Josef Blaha has created a remarkable collection of sixteen essays, which address the questions: "Where do we go? Who are we?" It is an invitation through Jewish history, poetry and philosophy provided by means of the purgative way (via purgativa) of the Kabbalah. The Hebrew word Bereshit bara Elohim, communicates to man that in the beginning God created heaven and earth, in order to make a home in man. Blaha knows that this fi rst act of God is accompanied by wisdom (the sephirah Chokhmah). If this wisdom existed in the beginning, why was this wisdom (sapientia) lost in the struggles of history? Why cannot we see it, not only in its shining brightness, but in order to fi nd this wisdom we o en have to walk in the rain or in dryness, and moreover dazed in the mist of vanity, in dread and fear, of pain and unbearable anxiety? Yes, this could be asked by the nationof Israel.