"A tale is told of Rabbi Nahman Kossover, a contemporary of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Reb Nahman was one of the many kabbalists who believed that the proper way to remain attached to God was ever to contemplate the four-letter name Y-H-W-H and to actually see the letters of the divine name always before him. He was a preacher, and it was said that when Reb Nahman looked out at the faces of those to whom he spoke, he was able to see the letters of the divine name reflected back to him. But then times changed and the preacher was forced to become a merchant. In the marketplace, amid the rapid pace of buying and selling, he found it harder always to concentrate on the name of God. So we are told that he hired a special assistant who came with him wherever he went. Whenever he looked at the face of his assistant, Reb Nahman would remember the name of God."

This Hasidic tale provides the perfect hub for our review of this spiritually literate presentation of a Jewish mystical theology. Arthur Green is Philip W. Lown Professor of Jewish Thought at Brandeis University and dean of the Rabbinical School at Boston's Hebrew College. His previous books include Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tommorow, These Are the Words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Life, and Your Word Is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer

This examination of Judaism is divided into four parts: God and the Ways of Being, Creation, Revelation, and Redemption. At the outset, Green establishes that "spiritual growth is a matter of uncovering new depths rather than attaining new heights." That is why he comes back again and again to the importance of the heart's fullness and longing.

A main challenge of life is to hallow the divine in every person. Green is convinced that the person who was Reb Nahman Kossover's assistant was an ordinary person. "To take seriously our faith that each person is God's image is to treat all people with a spiritual dignity and caring that can transform our lives." Every person reveals something of God and therefore should be of interest to us.

The author reminds us that the rabbis say that whoever takes a life diminishes the divine image in the world. To treat animals or the good earth in shabby and selfish ways is to act unkindly toward the Creator. Green frames the covenant as "the readiness to serve as a channel for divine presence in the world." What a wonderful reframing of this pivotal foundation in Judaism! The author ends with some remarkable chapters on the redemptive task, the messianic dream, and seeking out our sparks of light.

Arthur Green is one of the master teachers in contemporary Judaism and this substantive meditation on mystical theology is very illuminating.