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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
A trustworthy, easy-to-read guide to an integral part of Judaism
Kabbalah For Dummies, 2nd Edition is your factual and objective guide to understanding Kabbalah—a spiritual practice, also known as the “received tradition,” that's connected to Judaism. This easy-to-follow resource walks you through how to connect to and better understand the Kabbalistic way of life, through explaining what Kabbalah is and isn't and detailing the Kabbalistic approach to the Torah, the Talmud, the Mishnah, and more Jewish texts. You'll also discover how to practice common rituals, worship, and pray as a practitioner of Kabbalah with this informative resource.
- Understand the foundations of Kabbalah (including core ideas)
- Know what Kabbalistic practice and study entails
- Discover key Kabbalah resources
Perfect for practicing Kabbalists who want to brush up on the basics and for the Kabbalah-curious—Kabbalah For Dummies, 2nd Edition is a must-read resource for anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of one of the world's great spiritual practices.
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Seitenzahl: 685
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Kabbalah For Dummies®
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: So, What’s the Big Secret? Unmasking Kabbalah
Chapter 1: What Is Kabbalah?
Getting to Know Kabbalah, “The Received Tradition”
Hey, What Are the Big Ideas?
A Constant Search for God
Who Can Study Kabbalah?
Different Approaches to the Study of Kabbalah
Picking a Kabbalah that Works for You
Chapter 2: Magic, Mishegas, and Other Things that Kabbalah Isn’t
Setting the Record Straight
Trying to Figure Out Who’s Legit and Who’s Not
Chapter 3: Looking Back: A Brief History of Kabbalah
Kabbalists in the Bible
Kabbalah in the Rabbinic Period
Thriving in Spain in the 13th Century
Coming of Age in the Mystical City of Tzfat
The Bigger You Are, The Harder You Fall: The Shabbatai Tzvi Affair
The Great Revival: Hasidism
Kabbalah Today
Part 2: Cutting to the Core of Kabbalah
Chapter 4: The Link Between Heaven and Earth: Kabbalah’s Own Top-Ten Countdown
Seeing Below the World’s Surface
Kelipot: It Sounds Like Nuts to Me
The Ten Fundamental Forces that Sustain the World
Ways to Look at the Tree of Life
Pulling the Strings of Existence: The Work of the Kabbalist
Transforming the Spiritual into Physical Action
Chapter 5: Everything (Even a Traffic Jam) Is for the Best
How Can Everything Possibly Be for the Best?
Getting the Words Right: Gam Zu L’Tovah
An Important Rule about Saying, “Everything Is for the Best”
Don’t Confuse Acceptance with Passivity
Training Oneself to See Like a Kabbalist
Picking Up the Pieces: In the Beginning, a Vessel Was Shattered
Figuring Out Individual Divine Assignments
What Do You Do Best?
Chapter 6: Our Bodies Don’t Have Souls; Our Souls Have Bodies
A Spark of God in Everyone
Getting to the Soul of the Matter
Descent for the Sake of Ascension — That’s Life
Introducing the Four Worlds of Kabbalah
Going Up? The Soul’s Journey of Five Levels
Chapter 7: Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Reincarnation in Kabbalah
Truth Is Truth
What Is Reincarnation?
