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The primary texts of Kabbalah were allegedly once part of an ongoing oral tradition. The written texts are obscure and difficult for readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish spirituality which assumes extensive knowledge of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Midrash (Jewish hermeneutic tradition) and halakha (Jewish religious law).
For kabbalists, ten utterances in Genesis with which God created the world are linked to the ten sefirot —the divine structure of all being. [1] According to the Zohar and the Sefer ha-Yihud, the Torah is synonymous with God. [2] More specifically, in the Sefer ha-Yihud, the letters in the Torah are the forms of God. The kabbalist looks beyond the literal aspects of the text, to find the hidden mystical meaning. The text not only offers traditions and ways of thinking, but it also reveals the reality of God. [1] One of the first Jewish philosophers, Philo of Alexandria (20BCE-40), said that Abraham knew the essential Torah, before it was given, because Abraham was himself a philosopher: he observed the world around him and looked inside himself to discover the laws of nature. While this is not strictly speaking a mystical notion, it does introduce the idea of an inner Torah that underlies the written word. Much later, in the 19th century, the Sfas Emes, a Hasidic rebbe, made the assertion that it was actually Abraham's deeds that became Torah. The Torah is thus seen as an ongoing story played out through the lives of the Nation of Israel. [1] The Torah is an important text because even the most minor traditions of the Kabbalah will acknowledge its aspects of the divine. [2]
Jewish forms of esotericism existed over 2,000 years ago. Ben Sira warns against it, saying: "You shall have no business with secret things". [3] Nonetheless, mystical studies were undertaken and resulted in mystical literature. The first to appear within Judaism was the Apocalyptic literature of the second and first pre-Christian centuries and which contained elements that carried over to later Kabbalah. According to Josephus, such writings were in the possession of the Essenes and were jealously guarded by them against disclosure, for which they claimed a certain antiquity (see Philo, De Vita Contemplativa, iii., and Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies, ix. 27).
That books containing secret lore were kept hidden away by (or for) the "enlightened" is stated in 2 Esdras xiv. 45–46, where Pseudo-Ezra is told to publish the twenty-four books of the canon openly that the worthy and the unworthy may alike read, but to keep the seventy other books hidden in order to "deliver them only to such as be wise" (compare Dan. xii. 10); for in them are the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.
Instructive for the study of the development of Jewish mysticism is the Book of Jubilees written around the time of King John Hyrcanus. It refers to mysterious writings of Jared, Cain, and Noah, and presents Abraham as the renewer, and Levi as the permanent guardian, of these ancient writings. It offers a cosmogony based upon the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and connected with Jewish chronology and Messianology, while at the same time insisting upon the heptad (7) as the holy number, rather than upon the decadic (10) system adopted by the later haggadists and observable in the Sefer Yetzirah. The Pythagorean idea of the creative powers of numbers and letters was shared with Sefer Yetzirah and was known in the time of the Mishnah before 200 CE.
Early elements of Jewish mysticism can be found in the non-Biblical texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. Some parts of the Talmud and the Midrash also focus on the esoteric and mystical, particularly Hagigah 12b-14b. Many esoteric texts, among them Hekalot Rabbati, Sefer HaBahir, Torat Hakana, Sefer P'liyah, Midrash Otiyot d'Rabbi Akiva, the Bahir, and the Zohar claim to be from the Talmudic era, though some of these works, most notably the Bahir and Zohar, are conjectured by some[ clarification needed ] modern scholars to possibly be medieval works pseudepigraphically ascribed to the ancient past.
Traditional orthodoxy, however, does not agree to this. In the medieval era Jewish mysticism developed under the influence of the word-number esoteric text Sefer Yetzirah. Jewish sources attribute the book to the patriarch Abraham, though the text itself offers no claim as to authorship. This book, and especially its embryonic concept of the Sefirot, became the object of systematic study of several mystical brotherhoods which eventually came to be called baale ha-kabbalah (בעלי הקבלה "possessors or masters of the Kabbalah").
