The Book of Formation

The Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of Formation, is one of the oldest Kabbalistic works in existence. However, both its true age and its authorship are unknown. One tradition holds that it was written by Abraham while others believe that it was written by the great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Akiba. The first known commentaries on it, though, first appear in the tenth century CE.

Unlike the Zohar which contains volumes of mystical, midrashic literature, the Sefer Yetzirah is very short and terse. Its brevity and succintness, in fact, are more reminiscent of the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu or the Dhammapadda of the Buddha than they are of some of the other standard references in Kabbalah. Nevertheless, in spite of its conciseness (only 1300 words long in some versions), it is a work of great profundity, and meditations on its teachings can encompass years. For those who want to learn more about this text, one of the best translations and commentaries available in English is Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation by Aryeh Kaplan. Additionally, several translations may also be found online on the World Wide Web.

Author: Christopher P. Benton, 2003