The Thirteen Petalled Rose - by Adin Steinsaltz (Paperback)

About the Book

An expanded edition of the classic text of Jewish mysticism (Kabala) by the world famous Talmudic scholar

Book Synopsis

From Madonna's music videos to the glossy pages of celebrity magazines and back to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Jewish mysticism has stepped into the modern consciousness like never before. In this classic work, world-renowned scholar Adin Steinsaltz answers the major questions asked by modern Jews about the nature of existence in God's universe. The title The Thirteen Petalled Rose is taken from the opening of the classic Jewish text on mysticism, the Zohar, and refers to the "collective souls of the Jewish people," which scholars have likened to the fullness of a rose and its thirteen petals. Along with a new preface by the author, this edition contains a new chapter on prayer that provides the most up-to-date account of the Kabbalistic view of devotion. Another new chapter recounts and interprets the prophet Elijah's Introduction to the Zohar.

"Steinsaltz possesses a mind of the quality that occurs perhaps once or twice in a generation, or several generations . . . In [The Thirteen Petalled Rose] one can encounter the classical Jewish mystical view of reality, delineated lucidly, concisely, profoundly and, what is so rare, believingly. It is an utterly authentic expression of Judaism yet so unknown even among the well-informed and therefore so necessary, so welcome." (Herbert Weiner, Oxford University)

About the Author

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, hailed by Time as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar," is internationally regarded as a leading scholar and rabbi. He founded the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, and has written many books on subjects including the Talmud, Jewish mysticism, religious thought, sociology, historical biography, and philosophy. His published works have been translated into Russian, English, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, and Dutch. He lives in Jerusalem.