Jewish Wisdom Stories by a Feline Mystic

In early 2007, Professor Rachel Adler, a Jewish feminist theologian, decided her new apartment needed a cat. As she searched through photos from local shelters, one gaunt feline caught her eye. Despite being caged, he retained the spiritual beauty of face and dignity of bearing that mark a great soul. As he settled into his new home—purring at the Hebrew volumes in Adler’s rabbinic library, nodding attentively to the mezzuzot on the doorposts, and engaging in soulful meditation three times each day—it became clear that he was no ordinary kitty. Over the years, these eccentric practices revealed him to be a Hasidic master reincarnated to a higher level in the form of a gray tabby.

This whimsical and engaging book began as several years of Adler’s Facebook posts describing the idiosyncrasies of her peculiar cat, whom she called the Holy Mysticat. He became a holy teacher of sorts, leading her and her online friends on a journey through thousands of years of Jewish spiritual texts and practices. Not your typical dry scholarly treatise, this collection of heartwarming and creative stories, interspersed with insightfully drawn black-and-white illustrations, allows Adler to share unique insights into Jewish mysticism as demonstrated by her extraordinary cat.

Pub.date 10/06/2020