I finally finished the book I was telling you about -- "The Seventh Telling:  The Kabbalah of Moshe Katan" by Mitchell Chefitz.  This is one of the most unusual, yet engrossing books I have ever read.  Let me start by saying I have NOT been in the mood for any type of inspirational reading.  Well, [Diane], as they say, when the person is ready, the learning comes to them ... or whatever "they" say along those lines.  I'm still not sure I was "ready", but what a book.  That said, as I was about to leave the library the book SO jumped out at me that I had to grab it and take it home.  Now I want to purchase a copy.

 

This is a work of fiction but based on the Kabbalah (which I have never studied).  In fact, my lack of religious knowledge is pretty much complete.  I'm hoping that in typing this I'll figure out a way to describe the book. :)  Basically, it is the story of two people who are telling the stories they learned from another couple.  The first couple are a lapsed Jewish woman and an Asian (non-Jewish) man who was very interested in theology.  The couple whose stories they told were those of a semi-lapsed Rabbi and his wife.  Every once and a while, between the stories, you get a glimpse of the couple who are doing the telling. 

 

There is no way I can tell you the story (although that is exactly what the writer would want me to do).  He claims that the learning is in the telling.  To take it all in is a slow read -- took me about a month -- because you just cannot disgest the meanings etc. behind the stories unless you go slowly.  The reading is not tedious -- it's really quite easy -- and any Hebrew terms that you may not be familiar with (I didn't know most of them) are indexed at the back of the book.  In all, it is a book of enlightenment.  Yes, it is told from a Jewish point of view I suppose, but it's a book for anyone.  If you're "trained" in Judiasm, I suppose it might be more enlightening and more readable, but I don't know because I was not trained.  Since I am obviously having a great deal of trouble trying to explain this, I'll just copy the cover notes:

 

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"You are dead to me," Stephanie's father told her when she married Sidney.  For thirty years there had been no contact, until her mother died, and then only a terse note.

 

So begins a journey into the Kabbalah, a spiritual discipline hidden within the folds of Jewish history.  Stephanie and Sidney have been sutdying with Moshe Katan, a kabbalist who shared his learning only when he perceived that a kabbalistic intervention might be necessary to save the life of Rivkah, his wife.  For that reason alone he taught the course that opened Sidney's and Stephanie's eyes, a byproduct of what was intended primarily for Rivkah.

 

What has happened to Moshe and Rivkah we do not know, only that their house is now being used for an extraordinary storytelling, a spiritual discipline to share with those willing to risk examining the very core of their beliefs.

 

The Seventh Telling is a roller coaster ride through all four worlds of the Kabbalah, a story of transformation, of Moshe, Rivkah, Sidney, and Stephanie, and, quite possibly of the reader as well.

 

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Except for about 4 pages toward the end, this is not a tear jerker -- however, if one of the stories happens to "hit home" you will certainly begin to think about your own life.  It's a truly amazing piece of work.  Let me know if you read it cause I'm curious to know what others think.