A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar

In the Zohar, the jewel in the crown of Jewish mystical literature, the verse A river flows from Eden to water the garden (Genesis 2:10) symbolizes the river of divine plenty that unceasingly flows from the depths of divinity into the garden of reality. Hellner-Eshed's book investigates the flow of this river in the world of the Zoharic heroes, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and his disciples, as they embark upon their wondrous spiritual adventures. By focusing on the Zohar's language of mystical experience and its unique features, the author is able to provide remarkable scholarly insight into the mystical dimensions of the Zohar, namely the human quest for an enhanced experience of the living presence of the divine and the Zohar's great call to awaken human consciousness.

Author: Melila Hellner-Eshed
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 06/29/2009
Pages: 488
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.10w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780804759397

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 07/24/2009 pg. 17
Choice 01/01/2010

About the Author
Melila Hellner-Eshed is a Lecturer in the Department of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartmann Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.