Are you a seeker of the mysterious? Imagine a door with secrets behind it. Do you knock? Walk away? Walk right in?
Join Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie on a tour of Jewish mystical traditions through four doors, following stories and texts that invite us to reflect on how Kabbalah may be meaningful for our life journeys. Behind these doors is a Talmudic riddle: four seekers enter an orchard, but only one emerges in peace. What happened inside?
07:41 The Book of Zohar: imagine Don Quixote crossed with Alice in Wonderland.
12:48 Four enter the orchard. Four people, four ways of seeking, and four different outcomes.
19:55 Seeking through stories and syllables. Following the ancestral texts in search of the sacred.
30:59 Pardes or the orchard as a way of reading. Four layers of meaning offer a method for understanding texts and our own lives.
Drawing on the wisdom of Dante and the Zohar, Rabbis Tirzah Firestone and Art Green, Howard Schwartz, Melila Hellner-Eshed, and the Talmud, Rabbi Amichai explores the possibilities and risks of seeking, and how Jewish mystical traditions invite us to look beyond the surface to explore the soul.
Alef Bet is a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom reimagined for right now. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the tour guide for your experience. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, Jew-jacent, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point. No prior knowledge required—just bring your questions.
Explore more with Episode 5 Study Guide!