The "Yedid Nefesh" institute was founded by Rabbi Yechiel Avraham Bar Lev in 1987. Its aim is to publish and distribute books and articles on the subject of the "revealed" Torah and the "concealed" Torah (i.e. Kabbalah). The institute only intends publishing and printing books written by Rabbi Bar Lev himself.
Rabbi Bar Lev, born in Tel Aviv in 1943, attended the "Yeshivat Tel Aviv" elementary school, and continued on to "Ha'Yishuv Ha'Hadash". The most intensive period in his education in the field of Torah literature was during the five or so he attended the Poneviz Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. After his marriage, he continued his secular studies and in 1976 received a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Arizona, USA. After completing his studies, Rabbi Bar Lev returned to Israel with his family, and entered the field of education.
In 1985 Rabbi Bar Lev began to take an interest in the internal depths of the Torah. After great efforts studying on his own, he was able to become close to his teacher, the saintly Rabbi Haim Friedlander, zt"l. over a period of about two years, Rabbi Bar Lev would visit Rabbi Friedlander once or twice a week for a number of hours, and during these visits Rabbi Bar Lev would attain his principle knowledge of the "hidden" Torah. Rabbi Bar Lev's personal philosophy and outlook were molded in these meetings with his illustrious teacher. Rabbi Friedlander's serious illness prevented Rabbi Bar Lev from continuing these visits, but shortly before his illness he encouraged Rabbi Bar Lev to write down he main points of what they studied together. Rabbi Friedlander not only gave Rabbi Bar Lev some practical advice concerning the contents of his writings, he even advised him regarding the outer covers of the books.
Rabbi Bar Lev's first book was published in 1987, and he called it "Yedid Nefesh – Introduction to Kabbalah". Rabbi Friedlander zt"l passed away a short time before this book was published, but did read a number of pages from the book before his departing.

To date, 55 editions of this book have been printed. It has been translated to English, Spanish and Polish (via the Ron Lauder Foundation), and is in the process of being translated to Russian. (the complete English version can be found in the section dealing with books on Kabbalah at the internet site www.yedidnefesh.com.)
After writing the introduction, Rabbi Bar Lev wrote "Yedid Nefesh – Devotions in Prayer" in three parts. The first part is on weekday prayers, the second part on Sabath and New Moon prayers, and the third part on Holyday prayers. In these books the author describes the devotions of the Ar"i z"l as written down in "Pri Etz Haim" and Sha'ar Ha'Kavanot". Similarly the author brings extracts from the Ramha"l, from the "Kol Ya'akov" prayer books, the prayer book of Rabbi Shabtai z"l, of the Ba'al Ha'Tania", the Gr"a, of the Shl"a ("Sha'ar Hashamayim"), of the Rema"k, from "Leshem Sh'vo Ve'Ashlama", and others.
The books received approvals from the late Rabbi Kaduri, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Shlomo Fisher, Rav Saria Deblicki, the Rabbi of Sadigora, and others.

After that, Rabbi Bar Lev wrote two books called "Nachalat Binyamin", one on the laws of the Sabbath, a guide to the 39 basic principles of work forbidden on the Sabath, and second book a guide to the study of sacrifices.

Next Rabbi Bar Lev published the book "Magid Meysharim" by Rabbi Yosef Karo. A translation was added to some sections of the book, where appropriate, as were introductions and prefaces to assist in the understanding of the subjects concerning the "hidden" Torah. The book was translated into English and will soon be published. (The English version of the book will be presented at the abovementioned internet site www.yedidnefesh.com .)

Furthermore, Rabbi Bar Lev wrote a "Yedid Nefesh" commentary on the Zohar. In the 14 volumes of the work, Rabbi Bar Lev succeeded in inserting the translation in the body of the text, and adding his own "Yedid Nefesh" commentary on articles of the Zohar, based on such classical commentaries as "Or Ha"Hama" by Rabbi Avraham Azulai, "Damesek Eliezer" by Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yizhak Yehuda Yehiel, the librarian of Kamarna, "Zohar Ha"rakia" and "Yahel Or" by the Gr"a, "Mikdash Melech" by Rabbi Shalom Bozaglo, and others. He also added deeper studies regarding some articles of the Zohar, a collection of essays by the masters of Kabbalah and of Hassidism, from the Shl"a, "Daat U'Tevunah" by Rabbi Yosef Haim, the "Ben Ish Hai", Leshem Shvo Ve'Ashlama by Rabbi Shlomo Eliashiv, collections from the Gr"a prayer book, from the prayer book of the "Ba'al Ha'Tania", from "Derech Mizvotecha", the books of the Ramcha"l, and others.

Besides these, Rabbi Bar Lev has written a commentary on the Talmud Yerushalmi (14 volumes). It is based on classical commentaries such as "Korban Haeda", the Ridba"z, and Rabbi Haim Kanievski shlit"a (who gave his approval and blessing). In addition to the translation and commentary, some of the studies include halachic rulings of Ramba"m and Shulhan Aruch on the subject. Similarly, essays on philosophy, ethics and Hasidism by the Mahara"l, Shl"a, Ramha"l and other leaders of the Hasidic world are brought, quoted from books such as "Toldot Ya'akov Yosef", "Sefat Emet", "Shem Mi'Shmuel", and others.
The Talmud Yerushalmi can be seen at the Yedid Nefesh internet site www.yedidnefesh.com in the section headed "Talmud Yerushalmi".

The "Yedid Nefesh" Institute is at present in the process of publishing a new version of the Talmud Yerushalmi. The text in this publication of the Talmud is new (a "Me'orei Or" publication), and the accompanying commentary is pointed. The publication has been checked and proof read, existing notes have been expanded, and new ones have been added. Similarly, additional reference material has been added, based on the commentaries of Rabbis of outstanding stature in the fields of philosophy, Kabbala and Hassidism.