Finding Joy: A Practical Spiritual Guide to Happiness

Schwartz, the spiritual leader of Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, Mich., asserts that the Jewish mystical tradition can provide the unhappy with a ""practical spiritual guide to happiness."" Schwartz demonstrates that the kabbalah teaches that true joy is possible if the true focus of people's lives is spiritual. In each chapter, Schwartz examines some of the reasons that people are unhappy, and he then explores the ways in which people can use the teachings of the Sefirot, or the 10 divine ""rays of light,"" like Chesed (lovingkindness), Hokhmah (wisdom), and Binah (understanding) to attain happiness. Each chapter concludes with a set of weekly spiritual exercises that put into practice the lessons of the chapter. Although many of the lessons Schwartz teaches in this book echo the bromides of much popular spirituality (""If we don't exercise our inner joy, we will not be able to cope with the worst of times""), his focus on the spirituality of the Jewish mystics provides the book with a depth that saves it from being just another superficial spiritual handbook. (Jan.)