Teaching an introductory course on Jewish mysticism, over several years and at various institutions, led Marvin A. Sweeney to recognize the need for a textbook that goes beyond Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. Introductory textbooks in this area are scarce, Scholem’s work is now 80 years old, and Scholem begins in late antiquity, bypassing the Hebrew Bible and other pertinent texts, such as ancient West Asian visionary and dream texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Jewish apocalyptic. Sweeney seeks to address these shortcomings in his new book.Chapter 1 surveys visionary descriptions of the gods in Canaanite, Egyptian, and Ancient Mesopotamian religion, beginning first with a brief account of Israel’s origins. Calling attention to archaeological data such as the Merneptah Stele and the Amarna Letters, as well as Israel’s linguistic ties to Canaan, Sweeney describes Israel as emerging from Canaan during the late Bronze Age (pp. 10–14). While related to Canaan and owing much to Egyptian and Mesopotamian thought, Israel describes Yhwh as intangible, thus setting Israel apart from other AWA religions that understood their deities to be embodied, according to Sweeney (pp. 13–14).Chapters 2–3 further presents Israel as unique via descriptions of Yhwh in the Pentateuch (ch. 2) and the Former Prophets and Psalms (ch. 3), all the while highlighting AWA parallels and remaining sensitive to source criticism. For instance, Sweeney describes Jacob’s vision in Gen 28:10–22 as an etiology for the Beth El sanctuary that originates in the hypothetic source E. While the vision occurs in a dream similar to AWA parallels, Sweeney emphasizes that Yhwh’s form lacks description, with the deity manifesting himself through speech only (pp. 55–58).Chapter 4 provides outlines and summaries of the Latter Prophets. Here, notably, his approach differs from earlier chapters: He primarily employs synchronic and literary methods, while even displaying a preference for the Masoretic Text (pp. 139, 157–58). At the same time, what remains the same is his emphasis on intangibility. For instance, he describes Ezekiel as a priest concerned with avoiding tangible portrayals of Yhwh, evident via the use of “intangible imagery” (smoke, cloud, light, water, etc.) as well as the “prodigious use of simile” in Ezek 1 (p. 150).Chapter 5 surveys Apocalyptic literature, seen as the bridge between the Prophets and the Hekhalot literature (p. 167). After introducing “proto-apocalyptic” (Isa 24–27, etc.), Sweeney also summarizes Wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, etc.), 1 Enoch, Daniel, specific texts in the DSS such as the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice—which he sees as anticipating later Hekhalot literature (p. 194) —and finally, Revelation, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. Interestingly, similar to his treatment of HB portrayals of Yhwh that include fire, smoke, and the like (pp. 110, 127), Sweeney often understands cataclysmic language in Apocalyptic literature as metaphor (pp. 176–79).Chapter 6 overviews the Hekhalot literature—late antique/early medieval texts that describe rabbinic figures ascending through seven heavenly hekhalot (i.e., “palaces”) and reaching the throne of Yhwh. According to Sweeney, b. Hag. 14b serves as the basis for these texts (213–16). B. Hag. 14b describes four rabbinic sages entering Pardes (lit., “orchard”; i.e., paradise). By the end, three of the four either die, go crazy, or apostatize. But Rabbi Akiva remains unscathed. For the sake of would-be practitioners, the Hekhalot literature takes up different characters and aspects of this story, ultimately presenting the qualifications needed for ascension, with Maʾaseh Merkavah highlighting the necessary hymns, prayers, and theurgical elements, Hekhalot Rabbati focusing on torah knowledge, Hekhalot Zutarti on knowledge of the divine name, and Sefer Hekhalot (3 Enoch) on the necessary knowledge of Metatron (p. 217).Chapter 7 surveys medieval materials before the Zohar, where Sweeney sees a nascent shift from heavenly ascent descriptions to a kabbalistic model that posits Yhwh’s immanent presence in creation (pp. 244–45). Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer HaBahir—two of the earliest texts that reference the Ten Sefirot—are two such examples. Sefer Yetzirah describes the Sefirot as the building blocks of creation manifest via Yhwh’s creative speech—an idea derived from Yhwh’s ten utterances in Gen 1. Sefer HaBahir further develops these ideas, allegedly synthesizing Jewish and “gnostic” concepts according to Sweeney. Both explain how a transcendent deity is present in a finite world. Additionally, Sweeney introduces Shiur Qomah as the most controversial book in Judaism (p. 255). Elaborating on Ezek 1, it describes Yhwh’s body as 2,300,000,000 “parasangs” in height and Yhwh’s head as 600,000 parasangs (a parasang is 3–3.5 miles). Although it’s unclear if this is a heavenly description or an earthly manifestation, Sweeney concludes that the book ultimately conveys Yhwh’s incomprehensibility (p. 263). Lastly, Sweeney surveys key medieval figures and movements, namely, the Chasidei Ashkenaz, as well as the teachings of Isaac the Blind