Notes on Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism)

Roots in 'wisdom' concept as the active, revealing (feminine) aspect of God. Centers around speculation about the relationship between the infinite, unknowable Ein Sef (God) and the created world.

Kabbalah means 'Tradition' (literally, to receive, accept). The word 'cabal' (a group of conspirators) is derived from this word. Flourished in medieval period. Classic text, the Zohar, (splendour) a commentary on the Torah, said to be the work of Simon ben Yohai (2^nd Century CE) but not published till 13^th century (in Spain, by Moses de Leon). Many commentaries on the Zohar.For English selections see Title Zohar, the Book of splendor; selected and edited by Gershom G. Scholem. New York, Schocken Books [1963, c1949]

Loss of Jerusalem/Temple led some Jews to speculate that God had 'withdrawn' from the world - thus the 'hiddenness' of God is a major theme. Sometimes God is understood as hidden within the world, sometimes as hidden from the world.

God 'created' the world through God's 'wisdom' with the sefirot (emanations). These are divided into 5 masculine and 5 feminine, representing God's compassion and judgement respectively.

In some texts, nine sefirot emerge from the first (the Spirit), suggesting a gradation - in this view, creation is not ex nihilo. There is a pantheistic tendency in much Kabbalistic thought.

The image of a tree is often used: the lowest sefirah, the Shekhinah touches the earth.

Numbers (Hebrew letters are all assigned a numerical value) and the power of the Name of God also features prominently in much of the literature.

These are also said to be organs of Adam Kadmon, Primal Man - whom we all mirror. We are microcosms of the macrocosm, and there is correspondence between the different parts of our beings (mind, intent, intelligence, soul, consciousness, etc) and the divine qualities which each of the sefirot represent. The correct co-relation of the different aspects of our selves will harmonise our consciousness, energy and form.

Evil is depicted as a type of 'sub-set', Sitra Achra, led by Samuel and Lilith - within the sefirot yet unable to survive without sucking life like a parasite from others.

Our sinful actions feed the Sitra Achra, while the keeping of the mitzvot keep evil in check.

Evil	"YHVH"	Goodness
He creates darkness	undifferentiated	He forms the light
	"ALHYM"
Left Path Tree of Death	battle between good & evil restoration by the "just" Middle Path Tree of Knowledge	Right Path Tree of Life

"Clearly "YHVH" should be situated above "good" and "evil", for the Lord is properly speaking "beyond Names". Nothing of the Divine Essence is ever given. Only "ALHYM" should be associated with the problem of "left" & "right""(1999, globalproject.org.

Israel's own sins allow the male Samuel to usurp the control of the Shekhinah, separating her from her true husband, Tifiret. The Shekhinah can not then serve as the channel (womb) through which divine power reaches humanity and the created world.

In Chasidic mysticism (Israel Baal Shem Tov, 1700 - 60) God first 'contracted', then projected 'light' into the empty space from which God had 'withdrawn'. This lights was Adam Kadmon, which dispersed into the space in the form of various vessels, kelim. The further these vessels were from God, the less able they were to actually retain the light, which subsequently shattered into pieces. Even a reconfiguration of the sefirot failed to complete the process whereby the light fully pervades the lower regions. It is humanity's task to help to raise these broken pieces of lights (rectification, or tikkun olam) so that goodness prevails. Our task is to repair the world.

There is much speculation about the nature of the soul. The soul can experience direct communion with God by rising through mystical states, often depicted as a journey through the seven heavens to the Throne of Glory. There is a very complex angeology.

At a popular level, Kabbalah and magic have tended to blur: use of talismans, healing, cursing, tales of rabbis who acquire supernatural powers, including the ability to create golems (clay men) which are then given life by placing a paper with God's Name written on it in its mouth. Since many texts have God creating the world by the power inherent in the Hebrew alphabet, it was thought that the secrets of the universe could be unraveled by mastering the mathematics of language.

God's secret names could unlock the various doors of each section of the journey upwards, towards his Throne.

Kabbalah was popular in Spain (thirteenth century), moving from there to the city of Safed in Palestine after the explusion of the Jews (1492). It also flourished in Germany (11 - 12^th centuries).

Kabbalah also influenced the hasidic movement, since it offered immediate communion with/ experience of God.

Baal Shem Tov (the Besht) was an itinerant healer in Poland, whose charismatic authority challengeed the routinized leadership of the trained rabbis. There are accounts of the Besht's spiritual ascent to the Throne. He taught that God is everwhere (in nature especially) and can be 'experienced'. He did not decry study or traditional worship but stressed the inner, subjective awareness of God and what he called 'joyful service', the intent to praise God in all we do. Devekut (devotion) could be expressed in song and dance outside the Synagogue liturgy.

The value of an individual depends not on their scholarship or wisdom (as in rabbinical tradition) but on their 'inner state'.

In hasidic Judaism, the role of the tzaddick (great souled man) took on a mediatorial function, linking the divine goodness with his followers and thereby aiding the process of rectification.

"The Hasidim had great teachers - tzaddikkim, they were called, religious ones. Each Hasidic community had its own tzaddik, and his people would go to him with their problems, and he would give them advice. They followed these leaders blindly. The Hasidim believed that the tzaddik was a superhuman link between themselves and God. Every act of his and every word he spoke was holy. Even the food he touched became holy. For example, they would grab the food scraps he left on his plate and eat them, because the food had become holy through his touch, and they wanted some of this holiness inside themselves … some of them were out and out frauds, and they exploited their people. Others were sincere …. Ther are even some Hasidic groups who believe their leaders should take upon themselves the suffering of the Jewish people" (pp 111 - 112).

Intriguing that in all three traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) there are theories about the complex nature of God (sefirot, Trinity, etc) and some have placed special people between God and others. Trees of Life feature in Jewish and Muslim mysticism, as does the journey of ascent. Islam and Judaism also contain stories of souls pre-existing creation. Both Muslim and Jewish mystics have had their critics among the more exoteric, legally inclined members of their tradition. Both have been charged with heretical views - especially on the relationship of the divine and the human. Both, too, have wrestled with the problem of evil and incline towards positing a divine origin. Without light there is no darkness, without evil no goodness, for nothing is truly moral unless it is the result of a conscious rejection of the immoral. Good and evil may only be terms that have any meaning within the 'created order', not with reference to God. Kabbalah has also asserted that we can only speak about what God is not, not about what God is.

The TEN SEFIROT: Keter (crown), Binah (intuition), Chokhmah (wisdom), Chesed (mercy), Gevurah (strength), Hod (majesty), Yesod (foundation), Netzach (victory), Tiferet (glory), and the Shekhinah (or Malkut).

Globalprojects.ord (1999) Essay on Theodicy http://www.globalprojects.org/equiaeon/theodicy.htm

Alan Unterman (1985) Jews: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices London, Routledge