Meditation and Kabbalah
Jerusalem · 1982
A
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Kaplan
1934 CE–1983 CE · Modern · The Bronx
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (1934–1983) was the most influential English-language popularizer of authentic Jewish mysticism in the modern era. Born in the Bronx and educated at Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn and Jerusalem, he held a master's degree in nuclear physics — an unusual combination that shaped his lucid, rigorous prose style. He served briefly as a congregational rabbi in Mason City and Dover before devoting himself full-time to writing.
In barely a decade he produced over fifty books, including the *Bahir* and *Sefer Yetzirah* translations with commentary, *Jewish Meditation*, *Meditation and the Bible*, *Meditation and Kabbalah*, *The Living Torah* (English Torah translation), and a four-volume biography-anthology of R. Nachman of Bratslav. Through his work, Kabbalah and Hasidic meditation entered English-speaking Jewish life as serious scholarship rather than occult curiosity. He died at 48.
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the orchard map →
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Stop 1 of 41934–1953Born
The BronxברונקסNew York City, USA
What they did here
Born in the Bronx in 1934; studied at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas.
In the same place & time
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Sages whose lives overlapped with Aryeh Kaplan’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Yisrael Zev Mintzberg, Tzvi Pesach Frank, Martin Buber, Aharon Rokeach, Dov Berish Weidenfeld, Zalman Sorotzkin, Aryeh Levin, Ezra Attia, Brisker Rav, Yechezkel Abramsky, Yoel Teitelbaum, Shlomo Yosef Zevin, Yitzchak HaLevi Herzog, Yehezkel Kaufmann, Yechezkel Sarna, Tzvi Yehuda Kook, Menachem Mendel Kasher, Yisrael Alter
The world in their lifetime
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Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Aryeh Kaplan’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Buddhist world
Hindu world
Christian world
Works(5)
The Living Torah
Brooklyn (NY) · 1981
Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guideמדיטציה יהודית
Brooklyn (NY) · 1985
Accessible introduction to authentic Jewish meditative traditions — silent meditation, contemplation of Hebrew letters, hitbonenut, hitbodedut.
Full text not yet available in our corpus.
The Bahir: An Ancient Kabbalistic Textספר הבהיר עם פירוש
Brooklyn (NY) · 1979
Translation and extensive commentary on the foundational early-medieval Kabbalistic work.
Full text not yet available in our corpus.
The Living Torahהתורה החיה
Brooklyn (NY) · 1981
English translation of the Torah with extensive notes drawn from classical and Chasidic sources.
Full text not yet available in our corpus.