The Seventh Telling

 Summary  |  Reviews & Comments   |  Reading Group Guide  |  Excerpt  |  Purchase


"It's not often that you can read a novel, have fun, and learn so much about the world of Jewish mysticism. Chefitz presents a wise and touching tale of a world filled with stories and surprises. Intriguing and stimulating."
-- Tikkun Magazine

". . . Chefitz knows his subject well, blending reverence for religious traditions with acceptance of new variations. His storytelling shows a lecturer's patience for getting to the point, a rabbi's tolerance for human frailty and a scholar's sense of detail . . ."
-- Publishers Weekly

"This ambitious and engaging book, like the Kabbalah itself, has many layers, plumbs to unexpected depths, and will leave the reader tempered, if not transformed, by the reading. . . . Complete as a work of fiction, this is especially recommended for those who've read about Kabbalah with varying degrees of understanding. Here, the teachings come to life."
-- Booklist


"A superb, multi-dimensional teaching tale that serves as a gentle gate to a living encounter with the experiential Kabbalah."
-- Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, author of Paradigm Shift


"I never thought that anyone could write a novel based on Kabbalistic themes and make it work but Mitchell Chefitz has pulled it off! I was spellbound from the first page on. This is an extraordinary novel by a bold new voice in contemporary fiction."
-- Jack Riemer, co-editor of So That Your Values Live on.

"The Seventh Telling is magnificent. It is written beautifully, but even beyond that, it teaches, it guides, it intrigues, it inspires. It is multi-layered and multi-dimensional. It is, as Reb Shlomo (Carlebach) would say, ‘the highest and the deepest, the sweetest and the holiest.'"
-- Wayne Dosick, author of Living Judaism and Soul Judaism.

"A book for the sages--the little sage we carry inside who snubs fiction. The Seventh Telling: The Kabbalah of Moshe Katan will turn him and her inside out, to each reader's delight. Who would have thought that the most natural way to learn the Kabbalah's secrets would be in the guise of a novel, yet Rabbi Chefitz has fused secular and spiritual worlds in a transparent crucible of narrative until we can no longer tell where heaven begins or the story ends."
-- David Rosenberg, author of Dreams of Being Eaten Alive: The Literary Core of the Kabbalah

"The Seventh Telling brings Kabbalah home. A fascinating story, so engagingly told it may make you a Kabbalist! Chefitz blends ancient legend and contemporary insight into a fine read, riddled with insight and wisdom. An excellent introduction to contemporary Jewish mystical thinking."
-- Lawrence Kushner, author of Invisible Lines of Connection; Eyes Remade for Wonder and other books

"Mixing depth psychology and deep kabbala, sex and intellect and twentieth century history, knowledge of human pain and human--or is it divine--compassion, Mitchell Chefitz' The Seventh Telling reaches beyond doubt toward thrilling possibilities of faith and healing."
-- Alicia Osrtriker, author of The Nakedness of the Fathers

"I don't know how you possibly could have communicated what you have in a non-fiction format. You have made our spiritual tradition into a living one, not merely a documentation of ideas. You have taken a great risk by doing this but your risk has been successful!"
-- Arthur Kurzweil, Editor in Chief, The Jewish Book Club

"A fascinating, skillfully written tale of interwoven stories that deals with human nature and kabbalistic intrigue. The Seventh Telling will grab your attention from the first sentence and will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Through an array of characters and circumstances you will not only gain insights into kabbalah, you will have a greater knowledge of the Divine healing power within yourself."
-- Shoni Labowitz, author of Miraculous Living: A Guided Journey in Kabbalah Through the Ten Gates of the Tree of Life and God, Sex and Women of the Bible: Discovering our Sensual, Spiritual Selves

"The Seventh Telling is a wonderful and seductive book. What at first appears to be a story turns out to be a guided tour of the soul; a deep meditation on the nature of God, woman, man, and nature. The reader joins the characters in the book as an active participant in their kabbalistic inquiry. This is not just a book to read, but a spiritual adventure to be enjoined. The Seventh Telling invites an eighth -- your own."
-- Rami Shapiro, author of The Way of Solomon