For someone who is interested in religion and who is taking his/her Kabbalah studies one step beyond the book is delightful. It includes around five different versions of the Sefer Yetzirah and it comments you the reading fragment by fragment, therefore providing you a full understanding of the whole text and also a detailed, useful, and interesting explanation of Kabbalah as a whole, even providing you with spiritual exercises or a way to practice what the text says

Most impressive representation. While the subject is deep and extremely thought provoking, the writer has made every attempt to explain the subject in explicit detail.

I especially appreciated the use of root words in Hebrew to further clarify definitions. As well as the explanation of pronunciation of Hebrew terms, as in where to place the tongue to make the correct sound.

I would like for there to have been more direct instructions for meditation.

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I am not Jewish, nor am I an expert on Kabbalistic text, but I know a precious gem when I find one. As others have said here, this is NOT for the beginning student of Kabbalah. I really enjoyed how Aryeh Kaplan included the Hebrew text, along with a translation, then followed by extensive interpretations of each line. It is an intense read--really enjoyed the section on the 231 gates (ironically, I nearly flunked geometry in high school).

If you are truly ready for more intense study of Kabbalah, then this translation of the Sefer Yetzirah may be exactly what you are looking for.

Rabbi Kaplan does a wonderful job (as he does in all of his works) of explaining the primary text says and of opening the way for further study (through his copious footnotes).

The diagrams are extremely helpful, as are the recommendations concerning the "practical" use of Sefer Yetzirah.

However, even for those grounded in Jewish studies (as a spiritual path, not as an academic field), this work is NOT recommended as a "first step" in the esoteric. Try Rabbi Kaplan's "Innerspace."

One copy is at my bedside. One copy is in my study scrawled with notes, quotes and notations! I found the second copy at a bookstore bargain table! I didn't even blink, it was bought by me. I knew a second copy would give me one to share. This book is what Kabbalah is. An amazing book. Simply, amazing.

One copy is at my bedside. One copy is in my study scrawled with notes, quotes and notations! I found the second copy at a bookstore bargain table! I didn't even blink, it was bought by me. I knew a second copy would give me one to share. This book is what Kabbalah is. An amazing book. Simply, amazing.

Sefer Yetzirah is easier to understand than the hardcore works of Frater Achad but assumes that readers are well versed in the Book of Formations or that the contents will not shock them. I found the book to be written in an easy practical way but the subject matter just boggles the mind, so it's still a heavy read. In short, it's not something you would read relaxing on a beach but is interesting enough to get you through an 18-hour flight. The book may transform you if you have enough basic background on the subject matter. It is the stuff of serious magic and is a valuable resource for those who are interested in deeper states of meditation. But if you want light reading and inspiration, this is not the Kabbalah book for it.

My Maggid recommended that I read this book also. He seemed quite excited about it and so I read it early on with much enthusiasm. Let me put it this way, it was like being let loose in a recombinant DNA lab for thirty minutes with no one else around and you only have an average undergraduate level of familiarity with biology. You might come away with knowledge of where some things are stored and how they are labeled, but this is a far cry from the practicalities of running an experiment. But I do think and agree with other reviewers that this book will need to be consistently reread over the years.

Definitely a good book to go through the first time, so you get a chance to go back to it later. I have only read it once several years ago and maybe I will review it again one day when I reread it.

Cosmology is enlightening, this is one of the books you definitely need to get started in the Kabalistic view on the Creation. It is sometimes a bit technical, it gives you the information but you'll need other books by the same author and author Shlomo Weiss to further understand and appreciate what is being presented, if you really want to read Shlomo Weiss it would be helpful to read A Brief History of Time by S. Hawking (no mathematics in any of these books don't worry). The whole Kabalistic Theory is just out of this world literally, if you start down this path your life will change.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan is one amongst a tiny group of Orthodox Jews who actually writes about Cabala in English and through publishers any one can reach. And most importantly, who is serious and learned about the topic. He has a freshness about it because, in this particular book, he shows us a bit of the mathematical aspects of Jewish Mysticism (Rabbi Kaplan is listed in the who is who of American Physicist), without falling into the holistic attempts that all the so called "masters" do, by putting every little thing they know about the esoteric of any culture and throwing it into a blender; or the recent desire to justify cabala through science, making justice to none. I'm telling you what he doesn't do because 99.9% of what is termed cabala out there isn't (yeah besides the diagram of the Tree of Life and its Sephirot, oh yeah and the Star of David). If you are interested in the unadulterated Jewish Mysticism this is one of the authors you should stick to. Another one is Shlomo Weiss Thiele. And this book makes an excellent introduction to more difficult ones.

This book is extremly profound and Kaplan does a wonderful job as usual. He has selected the most authoritative version of the Sefer Yetzirah. This is an invaluable book and I very much enjoyed this book and will read it over and over.