The book includes interviews with a number of Jewish mystics and scholars, as well as the author's encounters with various Jewish groups practicing who incorporate mysticism in their religious practice.

[1] Weiner, a Reform[2] rabbi, based the book on his travels to various Jewish communities in his search for Jewish mysticism.

[3] For many American Jews, Weiner's work was their first exposure to the Jewish mystical tradition.

[4][2] Nine and a Half Mystics includes a number of interviews with Jewish mystics and scholars including: In addition to interviews, Rabbi Weiner also travelled to various Jewish communities where Jewish mysticism is incorporated in religious practice.

Weiner visited the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn, the Breslov community in New York and Israel, among others.