Sefer Yetzirah (Aryeh Kaplan)
Teeming with Mystical Hokum
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice” by Aryeh Kaplan.]
I first read “Sefer Yetzirah” many years ago, when I first began to study Jewish mysticism. Although I was new to Jewish mysticism, I was a long-time expert in multiple other mystical traditions, so I had a basis for comparison. In short, I was not impressed with this canonical text, which I placed in storage while I traveled the world. I recently received another copy of “Sefer Yetzirah” from a student of mine, and I reread the text, this time from the perspective of someone with substantial knowledge of Kabbalah; and again, I was less than impressed with it.
Before I continue with my review, I should make it clear that my my negative reaction to this text is in line with my generally negative reactions to Kabbalah (and Qabalah) texts, many of which I have reviewed at Amazon. Although I think there are some good books on Jewish mysticism - I gave Moshe Idel’s “Kabbalah: New Perspectives” and Aryeh Kaplan’s “Jewish Meditation” four stars in my Amazon reviews - I do not find Jewish mysticism a match for the foremost Hindu and Buddhist mystical texts. I am Jewish by birth, and in my opinion, the ancient Kabbalah is in dire need of an upgrade. Hopefully, a Jewish Avatar will emerge in the near future and “grow” a new Tree of Life.
According to Aryeh Kaplan, “Sefer Yetzirah is a meditative text with strong magical overtones… It appears to be an instructional manual describing certain meditative exercises.” I have practiced and taught various forms of meditation – Vipassana, Zen, Dzogchen, TM, SRF, Raja Yoga, Ramana Maharshi’s Self-enquiry, Krishnamurti’s choiceless awareness, et al – and I’m not impressed with the meditative methods prescribed in this text. In my opinion, it is not a quality meditation manual.
Kaplan writes, “Sefer Yetzirah is one of the primary ancient astrological texts.” I’m a former professional astrologer, and I find the astrology in this text to be primitive, skeletal, and based on unsound astronomical principles. Just as this a poor meditative text, it is likewise a lousy astrological text.
“Sefer Yetzirah” identifies just seven “planets” - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – and Kaplan opines, “Influence extends only from the visible members of our solar system. The distant planets such as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not considered to have any significant astrological influence.” I totally disagree with Kaplan’s statement about Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Furthermore, I believe that each each of these planets corresponds with and, in effect, “rules” a particular sephirah - Uranus (Chokhmah), Neptune (Da’at), and Pluto (Keter). In short, the Tree of Life I embrace differs markedly from the one described by “Sefer Yetzirah” and Kaplan.
“Sefer Yetzirah” is a short text - anywhere from 240 to 2,500 words, depending on the version – but it is replete with mystical poppycock. Because this is just book review and not a book, I’ll focus on just a few samples of its nonsense. First off, I do not believe the universe was created out of the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as “Sefer Yetzirah” teaches. Moreover, I do not believe these letters were “carved out of nothingness,” as Kaplan puts it, because something cannot come from nothing.
According to “Sefirah Yetzirah,” He [meaning God] formed substance out of chaos, and made non-existence into existence.” Existence cannot emanate from non-existence, and non-existence cannot be described as “chaotic,” or as anything else. Chaos only exists from a limited human perspective. From the limitless “viewpoint” of reality, chaos is impossible.
“Sefer Yetzirah” informs us: “The three Mothers in the universe are air, water, fire. Heaven was created from fire, earth was created from water. And air from earth decides between them… ”The three Mothers are the hot, the cold, and the temperate. The hot is created by fire, the cold is created from water, and the temperate from Breath decides between them.” This is pure hooey: The world was not created by water, nor is cold created from water.
“Sefer Yetzirah” continues: “The three mothers in the Soul, male and female, are the head, belly, and chest. The head is created from fire, the belly is created from water, and the chest, from breast, decides between them.” Just more hooey. Moreover, the belly, not the head, is usually associated with fire – the digestive fire and an individual’s guts and vitality.
In summary, Aryeh Kaplan (1935-1983), a renowned physicist in addition to a revered Kabbalist, does a respectable job creatively elaborating upon the cryptic passages that constitute “Sefer Yetzirah.” But in my opinion, his creative effort fails, because “Sefer Yetzirah” is too full of mytical hokum to be salvaged, and Kaplan isn’t deep enough to truly grok the Kabbalah.
