Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism
Level: Advanced |
When non-Jews ask about Judaism, they commonly ask questions like: Do you
believe in heaven and hell? In angels or the devil? What happens to the soul
after death? What is the nature of G-d and the
universe? The answers to questions like these define most religions; in fact,
I have heard some people say that the purpose of religion is to answer these
kinds of questions. Yet in Judaism, most of these cosmological issues are
wide open to personal opinion. The areas of Jewish thought that most extensively
discuss these issues, Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, were traditionally not
even taught to people until the age of 40, when they had completed their
education in Torah and
Talmud.
Mysticism and mystical experiences have been a part of Judaism since the
earliest days. The Torah contains many stories of mystical experiences, from
visitations by angels to prophetic dreams and visions. The Talmud considers
the existence of the soul and when it becomes attached to the body. Jewish
tradition tells that the souls of all Jews were in existence at the time
of the Giving of the Torah and were present at the time and agreed to the
Covenant. There are many stories of places similar to Christian heaven and
purgatory, of wandering souls and reincarnation. The Talmud contains vague
hints of a mystical school of thought that was taught only to the most advanced
students and was not committed to writing. There are several references in
ancient sources to ma'aseh bereishit (the work of creation) and ma'aseh merkavah
(the work of the chariot [of Ezekiel's vision]), the two primary subjects
of mystical thought at the time.
In the middle ages, many of these mystical teachings were committed to writing
in books like the Zohar. Many of these writings were asserted to be secret
ancient writings or compilations of secret ancient writings.
Like most subjects of Jewish belief, the area
of mysticism is wide open to personal interpretation. Some traditional Jews
take mysticism very seriously. Mysticism is an integral part of
Chasidic Judaism, for example, and passages
from kabbalistic sources are routinely included in traditional prayer books.
Other traditional Jews take mysticism with a grain of salt. One prominent
Orthodox Jew, when introducing a speaker
on the subject of Jewish mysticism, said basically, "it's nonsense, but it's
Jewish nonsense, and the study of anything Jewish, even nonsense, is worthwhile."
The mystical school of thought came to be known as Kabbalah, from the Hebrew
root Qof-Beit-Lamed, meaning "to receive, to
accept." The word is usually translated as "tradition." In Hebrew, the word
does not have any of the dark, sinister, evil connotations that it has developed
in English. For example, the English word "cabal" (a secret group of
conspirators) is derived from the Hebrew word Kabbalah, but neither the Hebrew
word nor the mystical doctrines have any evil implications to Jews.
Kabbalah is one of the most grossly misunderstood parts of Judaism. I have
received several messages from non-Jews describing Kabbalah as "the dark
side of Judaism," describing it as evil or black magic. On the other end
of the spectrum, I receive many messages wanting to learn more about the
trendy doctrine popularized by various Jewish and non-Jewish celebrities.
These misunderstandings stem largely from the fact that the teachings of
Kabbalah have been so badly distorted by mystics and occultists. Kabbalah
was popular among Christian intellectuals during the Renaissance and
Enlightenment periods, who reinterpreted its doctrines to fit into their
Christian dogma. In more recent times, many have wrenched kabbalistic symbolism
out of context for use in tarot card readings and other forms of divination
and magic that were never a part of the original Jewish teachings. Today,
many well-known celebrities have popularized a new age pop-psychology distortion
of kabbalah (I have heard it derisively referred to as "crap-balah"). It
borrows the language of kabbalah and the forms of Jewish folk superstitions,
but at its heart it has more in common with the writings of Deepak Chopra
than with any authentic Jewish source.
I do not mean to suggest that magic is not a part of Kabbalah. There are
certainly many traditional Jewish stories that involve the use of hidden
knowledge to affect the world in ways that could be described as magic. The
Talmud and other sources ascribe supernatural
activities to many great rabbis. Some rabbis
pronounced a name of G-d and ascended into heaven
to consult with the G-d and the angels on issues of great public concern.
