From a Kabbalist’s Diary: Collected Essays

 Bezalel Naor’s latest book is certainly his most personal and riveting statement thus far. A collection of essays that spans fifteen years, From A Kabbalist’s Diary addresses a host of subjects of interest to spiritual seekers, ranging from the return of prophecy, mystical versus petitional prayer, and Rav Kook’s panentheism, to contemporary issues such as feminist spirituality and Rav Kook’s understanding of the Torah’s view on homosexuality. In the course of the author’s meditations, we meet biblical personalities, medieval and modern philosophers, Lithuanian Talmudists, Chasidic masters; even Osama bin Laden and the Dalai Lama make cameo appearances. In all cases, these writings are informed by Naor’s mystical outlook (hence the book’s title) and the intellectual acumen for which he is known.

 This mystical outlook is perhaps the most interesting thing about this extremely interesting book. Although equally conversant with the farther reaches of rabbinic literature and the latest news in the academic world, the author of From a Kabbalist’s Diary doesn’t quite belong in either realm. He is too hip for the land of black hats and white shirts (although some claim to have spotted him disguised in both) – and he is too real for academia. In this world of post-whateverism, we must invent a new category for those rare scholars who manage to combine erudition with personal truth and expression like Bezalel Naor. He is a “post-academic,” who somehow has found a way to be a practicing Jewish mystic and at the same time to talk about it cogently.

One thinks of the words of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai to his disciple Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh, after the latter demonstrated his knowledge of the Ma’aseh Merkavah (prophetic mysteries): “Some can preach, but cannot do. Others can do, but cannot preach. But you can preach, and you practice what you preach!”

 David Sears