REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS

The Subtle Body by Stephanie Symons

If you feel the yoga came to America in the 1960s with the summer of love, then think again. Our story begins with the arrival of Swami Vivekenanda, a little known yogi who is possibly the first recorded teacher of asana in America.

Symon’s compelling book begins with the first Indian guru’s USA arrival in the 1870s, at the height of a conservative era when America was cautious about Indian mysticism. We learn how the Swami was initially supported by wealthy women from the upper class elite and soon decided it was time to set up shop in the heart of New York City. He rented a small apartment on the lower east side, began teaching classes, and America’s first yoga studio was born.

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Yoga – The Greater Tradition by David Frawley
There are many introductory books to yoga that are available on the market, but David Frawley’s new book stands out. Yoga – The Greater Tradition is a deceptively slim volume. The author has packed in an amazing resource of information, re-translating and re-imagining many traditional concepts at the foundation of yogic philosophy.
After many years of reading and studying works such as the Yoga Sutras, I thought I had seen all of the available translations.  I was wrong. Frawley begins by commenting on the overall idea of yoga;

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Book Review: Seven Sparks – Tools for Jewish Wellness by Beth Schafer; Illustrated by Joanne Fink

Seven Sparks is one of the newest books to enter the field of Jewish well being and it does so in an easily-digestible format. The author, a co-founder of the wellness organisation Positive Jewish living, organises her treaty into seven sections that are all linked to one of the ten commandments.

Shabbat/Sabbath is understood through the lens of Stillness, while the idea of having one God is connected to the concept of Love. The notion of Balance becomes a way to explore not taking God’s name in vain or swearing falsely, while Beneficence becomes a path for exploring the edicts to refrain from murder or adultery.

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Jewish Meditation by Aryeh Kaplan

This book is one of the ground-breaking works by this Orthodox rabbi who
was the earliest of modern Jewish teachers to reveal to the general public
aspects of traditional Jewish meditation practices and related mystical
teachings that had long been kept concealed within the province of secretive
Kabalistic learning circles. Rabbi Kaplan had earlier written Meditation
and the Bible and Meditation and Kabbalah. In his introduction to Jewish
Meditation, he admits that the earlier works were not accessible for practical
application for those not already familiar with basic theory and practice.
Thus he wrote Jewish Meditation, A Practical Guide..read more.


Everything is God by Jay Michaelson
Jay’s book seems to me not so much a “textbook” of “non-dualism,” as his own “meditation” on the interplay of his personal spiritual experience with Jewish learning. In so doing, he speaks for thousands of people – including me. He’s not the first Jewish thinker to grapple with this. But his might be the broadest exploration to date. Interestingly, Jay also seems to be in that tradition of American writers – Emerson, Aldous Huxley, the “Beats” (Kerouac; Ginsberg; Watts; etc.) – who explored Buddhist and “Indian” thought with the materials available to them… Click here to read more…


Yoga Shalom by Lisa Levine with Carol Krucoff
Yoga Shalom is a charming book recently released by the URJ Press. Introduced as ‘a spiritual and physical journey, guided by a sequence of traditional Hebrew morning prayers’, it completely delivers on promise. Lisa Levine has produced a superb resource.
The brainchild of Cantor Lisa Levine, Yoga Shalom is the only book of its kind to give a comprehensive overview of the traditional Sabbath service with a selection of yoga postures and gentle teachings to inspire practitioners. Click here to read more…

Fire of Love: for students of life, for teachers of yoga by Aadhil Palkhivala
Aadhil Palhkivala’s treatise on yoga, Fire of Love, is a comprehensive resource that is helpful for both teaching and practicing yoga. It begins with a description of the accident that he underwent and charts his subsequent path to healing. The key to wellness is yoga and he takes the reader on a powerful journey through the course of the book.
What I found particularly meaningful was Aadhil’s continual exploration of the mind-body connection through his yoga practice, and the idea that yoga brings healing and balance to the individual practitioner when they take self-responsibility. Aadhil’s approach to yoga is far more sensitive than many contemporary systems. Click here to read more…

Letter of Light by Aaron L Raskin
Science teaches that everything is made up of molecules, which are made up of atoms, which are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons, which are themselves made up of “sub-atomic” waves and particles — quarks, leptons, bosons, and so on. It’s breathtakingly comprehensive and automatic. Utterly mechanical. Utterly impersonal. The Besht states instead that the subtlest building blocks of creation are the sounds of the Hebrew aleph-bet ever being spoken by G-d. Rather than impersonal forces, waves, or particles, they’re miraculous revelations of Divine… Click here to read more…

By Divine Design
“Oifn Pripitchek,” a popular Yiddish song, says of the Hebrew aleph-bet: “You’ll find strength in the letters…”
It’s as if to say they’re more than central to Jewish culture; they’re part of the Jewish soul itself.“By Divine Design” is a follow-up to an earlier book on the Hebrew alphabet, “Letters of Light,” by HaBaD-based Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin. Click here to read more…