Hekhalot literature (Hekhalot, "Palaces") are not a single text. Rather, they are a genre of writings with shared characteristics. These texts primarily focus either on how to achieve a heavenly ascent through the Hekhalot and what to expect there, or on drawing down angelic spirits to interact and help the adept. There are several larger documents of the hekhalot, such as Hekhalot Rabbati, in which six of the seven palaces of God are described, Hekhalot Zutarti, Shi'ur Qomah and sixth-century 3 Enoch , as well as hundreds of small documents, many little more than fragments.
Sefer Yetzirah (סֵפֶר יְצִירָה) ("Book [of] Formation/Creation"), also known as Hilkhot Yetzira ("Laws of Formation"), is a primary source of Kabbalistic teaching. The first commentaries on this small book were written in the 10th century, a book by the title is mentioned as early as the 6th century, and its linguistic organization of the Hebrew alphabet could be from as early as the 2nd century. Its historical origins remain obscure, although Kabbalists believe that it was authored by Abraham and edited by Rabbi Akiva. It exists today in a number of editions, up to 2,500 words long (about the size of a pamphlet). It organizes the cosmos into "32 Paths of Wisdom", comprising "10 Sefirot" (numbers, not the Sefirot of later Kabbalah) and "22 letters" of the Hebrew alphabet. It uses this structure to organize cosmic phenomena ranging from the seasons of the calendar to the emotions of the intellect, and is essentially an index of cosmic correspondences. [4]
Bahir (בהיר) ("Illumination"), also known as Midrash of Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana - a book of special interest to students of Kabbalah because it serves as a kind of epitome that surveys the essential concepts of the subsequent literature of Kabbalah. It is about 12,000 words (about the size of a magazine). Despite its name "Illumination", it is notoriously cryptic and difficult to understand (but not impossible). Much of it is written in parables, one after the other. The Bahir opens with a quote attributed to Nehunya ben HaKana, a Talmudic sage of the 1st century, and the rest of the book is an unfolding discussion about the quote. Jewish tradition considers the whole book to be written in the spirit of Nehunya (or even literally written by him). It was first published in Provence France (near Italy) in 1176. Historians suspect Yitzhak HaIvver (Isaac the Blind) wrote the book at this time, albeit he incorporated oral traditions from a much earlier time about the Tanakh, Talmud, Siddur, Yetzirah, and other Rabbinic texts. [5]
Sefer Raziel HaMalakh (רזיאל המלאך) (Book of Raziel the Angel) is a collection of esoteric writings, probably compiled and edited by the same hand, but originally not the work of one author.
Leopold Zunz ("G. V." 2d ed., p. 176) distinguishes three main parts: (1) the Book Ha-Malbush; (2) the Great Raziel; (3) the Book of Secrets, or the Book of Noah. These three parts are still distinguishable—2b–7a, 7b–33b, 34a and b. After these follow two shorter parts entitled "Creation" and "Shi'ur Ḳomah," and after 41a come formulas for amulets and incantations. [6]
Sefer haḤesheq (Hebrew : ספר החשק "Book of Delight"), a kabbalistic treatise dealing with the Divine names and their efficacy in mystical practices. Passed down by Abraham Abulafia, the information distinguishes between the various methods of kabbalistic transmission to later generations. Abulafia opposes the method he received to the Talmudic and theosophical Sefirotic methods.
In order to understand my intention regarding [the meaning of] Qolot [voices] I shall hand down to you the known Qabbalot, some of them having been received from mouth to mouth from the sages of [our] generation, and others that I have received from the books named Sifrei Qabbalah composed by the ancient sages, the Kabbalists, blessed be their memory, concerning the wondrous topics; and other [traditions) bestowed on me by God, blessed be He, which came to me from ThY in the form of the Daughter of the Voice, [Bat Qol],these being the higher Qabbalot. [7]
Zohar (זהר) ("Splendor") – the most important text of Kabbalah, at times achieving even canonical status as part of Oral Torah. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah, written in an artificial [8] mixture of several Aramaic dialects, [9] [10] [11] [12] like the Babylonian Targumic Aramaic of Targum Onkelos [10] [11] [12] and Babylonian Talmudic Aramaic. [9] [10] [11] [12]
Gershom Scholem argued that Moses de León (1240-1305) was the sole author of the Zohar. More recently, Yehuda Liebes contended that while De León may have been the primary author, he incorporated or recast selections from contemporary kabbalists [13] (e.g. Joseph Gikatilla, Joseph of Hamadan, Bahya ben Asher). Most recently, Kabbalah scholars such as Ronit Meroz, Daniel Abrams and Boaz Huss have been demonstrating that the materials within the Zohar underwent several generations of writing, re-writing and redaction. De León claimed to discover the text of the Zohar while in the land of Israel and attributed it to the 2nd-century Shimon ben Yohai, who is the main character of the text. The text gained enormous popularity throughout the Jewish world.