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice” by Aryeh Kaplan.]
I first read “Sefer Yetzirah” many years ago, when I first began to study Jewish mysticism. Although I was new to Jewish mysticism, I was a long-time expert in multiple other mystical traditions, so I had a basis for comparison. In short, I was not impressed with this canonical text, which I placed in storage while I traveled the world. I recently received another copy of “Sefer Yetzirah” from a student of mine, and I reread the text, this time from the perspective of someone with substantial knowledge of Kabbalah; and again, I was less than impressed with it.
Before I continue with my review, I should make it clear that my my negative reaction to this text is in line with my generally negative reactions to Kabbalah (and Qabalah) texts, many of which I have reviewed at Amazon. Although I think there are some good books on Jewish mysticism - I gave Moshe Idel’s “Kabbalah: New Perspectives” and Aryeh Kaplan’s “Jewish Meditation” four stars in my Amazon reviews - I do not find Jewish mysticism a match for the foremost Hindu and Buddhist mystical texts. I am Jewish by birth, and in my opinion, the ancient Kabbalah is in dire need of an upgrade. Hopefully, a Jewish Avatar will emerge in the near future and “grow” a new Tree of Life.
According to Aryeh Kaplan, “Sefer Yetzirah is a meditative text with strong magical overtones… It appears to be an instructional manual describing certain meditative exercises.” I have practiced and taught various forms of meditation – Vipassana, Zen, Dzogchen, TM, SRF, Raja Yoga, Ramana Maharshi’s Self-enquiry, Krishnamurti’s choiceless awareness, et al – and I’m not impressed with the meditative methods prescribed in this text. In my opinion, it is not a quality meditation manual.
Kaplan writes, “Sefer Yetzirah is one of the primary ancient astrological texts.” I’m a former professional astrologer, and I find the astrology in this text to be primitive, skeletal, and based on unsound astronomical principles. Just as this a poor meditative text, it is likewise a lousy astrological text.
“Sefer Yetzirah” identifies just seven “planets” - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – and Kaplan opines, “Influence extends only from the visible members of our solar system. The distant planets such as Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not considered to have any significant astrological influence.” I totally disagree with Kaplan’s statement about Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Furthermore, I believe that each each of these planets corresponds with and, in effect, “rules” a particular sephirah - Uranus (Chokhmah), Neptune (Da’at), and Pluto (Keter). In short, the Tree of Life I embrace differs markedly from the one described by “Sefer Yetzirah” and Kaplan.
“Sefer Yetzirah” is a short text - anywhere from 240 to 2,500 words, depending on the version – but it is replete with mystical poppycock. Because this is just book review and not a book, I’ll focus on just a few samples of its nonsense. First off, I do not believe the universe was created out of the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as “Sefer Yetzirah” teaches. Moreover, I do not believe these letters were “carved out of nothingness,” as Kaplan puts it, because something cannot come from nothing.
According to “Sefirah Yetzirah,” He [meaning God] formed substance out of chaos, and made non-existence into existence.” Existence cannot emanate from non-existence, and non-existence cannot be described as “chaotic,” or as anything else. Chaos only exists from a limited human perspective. From the limitless “viewpoint” of reality, chaos is impossible.
“Sefer Yetzirah” informs us: “The three Mothers in the universe are air, water, fire. Heaven was created from fire, earth was created from water. And air from earth decides between them… ”The three Mothers are the hot, the cold, and the temperate. The hot is created by fire, the cold is created from water, and the temperate from Breath decides between them.” This is pure hooey: The world was not created by water, nor is cold created from water.
“Sefer Yetzirah” continues: “The three mothers in the Soul, male and female, are the head, belly, and chest. The head is created from fire, the belly is created from water, and the chest, from breast, decides between them.” Just more hooey. Moreover, the belly, not the head, is usually associated with fire – the digestive fire and an individual’s guts and vitality.
In summary, Aryeh Kaplan (1935-1983), a renowned physicist in addition to a revered Kabbalist, does a respectable job creatively elaborating upon the cryptic passages that constitute “Sefer Yetzirah.” But in my opinion, his creative effort fails, because “Sefer Yetzirah” is too full of mytical hokum to be salvaged, and Kaplan isn’t deep enough to truly grok the Kabbalah.
