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'''Kabbalah''' also '''''Qabala''''' is a form of Jewish [[mysticism]], representing itself as a school of ancient mystical teachings traditionally taught only to those who had reached the age of 40 and who had already learned [[Torah]] and [[Talmud]]. In the [[middle ages]], some of these mystical teachings were committed to writing. Many of these writings were asserted to be secret ancient writings or compilations of secret ancient writings. In Judaism, most cosmological issues are wide open to personal opinion, and are extensively discussed in these teachings. The mystical school of thought came to be known as Kabbalah, from the Hebrew root '''''Qof-Beit-Lamed''''' (QBL), meaning "to receive, to accept." The word is usually translated as "tradition." The mystical teachings of kabbalah were partly written in the ''Book of Zohar'' ("Splendor"), and these incomplete teachings have been distorted by mystics and occultists and New Age practitioners, and novelty-seekers and celebrities in the pop-culture, all of them having in common a rejection of traditional Christianity.
==Mysticism in Judaism==
Mysticism and mystical experiences have been a part of Judaism since the earliest decades before the Christian Era.
Kabbalah is one of the most grossly misunderstood parts of Judaism. The mystical doctrines contained in it are said by its students and masters to have been revealed and entrusted to [[Ezra]] the Scribe 400 years before the appearance of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus of Nazareth]]. Mysticism is an integral part of [[Hasidic Judaism|Chasidic Judaism]], and passages from kabbalistic sources are routinely included in traditional Jewish prayer books.
Many traditional Jewish stories involve the use of hidden knowledge to affect the world in ways that could be described as magic, which was condemned by the Law of Moses. The Talmud and other sources ascribe [[supernatural]] activities to many great rabbis, claiming that some rabbis pronounced one of the names of God and ascended into heaven to consult with the God and the angels on issues of great public concern. One scholar is said to have created an artificial man by reciting various names of God. 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 God on it. However, this area of Kabbalah 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. 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 are said by kabbalists to be achieved through the power of God, not Satan, generally by calling upon the name of God. These practices and techniques produced [[phenomena]], which kabbalists claim include the miracles of the prophets, or the miracles that Christians ascribe to Jesus. According to some [[New Age]] practitioners, Jesus performed his miracles using kabbalistic techniques learned from the [[Essenes]], a Jewish sect of that time involved in mysticism.
==Ein Sof and the Ten Sefirot==
According to Kabbalah, the true essence of God is so transcendent that it cannot be described, except with reference to what it is not. This true essence of God is known as ''Ein Sof'', which literally means "without end," encompassing the idea of a lack of boundaries in both time and space. The Ein Sof in this "truest form" is so transcendent that It cannot have any direct interaction with the universe. For this reason an incarnation of God is impossible. The Ein Sof interacts with the universe through ten emanations from this "truest form" essence, known as the Ten Sefirot. The Sefirot are commonly represented in the diagram commonly known as the Tree of the Sefirot or the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and displayed in chart form in color.
These Sefirot correspond to qualities of God. In descending order they are,
*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).
Kabbalists assert that the middle five qualities are mentioned explicitly and in order in I Chronicles 29:11:
:"''Yours, O Lord, is the greatness (gedulah), the strength (gevurah), the glory (tiferet), the power (netzach), and the splendor (hod).''"
This verse passage has been translated in widely varying ways, but the Masoretic Hebrew text corresponds to the names of the Sefirot in order. See [http://biblehub.com/multi/1chronicles/29-11.htm multiple translations of 1 Chronicles 29:11].
There is supposed to be great significance to the position of these various attributes and their interconnectedness. The Ten Sefirot include both masculine and feminine qualities, and Kabbalah pays a great deal of attention to the feminine aspects of God.
According to serious kabbalists some take this too literally and regard the Sefirot as deities. The Sefirot are not separate deities. They are intimately a part of God, 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 God Himself.
==Misunderstanding and misrepresentations==
Misunderstandings of kabbalism 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. This fact does not stop many New Age practitioners from falsely (and often, with full awareness, deceitfully) claiming that they are.
Any books on the subject of "practical kabbalah" can be safely dismissed as not authentic Jewish tradition because true kabbalistic practices and techniques have always been thought by those who have entered deeply into it to be far too dangerous to be distributed to the common masses, and for this reason much of the deeply esoteric Kabbalah has never been entrusted to writing. Only disciples who have full knowledge of Torah and all of the Talmud, who are at ''least'' 40 years old, of sound mind and mature and devout disposition, and have been carefully tested and chosen by the teacher (never by themselves), are secretly recruited for study and training and given, by slow and patient degrees, over a period of a decade or more, eventually, full knowledge of genuine Kabbalah. Those who truly know Kabbalah are over 60 years old.
Today, many well-known celebrities have popularized a new age pop-psychology distortion of kabbalah. 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.
==Saint Paul==
Saint Paul shows in his letters indications that he (previously Saul of Tarsus, who studied as the feet of [[Gamaliel|Rabban Gamaliel]]), as a rabbi acknowledged and authorized by the Great Sanhedrim in Jerusalem, knew the esoteric doctrines and traditions of Judaism "far beyond those of my contemporaries". He counted all of this as "rubbish" compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified, "''a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.''"
The letter to the [[Colossians]] is an informed refutation and rebuttal of esoteric philosophy and empty mystical practices. He desired that they might "''have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.''"
