Can the writings of a 16th century Kabbalistic master illuminate our thinking about modern cosmology — and vice versa?
Rabbi Arthur Green, scientist Howard A. Smith, and artist Debra Band believe the answer is yes. The three have combined their talents to interpret, illustrate, and illuminate the work of Rabbi Meir Ibn Gabbai — and to create a new, distinctively 21st century work at the intersection of science, theology, and art.
Arthur Green's mastery of the art of translating Jewish mystical texts is well known. So too, Debra Band's creativity and craftsmanship in creating illuminated manuscripts. And Dr. Howard A. Smith's mastery of the intersection of science and religion have been lauded at least since the publication of his 2006 classic, Let There Be Light: Modern Cosmology and Kabbalah: A New Conversation Between Science and Religion.
In pooling their talents and expertise, they are doing more than creating a book. They are creating a work of art, an encounter between the centuries that will be its own contribution to Jewish culture.
And that's where you come in. Printing a translation is relatively easy and, by historical standards, inexpensive. Printing a full color work of art, however, requires close attention to details of paper quality and the printing process, which requires a significant upfront investment. As a small, independent publisher, Ben Yehuda Press cannot make that investment without your help.
The Secrets of Creation is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration.
Few biographical details are known about Rabbi Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai. Born in Spain, he sailed into exile before his bar mitzvah as part of the Expulsion of 1492. His treatise ‘Avodat ha-Kodesh, “The Divine Service,” was one of the first works to attempt to systematize the kabbalistic teachings of the Zohar and refute the rationalist theology and cosmogony of Maimonides.
The present work is the first English translation of a portion of this work, rendered accessible by extensive annotation. Accompanying the text of each of ten chapters are three 21st century responses:
1) An introduction by Rabbi Arthur Green, offering the perspective of a contemporary Jewish theologian (also the translator), encompassing both the differences between the kabbalist’s worldview and our own and discussion of why this classic mystical text is still of interest.
2) A response by a contemporary astrophysicist, Dr. Howard A. Smith, laying out the contemporary scientific consensus on matters raised within the chapter and pointing out topics where both the kabbalistic ideas and the modern scientific consensus share ground for conversation and mutual insights.
3) Debra Band's artistic rendition in the style of manuscript illumination, reflecting each stage of the Creation process discussed in the text, accompanied by explanations, incorporated at the end of each chapter. The large format book will include 24 of Debra Band's illustrations.
Perks
You'll get a copy of The Secrets of Creation when it's published — and a copy of Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification, Debra Bands's previous collaboration with Arthur Green, now. (You can swap for a different one of Debra's books, if you prefer.)
You'll get a copy of The Secrets of Creation when it's published -- and four books by Arthur Green now. You'll select which titles you wish from a list of those he has available.
Highlights
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Now celebrating its 18th year as an independent Jewish publishing
house, Ben Yehuda Press prides itself in transcending denominations
and genres. Its publications range from translations of classical
Jewish mystical texts to anthologies of original Jewish science
fiction. It has published some of this century's most important works
of Jewish Renewal.
The Secrets of Creations will join a roster of
successfully crowd-funded Ben Yehuda Press works that include The
Comic Torah, works of Jewish poetry, a Jewish cat calendar, and
Heroes With Chutzpah, an illustrated book for kids
celebrating the biographies of 101 contemporary figures including
Jonas Salk, Sandy Koufax, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Leonard Nimoy, Judith
Resnik, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The contributors
Rabbi Arthur Green
Arthur Green is a historian of Jewish mysticism and a theologian. He was first introduced to the writings of Rabbi Meir Ibn Gabbai by his mentor Abraham Joshua Heschel, more than fifty years ago. He has a longstanding interest in Jewish Creation theology, largely because of its implications for life on our much-threatened planet at this crucial moment in our long evolutionary journey. His most recent works include a translation of the Hasidic classic The Light of the Eyes (Stanford, 2020) and Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love (Yale, National Jewish Book Award, 2020). Green serves as rector of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School, which he founded in 2003.
Debra Band
Debra Band’s work in Hebrew illuminated manuscripts draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and biblical studies. Descended from an eminent rabbinic family, her extensive studies of Jewish texts and research into medieval European and middle Eastern painting and manuscripts inform her work. Her work, celebrated for its intellectual and spiritual depth as well as visual beauty, includes illuminated and papercut books and ketubot , other manuscript pieces and papercuts, in exhibits, private collections, community institutions and galleries across the English-speaking world. Her previous books include The Song of Songs: the Honeybee in the Garden (Jewish Publication Society, 2005) I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (Jewish Publication Society, 2007), Kabbalat Shabbat: the Grand Unification (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), and Qohelet: Searching For A Life Worth Living (Baylor University Press, 2023), a collaboration with philosopher Menachem Fisch.
Howard A. Smith
Howard Alan Smith is a senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and is the former chair of the astronomy department at Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. A research scientist with several hundred scholarly publications, with an emphasis on the origins of stars in the galaxy and other galaxies, Active Galactic Nuclei, and a wide range of other cosmic infrared sources from very nearby Near Earth Objects to cosmologically distant, high-z galaxies using both ground and space telescopes, and (in between) the SOFIA Airborne Observatory. A former visiting astronomer at NASA headquarters, he has been recognized by Harvard for excellence in teaching. A traditional, observant Jew, he has lectured on cosmology and Kabbalah for over twenty years. He is author of Let There Be Light: Modern Cosmology and Kabbalah : A New Conversation Between Science And Religion.
Rabbi Meir Ben Ezekiel Ibn Gabbai
Born in Spain toward the end of 1480, little is known about the details of his life. He likely settled in Turkey following the Expulsion. He was one of the first to treat Kabbalah, and the Zohar, systematically. Accordingly, his major work, ‘Avodat ha-Kodesh, which expounds his Kabbalistic system and disputes Maimonides, was a popular volume, with repeated printings in Europe through the 19th century. The Secrets of Creation draws from the fourth and final section of ‘Avodat ha-Kodesh, called Ḥelek Sitrey Torah, Secrets of the Torah. It is an extended disquisition on the two great theological claims of Judaism, Creation and Revelation, and their meaning in a mystical context.
Activity
You'll get a copy of The Secrets of Creation when it's published — and a copy of Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification, Debra Bands's previous collaboration with Arthur Green, now. (You can swap for a different one of Debra's books, if you prefer.)
You'll get a copy of The Secrets of Creation when it's published -- and four books by Arthur Green now. You'll select which titles you wish from a list of those he has available.
