Endless Light: The Ancient Path of the Kabbalah to Love, Spiritual Growth, and Personal Power

Rating:
Summary: A fine introductory work
Review: This is a good introductory work to certain concepts of Judaism. It is written in a clear , understandable and appealing way. It's aim of bringing those who have been distant closer to the Jewish light is admirable. I am a bit troubled by the misleading hype on the cover of the book, and the approach it suggests. This book does not have the ' answers' and life is not a short- answer test , either 'fill- in' or ' multiple choice'. Still there is much good stuff in this book and it is certainly worth a serious consideration.
Here is one of the nice passages of the book from Rabbi David Aaron's conclusion:
" why did Hashem give the Endless Light in the first place? Surely Hashem knew that the vessels were incapable of receiving the light. Surely Hashem knew they would buy into the snake's pitch and get themselves thrown out of the Garden of Eden. So why put them in the garden in the first place?
Yes,Hashem knew Adam and Eve wouldn't make it in the garden. Yes, Hashem knew that the vessels couldn't receive the light.The vessels -although only for a split second - got a taste of the ultimate. And Adam and Eve-if only for a day got a taste of Paradise.
We are born with a taste of the ultimate, a memory of Paradise.We will never forget how good it once was. We will forever yearn for how good it could be. We come into this world yearning for the Endless Light of Hashem, wishing we could get back to the Garden ofEden. Living begins with yearning.
Had we never tasted the ultimate, we could never yearnfor it. It's precisely this yearning that drivesus on our quest. We are born hungry for the light. We don't know exactly what it is, but we know that it is. We search."

I am happy with the idea presented here, that we are searchers for the light rather than with the idea suggested on the cover i.e. the idea that this work is going to provide us with ' the light' and an insurance policy that it is ours forever.

One more word. I think when we think of light in relation to the Jewish tradition we should always keep in mind , a somewhat different light, the light which was a central theme in the life of Rabbi Abraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, Z"ts"l and that is 'the light of repentance'.


Rating:
Summary: How to love others.
Review: This is an interesting book regarding the means by which a person comes to love others. The idea of making space for others within one's life is novel and yet, when you think about it, very true. To say that you are "one" with another person is somewhat faulty, as the author points out, because neither individual is swallowed so that they lose their identity. When that happens, then there is trouble within the relationship. It was quite interesting.