Re-Imagine Library

Introduction

This website, and particularly the Re-Imagine Library, is the work of a society of spiritual friends and visionary lay leaders together with Marc Gafni. The goal is the fostering and unfolding of a deep spiritual intellectual vision. A vision in which the best thought of East and West, Eros, Big Heart, Big Mind, Unique Self, artistic vision and committed social activism all find expression as part of the human incarnation of the Great One.

Our present intention is for the library to have two distinct components:
Evolutionary Spirituality and Evolutionary Kabbalah.

One component will consist of books that seek to evolve the conversation in regard to compelling spiritual and cultural issues of universal relevance and import. All of these books will reflect concerns about what we might broadly term Evolutionary Spirituality.

The second component will consist of books connected to what we have termed Evolutionary Kabbalah, which seek to help evolve Hebrew wisdom to its next stage of consciousness.

The following proposal was submitted to the group of lay leaders as an outline of the library we hope to produce over the course of the next few years.

The lead writer and teacher for the library is Marc Gafni, who has been designated the teacher-in-residence for this society. Marc Gafni will be working in close collaboration with teachers from many traditions in both teaching and writing this library. Many of the books in this library will be written in deep partnership with other thinkers, artists, social activists and visionary leaders.

We pray that this library serves to open the hearts of all people.

There are other exciting projects in progress, which we are not yet ready to announce, but which we will share at the appropriate time.

It is to the unfolding of this library that Marc Gafni has chosen to dedicate a significant part of his time and life energy for the foreseeable future.

The rest of Marc Gafni’s time and life energy will, God willing, be committed to developing a significant social action movement, with advocacy and education components, committed to fighting human rights abuses the world over through significant impact on United States policy at the highest levels of government. Marc Gafni is one of the co-founders of this initiative, which is described in brief on this website in the Tikkun Olam/Social Action section.

Proposal

There is great need for creative Jewish thinking which will help chart the next steps in Jewish thought and practice in a way that is compelling, original, and accessible. There is very little of this kind of writing and teaching in the contemporary Jewish community. Most of the writing now available is one of two kinds.

The first kind is geared towards the Orthodox community, offering learned analysis and guidance in observing the law with little in the way of a spiritual response or framework with which to grapple with the unique and ultimate issues of our generation. Most of the writers in this genre are deeply disconnected with the pulse and tenor of the times and view the western world as just another exile to be survived before the coming of Messiah. This literature is important and makes a valuable contribution, but at the same time many people are thirsting for something more.

The second type of literature is full of creativity and modern parlance, but it is not rooted in any significant way in the unique texts, practices, and frameworks of Hebrew wisdom. Most of the writers are actually unable to competently read a Jewish text in its original form which is often readily apparent in their books. This kind of material is what someone once termed “Buddhism with a Tallit.” This literature is important and makes a valuable contribution, but again, many people are thirsting for something more.

Our library will seek to transcend and include the unique strengths of each of these writing genres while avoiding their very significant weaknesses.

The Library that we are suggesting might be called by any one of the following names:

• Next Steps Library {or Series}
• New Jewish Thought Library {or Series}
• Library of Evolutionary Kabbalah {or Series}
• Jewish Spirituality Library {or Series}
• Jewish Enlightenment Teachings Library {or Series}
• or the Library might be framed as a “Reclaiming Judaism” Library {or Series}
• Re-Vision Library or Re-Visioning Series
• Re-Imagine Library
• Library of Integral Judaism and Integral Kabbalah

Content

Part One: First Set of Books

The first set of books in the Evolutionary Kabbalah component will revolve around ‘Reclaiming the Jewish Life Cycle.’ The cycle of the Jewish year forms the core of Hebrew spiritual practice.

The first book is tentatively titled Reclaiming Rosh Hashanah; The Dance of Tears. This book revolves around a stunning, original re-reading of Rosh Hashanah which reveals that tears, primary symbols of emotional intelligence, are the key themes in all of the ritual, prayer, and biblical readings of the holy day.

The path of tears is the hidden Kabbalistic path of Rosh Hashanah. Each biblical reading, for example, revolves around a particular figure or archetype that cries in a very particular way. All in all, there are twelve major figures, men and women, whose archetypal, mythical tears stories invite us to twelve different realizations of wisdom. This book will change forever the Rosh Hashanah experience for every Jew and non-Jew who has ever attended Rosh Hashanah services.

The second book under preparation will be called Reclaiming Yom Kippur; Shadow Dancing in the Light. This book revolves around a stunning, original re-reading of Yom Kippur that reveals that identifying our unique shadow and transforming it into our unique strength is the great invitation of Yom Kippur. The book shows that the core ritual, prayer, and biblical readings of the day, all hide an esoteric teaching about integrating the shadow as the key to at—one—ment, personal transformation and healing. In this book, we will challenge the classic understanding of shadow suggested by Jung and offer a unique Kabbalistic understanding of shadow work.

The Zohar re-reads a well-known biblical text, “Greater is the light than the darkness,” as “Greater is the light that comes from the darkness.” The essence of Yom Kippur is the realization that every person has a particular arena in their lives where they consistently fail to be the unique people they want to be, the unique people they ought to be―the unique people they already are. A unique pathology of sorts.

Paradoxically, the Kabbalists taught that it is only by entering the soul print of our darkness that we are able to tap into the light that is ours and ours alone to shine in the world. Greater is the light that comes from the darkness. Welling out of the texts and rituals of Yom Kippur, this book will change forever the experience of Yom Kippur for every person, Jew and non-Jew, who attends Yom Kippur services.

