A guide to how meditations and principles from the Kabbalah can be used to profoundly renew spiritual practice. - Reveals transformational meditations and visualization exercises based on the profoundest truths concealed in the Kabbalah.
The covenant that bound God to the Patriarchs in a special relationship of obligation and empowerment was renewed by God with Israel at Sinai and Moab. Each of these three Jewish covenants can be associated with a particular spiritual practice: the Patriarchal Covenant with Father Isaac's practice of meditation; The Sinai Covenant of Holiness with the observance of the Sabbath required in its Ten Commandments, and the Moab Covenant of Love, comprising the entire Mosaic Torah, with the practice of prayer instituted there. In Renewing the Covenant, Leonora Leet shows how this ladder of increasingly demanding and potent covenantal practices can enable one to ascend to ever higher levels of mystical Judaism.
At this threshold of a new millennium, increasing numbers of people are seeking a more direct connection with the Divine. To aid such a process, Renewing the Covenant provides new paths for entering the treasurehouse of Jewish spirituality and achieving higher consciousness, paths that can deepen the devotions of both nonobservant and traditionally observant Jews. This process of covenant renewal begins with effective kabbalistic techniques of meditation combining mantra with visualization, proceeds through the return to a reconstructed Sinai Sabbath, and arrives at the culminating practice of ritual prayer whose performance can fulfill the kabbalistic purpose of creation. When undertaken in the steps laid out by Dr. Leet, this process can help many to discover forms of spiritual practice precisely tailored for the modern world, as well as a new appreciation for the rich spiritual heritage of Judaism.
The first in a four-book project, Renewing the Covenant delivers on its promise of a new approach to Jewish ritual practice in tune with the spiritual attitudes of the 21st century. Leet synthesizes historical, textual, and linguistic analysis with kabbalistic meditation and Judaic tradition in this scholarly address of Jewish spiritual advancement. Focusing on the covenant between God and Israel as set forth in the Bible, Leet distills the essence of the most basic Jewish customs--Sabbath observance and ritual prayer--and recovers early Jewish meditative practices, which she then melds with kabbalistic meditative techniques. One might think that Renewing the Covenant decrees revolutionary change, but in reality it offers an accessible return path to the very foundations of sacred Jewish traditions and a revitalization of Jewish spirituality. --Brian Patterson
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Masterful mysticism:
In this, the first of three powerful books on Kabbalah, Leet takes the reader on a deep journey into the mysticism of Judaism. As one who is not Jewish, but deeply interested in the mystic foundations of all paths, I found this book to be a very solid foundation for both Kabbalah and even for Christianity. However, if you are firmly planted in the notion that things should not change, this isn't the book for you. Leet shares her iconoclastic vision of how Judaism can stay relevant into the next century and... more info
profundity:
I have found Ms. Leet's ability to gather the teaching only formerly reserved for men in the strictest sense of the traditions of Judaism past most profound. Her never ending ability to lead one along some of the most amazing threads of thought is unprecedented and more concise than any previous (save for her mentor: R. Aryeh Kaplan). I am not a Jew and I am not a convert to Judaism or for that matter one who considers myself to be connected to any modern day religious order or sect, however I have a love... more info
For Expert Eyes Only !:
This is a book for Jews. I found a great deal of it incomprehensible, as the author assumes a knowledge in the reader that I doubt many non-Jews would have. Having said that, even though I did not understand much of the book, and gave up two thirds of the way through, I could see that this is a work of deep scholarship. Leonora Leet wrote this book, and the other three in the series, as a labour of love. The culmination of a lifetime's work. The quality of the writing is incredible and serious students of... more info
