Yedidah Cohen is an accomplished teacher and translator of Rabbi Ashlag's works. She has taught this work for more than thirty years both in Israel and over the internet in both Hebrew and English. Her published works have been enthusiastically endorsed by great Torah teachers, including Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and include: A Tapestry for the Soul: the Introduction to the Zohar, by Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag (Nehora Press); In the Shadow of the Ladder: Introductions to Kabbalah by Rabbi Ashlag (Nehora Press) Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Gottlieb is one of the foremost teachers of Rabbi Ashlag's work in Israel today. He studied for many years under the guidance of Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag, Rabbi Ashlag's firstborn son. He knew many of the students of Rabbi Ashlag personally and interviewed them for the purpose of this book. Now head of the Bircat Shalom Institute, Rabbi Gottlieb has authored more than thirty books on Rabbi Ashlag's work. This is the first of his books to be translated into English.
Throughout the book, the figure of Rabbi Ashlag appears as an intense and holy man. The stories have a purifying quality, verifying the Hasidic teachings that stories of tzaddikim are themselves a powerful means of transmission of Torah and holiness. --Yaacov David Shulman, author, translator and editor of fifty books of Jewish spiritual and literary meaning The purpose of our spiritual work is to come to love our fellow. Rabbi Gottlieb effectively combines profile and theology in this accessible and enlightening biography of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag, widely-credited with opening up Kabbalah. A glowing work. --Publishers Weekly The Master of the Ladder tells the wondrous tale of a true sage and introduces us to his teachings. This biography of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag makes it possible for all of us to take the first step on the ladder that ascends to the Heavens and penetrates the depths of our mind and heart. --Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, Spiritual Supervisor REITS, Yeshiva University, founder of Congregation Aish Kodesh, Woodmere, New York A goldmine of Rabbi Ashlag's piety, his relationship with other great Torah sages, and his unique take on the practical message of Kabbalah, which is to transform ourselves from egoism to altruism. The book has a special, intimate quality... --Rabbi Zvi Leshem, Tradition Magazine