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Reviews for "In the Shadow of the Ladder"
Review by Rabbi Yonasson Gershon (top Amazon 500 Reviewer) author of "Out of the Ashes"
This book is both an introduction to the saintly life and teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag (1886-1955) and a new translation of some of his basic teachings. Although there have been some unauthorized (and in some cases, spurious) translations of Ashlag's work over the years, none has been as accessible to the English-speaking reader as this book. The translations included here were done with the permission of Rabbi Yisroel Miller, who holds the Hebrew copyright to Ashlag's works, and who graciously allowed Mark and Yedidah Cohen to use the original materials. In their introduction, the Cohens discuss their choice(s)of words for this translation, and their struggle to remain true to Rabbi Ashlag's thought. They also include an excellent glossary of "Keywords, Definitions, and Concepts."
Yehudah Ashlag is now regarded as one of the greatest kabbalists of the 20th century. Born into a Hasidic family in Warsaw, he was a child prodigy whose interest in kabbalah was awakened at an early age. In their introduction, the Cohens write: "The story is told that at the ages of eleven, a book fell off a shelf and hit him on the head. His father picked it up and while replacing it, told him that it was a book for angels, not for people. But the young Yehudah decided that if it was printed, then it was certainly intended for human beings!" (p. 20) Thus began his secret study of kabbalah, along with the more usual course of yeshiva studies. At the age of 19 he was ordained as a rabbi by the rabbis of Warsaw, and served as a rabbi in that city for 16 years. In 1924 he moved to Israel, where, in 1926, he began writing his works on kabbalah.
Rabbi Ashlag's best-known work is "Ha-Sulam," (The Ladder), a complete translation of the Zohar from Aramaic into modern Hebrew, along with his own commentary on each paragraph. He also wrote a number of introductory books and articles on basic kabbalistic concepts. Due to extreme poverty, the original self-published editions were quite limited, but still circulated widely enough to attract both disciples and critics. By publishing this material, he went against the convention of the time, which was to limit access to advanced Torah scholars. But Rabbi Ashlag correctly perceived that Jews in our generation would not be satisfied to merely learn the outer forms. The time had come, Rabbi Ashlag believed, to make the inner teachings of Judaism accessible to everyone.
However, we should also note that he also stressed the importance of practicing the teachings in daily life, through Torah and mitzvot (the commandments). Unlike some of the "neo-kabbalists" who have co-opted his writings over the years, Rabbi Ashlag did not break with Orthodox Judaism. Rather, he sought to enrich the experience of the Torah life by revealing the inner meanings of the outer observances. Kabbalah is something a Jew does IN ADDITION TO traditional Torah observances, not "instead of."
Kabbalists from the "Jewish Renewal" school of thought may be surprised to learn that "Four Worlds Judaism" is not something unique to the Renewal movement. Rather, these ideas are clearly outlined in the works of Rabbi Ashlag, who, in turn, took them from the teachings of the 16th-century mystic, Isaac Luria. He, in turn, received them through the Zohar. In his "Introduction to the Zohar" (included in this book), Rabbi Ashlag clearly explains the Four Worlds (levels of existence: Action, Formation, Creation, Emanation) as well as many other basic concepts necessary for understanding kabbalah. That these teachings have now become so widespread is perhaps due to Rabbi Ashlag's courage in bringing them out of secrecy and into the light. I highly recommend this book as a first rung on the Ladder to greater love of God.
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