Birth and Death (Also Known as Homecoming and Graduation)
Understanding the Significance of Reincarnation to Kabbalah
Chapter 8: Instant Karma’s Gonna Get You
Everything Has Meaning — Everything
Angels: The Kabbalistic Key to Karma
Suffering Hurts but Isn’t Random: The Kabbalistic View
Part 3: Living the Life of a Kabbalist
Chapter 9: Living One Day at a Time
Three Daily Tasks of the Kabbalist
Waking Up
Getting Washed and Dressed
Offering Prayers and Meditation
Grabbing a Bite
Repairing the World
Bed Sheets and Balance Sheets: Ending the Day
Chapter 10: Living One Week at a Time
The End of the Week Is Also the Beginning
Keeping Your Eye on the Sabbath
Preparing to Receive the Gift of the Sabbath
Greeting the Sabbath the Kabbalistic Way
Transforming the Shabbat Dinner Table into a Holy Altar
Observing and Enjoying the Sabbath
Saying Goodbye to the Sabbath: A Fond and Fragrant Farewell
Gearing Up for the Sabbath All Over Again
Chapter 11: A Year in the Life of a Kabbalist
Ringing in the New Year without a Noisemaker
Ten Days in the Early Fall for Introspection and Turning
The Day of “At-One-Ment”
Acknowledging with Joy That Life Is Temporary
Meditating on Light for Eight Days
Seeing God in Everything
Liberating Oneself from Narrowness
A 49-Day Kabbalistic Meditation on the Ascent to God
Receiving God’s Teachings Constantly
Mourning the Loss of Wholeness
Celebrating Birthdays Kabbalisticly
Chapter 12: A Kabbalist’s Lifecycle
Beginning with a Bang: Birth
Coming of Age Kabbalistically
Kabbalistic Marriage
Death and Dying in Kabbalah
Part 4: Fine-tuning the Essential Skills of the Kabbalist
Chapter 13: Discovering the Kabbalistic Books that Really Matter
The Essential Kabbalah Library
Other Classic Books Worth Adding to Your Collection
The Tanya
Build Your Kabbalah Library
Chapter 14: Hitting the Books — and Kissing Them: Studying Like a Kabbalist
When Kabbalists Hit the Books, They Really Hit Them!
Understanding the Importance of Study in Kabbalah
Where and When Do I Begin?
Can I Study Kabbalah in English? (You Already Are!)
When the Student is Ready: Finding a Good Teacher
Pairing with a Study Buddy
Studying Ancient Scripture: The Torah
Discussing Life’s Issues with the Sages: The Talmud
Chapter 15: Praying Like a Kabbalist
An Overview of Prayer in the Life of a Kabbalist
How to Imagine an Unimaginable God While Praying
Addressing God Directly
Speaking Most Public Prayer in the Plural
Inner Attitude Is What Counts
The Kabbalist’s Prayer Book
A Kabbalist’s Daily Prayer Routine
Chapter 16: Knowing the Unknowable God
Understanding that You Can’t Understand is the First Step Toward Understanding
What Kabbalists Know about God, Even Though They Know Nothing about God
Developing a Personal Relationship with an Unfathomable God (Yes, It Can Be Done)
Calling God by Name (Even Though God’s Nameless)
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Chapter 17: (Almost) Ten Myths about Studying Kabbalah
You Have to Be a Man
You Have to Be Married
You Have to Be an Orthodox Jew
You Have to at Least Be Jewish
You Have to Be Over 40
You Have to Buy Expensive Books in Hebrew
You Have to Follow a Dress Code
You Have to Know Hebrew
Chapter 18: Ten Great Kabbalists in History
Adam
Abraham
Rabbi Akiva
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Holy Ari
The Shelah HaKodesh, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
The Vilna Gaon
Rabbi Adin Steinstaltz
What? How Could You Have Left Out …
Chapter 19: Ten Kabbalah Teachers on YouTube
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Dr. Daniel Matt
Rabbi David Aaron
Abraham Abulofia
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Rabbi Yitzchok Ginsburgh
Sara Yehudit Schneider
Rabbi Manis Friedman
Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Rabbi DovBer Pinson
Chapter 20: Ten Ideas from Kabbalah I Made Sure to Teach My Children
A Body Does Not Have a Soul; A Soul Has a Body
If You Think You’ve Arrived, You’re Lost
A Descent for the Sake of Ascension
God Is Not the CEO of the Universe
The Filtrum
Timing and Dosage
Infinity and the Old Man in the Sky
Everything is For Good
The Rhythm of Holiness
The Voice of God
Part 6: Appendixes
Appendix A: Books and Authors You’ll Thank Me for Recommending
The Thirteen Petalled Rose
by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
The Books of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
The Way of Splendor: Jewish Mysticism and Modern Psychology
by Edward Hoffman
The Books of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Souls on Fire
by Elie Wiesel
9½ Mystics: The Kabbala Today
by Rabbi Herbert Weiner
Kabbalah: Selections from Classic Kabbalistic Works
by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel
Mishneh Torah: Yesodei HaTorah
by the Rambam
The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism
by Rabbi Leonard Glotzer
Nefesh HaTzimztum
by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin’s Nefesh HaChaim with Translation and Commentary by Avinoam Fraenkel
Appendix B: Gematria: The Secret of Letters and Numbers
Gematria Basics
Kameya Amulet
The Atbash Method
Appendix C: A Glossary of Everything Kabbalah
Index
About the Author
Advertisement Page
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 11
TABLE 11-1 The Seven Shepherds of Sukkot
Chapter 18
TABLE 18-1 Prayer Taught by the Shelah HaKodesh
List of Illustrations
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: The ten sefirot as the Tree of Life.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10-1: Each hand needs to be completely wet; the two handles allow you to...
