The Bahir

After researching and studying Kabbalah for over 20 years, I found this book to contain detailed technical translations of Jewish Mysticism so often unavailable to a beginning student of Hebrew. After studying 12 languages, actually 13 including Hebrew now, I found detailed alphabetical descriptions and related materials to be a great primer for the Hebrew language, especially in relation to Jewish Kabbalistic interpretation of its relativity to this religion. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to study this language, although there are relatively little provisions for syntax, linguistic descriptions, etc. other than a detailed descriptions of letters relating to interpretations.I still recommend Gershom Sholem's translation for the beginner Kabbalah student, although one should really wait (as recommended by the sages) until at least their 35th birthday! It can get very depressing and mess with your heart, mind and soul, if you are not already prepared for the depth of Kabbalah study in general!The Bahir is very unique from previous Kabbalistic works that I have studied in the past, including the Sefer Yetzirah, the Zohar, etc. I had studied these for quite some time before indulging in the study of the Bahir, and I am very glad I did, because I would probably be very lost in some of the interpretations and relative inferences to what I had previously studied.In relation to previous studies, the Bahir is EXTREMELY detailed and technical in orientation and provides a deeper understanding of the values of Hebrew letters in relation to their "relative mystical meanings", especially in relation the the 10 Seiferot and their mystical significance.Aside from a few English typos, I found the book to be quiet professional in addressing details about interpretations of Kabbalistic mysticism. For a gentile lacking general knowledge of many aspects of the Jewish language, religion and culture, except for a few friends in Malibu that probably have never heard of this book, or if so, probably are barely aware of its contents, just as I am pretty unfamiliar with my Catholic religious heritage...(I flunked freshman religion at my Catholic high school!) I really learned more about the "Christian" old testament through studying the Jewish religion(s)and Kabbalah, as I found mysticism to be more intersting and closer to truth than mainstream "religions".Kaplan provides exceptional translations of this work, however I have nothing with which to compare this work, as this was my first Bahir experience. I found several of the other reviews here to be quite helpful and accurate in representing the significance of this work and translation, also contributing to my selection of this work by this specific author/translator. He does give a very detailed historical representation of progression of Kabbalah in general in the introduction.My primary interest in this book was the "technical interpretations" of more detailed aspects of mystical interpretation of the Sefer Yetzirah, the ten Seiferot, etc.

This Tome Of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Is Another Outstanding Work Of This Treasured Rabbi. I Highly Recommend This Book.

One of those books that you always wanted to buy but always procrastinated.So I finally bought it and yes, fantastic reading.Perfect for a long flight or a lazy summer afternoon by the pool and anything in-between.There is a lot of wisdom in this book and just as much knowledge and info.Very well sourced as well.

My Maggid recommended that I read this book over the Zohar and I jumped into it with a great deal of enthusiasm. It was a good thing that I was enthusiastic because I could only get through a few pages each day and trying to read the text with the commentary as well. One can't read this like a textbook. I was very proud of finishing the book. I'm still not clear on what I got out of it.My impression is that teachings on Jewish mysticism and experiencing the walk with God (devekut) are wise and valid. At certain points there is a "click" or integration of experience and practice. The path is one of balance as taught by the ancient holy rabbis. One must be specifically sensitive enough to the spiritual, moral and psychological side of existence and able to remove one's self from the daily struggles of animal survival instincts. On the other hand, one must be humble, focused on the benefit of others and not overwhelmingly intoxicated with imaginative spiritual experiences.I wanted the Bahir to teach me something. It didn't teach me anything at least in the conventional context that I usually expect from a text. Maybe it doesn't speak to my generation. Maybe I should read it again and meditate on some of the fragments. Maybe I will later appreciate some of what I read. I don't know the answers to this yet.Not for beginners. Maybe, but then again one has to learn the form of the letters to appreciate Steinbeck.

It's rare to find a book this brilliant, with wisdom that not many rabbis know about, nor is understood and appreciated by all scholars. Aryeh Kaplan is a most profound, unusual, erudite kabbalic master. The best part for me is learning about the role of meditation among its earliest practitioners. No matter how many times it is read, it is always new, and reminds me of what is needed in spiritual practice. Aryeh Kaplan, as another reader wrote, is one of a kind. He is a hero, a liberator, a rishi. No one else writes with as much depth on this subject.

Rabbi Kaplan has translated this complicated text on the letters of Creation and the entire spiritual blueprint that is represented by the Torah.

JEWISH LITERATURE FROM ANCIENT TIMES

Read this book if kabbalah interest you!

Of course, the text of the Bahir itself is not the work of Rabbi Kaplan, but more than half of this book consists of his analyses of the text and guide notes thereon.After reading the introduction I found myself actually reading a large portion of the commentary before realising that I had barely touched upon the text itself. The text is a beautiful treat of esoteric writing which would be understood by very few, the commentary itself attempts to elucidate this cryptic writing and for the most seems perfectly on point. It would be best read as intended, to take in the text on its own and see what can be understood through exploring the writing in a meditative state, The commentary can almost be read as a book in itself if you already have a form of understanding what is being explained, but even the commentary is of course speaking of concepts which require some form of mystical work and vision to truly understand. As someone who is most closely a Hermetist, it is fascinating to read into this area and see the way that the Jewish mystics have interpreted the universal workings and relationship to the Divine and also to explore the beautiful hieroglyphic language of Hebrew and the joyous coding of the Hebrew scripture. I am exploring this alongside study of the Zohar and Sepher Yetzirah, and though the concepts of Divinity may already be understood it is just beautiful to see it stated in such a way and fascinating to see it all stated in such an expansive manner and to learn more about such misunderstood Hebrew scripture which has been so unfortunately rejected by the so called "rationalists" in our world. Perhaps if these people were able to understand the Qabalistic keys then they would not so blindly reject the notion of "God" as can even in this sense be explained through modern science as it finally catches up with the truths of the Ancients. It is plain to see, even more so from his work with the Sepher Yetzirah, that Rabbi Kaplan has truly been raised to the Greater Mind and he is one of the only writers on the subject of Qabalah with whose writing I can really connect. This is a subject which has been greatly diluted and profaned by the New Age movements even since the writers on the Golden Dawn. Many write on Qabalah, many hold the concepts in theory, but it seems that very few writers truly understand.

Fantastic read highly recommend

However you must have prior knowledge of he Hebrew to really get any benefits from this, a very heavy and deep read....

So happy to find this book. It’s worth the wait.

It is a must read for beginners of Kabbalah..it is a great translation and has a very good comments and explanation on a very encompassing and hard subject.