Talk:Sefer Yetzirah

message: This page suffers from 1906 syndrome. Could we discuss the possibility of moving all 1906 stuff to a subpage and rewrite a page, rather than attempting to improve the 1906 text? I have done something similar or Kohen. JFW | T@lk 15:11, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Untitled 

message: "Yetzirah" means Formation and Creation is "Briah". SO I correct the title.
--Sepand 10:30, 19 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Formation not Creation 

message: This article and the one in Jewish Encyclopedia both refer to "two books" and the second one deals with angels.  That is confusing to me because I'm only aware of one Sefer Yetzirah, though there are different versions of the text called the Long Version the Short Version and at least a few others that seem to have elements of both the Long and Short.  I don't know Hebrew so my knowledge is limited to translations, mostly by gentiles with either a Christian or Occult perspective, but I haven't seen anything about angles in any of them. Jaynus offered to do a re-write.  I'd like to see it because he appears to be more knowledgeable than I am, but if he doesn't then I may attempt it in a few weeks.  I recently started reading Aryeh Kaplan's book and I have researched the history and compared several English translations side by side.  I may not be the best, but I think I can put together something that better reflects current knowledge and scholarship better than what is here now.  I'm not in any hurry though.  I've got other projects I currently involved with, but this article definitely needs work.--◀Pucktalk▶ 03:46, 22 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two Books? Angels? 

message: There was only one book, which appeared in the time of Saadya Gaon.  The "2nd book" is a reference to "hilchot yetzira" in the Talmud, which means 'the laws of creation.' Scholem thought this was a reference to Sefer Yetzira, and ascribed it to the Amoraic period, but this is doubtful and highly problematic.  
It also is not 'mystical.'  It is esoteric, but was commented on by rabbis, mystics, and philosophers alike.  It became the basis of kabbalah, and was read by kabbalists as a mystical work, but more likely stemmed from the alchemists.
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.62.106.125 (talk) 19:00, 6 August 2006
:  Really stemmed from alchemists?  I don't think there's even a bit of truth to that. --CheskiChips (talk) 00:12, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  What was sefer yetzira originally? 

message: There appears to be some new work being added to the examination of the Sefer Yetzirah, to my knowledge, the first endeavor in a long time produced by the work of scholar A. Peter Hayman.  Here are a few quotes and a link to the book:  
http://www.coronetbooks.com/books/sefe3812.htm
Sefer Yesira
Edition, Translation & Text-Critical Commentary 
[In English & Hebrew]
By A. Peter Hayman
June 2005
ISBN: 3161483812
"The author provides the first comprehensive critical edition of a text which was a fundamental influence on Jewish thought in the medieval period and has continued to fascinate scholars and students of Judaism to the present day. With its English translation of the three earliest recensions and its commentary on the variant early texts of the work, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the growth and emergence of the Jewish mystical movement. 
Contents include: The fluid state of the text of Sefer Yesira, Why a new edition of Sefer Yesira?, The "original text" of SY or "the earliest recoverable text"?, Editing Jewish texts from the first millennium C.E., The Manuscripts, The rules of the edition, Abbreviations in the textual apparatus, Notes on the manuscripts, The chapter and paragraph divisions (Appendix II), the Four Pre-Kabbalistic commentaries, The Earliest Recoverable Text of Sefer Yesira and the Three Recensions, The Three Recensions of the SY Text Tradition."  end quote.
Regards,
Rev. D. Strickler 01:06, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Scholarly work on the derivation of the Sefer Yesira 

message: Towards the conclusion of the article, "This book, which does not even mention such words as "Israel" and "revelation," taught the Kabbalists to reflect on "God," and not merely on the "Ruler of Israel." This statement is highly speculative and opinionated, and is seemingly not true at all, based on my reading of the book in it's original hebrew(of which I am fluent in) and it's English translation for all to see. In the hebrew the 10th and 11th word in the first sentence refers to God by the hebrew Elokay Yisroel, which translates litterally to the God of Israel. It would appear as though the word is mentioned in the book(and more that once, see chapter 5 mishna 4 for example. What is most shocking about this statement is that it is contradicted earlier in the article, "The Sefer Yetzirah describes how the universe was created by the "God of Israel"". The first sentence in the structure section of the article. With all of this i have decided to edit out that statement. If anyone disagrees, please, let me know and you can put it back.
-Zechariah  —Preceding 
unsigned comment added by 76.214.19.233 (talk) 11:21, 19 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Self contradiction 

message: I corrected several dubious sentences;
Sefer yetzira could not have been written "after the 10th century CE", for there is an early 10'th century
commentary by Saadia Gaon. Removing the highly dubious line 
stating that "some of the core ideas in the book seem to have a Babylonian origin", given without any references or quotations, and the similar unsubstantiated "The idea of the creative power of the various sounds is possibly Egyptian."
Replacing the sentence "The division of the letters into the three classes of vowels, mutes, and sonants is Hellenic" by the "The division of the letters into the three classes of vowels, mutes, and sonants also appears in Hellenic texts, ". Maxim Leyenson (talk) 12:53, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Editing the "Origin" section 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: That's an improper use of a final shin at the start of sepher.  139.138.6.121 (talk) 12:48, 27 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  סֵפֶר יְצִירָה‎‎