FIGURE 10-2: A family welcoming Shabbat with candles, wine, and two loaves of c...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11-1: The sukkah is an essential component of the holiday Sukkot.
FIGURE 11-2: A Chanukah menorah.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13-1: A sample page from the Talmud.
FIGURE 13-2: The opening page of the Zohar.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
About the Author
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Kabbalah For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Introduction
Kabbalah is the theology of the Jewish people; it is the way Judaism understands God and the relationship between God and the world. For Kabbalists, all the laws, customs, practices, holidays, and rituals of Judaism are best understood in light of the Kabbalistic teachings about God and of what it is that God wants from humans.
Over the centuries, Kabbalah has become more and more systematized. Brilliant Jewish sages have explored, developed, and refined its insights to the point at which, in the last six centuries, Kabbalah has become a distinct system of ideas, beliefs, technical terminology, and values with its own history, great personalities, controversies, and vocabulary. But Kabbalah, which means “the received tradition,” has always been an integral part of Jewish religious and spiritual life.
Like other studies of divinity and spirituality, Kabbalah deals with ultimate questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What for? Why?
About This Book
Kabbalah is often thought to be a secret study occupying the minds of elite students throughout the ages. But the “secrets” of Kabbalah aren’t the typical kind in which information is revealed to the few.
There are two kinds of secrets:
Secrets that are kept from the public:
When revealed, these secrets are recognized for what they are: clever illusions that, once revealed, can never fool again. Whatever “mysteries” the illusions once held disappear.
Real secrets that are available for all to see:
When real secrets are explored, they become deeper and more profound. They become richer and give birth to even greater secrets while their revelations illuminate the world. Such are the so-called “secrets” of Kabbalah.
My goal in writing this book is to help set the record straight and to inform the general public about what Kabbalah is — and also what Kabbalah isn’t.
In recent years Kabbalah has become a pop culture phenomenon, a development that’s resulted in the spread of tremendous inaccuracies and misinformation about the subject. This book is for those who are curious about the subject as well as for those who sincerely want to begin to grasp some of the profound teachings of Kabbalah and to integrate Kabbalistic wisdom into their daily lives.
Unfortunately, some books represent Kabbalah as a New Age, mystical practice dealing with amulets, obscure forms of meditation, superstition, and occult practices. Some books on Kabbalah separate Kabbalah from Judaism, misinforming well-meaning students and encouraging them to think of Kabbalah as a general philosophy of life rather than as a spiritual practice inextricably integrated into Jewish law, ritual, prayer, and study.
Kabbalah For Dummies explains in plain English both the major abstract ideas of Kabbalah as well as the Kabbalistic practices that are part of daily Jewish life. Although the study of Kabbalah can be a major commitment that influences a practitioner’s entire life, a person can pick up on many profound approaches to life just by considering the ideas and perspectives of Kabbalah.
Conventions Used in This Book
Because Kabbalah is a complex and often controversial topic, I had to establish a few conventions while writing to keep things as fair and simple as possible. As you’re reading Kabbalah For Dummies, please keep in mind my conventions regarding the following:
References to God:
Kabbalistic notions about God include the fundamental belief that the Almighty doesn’t have a gender, so whenever possible, I refrain from referring to God using masculine pronouns. However, the primary language of Judaism, Hebrew, doesn’t have a neutral gender, so most Hebrew nouns are masculine. In addition, although there’s a female term that indicates God’s indwelling presence in the world, the male forms of God’s names have their own spiritual significance (Kabbalistic tradition has many names for God, as I explain in
Chapter 16
). In Jewish prayers, for example, God is referred to as “He.” This isn’t sexism; God is neither He nor She, so please don’t be offended when God is referred to as “He.” You will also notice that words that take the place of the word God are capitalized. These words include Infinite, Divine, Divine Light, Heaven, and Almighty.
