On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah

On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah

In the Zohar and other writings of the Kabbalah, Jewish mystics developed concepts and symbols to help them penetrate secrets of the cosmos that cannot be understood through reason or intellect. These ideas about God, human beings, and creation continue to fascinate and influence spiritual seekers of all persuasions today. In clear and easy-to-understand prose, Gershom Scholem, the pioneer of the modern study of Jewish mysticism explains the basic concepts of the Kabbalah: the mystical "form of the imageless God"; good and evil; the Tsaddik or righteous soul; the Shekhinah, the feminine aspect of God; gilgul, the transmigration of souls; and tselem, the concept of the astral body. For anyone seeking to taste the mysteries of the Kabbalah, this is an essential book.

Gershom Scholem

New York : Schoken Books : Distributed by Pantheon Books
Edition

1991

Translated from the German by Joachim Neugroschel ; edited and revised, according to the 1976 Hebrew edition, with the author's emendations, by Jonathan Chipman ; foreword by Joseph Dan

Shiʻur Komah: Mystical shape of the godhead -- Sitra Aḥra: Good and evil in the Kabbalah -- Tsaddik: Righteous One --Shekhinah: Feminine element in divinity -- Gilgul: Transmigration of souls -- Tselem: Concept of the astral body.

Book