==See also==
[[Ezra]]
[[Monism]]
[[category:Judaism]]
[[category:Religion]]
[[category:Renaissance]]
[[category:Cults]]
[[category:New Age]]
created new article
'''Kabbalah''' also '''''Qabala''''' is a form of Jewish [[mysticism]], representing itself as a school of ancient mystical teachings traditionally taught only to those who had reached the age of 40 and who had already learned [[Torah]] and [[Talmud]]. In the [[middle ages]], some of these mystical teachings were committed to writing. Many of these writings were asserted to be secret ancient writings or compilations of secret ancient writings. In Judaism, most cosmological issues are wide open to personal opinion, and are extensively discussed in these teachings. The mystical school of thought came to be known as Kabbalah, from the Hebrew root '''''Qof-Beit-Lamed''''' (QBL), meaning "to receive, to accept." The word is usually translated as "tradition." The mystical teachings of kabbalah were partly written in the ''Book of Zohar'' ("Splendor"), and these incomplete teachings have been distorted by mystics and occultists and New Age practitioners, and novelty-seekers and celebrities in the pop-culture, all of them having in common a rejection of traditional Christianity.
==Mysticism in Judaism==
Mysticism and mystical experiences have been a part of Judaism since the earliest decades before the Christian Era.
Kabbalah is one of the most grossly misunderstood parts of Judaism. The mystical doctrines contained in it are said by its students and masters to have been revealed and entrusted to [[Ezra]] the Scribe 400 years before the appearance of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus of Nazareth]]. Mysticism is an integral part of [[Hasidic Judaism|Chasidic Judaism]], and passages from kabbalistic sources are routinely included in traditional Jewish prayer books.
Many traditional Jewish stories involve the use of hidden knowledge to affect the world in ways that could be described as magic, which was condemned by the Law of Moses. The Talmud and other sources ascribe [[supernatural]] activities to many great rabbis, claiming that some rabbis pronounced one of the names of God and ascended into heaven to consult with the God and the angels on issues of great public concern. One scholar is said to have created an artificial man by reciting various names of God. 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 God on it. However, this area of Kabbalah 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. 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 are said by kabbalists to be achieved through the power of God, not Satan, generally by calling upon the name of God. These practices and techniques produced [[phenomena]], which kabbalists claim include the miracles of the prophets, or the miracles that Christians ascribe to Jesus. According to some [[New Age]] practitioners, Jesus performed his miracles using kabbalistic techniques learned from the [[Essenes]], a Jewish sect of that time involved in mysticism.
==Ein Sof and the Ten Sefirot==
According to Kabbalah, the true essence of God is so transcendent that it cannot be described, except with reference to what it is not. This true essence of God is known as ''Ein Sof'', which literally means "without end," encompassing the idea of a lack of boundaries in both time and space. The Ein Sof in this "truest form" is so transcendent that It cannot have any direct interaction with the universe. For this reason an incarnation of God is impossible. The Ein Sof interacts with the universe through ten emanations from this "truest form" essence, known as the Ten Sefirot. The Sefirot are commonly represented in the diagram commonly known as the Tree of the Sefirot or the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and displayed in chart form in color.
These Sefirot correspond to qualities of God. In descending order they are,
*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).
Kabbalists assert that the middle five qualities are mentioned explicitly and in order in I Chronicles 29:11:
:"''Yours, O Lord, is the greatness (gedulah), the strength (gevurah), the glory (tiferet), the power (netzach), and the splendor (hod).''"
This verse passage has been translated in widely varying ways, but the Masoretic Hebrew text corresponds to the names of the Sefirot in order. See [http://biblehub.com/multi/1chronicles/29-11.htm multiple translations of 1 Chronicles 29:11].
There is supposed to be great significance to the position of these various attributes and their interconnectedness. The Ten Sefirot include both masculine and feminine qualities, and Kabbalah pays a great deal of attention to the feminine aspects of God.
According to serious kabbalists some take this too literally and regard the Sefirot as deities. The Sefirot are not separate deities. They are intimately a part of God, 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 God Himself.
==Misunderstanding and misrepresentations==
Misunderstandings of kabbalism 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. This fact does not stop many New Age practitioners from falsely (and often, with full awareness, deceitfully) claiming that they are.
Any books on the subject of "practical kabbalah" can be safely dismissed as not authentic Jewish tradition because true kabbalistic practices and techniques have always been thought by those who have entered deeply into it to be far too dangerous to be distributed to the common masses, and for this reason much of the deeply esoteric Kabbalah has never been entrusted to writing. Only disciples who have full knowledge of Torah and all of the Talmud, who are at ''least'' 40 years old, of sound mind and mature and devout disposition, and have been carefully tested and chosen by the teacher (never by themselves), are secretly recruited for study and training and given, by slow and patient degrees, over a period of a decade or more, eventually, full knowledge of genuine Kabbalah. Those who truly know Kabbalah are over 60 years old.
Today, many well-known celebrities have popularized a new age pop-psychology distortion of kabbalah. 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.
==Saint Paul==
Saint Paul shows in his letters indications that he (previously Saul of Tarsus, who studied as the feet of [[Gamaliel|Rabban Gamaliel]]), as a rabbi acknowledged and authorized by the Great Sanhedrim in Jerusalem, knew the esoteric doctrines and traditions of Judaism "far beyond those of my contemporaries". He counted all of this as "rubbish" compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified, "''a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.''"
The letter to the [[Colossians]] is an informed refutation and rebuttal of esoteric philosophy and empty mystical practices. He desired that they might "''have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.''"
==See also==
[[Ezra]]
[[Monism]]
[[category:Judaism]]
[[category:Religion]]
[[category:Renaissance]]
[[category:Cults]]
[[category:New Age]]