The word “Kabbalist”: Throughout this book, I refer to things that Kabbalists do or believe. In reality, none of the great (or even not-so-great) Kabbalists ever referred to themselves as Kabbalists. All the great Kabbalists throughout history have been Jews, more specifically, traditional, observant Jews. In today’s terms, they’d probably be called Orthodox Jews.
I use the term “Kabbalist” through this book to refer to those people, great sages, or everyday people like me who integrate into their lives the beautiful Jewish practices and profound ideas that are part of Jewish tradition and have an explicit connection to Jewish theological — and therefore Kabbalistic — ideas.
A great sage is referred to as a Kabbalist because he wrote about or taught the theology of Judaism and was specifically interested in using the vocabulary and essential ideas contained in the theological, esoteric explorations of Judaism. Even today, teachers who are considered masters of Kabbalah aren’t generally known as Kabbalists; instead, the term mekubal (meh-koo-bahl) indicates that a certain teacher is a qualified teacher of Kabbalah and is known for their Kabbalistic teachings.
Hasidism: In recent centuries, there have been two streams of Kabbalah study.
One is represented by the great rabbi born in the year 1720, known as Rabbi Elijah (also known as the Vilna Gaon). He saw Kabbalah as a subject reserved for study only by the best students.
The other is represented by the great rabbi born around the same time, in 1698, known as Rabbi Israel (also known as the Baal Shem Tov). The thrust of his teaching was to bring the wisdom and practice of Kabbalah to the average person, not just to the elite scholar. This effort is called
Hasidism.
In this book, many of the sages that I quote and many of the Kabbalistic practices that I address come from Hasidism, which is basically the effort during the last few centuries within Judaism to bring Kabbalah to the masses. Because Kabbalah For Dummies is an effort to explain Kabbalah to as many people as possible, it’s filled with teachings from Hasidism, which is Kabbalah for everyone.
Dates:
I don’t use the abbreviations BC and AD to indicate dates in this book because these designations measure time in relation to Christian history. Rather, I use BCE, which means “Before the Common Era” and CE, which means “Common Era.” For example, the year that Columbus discovered America would be indicated as 1492 CE.
Gender equality:
Religious groups throughout history have defined participatory roles for men and women in a number of ways. Throughout this book, I’ve tried to approach subjects from a starting point that assumes that both men and women can participate in almost all Jewish rituals. However, it’s important to note that the Kabbalistic tradition isn’t gender-neutral; it maintains that men and women are spiritually different. When men and women honor and celebrate these differences through practices and roles unique to each gender, they fully realize the deeper spiritual dimension of their lives and the unique contributions to the world that emanate from these different spiritual places.
Pronunciation of Hebrew words: Many Hebrew words and phrases appear throughout this book, and because not everyone’s familiar with the language, I’ve offered pronunciation help. The syllable that has the accent is always in italics. But you should be aware that there are two ways to pronounce many Hebrew words:
Ashkenazic:
This is the Eastern European pronunciation that’s used in most Orthodox synagogues. An example is
Shabbos
(
shah
-bus; Sabbath), with the accent on the first syllable.
Sephardic:
This is the modern Israeli pronunciation that’s used in most liberal synagogues in the United States. An example is
Shabbat
(shah-
baht;
Sabbath), with the accent on the second syllable.
As you can see from the examples, not only are the pronunciations of the sounds different, but the accented syllable is also different. It isn’t unusual for someone today to bounce back and forth between pronunciations. In the traditional Jewish world I’ve lived in for the past 40 years, pronunciation of Hebrew words is generally Ashkenazic. But the modern Israeli pronunciation also has a great influence, and some of my pronunciations reflect this. For example, I sometimes find myself saying both “Shabbos” and “Shabbat” on the Sabbath, sometimes within mere moments of each other. In this book, I mostly use the transliteration and pronunciation commonly used in Israel, but sometimes, especially if it has become common usage, I give the Ashkenazic pronunciation.
By the way, another example of varied pronunciation is the word “Kabbalah.” The Ashkenazic pronunciation is kuh-bah-lah, whereas the modern Israeli pronunciation is kah-bah-lah.
