The Wisdom of the Jewish Mystics

by Alan Unterman

The Wisdom of the Jewish Mystics is a selection of the most important writings, commentary, and ideas of the Jewish mystical tradition through the ages. The sayings are drawn primarily from the great Hasidic writers, like the Baal Shem Tov, who produced a new genre of mystical literature for laypeople. In his introduction, Dr. Unterman explains the background of kabbalistic thought and distills the quintessence of the mystics' wisdom.

Genres: Spirituality

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book, which consists of a twenty-seven page essay by Alan Unterman and fifty-six pages of rabbinic sayings from Rabbi Akiva (50-135) to Rabbi Kook (1865-1935), is a convenient and useful introduction to the wealth of wisdom contained in the Talmud and later writings.

Unterman gives us an informative history of the great rabbis and their teachings, with a particular emphasis on Kabbalah. He emphasizes the important contribution of Rabbi Luria and other exiled Spanish teachers and how their concentration on suffering and redemption lead to the messianic movement of Shabbatai Zevi (1626-1676). He also tells of how the Kabbalists were eventually criticized for the abstraction and duality of their approach and how it was countered by the down-to-earth mysticism of the Bal Shem Tov and the Hasidic movement. (Which, in its turn, was criticized for sacrificing transcendence for immanence.)

I have to admit I much prefer Buber's 10 Rungs, with its emphasis on the Bal Shem Tov and the Hasidic approach. But the Bal Shem Tov and his followers are here too, and plenty of other interesting sayings as well.

Here are a few stories that stuck with me. They aren't Ball Shem Tov stories, but I think he would have liked them:

R. Judah the Pietist tells the following story...There once was an illiterate cowherd who did not know how to pray, so instead he would say to God: Master of the Universe, you know that if you had cows and you gave them to me to look after I would do it for nothing, even though I take wages from everyone else. I would do it for you for nothing because I love you. A certain sage chanced upon the cowherd and heard him praying in this manner. You fool, you must not pray like that. The cowherd asked him how he should pray, and the sage set about teaching him the order of prayers as they are found in the prayerbook. After the sage went away the cowherd soon forgot what he had been taught and so he did not pray at all...That night the sage was reprimanded in a dream and told that unless the cowherd returned to his prayer great harm would befall the sage, for he had stolen something very precious away from God...The sage begged him to forget what he had told him and to go back to his real prayers that he had said before ever he had met him.

* * * * * * *

Once when the master, the holy Ari, was sitting in the house of study with his disciples, he looked at one of them and said to him, Go from here, for today you are excommunicated from heaven. The disciple fell at the feet of the master and said to him, What is my sin: I will repent for it. So the Master said to him: It is because of the chickens you have at home. You have not fed them for two days, and they cry out to God in their hunger. God will forgive you on condition you see to it that before you leave for prayers in the morning you give food to your chickens. For they are dumb animals and they cannot ask for their food.

[Arthur Cravan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, for me, served as an interesting introduction to some of the strains of thought found within Mystical Judaism, or Kabbalism. While I agree with the (at time of writing) sole other reviewer that this book has little to offer in systematic efforts of categorisation, etc., I feel the phrases (mostly short - less than a page) speak for themselves, & can offer much to ponder. I often found myself noting favourite passages & sharing them with friends, who, to be honest, would not usually care about this type of thing, but even the vast majority of them agreed that these ideas were worth investing thought into.

It comes with quite a lengthy introduction (if you could call it that, it takes up nearly half of the book), though I found this crucial in gaining the basic knowledge & respect for what was to come, so do not consider this a sore point.
While some categorisation (&, hell, a few analyses/footnotes) wouldn't have gone astray, I would recommend at least picking this up as something of a starter kit if you have any interest in pursuing this field of thought.

Favourite Passages
V - Fearless within one's element
IX - The gift of organized society
X - Who is really wise?
XII - On Rewards
XXIII - Unique prayers
XXVI - The moment has passed
XXXV - Saint of the Marketplace
LXIV - Child & Thief
LXXXVI - Begin your service anew
CXIX - Less complaining

[Ilana Diamant · Rating 1 out of 5]

if you're seriously interested in jewish mysticism, this book will be useless for you. It's a sloppy summary of various concepts but without a systematic effort to bring them together in an overall framework or go into detail (e.g. comparative or historical analysis) on any of them. It's plain obvious the author just wanted to get a publication out of earlier work he did on the topic (check out his intro/bio), and has no serious interest in contributing to any of the ongoing discussions in this field. In sum:waste of time.

[Jim George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty simple, not much depth, there is always some wisdom - even if it's just a sentence.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written (well partially compiled) and informative. I found the compilation of rabbinic wisdom more interesting than Mr. Untermans essay. I do recommend.