Kabbalah Now has just announced the publication of a new book – “The Invisible Stairway: Kabbalistic Meditations on the Hebrew Letters,” now available on Amazon.

Do the Hebrew letters have the ability to unlock deep spiritual meaning?

Can kabbalistic meditation unveil some hidden understanding of who we are and our place in the Creation?

These are the questions one asks when reading this new book. The author of “The Invisible Stairway“ and head of Kabbalah Now, Samuel Avital, says he originally crafted the book for students only. The purpose was to provide a window into the ancient Kabbalistic tradition he was raised in. The book includes practices for Kabbalistic meditation, and insight into the profound spiritual meanings of the Hebrew letters. Samuel refers to the Hebrew letters as the “authentic source code” that is “needed to read the Torah in its true root of knowing” so that one can “understand the stories and also the deeper wisdom the story stores within it.”

Before its first private publishing in 2001, the book was endorsed by the late Rav Zalman, who once called Avital “the hidden kabbalist of Boulder.” In the endorsement, Rav Zalman wrote “Avital has opened access to the language and content of the sacred Kabbalah and the very studies of the sacred letters… He addresses the mind, but also the soul.”

Transmitting the ancient knowledge of the kabbalah as received from his family, is central to Avital’s work. As one reviewer of the book wrote:

“This book is an amazing door to the mysteries of Kabbalah and the Hebrew letters, opened by a living Kabbalist, descendant of a long line of Kabbalists and Rabbis going back to the First Temple. Samuel Avital didn’t “study” Kabbalah he breathed and nursed it with his mother’s milk. For him the mysteries of Kabbalah were part of growing up and learning about life. It was completely integrated with who he was, his family and all the former generations that carried this treasure of sacred knowledge. In this book he generously shares the special secret knowledge for the first time with the open public and is giving us all a chance to drink from this Well of Life.”

One of the things that Avital’s students remark on is the book’s ability to open the door to kabbalistic learning in a way that is accessible, but still allows entry into the deeper tradition. According to one student, Paul Russell, “One of Samuel Avital’s great gifts to his students is to uncover how the ancient stories and the ancient wisdom of the Kabbalah connect and resonate with the most intimate and essential matters of our own lives in this very moment.”

Another student, Lion Goodman, explained the eye opening effect that this introduction to Kabbalah had on his life, “As a young man, he [Avital] opened my eyes to many worlds, including the mystical tradition which had been lost in my own Jewish lineage. My grandfather was a Talmudic scholar, and my father rebelled into social Judaism, so I got a whitewashed tradition with no mystical roots. Samuel opened a doorway into the real root at the core – Kabbalah – the deep understanding that beneath words was meaning, and beneath meaning was number, and beneath number was the energy of the cosmos. If you want to understand at depth, buy and study this book.”

So, do the Hebrew letters contain some deeper spiritual and meditative meaning? Are there gates to be unlocked through kabbalistic meditation? The only way to find out is by exploring for yourself. But I can say I’m intrigued by the reviews. I’ll leave it in the words of a few of the reviewers on Amazon:

“The energy of the letters can nourish your soul if you let it. At the least, you will get a glimpse into the mysterious world of Kabbalah and the meaning of life, and at the most it can change your life and the way you perceive your life and yourself in it, for ever. When you start reading this book you embark on a journey that you cannot fathom where it will take you, you can only be sure that you will be fascinated and enchanted all along the way.” – Or Echad

“Samuel Avital is one in a long line of great Kabbalists and Rabbis, dating back to the times of the first temple. Because of this, he is able to not just indicate the trappings of kabbalah, but to indicate the way to reach its true heart.” – Devorah Shirah, Writer at the Walking Kabbalah Blog

The book can now be purchased on Amazon here.

And if you wish to learn more about Kabbalah Now, Samuel’s Kabbalah school, located in Boulder, Colorado, you can visit their website here.