What You’re Not to Read
If you have the time and inclination to read this book from cover to cover, by all means, get to it! However, if you’re only looking for the most helpful, most essential facts and explanations, you can skip the sidebars, which appear in shaded gray boxes throughout this book. They’re interesting (I hope!) anecdotes and pieces of information that supplement the text but aren’t essential for an understanding of the topics being explored.
Foolish Assumptions
When writing this book, I had to make some assumptions about you, dear reader. First off, I don’t assume that you’re Jewish, nor do I assume that you want to be. And although Kabbalah is just as much a spiritual practice as a spiritual theory, I don’t assume that you want to engage in each and every practice.
Following are some additional assumptions I’ve made. If you fit into any of these categories, this book is for you:
You’ve heard about Kabbalah and are curious about it, perhaps because some showbiz personality has said that they are studying it or because it was a part of your general education, but you don’t have a firm grasp of what it’s all about.
You want to know more about Kabbalah, whether you’re religious or not.
You know little or nothing about Jewish religious practice, which is really the framework of Kabbalah.
Like so many people, you’ve tried to understand what life is all about, and you’ve heard that Kabbalah has its own approach to the big, eternal questions of life.
You’ve heard about some things that the media claims are part of Kabbalah (like wearing a red string around your wrist or drinking so-called Kabbalah water), and you want to know if there’s any truth or authentic basis to these things.
You’re a spiritual seeker, and you’ve heard that Kabbalah is a spiritual approach to life.
You know people who are “into Kabbalah,” and you want to understand them better.
You may or may not be Jewish, but you’re curious about Jews who call themselves Hasidic, which means they live a religious lifestyle based on the principles and practices of Kabbalah.
You’ve been told that Kabbalah is a secret tradition, and you want to know what the secret is all about.
You’re Jewish but feel that the Judaism you know is lacking in spirituality — and you’ve been led to believe that Kabbalah is the spiritual path (and sometimes even called the soul) of Judaism.
How This Book Is Organized
I organized this book so that you can skip around easily. In order to help you get in, get the information you need, and get out without reading cover to cover, I divided the book into parts that give you one piece of the Kabbalah picture at a time.
Part 1: So, What’s the Big Secret? Unmasking Kabbalah
This part provides you with the basics. First, you get an overview of the entire subject, in particular its major ideas and concepts. Because Kabbalah has evolved over the centuries and is populated by many key teachers throughout the ages, a history of Kabbalah is a must. Although I’ve taken great pains to avoid technical language, Kabbalah, like every field of study, has its own unique terms and vocabulary. This part introduces these terms with clear explanations. And because so much misinformation floats around about Kabbalah, I explore and explain what Kabbalah isn’t.
Part 2: Cutting to the Core of Kabbalah
Every worldview, philosophy, and religion has assumptions, and Kabbalah is no exception. This part presents what I would say are the two major assumptions at the heart of Kabbalah: The world is in need of repair, and the human soul is eternal. These two assumptions also have a connection to each other: The work of the human soul is to use its body to repair the world. This part explores how Kabbalists participate in repairing the world as well as the nature and journey of the human soul.
Part 3: Living the Life of a Kabbalist
This part puts the theory of Kabbalah into practice. Kabbalah isn’t just an abstract philosophy, and it isn’t just a system of ideas. Kabbalah is a way of life. There are things Kabbalists do every day, every week, every year, and throughout their lives, from birth to death. These acts and others give expression to the profound and eternal ideas taught by the great sages of Kabbalah. The chapters in this part cover the major activities, celebrations, and rituals that make up the life of a Kabbalist.
Part 4: Fine-tuning the Essential Skills of the Kabbalist
In this part, I define and explore the two almost-constant activities of Kabbalists: study and prayer. Both activities are expressions of one’s relationship to God; the study of the holy books of Kabbalah and the recitation of daily prayers define the ongoing conversation that Kabbalists have with God. This part concludes with an in-depth look at the Kabbalistic view of God, known to Kabbalists as the Infinite One.