Pardes Rimonim (in Hebrew: פרדס רימונים) (Garden of Pomegranates) – the magnum opus of Moshe Cordovero (1522–1570), published in the 16th century. It is the main source of Cordoverian Kabbalah, a comprehensive interpretation of the Zohar and a friendly rival of the Lurianic interpretation.
Etz Hayim (in Hebrew: עץ חיים) ("Tree [of] Life") is a text of the teachings of Isaac Luria collected by his disciple Chaim Vital. It is the primary interpretation and synthesis of Lurianic Kabbalah. It was first published in Safed in the 16th century. It consists of the primary introduction to the remainder of the Lurianic system. [14] [15] The Shemona She'arim (eight gates): is the full Lurianic system as arranged by Shmuel Vital, the son of Haim Vital. Eitz Hayim is the only work published within Hayim Vital's lifetime, the rest of his writings were buried with him in an unedited form. Supposedly Shmuel Vital had a dream that he was to exhume his father's grave and remove certain writings leaving the others buried. [16] [17] Shmuel Vital went on then to redact and publish the works as the Eight Gates which are then, at times subdivided into other works: [18] [19]
Sephardi and Mizrahi Kabbalists endeavor to study all eight gates. Etz Hayim is published standard in a single volume three part arrangement, the initial two parts published by Haim Vital, with a third part, Nahar Shalom by Rabbi Shalom Sharabi, being now considered the third part. Ashkenazi Kabbalists often tend to focus only on Eitz Haim, with explanations of the RaMHaL (Rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzato). [20] However this is not always the case. There are Yeshivot such as Shaar Shmayim that deal with the works of Haim Vital in their entirety. [21]
Kabbalah or Qabalah is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal. The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its origin in medieval Judaism to its later adaptations in Western esotericism. Jewish Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God—the mysterious Ein Sof —and the mortal, finite universe. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism.
The Zohar is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of ego to darkness and "true self" to "the light of God".
Sefer Yetzirah is a book on Jewish mysticism. Early commentaries, such as the Kuzari, treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. The word Yetzirah is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word Briah is used for "Creation". The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing how the things of our universe came into existence. Conversely, Judah Halevi asserts that the main objective of the book, with its various examples, is to give to man the means by which he is able to understand the unity and omnipotence of God, which appear multiform on one side and, yet, are uniform.
Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia was the founder of the school of "Prophetic Kabbalah". He was born in Zaragoza, Spain, in 1240, and is assumed to have died sometime after 1291 following a stay on the small and windswept island of Comino.
The Dardaim or Dor Daim, are adherents of the Dor Deah movement in Orthodox Judaism. That movement took its name in 1912 in Yemen under Rabbi Yiḥyah Qafiḥ, and had its own network of synagogues and schools, although, in actuality, the movement existed long before that name had been coined for it. According to ethnographer and historian, Shelomo Dov Goitein, author and historiographer, Hayyim Habshush had been a member of this movement before it had been given the name Dor Deah, writing, “...He and his friends, partly under European influence, but driven mainly by developments among the Yemenite Jews themselves, formed a group who ardently opposed all those forces of mysticism, superstition and fatalism which were then so prevalent in the country and strove for exact knowledge and independent thought, and the application of both to life.” It was only some years later, when Rabbi Yihya Qafih became the headmaster of the new Jewish school in Sana'a built by the Ottoman Turks and where he wanted to introduce a new curriculum in the school whereby boys would also learn arithmetic and the rudiments of the Arabic and Turkish languages that Rabbi Yihya Yitzhak Halevi gave to Rabbi Qafih's movement the name Daradʻah, a word which is an Arabic broken plural made-up of the Hebrew words Dör Deʻoh, and which means "Generation of Knowledge."
