The Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of Creation, is the most important among the anonymous writings of the Kabbalah. Across the generations, Kabbalists, alchemists and scholars have sought to penetrate its mystery. The Hebrew book of creation describes, over a few pages, the process of the Creation of the world, starting from the emanation of ten divine lights (Sephiroth) and twenty-two Hebrew letters, constituting the thirty-two mystic paths of Wisdom. The book can be read on many levels, some will discover the keys to Creation within it, others a means of meditation on Hebrew letters to the benefit of spiritual repair. The widescale uses and reproductions of the manuscripts of the Sefer Yetzirah, in the Middle Ages, led to the distribution of differing versions. Currently, students of the Kabbalah or Occult Philosophy often have difficulty in connecting the symbolic relationships in the book with the quotations by various authors, given the use of different versions. That is why, having reviewed the altered versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, Georges Lahy here offers an edition of the four texts most commonly used by Kabbalists but that also differ the most. This was done with the aim that every user of the book has the broadest and most complete vision of the text. The author presents four translations of the Sefer Yetzirah, two of which with the Hebrew text, namely: The version by Vilna Gaon and Isaac Louria, which provides references. The short version by Abraham de Posquières, the long version by Shabbataï Donnelo and the oldest version by Saadya Gaon. These texts are followed by general commentaries by Georges Lahy and comparative tables between versions. This is not a further commentary on the Book of Creation, but rather an unbiased overview of leading commentaries produced by 11th and 20th Century Kabbala masters. In an annex, the author has inserted a full translation of the views ofNahmanides (1190-1270) on the Sefer Yetzirah.
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