The Duties of the Heart

by Rabbi Bachye

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1909 Edition.

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

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1040

Reviews

[Lorelei]

I really liked this book, which is excerpts from a work by Rabbi Bachye translated into English. I wish I could read the whole thing and, I wish I could read it in Hebrew. It is very clear, it is logical, and I really appreciate the idea that in order to follow the laws of Gd, one must study the real world - in fact neglecting science, geography, mathematics and so on makes one prideful as well as foolish. I am very glad to have come across this little book.

[Ari]

Nearly a thousand pages, nearly 10 months of prayerful contemplation of this text. I took my time with it to really sit with it, to incorporate it. Taking the time the text deserved feels like a luxurious blessing, and the first thing I want to do now that I've finished is start over again. Bahya is one of my favorite teachers of all time. He's a medieval Islamic-influenced Jewish philosopher in the way that Maimonides is, but he's also a clear ascetic and mystic in ways pretty much no one else in his 'category' is. He won me over in the introduction, almost lost me in early gates, and then from the 5th gate on blew my mind. Stick with the text, it gets better. In fact, it gets really great.
The text is broken down into ten sections (called 'gates') through which Bahya teaches what we'd now categorize as mussar, kavvanot, liturgy, and more. A number of original parables and prayers originate in this work that have become known over time as well. This edition ends not with the end of the text, but with an addition of two of Bahya's lengthier prayers and an acrostic piyyut.

[Abby]

finished with best chavruta ever :)

[Rachel-Cassia]

Best book ever! A must have in every Jewish home and a gem to reference often. Especially the prayer poem at the end!

Puts things in perspective like no other.

Logical clear and to the point.

[Jim George]

An eleventh century esoteric search for some truth. A very simple 30 page translation/synopsis of an older Jewish/Spanish rabbi's work of the same title.

[Zechy]

Brilliant. Wish I could have read the whole thing.

[Reza]

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