Bahir or Sefer HaBahir is an anonymous mystical work, attributed to a 1st-century rabbinic sage Nehunya ben HaKanah because it begins with the words, "R. Nehunya ben HaKanah said". It is also known as Midrash of Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKanahמִדְרָשׁ רַבִּי נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנָה.
Yosef Hayim was a leading Baghdadi hakham, authority on halakha, and Master Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work on halakhaBen Ish Ḥai, a collection of the laws of everyday life interspersed with mystical insights and customs, addressed to the masses and arranged by the weekly Torah portion.
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero was a central figure in the historical development of Kabbalah, leader of a mystical school in 16th-century Safed, Ottoman Syria. He is known by the acronym the Ramak.
Gilgul is a concept of reincarnation or "transmigration of souls" in Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism. In Hebrew, the word gilgul means "cycle" or "wheel" and neshamot is the plural for "souls." Souls are seen to cycle through lives or incarnations, being attached to different human bodies over time. Which body they associate with depends on their particular task in the physical world, spiritual levels of the bodies of predecessors and so on. The concept relates to the wider processes of history in Kabbalah, involving cosmic Tikkun, and the historical dynamic of ascending Lights and descending Vessels from generation to generation.
Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (1885–1954) or Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag, also known as the Baal Ha-Sulam in reference to his magnum opus, was an orthodox rabbi and kabbalist born in Łuków, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, to a family of scholars connected to the Hasidic courts of Porisov and Belz. Rabbi Ashlag lived in the Holy Land from 1922 until his death in 1954. In addition to his Sulam commentary on the Zohar, his other primary work, Talmud Eser Sefirot is regarded as the central textbook for students of Kabbalah. Ashlag systematically interpreted the wisdom and promoted its wide dissemination. In line with his directives, many contemporary adherents of Ashlag's teachings strive to spread Kabbalah to the masses.
Sefirot, meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut. The term is alternatively transliterated into English as sephirot/sephiroth, singular sefira/sephirah.
Beit El Kabbalist yeshiva is a center of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem. Today it consists of two buildings, one in the Ruhama neighbourhood of West Jerusalem, built in 1948, and another in Old City’s Jewish Quarter, built in 1974.
Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of Kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlier Kabbalah of the Zohar that had disseminated in Medieval circles.
Etz Hayim, also transliterated as Eitz Chaim, is a common term used in Judaism. The expression can be found in Genesis 2:9, referring to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. It is also found in the Book of Proverbs, where it is figuratively applied to "the Torah" Proverbs 3:18, "the fruit of a righteous man" Proverbs 11:30, "a desire fulfilled" Proverbs 13:12, and "healing tongue" Proverbs 15:4.
Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism, is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from qlippoth realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy (Q-D-Š) and pure, tumah and taharah. The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained a minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations.
Sefer HaTemunah is a 13–14th century kabbalistic text. It is quoted in many sources on Halakha.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
Tikunei haZohar, also known as the Tikunim (תקונים), is a main text of the Kabbalah that was composed in the 14th century. It is a separate appendix to the Zohar, a crucial 13th-century work of Kabbalah, consisting of seventy commentaries on the opening word of the Torah, In the beginning, in the Midrashic style. The theme of Tikunei haZohar is to repair and support the Shekhinah or Malkuth — hence its name, "Repairs of the Zohar" — and to bring on the Redemption and conclude the Exile.
The history of Jewish mysticism encompasses various forms of esoteric and spiritual practices aimed at understanding the divine and the hidden aspects of existence. This mystical tradition has evolved significantly over millennia, influencing and being influenced by different historical, cultural, and religious contexts. Among the most prominent forms of Jewish mysticism is Kabbalah, which emerged in the 12th century and has since become a central component of Jewish mystical thought. Other notable early forms include prophetic and apocalyptic mysticism, which are evident in biblical and post-biblical texts.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