and Abraham Abulafia.Chapter 8 turns to the Zohar, a Spanish, 13th-century AD commentary on the Pentateuch (mainly, Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus) made up of several compositions, which Sweeney sees as written by a single author over the course of a lifetime (pp. 285–86). Its commentary often appears as a dialogue among rabbinic figures—typically R. Shimon bar Yochai and a circle of scholars gathered around him—and it develops earlier conceptualizations of heavenly ascent, as well as ideas surrounding the Sefirot, which it describes as ten emanations of Yhwh’s attributes that sustain the divine presence in creation (p. 289). Sweeney then surveys particular topics in Zoharic thought such as the problem of evil and the role of the temple and torah in creation.Chapter 9 describes historical movements that arose after the Spanish expulsion of 1492. Beginning with R. Luria, a student of Moses Cordovero, whose work ultimately set the stage for the messianic movement led by Shabbatai Tzvi. Lurianic Kabbalah also laid the groundwork for Chasidic Judaism, which Sweeney summarizes in ch. 10, beginning with a description of the Baal Shem Tov and ultimately leading to descriptions of Bratzlaver and Satmar Hasidism, as well as R. Abraham Isaac Kook and Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Rebbe of Chabad.Overall, Sweeney’s volume provides an up-to-date introduction to the field of Jewish mysticism, including antecedents from the HB, AWA texts, and Second Temple Judaism. I recommend the book, especially for undergraduates, graduate students, and even career scholars unfamiliar with the field. At the same time, readers should be aware of a number of challengeable assumptions in the work. The first is the assumption that there ever was a phenomenon “mysticism” that we might identify and analyze. In recent years, scholars have come to question the concept of “mysticism” as a transcendent, universal category or “experience,” let alone the existence of a “Jewish” version identifiable as a continuous, trans-historical stream of esoteric knowledge transferred through time (see Boaz Huss, Mystifying Kabbalah: Academic Scholarship, National Theology, and New Age Spirituality [New York: Oxford University Press, 2020]). Instead, many now emphasize the differences between the various corpora Sweeney weaves together into a purported chain of tradition (See Raʾanan S. Boustan and Patrick G. McCullough, “Apocalyptic Literature and the Study of Early Jewish Mysticism,” in The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature, ed. John J. Collins [New York: Oxford University Press, 2014], 85–103).Recent challenges to “mysticism” as a category effectively problematize Sweeney’s understanding of “Jewish mysticism” as beginning in ancient Israelite thought and allegedly evidenced in the emphasis found there on intangible representations of Yhwh (i.e., aniconism), an emphasis he sees woven throughout the various time periods covered in his text. Readers should know that aniconism itself is a disputed topic in the field of Israelite religion (e.g., Nathaniel Levtow, Images of Others: Iconic Politics in Ancient Israel [Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2008]). And understandably so, as even Sweeney acknowledges that the HB is filled with statements that represent Yhwh in tangible form (p. 256; see also Benjamin Sommers. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009]).Readers should also be aware that, although Sweeney characterizes texts such as Sefer HaBahir as blending Jewish and “gnostic” concepts, the relationship between “Jewish mysticism” and “Gnosticism” has come under scrutiny. Similar to defining “mysticism,” there is no universal definition of “Gnosticism” given that assumed characteristics of so-called “Gnosticism” (i.e., dualism and an evil demiurge) do not appear in all “gnostic” texts. Even Scholem himself failed to establish a direct textual link between texts considered “gnostic” and those within the so-called stream of Jewish mysticism, rendering claims for a relationship speculative at best (see Joseph Dan, “Jewish Gnosticism?” JSQ 4 [1995]: 309–28).Last, readers should also be aware that, although Sweeney presents the Zohar as penned by a single author over the period of a single lifetime (285–86), Zoharic authorship is far from settled. Some hold to a single author, while others see evidence of collaboration between a group/groups of 13th-century kabbalists, whose work may or may not have been redacted in subsequent time periods (see Ronit Meroz, “The Archaeology of the Zohar: Sifra Ditseniʾuta as a Sample Text.” A Journal of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah 82 [2016]: 9–85).Again, Sweeney’s publication fulfills his ultimate objective, and skillfully so. That is, the provision of an introductory text to the topic of Jewish mysticism, that surveys biblical, AWA, and even Second Temple Jewish antecedents to late antique materials. Although I have highlighted the issues noted above, I still recommend the book as an introduction to the field, recognizing that any project as ambitious as this requires a basic description of various fields in order to avoid getting bogged down in all the historical details.