Urim Publications just published Tzror HaMor Torah Commentary, a classic commentary from the late 15th century by Rabbi Avraham Saba, including many interpretations derived from the Zohar.

Here is the official description from the publisher:

Rabbi Avraham Sabba was born in Castile in 1440 and spent the first 50 years of his life in parts of Spain where Jews lived in prosperity and security. He wrote many books, among them the Torah commentary Tzror HaMor. His genius is evident from the manner in which he selects hundreds of quotations from the Zohar, the most famous mystical text, in which he demonstrates that the author of the Zohar is capable of being understood by the average Jew, (as opposed to scholars) and that the Zohar is helpful in understanding many difficult passages in the Torah.

He was forced into exile to Portugal in 1492, and to North Africa in 1497 after not only being persecuted and seeing many members of his family die for kiddush hashem, but he had to rewrite this commentary completely from memory, as in Fez, Morocco he had no library at his disposal. He died on board a ship on the way to Italy and was buried in Verona in 1510

The translator, Eliyahu Munk, was born in Frankfurt on Main, where he received his education at the Samson Rafael Hirsch Realschule, and the Yeshiva of the late Rabbi Joseph Breuer, of blessed memory. He continued his education at the Yeshiva in Gateshead, England. He served in Jewish education (primarily as a teacher) for almost 30 years in Toronto, Canada.

Hardcover, 5 volume boxed set
$195.00 US
ISBN 978-965-524-013-9

The JTA announced in May the opening of the Jerusalem Kabbalah Museum. It opened in June and its director is Rabbi Chaim Dalfin. Having the director’s name helped me to identify its website, because that was the main connection that made me sure it is indeed JewishCulturalMuseum.com (, which was the main result when I searched for it online.) The museum must have changed its name, because in Google’s cache the pages talk about Jerusalem Kabbalah Museum, while on the current and live pages I found only information about “Jewish Cultural Museum”. To make it even more confusing under chasidicjew.com and you would find the same site as well. It is less surprising that kabbalahmuseum.org also leads to it. On the website there is a list of areas the museum “will” feature: Kabbalah Timeline, Jewish Cultural History, Garments, Artifacts, Holy Books, Manuscripts, Amulets, Reincarnation, Non-Jews, Gift Store, Cultural Art, Youth Education. These are mostly mentioned in future tense, albeit the museum seems to be open, because they have tours. On the websiteit was impossible to find such details as opening hours and entrance fee and the museum’s well-designed brochure is more helpful in this regard.

The (New York) Jewish Week had a book review on “The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican,” written by Rabbi Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner, a docent and guide at the Vatican. Here are some excerpts that caught my attention

The book claims that there was Jewish influence in Michelangelo’s painting, particularly from the Kabbalah or mystical aspect of Judaism. …The authors also point out that a little-noticed aspect of the Sistine Chapel is that Stars of David — then called Seals of Solomon — adorn the floor of the chapel. In addition, they noted that the Sistine Chapel is built to the exact dimensions of the original Temple in Jerusalem — including the Holy of Holies that only the high priests were allowed to enter on Yom Kippur.

And the preface partially reads,

Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language.

I learned about Rabbi Yaacov Haber’s (and Rabbi David Sedley) new book titled Sefiros from an entry of Yitzchok Adlerstein’s Cross Currents blog. The post dismisses most books in English about Kabbalah, but praises this one. Then goes on to argue with or more specifically elucidate whether sefiros are “not descriptions of G-d Himself, but are themselves part of His creation.” The 20 comments are also informative.

The book itself was published by and available from TorahLab. It is “a practical 49 day guide to spiritual refinement through counting the Omer.” Three sample pages can be downloaded from the publisher’s site, to get a sense of its content. 

Now that the year 5769 started I will attempt to restart this blog. The goal is still the same: collect information about books published on English about Kabbalah, with a particular focus on the ones written from a religious Jewish or from an Academic perspective.

Shanah Tova!