One scholar is said to have created an artificial man by reciting various
names of G-d. Much later stories tell of a rabbi who created a man out of
clay (a golem) and brought it to life by putting in its mouth a piece of
paper with a name of G-d on it. However, this area of Kabbalah (if indeed
it is more than mere legend) is not something that is practiced by the average
Jew, or even the average rabbi. There are a number of stories that discourage
the pursuit of such knowledge and power as dangerous and irresponsible. If
you see any books on the subject of "practical kabbalah," you can safely
dismiss them as not authentic Jewish tradition because, as these stories
demonstrate, this kind of knowledge was traditionally thought to be far too
dangerous to be distributed blindly to the masses.
It is important to note that all of these magical effects were achieved through
the power of G-d, generally by calling upon the name of G-d. These practices
are no more "evil" than the miracles of the prophets, or the miracles that
Christians ascribe to Jesus. In fact, according to some of my mystically-inclined
friends, Jesus performed his miracles using kabbalistic techniques learned
from the Essenes, a Jewish sect of that time
that was involved in mysticism.
To give you an idea of the nature of Kabbalah, I will briefly discuss one
of the better known, fundamental concepts of kabbalistic thought: the concept
of G-d as Ein Sof, the Ten Sefirot, and the
kabbalistic tree of life. This explanation is, at best, a gross
oversimplification. I do not pretend to fully understand these ideas.
According to Kabbalah, the true essence of G-d is so transcendent that it
cannot be described, except with reference to what it is not. This true essence
of G-d is known as Ein Sof, which literally means "without end," which
encompasses the idea of His lack of boundaries in both time and space. In
this truest form, the Ein Sof is so transcendent that It cannot have any
direct interaction with the universe. The Ein Sof interacts with the universe
through ten emanations from this essence, known as the Ten Sefirot.
These
Sefirot correspond to qualities of G-d. They consist of, in descending order,
Keter (the crown), Chokhmah (wisdom), Binah (intuition, understanding), Chesed
(mercy) or Gedulah (greatness), Gevurah (strength), Tiferet (glory), Netzach
(victory), Hod (majesty), Yesod (foundation) and Malkut (sovereignty). The
middle five qualities are mentioned explicitly and in order at I Chronicles
29:11: Yours, O L-rd, is the greatness (gedulah), the strength (gevurah),
the glory (tiferet), the power (netzach), and the splendor (hod). I have
seen this passage translated in widely varying ways, but the Hebrew corresponds
to the names of the Sefirot in order.
The Ten Sefirot include both masculine and feminine qualities. Kabbalah pays
a great deal of attention to the feminine aspects of G-d.
The Sefirot are commonly represented as in the diagram at left. This diagram
is commonly known as the Tree of the Sefirot or the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
There is great significance to the position of these various attributes and
their interconnectedness.
The Sefirot are not separate deities, as some might think by taking this
too literally. They are intimately a part of G-d, and yet they are in contact
with the universe in a way that the Ein Sof is not. The Sefirot connect with
everything in the universe, including humanity. The good and evil that we
do resonates through the Sefirot and affects the entire universe, up to and
including G-d Himself.
Readings in this area should be undertaken with extreme caution. There is
entirely too much literature out there under the name "Kabbalah" that has
little or nothing to do with the true Jewish teachings on this subject. Any
book on the subject of practical Kabbalah should be disregarded immediately;
no legitimate source would ever make such teachings available to a faceless
mass audience. Books written by Christians should be viewed with extreme
skepticism, because many Christian sources have reinterpreted Kabbalah to
fit into Christian dogma.
There is a nice online introductory Kabbalah course available from Aish Ha-Torah
at Kabbala
101.
For an academic and scholarly information about
Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah, check out the works of Professor Gershom Scholem.
He was a prolific writer on the subject, and his writings are widely available
and well-respected by both Jews and non-Jews. Dozens of his books are available
at amazon.com.
Click here to see a list.
For a more personal and experiential approach to Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah,
see the works of Aryeh Kaplan. I am informed that his books are reliably
authoritative and uncompromisingly Orthodox. I have found his materials on
meditation and prayer, especially
Jewish
Meditation, to be particularly useful in my own devotional practices.
Click here to see a list of his books available at amazon.com
Of course, if you are serious about Kabbalah, you must get yourself a teacher
that you can work with one-on-one, either online or in person.
© Copyright 5757-5761 (1996-2001), Tracey
R Rich
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