Kabbalah for Dummies

By: Arthur Kurzweil

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Kabbalah For Dummies presents a balanced perspective of Kabbalah as an "umbrella" for a complex assemblage of mystical Jewish teachings and codification techniques. Kabbalah for Dummies also shows how Kabbalah simultaneously presents an approach to the study of text, the performance of ritual, and the experience of worship, as well as how the listener can apply its teaching to everyday life.

©2007 Wiley Publishing, Inc. (P)2019 Tantor

Genuinely very good

I have a fair bit of knowledge of the more occult tradition of Kabbalah as well as some more traditional Jewish knowledge (lots of books, lots of teachers) but this book is still useful and covers traditional Kabbalism with a lot of charm and insight. A beautiful look into the rich world of Kabbalistic theology.

Informative and clear

The first 4-6 hours were terrific enough to give the entire audiobook 5 stars

Excellent introductory overview of Kabbalah

An abundance of material to study, learn and understand on the subject of Kabbalah, this book provides a good overview in an easy to use format.

Hard to follow

This book is boring and hard to follow. It’s very hard to stay interested in. I’ve been able to follow other books on Kabbalah so it’s not the subject matter. I will say it tries to remain respectful of the religion but I feel like it goes on and on and walks on eggshells too much. Like we get it, move on. Maybe this book is better as a reference book. I should’ve known a 15hr book would beat something to death without making things clear and concise. Now I can’t return it because one too many returns. I don’t mean to keep buying books with terribly laid out subject matter. I will say, I do really enjoy the narrator’s voice.

Insightful.

In depth exploration of the ages old traditions of Judaism. Obtained much beautiful knowledge of the Power of Hashem, Blessed is He.

More Judaism than Kabbalah

I'm still learning about Kabbalah but I didn't find this book very satisfying.

It is all about Judaism and constantly insists most Jews do Kabbalah and the two are very interconnected.

Consequently while there are references to the Zohar and the Sefirot the vast majority of the text covers what I would regard as traditional Jewish practises - how to observe the Sabbath and other festivals, the contents of the Torah, the Tanakh, the Mishna the Talmud and so on.

It does give what are probably useful lists of other Kabbalah books to read, but for the contents of this book most of the time I felt I was learning about Judaism and not Kabbalah - and given it is 15 hours it is a long time to spend not learning about something you thought the book would teach you.