In the thirteenth century, Jelalludin Rumi wrote in the Mathnawi: "Wisdom is the table, not bread and meat. Wisdom is the light, food for the soul. No nutriment can compare to the nourishment of light. Nothing can nourish the soul but the light. Rid yourself of material needs and be set free. Taste the original victual, the dainty morsel of light."
It is fascinating to see the same attention and devotion given to the Light in this imaginatively assembled and packaged volume by Yehuda Berg, an ordained rabbi and author of the best-seller Power of Kabbalah. He teaches at the Kabbalah Centres and sees as his mission in life making the wisdom and tools of this tradition accessible to people around the world.
God spoke to the Israelites in the story of the Red Sea, which is recorded in three verses in Exodus 14. Each verse contains 72 letters providing access to Divine energy. This Light can transform the lives of those who turn to it with discipline and delight. But there are curtains blocking the rays, mainly the ego's self-centered ways and crooked characteristics. The author shows how the 72 Names of God can work wonders by igniting miracles and freeing us from enslavement to selfishness, envy, anger, and self-pity.
Using eye-catching designs, photographs, and illustrations, Berg speaks to the post-modern scene where plenty of people are yearning for something beyond the surface glamour of glitz and shallow entertainment. The Light stirs our souls and helps us dump depression, become fearless, conquer nasty habits, break out of self-constructed prisons, and dispel anger. To give one example, here is a meditation on one of the Names of God: "Every word we speak, every action we perform, is a boomerang flung into the cosmos. All these billions of boomerangs inevitably return to our lives — the positive ones and all of the negative ones. This Name helps us duck when negative boomerangs come hurtling toward us."
Life grows brighter and the world is a little less dark when the Light shines brightly in our words and deeds. The best thing about The 72 Names of God is the emphasis upon turning our selfish words and deeds around and making them into glints of grace in a weary world.
