Nine and a Half Mystics
# Nine and a Half Mystics

Part of a series on :

Kabbalah :

Concepts

Ein Sof

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Ohr

Ayin and Yesh

Sefirot

Four Worlds

Seder hishtalshelut

Tree of Life

The path of the flaming sword

Merkavah

Jewish angelic hierarchy

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Messianic rectification

Gilgul

Kabbalistic astrology

Gematria

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Temurah

Names of God in Judaism

Shemhamphorasch

Tzadik

Tzadikim Nistarim

Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah

Panentheism :

History

Pre-Kabbalistic Jewish mysticism

Tannaim

Heichalot

Sefer Yetzirah

Chassidei Ashkenaz

Medieval

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Prophetic Kabbalah

Zohar

Kabbalistic commentaries on the Bible

Mainstream displacement of rationalism with Kabbalah

Renaissance

Selective influence on Western thought

Hermetic Qabalah

Mysticism after Spanish expulsion

Mystics of 16th-century Safed

Cordoveran Kabbalah

Lurianic Kabbalah

Maharal's thought

Popular Kabbalistic Mussar

Early modern

Baal Shem-Nistarim

Sabbatean mystical heresies

Emden–Eybeschutz controversy

Immigration to the Land of Israel

Traditional Oriental Kabbalists

Beit El Synagogue

Eastern European Judaism

Hasidic Judaism / philosophy

Lithuanian Jews

Hasidic-Mitnagdic schism

Modern

Hasidic dynasties

Mysticism in religious Zionism

Academic interest in Jewish mysticism

Non-Orthodox interest in Jewish mysticism

English

James Lees' :

Practices

Torah study

Mystical exegesis

Mitzvot

Minhag

Customary immersion in mikveh

Meditation

Kavanot

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Deveikut

Prayer

Nusach

Tikkun Chatzot

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Pilgrimage to Tzadik

Pilgrimage to holy grave

Lag BaOmer at Meron

Asceticism

Practical Kabbalah :

People

100s

Four Who Entered the Pardes

Simeon bar Yochai

1100s

Isaac the Blind

Azriel

1200s

Nahmanides

Abraham Abulafia

Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla

Moses de Leon

Menahem Recanati

1300s

Bahya ben Asher

1400s

1500s

Meir ibn Gabbai

Joseph Karo

Shlomo Alkabetz

Moshe Alshich

Moshe Cordovero

Isaac Luria

Chaim Vital

Judah Loew ben Bezalel

1600s

Isaiah Horowitz

Abraham Azulai

1700s

Chaim ibn Attar

Baal Shem Tov

Dov Ber of Mezeritch

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto

Shalom Sharabi

Vilna Gaon

Chaim Joseph David Azulai

Nathan Adler

Schneur Zalman of Liadi

Chaim Volozhin

1800s

Nachman of Breslov

Ben Ish Chai

Shlomo Eliyashiv

1900s

Abraham Isaac Kook

Yehuda Ashlag

Baba Sali

Menachem Mendel Schneerson :

Role

History

Torah

Tanakh

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Ruach HaKodesh

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Midrash

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Classic Mussar literature

Ashkenazi Judaism

Sephardi Judaism

Modern Jewish philosophies

Jewish studies

Topics

God in Judaism

Divine transcendence

Divine immanence

Free will

Divine providence

Kabbalistic reasons for the 613 Mitzvot

Jewish principles of faith

Jewish eschatology

Primary texts :

vte :

Nine and a Half Mystics: The Kabbala Today is a 1969 book on Jewish mysticism by Rabbi Herbert Weiner. The book includes interviews with a number of Jewish mystics and scholars, as well as the author's encounters with various Jewish groups practicing who incorporate mysticism in their religious practice.

## Nine and a Half Mystics

Nine and a Half Mystics explores themes on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism as well as those Jewish groups where the mystical tradition is active.

Weiner, a Reform rabbi, based the book on his travels to various Jewish communities in his search for Jewish mysticism. For many American Jews, Weiner's work was their first exposure to the Jewish mystical tradition.

## Interviews

Nine and a Half Mystics includes a number of interviews with Jewish mystics and scholars including:

* Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
* Dr. Gershom Sholem
* Dr. Martin Buber
* Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook
* Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
* Rabbi Dovid Cohen, "The Nazir"

## Encounters

In addition to interviews, Rabbi Weiner also travelled to various Jewish communities where Jewish mysticism is incorporated in religious practice. Weiner visited the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn, the Breslov community in New York and Israel, among others.

