here was ready to transport the group of Jews back to the Garden of Eden, but since they fell of the wagon again, no dice. Is this the kind of God you want to give your loyalty to? I think not. I can see why Rabbis spend generations arguing and discussing the Torah and its meanings, since it essentially can be whatever you want it to be. And Yaweh, in the end, really doesn’t care one way or the other as long as he’s having fun with his mind games and his pal the Dark Angel.

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book itself is well written, but I think that the Zohar and I are just not gonna be friends. Everything in here seems devoted to wringing meaning from a text that's just plain not there -- or worse, that is opposite to its plain meaning -- for no reason except to justify a belief that the Torah MUST contain the secrets of the universe. A Mormon like me sees the entire exercise as "looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14) and "wresting" the scriptures (Alma 13:20).

[Nick Woodall · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting, but ultimately fatalistic book, about the Zohar, which is a Kabbalistic book supposedly about the Scriptures. It seems to be a mixture of Scripture, conjecture, fantasy, myth, legend, and sages interpretations and understandings. I really didn't like it.

[Terra Bosart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent source for Kabbalistic interpretations of the capital "B" Bible, and a good way of thinking metaphorically.

[Andreas Bodemer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to thank the author of this book for curing me of my curiosity towards the Zohar and, to a lesser degree, Kabbalah.

So the Zohar is like a mystical commentary on the Torah (parts of the Old Testament, for all you grubby Christians out there). It was written by a Rabbi, and it contains a lot of extra (and I mean extra) parts to biblical stories. The story goes something like: in the beginning there was light, and then the light broke into a lot of shards, and the purpose (read: teleology) of the world/bible/etc is to unite the shards.

Even after reading this book, I am unsure of how Kabbalists make the jump from an abstract story about shards of light to the Garden of Eden. But I guess it works; I probably lack the IQ for that kind of 10th-Dimensional chess.

The most value that I found in this book was its summary description of the ten sefirot. I think that it's a good metaphor for something—I'm not sure what. The creative process? Achieving a mystical experience perhaps.

This book makes some really dubious pseudo-scientific claims (e.g. quantum spookiness), but at least they're used as metaphor, not a justification. So, I won't be getting my seven-pronged burning pitchfork out.

[Bohemian Bluestocking · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely and soul-nourishing book. As others have mentioned, it is somewhat light on the actual selections of the Zohar and has a tendency to feel a bit sermonizing and even dogmatic at times, a bit too orthodox compared to other Kabbalist writings that I've read. For example, there is a dogmatic emphasis on the dualism of male and female and the privileging of finding your (hetero) soulmate and having children. In other Kabbalist writings, I find the esoteric center quite liberating and open and the emphasis is on solitary aloneness in seeking after spiritual truths, so I wonder if there isn't a bias and projecting of the author's own fulfilled lifestyle. Thus, some chapters might put some readers off from wanting to read the full-length version of the Zohar or other Kabbalist writings. Other chapters though, and for the most part, I feel this is an uplifting book that feels the soul and especially the last few chapters are gorgeous.

[Deepak Imandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary is an understatement.
This book is literally MAGIC!

The book starts by laying out the structure of the patriarchs starting from Adam. It takes us then to a journey - Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, their strengths, weaknesses, their beliefs and interrelated stories. Rav Philip's interpretation of Zohar is stunningly logical & quite contemporary. His chalking of the concepts - Shechinah, charity & why it is needed, taking for the sake of sharing, building the vessel, why do the wicked win? etc are quite intriguing.

This is my first book of the Kabbalah & Zohar, thoroughly enjoyed & loved it.
#Recommended #Zohar

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it suitable as an introduction to Kabbalah, but it barely scratched the surface on many concepts because each chapter would have more sermonizing than information and insight to share. I would certainly recommend others to read it, but personally I was expecting more out of this book than what I got.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, my rating is 3.5. This book was interesting because of the musings related to physics scattered throughout the text. But I found some of the interpretations of the Zohar to be rather convoluted. I'm not Jewish - maybe if I was, I would be less skeptical of these interpretations. Be that as it may, this book does present some kabbalistic precepts in an interesting way.

[Aqua Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, extremely illuminating

Perfect for the seeker, this book gives an insight into the true nature of the spiritual world, a better explanation of duality, and how best to circumnavigate the physical world.

[Shaun Eagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenaciously and thoughtfully written!

Enlightening read ,a catalyst to journey more into the sacred to know the present. I recommend to anyone venturing to know more into our “genesis”.

[Norman Bennett Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to Jewish mysticism. I expected more exerpts from the Zohar specifically, but this was much more of a commentary.

Good writing, interesting content, just not what I had expected.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting and deep analysis, but coming from a perspective that is often self-contradictory with logic that feels very forced at times. The author may say this is purposeful, but without his devotion to the infallibility of the words of the Zohar the book feels like a flat sales pitch.

[Boweavil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An introduction to the study of the Zohar. Berg's writing is clear and well organized, a great improvement over many other books with a similar aim.

[Awenydd Orchantra Faeryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most important books i have ever read and "read between"
one of the best ~~~~

[Steven J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book for explaining The Kabbalah, leaves one feeling like they want to read more on the subject.

[Michael Randle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to Kabbalah.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really 2.5 - hard to follow if you’re not already very familiar with the Bible

[The Book Mufti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pop Kabbalah for celebrities, clearly written to ride on the 1990s New Age wave. But, if it ends up drawing people closer to the real principles of Jewish mysticism, it will serve a purpose.

[Noula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after reading an article about celebrities interested in this type of stuff. I went through a weird Judaism phase in 2016 when I was exploring my spirituality in religion. This book was insightful and answered a lot of my questions.

[Mike Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be both engaging and enlightening. As brief overview of the timeless wisdom of Kabbalah, this book explores the principles of that study and expands the both the image of and the understanding of the concepts of God as a universal, infinite being.

What i like most about this book, and the other books of Kabbalah that I have previously read, is the way that Kabbalah creates a beautiful and poetic story of God, rather than a harsh and stoic one. I was also rather pleased to know that Kabbalah shares many of the root principles of the Law of Attraction, showing that once again there are bridges between differing styles of 'faith' and not impasses.

[Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was my first introduction to the kabbalah/zohar. i just don't know what to think...most of this book seems utterly insane to me. i bought several other books on kabbalah along with this one and am about to start another...we'll see how that goes.

[Bob Ladle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are answers here.

Although brief in scope, there is elucidation regarding the symbolic representations in the stories of the Torah. An excellent book who may want to dip their toe into kaballah.

[Diana]

i have taken on the task to read at least one book on every religion--beginning with the perceived "weird ones".
this will be my first.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Well written and very enjoyable.