Overview

The Thirteen Petalled Rose, written by the world-renowned scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, is based on the structures and assumptions of kabbalah, the largely esoteric theological system that deals with the relationships between man, Torah, the Commandments, and God. As Rabbi Steinsaltz teaches, ""kabbalah is the official theology of the Jewish people."" While The Thirteen Petalled Rose can be viewed as an introduction to the essence of Jewish existence and belief, its author does not attempt to justify Judaism according to external criteria. It is not meant to be a book about its subject, but rather a book that grows out of its own world, the world of kabbalah. While most primers deal with practical matters, this volume touches largely upon issues of the soul. The Thirteen Petalled Rose is named after the symbolic image used to represent the People of Israel in the opening lines of the mystical Jewish text, the Zohar. In addition to the English edition, The Thirteen Petalled Rose has been translated into Russian and circulated underground in the Soviet Union for many years. It has also been translated into French and Dutch. A book of extraordinary power, The Thirteen Petalled Rose has become a modern classic.

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This little book is a book for the soul. It begins, quite deliberately (and perhaps to the dismay of some readers), with a view of another reality. It does not proceed from this world, or from the familiar ways of man in our society. Instead, it seeks to go from the genuine center of all being to the world and to human life. There is no attempt here to speak of Judaism, to prove its worth or to justify it; rather, to let the message communicate itself. And if a person permits his soul to listen, the soul will soon learn that all it needs to do is remember. Because in some dim and enigmatic way, it already knows all this.--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

Essays in Jewish mysticism for - mystically minded Jews. Rabbi Steinsaltz is the world's leading Talmudist, and he speaks with immense authority on the Cabala and related topics, but he makes no concessions here to the secular reader, gentile or otherwise. He talks about angels and emanations, the Sefirot (channels of divine power), and the Kelipah Noga ( outer shell of reality), as if this fantastic Nco-Platonic cosmology were as logical and unexceptionable as alternate-side-of-the-street parking. He expounds the Bible with naive piety ( if only man . . . were able to forswear the sin of the Tree of Knowledge ), teaches an equally naive dualistic psychology (body is to soul as horse is to rider, etc.), and presents esoteric folklore with unblinking matter-of-factness. The morning hours, he tells us, are the well-favored ones; the afternoon is largely under the influence of the Sefirah of Gevurah, growing ever more stern as evening approaches. Finally, Steinsaltz takes such a conservative stance towards the Torah (e.g., in his uncritical treatment of kashrut and his praise of traditional sexual morality) that only the devoutly Orthodox will be able to go along with him. Writing from Jerusalem, Steinsaltz makes barely a single reference to the world outside Israel or to the course of history since the destruction of the Second Temple. This testifies to the continuity and self-contained intensity of his faith, but it turns the uncommitted inquirer firmly out into the cold. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Adin Steinsaltz is internationally regarded as one of the leading rabbis of this century. The author of many books, he is best known for his monumental translation of and commentary on the Talmud.

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