For each major holiday, we will write a re-claiming book. Every year a new book will be ready for release. These will include:

• Reclaiming Purim; The Dance of Laughter
• Reclaiming Passover and Shavuot; The Dance of Your Story
• Reclaiming Tisha B’Av; The Dance of Eros
• Reclaiming Hanukah; The Dance of Intimacy or The Dance of Miracles

Part Two: Second Set of Books

The Second Set of Books has two distinct parts:

• The first part will be a five-volume set. Our intention is for it to be released volume by volume over a period of years. Each volume will be a spiritual commentary on a different book of the bible using the unique form of the well-known ‘Nechama Leibowitz’ series. This series―which has become the standard set for bible study throughout the Jewish world―is based on two principles. First, there are seven short three-page essays on each Parsha. Generally, the essays revolve around the natural division of the Parsha into seven parts during the public Torah Reading on the Sabbath. Second, the essays revolve around three or four primary sources, which are actually cited in full in the essay. The essay then seeks to elucidate the contemporary relevance of the quotes and to connect the dots between them.
• What is striking is that in the Nechama Leibowitz series all of the sources cited are of an educational/moral/nationalistic bent. There are virtually no sources or discussions based on spiritual, Kabbalistic or Hassidic sources. What will be unique about our work will be its usage of precisely these spiritually-based sources coupled with parallel sources from other traditions, as well as sensitivity to contemporary issues such as globalization, global warming and the like.
• The second part of this set will be a stand-alone, one-volume Bible. It will be modeled around the Hertz Bible or the more recent Etz Hayim Bible of the conservative movement. These bibles, used as standard editions in synagogues throughout the United States and the English-speaking world, ignore the spiritual and Kabbalistic traditions. Our one-volume bible will be a version of the above with short snippets on each page based on precisely the kind of sources and sensitivities that we will bring to the five-volume set. These citations will include Zohar, Hassidic masters, and masters from the Mussar movement.

Part Three: Third Set of Books

The third set of books revolves around the theme ‘Next Steps in Jewish Thought.’ It will bring significant works of ‘New Jewish Philosophy and Thought’ to the broad public, based on close readings of tradition with special emphasis on the Kabbalistic masters.

The third set includes the following titles:

• Reclaiming Mystical Humanism: The Hassidic Teachings of Mordechai Lainer of Izbica, and
  Part Two: The Secret Teaching of the Wisdom of Solomon, The Hassidic Teaching of Mordechai Lainer of Izbica.This is a ‘Great Work,’ which is a careful reading of the thought and teaching of the person who may well be the single most important Jewish teacher of modern and postmodern Jewish theology of the last five hundred years.

  This two-volume set (each volume stands alone and will be released separately) will give the library a level of credibility and gravitas that few other works will be able to provide.

• The Unique Self: The Teaching of Evolutionary Kabbalah
• When Moses met Buddha: Enlightenment Teachings of Buddhism and Kabbalah. This book charts the path of the Kabbalistic Unique Self in relation to the Buddhist No Self. It will be an important landmark book in the East meets West conversation.
• Mei HaShiloach: The Religious Teachings of Mordechai Lainer of Izbica. Translation and Commentary.
• The Dance of Uncertainty: Reclaiming Uncertainty as a Spiritual Value
• The Dance of Certainty: Not It is true―But I am true.
• The Erotic and the Holy: Two Volumes
• The Spiritual Practices and Beliefs of Postmodern Kabbalah
• The Spiritual Practice of Reading Psalms; Channeling King David; A Jewish Version and Critique of The Course in Miracles
• Luria, Leah and Lillith: Reclaiming Sacred Feminism (with Ohad Ezrahi). This volume was already published; regarding the nature of this partnership and its cessation, see under tab Lillith.
• Evolutionary Enlightenment: The Great Secret of the Kabbalah
• The Spiritual Practice of Talmudic Koan Study. In this volume, we will offer close and transformative readings of Talmudic, Hassidic, and spiritual texts from other traditions. At the same time we will offer clear instructions, based on the biblical, Talmudic, and Kabbalistic traditions, for the transformation of text study into a sacred practice.
• The Kabbalah of Writing. There are several key writing commandments in Hebrew ritual. The writing of a Sefer Torah, The Writing of a Mezuzah, The Writing of a Marriage Contract and a Bill of Divorce, and much more. Each one represents a particular form of journaling and sacred writing. This book will explain the basic forms of sacred writing implicit in the Kabbalistic tradition and offer a guidebook for sacred writing and journaling as a core spiritual practice.
• The Portion of the Week. A funny, satirical and spiritual commentary on the weekly Torah Portion (with Gil Kopatch). Gil is the “Lenny Bruce” of Israel.
• The Spirituality of Globalization or The Ethics of Globalization
• Reclaiming America; Towards a Liberal Fundamentalism
• Betrayal
• Liberation Halacha or the Halacha of Liberation

Part Four: Soul Prints and The Mystery of Love

There are two books that Marc Gafni wrote several years ago which were―mistakenly―never released in the Jewish community. They are Soul Prints and The Mystery of Love. Since that time an appendix has been prepared with Avraham Leader. This is a significant addition to Soul Prints , which will be very important for a Jewish audience: a forty-page appendix which cites in full the actual primary Kabbalistic sources on which Soul Prints is based. Because spurious claims of exaggerated contributions to these books were made by Marc Gafni’s former wife, {hey life is not easy} a couple of unnecessary passages in Soul Prints and The Mystery of Love have been removed and significant new material added.