Changes

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.  

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 "how-to" books on the subject of "practical kabbalah" can be safely dismissed as not authentic Jewish tradition because true kabbalistic practices and techniques are never distributed impersonally to a faceless general public. They have always been thought by those who have entered deeply into Kabbalah 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 proven sound mind and mature and devout disposition, and have been carefully tested and chosen by the teacher (they are never chosen by themselves<ref>Jesus as a true rabbi emphatically stated to his disciples, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Those self-chosen individuals who have heard and read about Kabbalah, who have convinced themselves that they are inwardly called to study and master its secrets, and, after seeking for a teacher whom they themselves have decided to regard as genuine (based on standards that they have decided to apply for discernment), who present themselves to a reputed master of Kabbalah as ready candidates self-prepared for study, have by this very fact already proven themselves to be full of arrogant self-pride and delusion, and therefore absolutely unqualified to enter into its study. A genuine teacher of Kabbalah will dismiss such seekers with respectful advice to pursue "more useful studies" and no longer waste their time and their youth with such matters. There are an abundance of charletans and pretended masters of secret doctrines who are ready to receive them as disciples, "teachers" who have no knowledge of the truth, but who are very eager to victimize them, to "make them captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy" (Colossians 2:8), and receive both their adoration and their money. See 2 Timothy 3:1-9.</ref>), 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.

Any "how-to" books on the subject of "practical kabbalah" can be safely dismissed as not authentic Jewish tradition because true kabbalistic practices and techniques are never distributed impersonally to a faceless general public. They have always been thought by those who have entered deeply into Kabbalah 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, married, of proven sound mind and mature and devout disposition, and have been carefully tested and chosen by the teacher (they are never chosen by themselves<ref>Jesus as a true rabbi emphatically stated to his disciples, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Those self-chosen individuals who have heard and read about Kabbalah, who have convinced themselves that they are inwardly called to study and master its secrets, and, after seeking for a teacher whom they themselves have decided to regard as genuine (based on standards that they have decided to apply for discernment), who present themselves to a reputed master of Kabbalah as ready candidates self-prepared for study, have by this very fact already proven themselves to be full of arrogant self-pride and delusion, and therefore absolutely unqualified to enter into its study. A genuine teacher of Kabbalah will dismiss such seekers with respectful advice to pursue "more useful studies" and no longer waste their time and their youth with such matters. There are an abundance of charletans and pretended masters of secret doctrines who are ready to receive them as disciples, "teachers" who have no knowledge of the truth, but who are very eager to victimize them, to "make them captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy" (Colossians 2:8), and receive both their adoration and their money. See 2 Timothy 3:1-9.</ref>), 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.

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.