Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s classic Inner Space has been the doorway to mysticism for many readers and seekers since its publication decades ago. One of the greatest expositors of the esoteric in the twentieth century, Kaplan’s lucidity and insight have aged well, and Inner Space is still one of the first stops for those looking to grow more comfortable with the idiosyncratic language and key concepts that comprise Jewish mysticism. Although dry at times, Kaplan’s guide offers the contemporary reader an access point to the esoteric – it’s worth a few dry-eyed pages.

Much of the important shifts in Kabbalistic study and ideas was birthed from the mystical community – the chaburah – which serves as a reminder that even the most esoteric wisdom is always interpersonal as well. Sarah Yehudit Schneider’s You are What You Hate, based on a text by the Komarna Rebbe, R. Yitzchok Safrin, serves as a guidebook to living in greater spiritual sensitivity in your social plane. This book pairs well with Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro’s Bnei Machshavah Tovah, a spiritual guide to living in a spiritual community, translated by Yaacov David Shulman in Experiencing the Divine. Mysticism is lived within and between people, and this book helps readers apply the wisdom of mysticism to interpersonal life.