New Edition of "A Mystical Passover: A Transformational Passover Haggadah" Now Available

A brand new 3rd Edition of my integrally-informed trans-denominational Passover Haggadah is now available in paperback for purchase online at: https://www.createspace.com/4128956.

A MYSTICAL PASSOVER: A TRANSFORMATIONAL PASSOVER HAGGADAH offers a powerful trans-denominational psycho-spiritual approach to the Passover experience that includes individual and group psycho-spiritual exercises to help transform the holiday into a deeply mystical and magical experience for young and old alike.

From the Introduction:

This Passover (Pesach) Haggadah represents a process of spiritual exegesis that I have employed as a vehicle for deepening and healing my relationship with Judaism, my religion of origin. This process consisted of a radical interpretation of the Passover rituals and prayers into a language and process that resonated with my own heart while also attempting to honor the heart of Judaism itself. Through this technique I have endeavored to heal old wounds and purge myself of the obstacles between the Divine and myself.

There are three basic levels of text interpretation in the Jewish tradition: Literal-Biblical, Theoretical-Talmudic, and Mystical-Kabbalistic (Fishbane, 1998; Kenton, 1980). Literal-Biblical text interpretation includes the historical, biblical and narrative levels of the material. Theoretical-Talmudic text interpretation consists of the extrapolation of the philosophical, ethical, moral and religious doctrines, laws and teachings that are woven into the fabric of the written material. Mystical-Kabbalistic text interpretation seeks to unearth the hidden and concealed metaphysical teachings buried in the text.

On the literal level of interpretation, Passover is a ritualistic retelling of the story of a historical biblical event, the Israelites’ exodus from bondage in Egypt. On the theoretical level, the story and rituals of Passover have many philosophical, ethical, moral and religious lessons to teach us about human behavior and the human endeavor to live according to the teachings of the religion of Judaism. Traditionally, the rituals of Passover, including the Passover Seder, tend to focus on these two levels of interpretation and understanding. In the Jewish mystical tradition, Passover can also be seen as a powerful vehicle for personal and communal psycho-spiritual development. From the Mystical-Kabbalistic perspective, the Passover story of a people being freed from the bondage of slavery is transformed into a road map for how an individual can be freed from the bondage of limited consciousness (Kenton, 1980); the land of Egypt becomes the realm of narrowness of body and mind, and Moses becomes the Higher Self being called upon by the Divine to free all the different voices of the psyche (the children of Israel, THE AWAKENING SELF) from the bondage of the ego (Pharaoh).

This mystical level of interpretation became my pathway through the metaphysical gates of these ancient and sacred rites of inner and outer freedom, and my attempt to integrate all three of these levels of interpretation, along with the interpretative constructs of the various denominations of the Judaic tradition, has lead me to the discovery of this powerful transformative psycho-spiritual Passover experience.

About the Author:

MARK ALLAN KAPLAN, PHD is a psycho-spiritual researcher, counselor, educator, and author focusing on integral, transpersonal, and transformative approaches to spiritual life and practice. His writings include "Prayers for the Awakening Self" and "The Experience of Divine Guidance," and he is the founder of the Integral Judaism Project, a trans-denominational research initiative exploring integral and transformative approaches to Judaic theory and practice.