# Nine and a Half Mystics

Part of a series on :
Kabbalah :
Concepts
Ein Sof
Tzimtzum
Ohr
Ayin and Yesh
Sefirot
Four Worlds
Seder hishtalshelut
Tree of Life
The path of the flaming sword
Merkavah
Jewish angelic hierarchy
Shekhinah
Partzufim
Qlippoth
Tohu and Tikun
Sparks of holiness
Messianic rectification
Gilgul
Kabbalistic astrology
Gematria
Notarikon
Temurah
Names of God in Judaism
Shemhamphorasch
Tzadik
Tzadikim Nistarim
Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah
Panentheism :
History
Pre-Kabbalistic Jewish mysticism
Tannaim
Heichalot
Sefer Yetzirah
Chassidei Ashkenaz
Medieval
Bahir
Toledano tradition
Prophetic Kabbalah
Zohar
Kabbalistic commentaries on the Bible
Mainstream displacement of rationalism with Kabbalah
Renaissance
Selective influence on Western thought
Hermetic Qabalah
Mysticism after Spanish expulsion
Mystics of 16th-century Safed
Cordoveran Kabbalah
Lurianic Kabbalah
Maharal's thought
Popular Kabbalistic Mussar
Early modern
Baal Shem-Nistarim
Sabbatean mystical heresies
Emden–Eybeschutz controversy
Immigration to the Land of Israel
Traditional Oriental Kabbalists
Beit El Synagogue
Eastern European Judaism
Hasidic Judaism / philosophy
Lithuanian Jews
Hasidic-Mitnagdic schism
Modern
Hasidic dynasties
Mysticism in religious Zionism
Academic interest in Jewish mysticism
Non-Orthodox interest in Jewish mysticism
English
James Lees' :
Practices
Torah study
Mystical exegesis
Mitzvot
Minhag
Customary immersion in mikveh
Meditation
Kavanot
Teshuvah
Deveikut
Prayer
Nusach
Tikkun Chatzot
Tikkun Leil Shavuot
Pilgrimage to Tzadik
Pilgrimage to holy grave
Lag BaOmer at Meron
Asceticism
Rosicrucianism
Practical Kabbalah :
People
100s
Four Who Entered the Pardes
Simeon bar Yochai
1100s
Isaac the Blind
Azriel
1200s
Nahmanides
Abraham Abulafia
Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla
Moses de Leon
Menahem Recanati
1300s
Bahya ben Asher
1400s
1500s
Meir ibn Gabbai
Joseph Karo
Shlomo Alkabetz
Moshe Alshich
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
Isaac Luria
Chaim Vital
Judah Loew ben Bezalel
1600s
Isaiah Horowitz
Abraham Azulai
1700s
Chaim ibn Attar
Baal Shem Tov
Dov Ber of Mezeritch
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Shalom Sharabi
Vilna Gaon
Chaim Joseph David Azulai
Nathan Adler
Schneur Zalman of Liadi
Chaim Volozhin
1800s
Nachman of Breslov
Ben Ish Chai
Shlomo Eliyashiv
1900s
Abraham Isaac Kook
Yehuda Ashlag
Baba Sali
Menachem Mendel Schneerson :
Role
History
Torah
Tanakh
Prophecy
Ruach HaKodesh
Pardes exegesis
Talmudical hermeneutics
Midrash
Jewish commentaries on the Bible
Oral Torah
Eras of Rabbinic Judaism
Generational descent in Halacha
Generational ascent in Kabbalah
Rabbinic literature
Talmudic theology
Halakha
Aggadah
Hakira
Classic Mussar literature
Ashkenazi Judaism
Sephardi Judaism
Modern Jewish philosophies
Jewish studies
Topics
God in Judaism
Divine transcendence
Divine immanence
Free will
Divine providence
Kabbalistic reasons for the 613 Mitzvot
Jewish principles of faith
Jewish eschatology
Primary texts :
vte :
Nine and a Half Mystics: The Kabbala Today is a 1969 book on Jewish mysticism by Rabbi Herbert Weiner. The book includes interviews with a number of Jewish mystics and scholars, as well as the author's encounters with various Jewish groups practicing who incorporate mysticism in their religious practice.

## Nine and a Half Mystics

Nine and a Half Mystics explores themes on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism as well as those Jewish groups where the mystical tradition is active.
Weiner, a Reform rabbi, based the book on his travels to various Jewish communities in his search for Jewish mysticism. For many American Jews, Weiner's work was their first exposure to the Jewish mystical tradition.

## Interviews

Nine and a Half Mystics includes a number of interviews with Jewish mystics and scholars including:
* Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
* Dr. Gershom Sholem
* Dr. Martin Buber
* Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook
* Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
* Rabbi Dovid Cohen, "The Nazir"

## Encounters

In addition to interviews, Rabbi Weiner also travelled to various Jewish communities where Jewish mysticism is incorporated in religious practice. Weiner visited the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn, the Breslov community in New York and Israel, among others.