Jewish Mysticism : The Infinite Expression of Freedom

Mysticism,which transcends the boundaries of time and space and refers to a reality notgrasped by means of ordinary human cognition, is one of the central sources ofinspiration of religious thought.

It is an attempt to decode the mystery ofdivine existence by penetrating to the depths of consciousness throughlanguage, memory, myth, and symbolism.

Delving deep into the psyche, mysticsstrive to redeem perceived reality from its immediate meaning. Mystical texts constitute a history of thisreligious creativity, of man's attempt to reveal the divine structureunderlying the chaos of reality and thereby endow life with hope and purpose. By offering an alternative perspective on the world that gives expression toyearnings for freedom and change, mysticism engenders new modes of authorityand leadership; as such it plays a decisive role in moulding religious andsocial history.

For all these reasons, the mystical corpus deserves study anddiscussion in the framework of cultural criticism and research. This study is a lyrical exposition of the Jewishmystical phenomenon.

It is based on a close reading of the hundreds of volumeswritten by Jewish mystics and incorporates mystical testimonies drawn from thedifferent countries and cultural environments in which Jews have lived.

RachelElior's purpose is to present, as accurately as possible, the meanings of themystical works as they were perceived by their creators and readers.

At thesame time, she contextualizes them within the boundaries of the religion,culture, language, and spiritual and historical circumstances in which thedestiny of the Jewish people has evolved.. The authorsucceeds in drawing the reader into a mystical world.

With great intensity, sheconveys the richness of the mystical experience in discovering the infinity ofmeaning embedded in the sacred text; teasing out the recurring themes, sheexplains the multivalent symbols.

Using copious extracts from Jewish mysticalsources, she illustrates the varieties of the mystical experience fromantiquity to the twentieth century.

She succeeds in eloquently conveying how mysticstry to decipher reality by penetrating beyond its apparent boundaries: how theyexperience spiritual powers symbolically, imaginatively, or visually; howhidden truths are revealed in visions or dreams, in an epiphany or as`lightning'; how they are `engraved' in the mind or illuminate in the soul. Most of the texts she draws on are written in very obscure language, but theskilful translations communicate the mystical experiences vividly and make iteasy for the reader to understand how Elior uses them to explain therelationship between the revealed world and the hidden world and between themystical world and the traditional religious world, with all the social andreligious tensions this has caused.