Kav HaYashar - Now In English

Kav HaYashar - The Just Measure

Excerpt from the foreword:

The Kozhnitzer Maggid said that studying passages of the Zohar from within the sefer Kav HaYashar had a more profound affect than studying the Zohar directly.

The Gaon of Ostrovtza explained, "Since there is a chain of levels of the soul, someone who has a soul rooted in a lower level cannot understand matters that originate from a very high place, for he is limited by the level of the root of his soul. Therefore, the Maggid said that if someone who learns a piece of Zohar from Kav HaYashar understands it on a higher level than someone who learns it on his own directly from the Zohar, for the author of Kav HaYashar imbued his sefer with the power of holiness of the lofty root of his soul. Thus, we can be affected and influenced more profoundly from Kav HaYashar than we can from the Zohar itself"

Rabbi Elimelech of Lezinsk, author of Noam Elimelech, knew the Kav HaYashar by heart, and reviewed it 102 (kav) times, corresponding to the title and the number of chapters. Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Tzemach Tzedek, third Rebbe of Lubavitch, advised his followers to learn the Kav HaYashar for the attainment of fear of Heaven. Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, the Sar Shalom, first Belzer Rebbe, learned Kav HaYashar 102 times as well, and testified that its holy words were the source of his fear of Heaven.