In the Shadow of the Ladder ─ Introductions to Kabbalah

This authentic translation into English of two Kabbalah texts written in Hebrew asks deeply personal questions about the essence of an individual and the existence of a soul. Discussing the experience of an individual and the role of humans in creation, it offers an understanding of the places of evil, suffering, compassion, and joy in the full experience of divine love. The Kabbalah is presented here not as an esoteric study limited to the divinely inspired, but as a universal pathway of the spirit. Coming from the West rather than the East, this book fills a long-awaited gap as it teaches an essential spirituality within the conceptual framework of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag (1886–1955) was the author of Perush HaSulam, the first major commentary ever written on the Zohar, the key work of the Kabbalah, which dates from the first century. Mark Cohen, PhD, and Yedidah Cohen, MB, BS, have studied these texts in the original Hebrew with a student of Rabbi Baruch Ashlag, the son of Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag. They teach this work in Hebrew and English in seminars and to groups in Israel and around the world.