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Every For Dummies book has a Part of Tens. This part consists of interesting lists people, places, and myths related to Kabbalah. With so much misinformation floating around about Kabbalah, I take on the ten biggest myths circulating in books and in the media. I move on to well-known Kabbalists throughout the ages, of which the cream of the crop are easily identifiable. I then introduce you to ten of the greatest Kabbalists throughout history, after which I name ten important teachers of Kabbalah who have useful YouTube videos.
Part 6: Appendixes
Here I’ve included a few more handy items that didn’t really fit elsewhere in the book but are important just the same. Appendix A is a list of books and authors related to Kabbalah, Appendix B explores the use of Hebrew letters and numbers to find the secrets in the Torah (called Gematria), and Appendix C is a convenient glossary of all things Kabbalah.
Icons Used in This Book
All For Dummies books feature icons (little pictures that grab your attention) in the margins to serve you well. Think of them as road signs pointing to different kinds of information in the chapters.
This icon alerts to you concepts, terms, and ideas that are of particular importance. Keep the points marked with this icon in mind, and you can’t go wrong.
This icon points out helpful information that you can use to put Kabbalah into practice in your daily life. It also points out a good way to understand a particular concept.
This icon highlights pitfalls or misconceptions about Kabbalah. Be sure to read this information!
Beyond the Book
To learn even more about Kabbalah, check out this book’s cheat sheet, which shows you helpful links to web pages containing information about the sefirot, the ten fundamental essences, common blessings and prayer, and classic Kabbalah books. To get the cheat sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Kabbalah For Dummies Cheat Sheet into the search box. You’ll see not only the cheat sheet but any significant updates or changes that occur between editions of this book.
Where to Go from Here
The classic books of Kabbalah don’t begin at the beginning; throughout the ages, students of Kabbalah have jumped into a holy book at any point and started swimming through it. In fact, when studying a book of Kabbalah, it often isn’t until the second time around that the reader begins to really understand the depths of the text. Often, concepts build upon each other, and it isn’t until a student grasps a certain idea that they can start building ideas upon ideas.
Kabbalah For Dummies works similarly — it doesn’t necessarily begin at the beginning. Like Kabbalists throughout history, why not just jump in wherever you want to begin? Although I’ve tried to provide a useful introduction to the entire subject in Chapter 1, you can just look through the table of contents and pick out something of special interest. For example, if you’ve studied Eastern religions, you know that reincarnation is a fundamental notion, and so you may be interested in the Kabbalistic take on the topic in Chapter 7.
Bob Dylan once wrote the lyric that he doesn’t want to learn something that he has to “unlearn.” Unfortunately, many false notions and half-truths about Kabbalah circulate these days, so you may want to first clean the slate and “unlearn” what you’ve heard by turning to Chapter 2, which tells you what Kabbalah isn’t. And you may want to supplement that information with Chapter 17’s take on myths about studying Kabbalah.
But wherever you begin, get ready to enter a profound worldview that has inspired and sustained countless spiritual seekers since time immemorial.
Part 1
So, What’s the Big Secret? Unmasking Kabbalah
IN THIS PART …
Learning what Kabbalah is and isn’t
Examining the history of Kabbalah
Dispelling Kabbalah’s persistent myths
Chapter 1
What Is Kabbalah?
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding Kabbalah as a part of Judaism
Delving into some of the major Kabbalistic ideas
Explaining the rules of Kabbalah study
Choosing among different Kabbalah movements
Kabbalah is the part of Judaism that deals with the understanding of God, Creation, the relationship between God and God’s Creation, and the nature and way of the soul. Kabbalah is concerned with questions of good and evil, death and the afterlife, and the spiritual aspects of existence. It’s often described as Jewish mysticism, but it goes far beyond the mystical aspects of Judaism. Kabbalah is central to Jewish belief and its spiritual practices.
Contrary to popular belief, Kabbalah isn’t a book. I’ve heard that common misconception time and time again. When I worked in a bookstore years ago, when I was a librarian, and even in recent days, I’ve been asked if there are any good translations of the book “Kabbalah.” Some people think that just like you can study the Bible, you can study the book of Kabbalah. It’s not a book, but its moral, spiritual, and ethical teachings can be found in the great spiritual books of the Jewish people.
In this chapter, I define the word “Kabbalah,” allowing you to get some of Kabbalah’s key concepts under your belt and explore some of the ways people today are into the subject. But perhaps the most important point that this chapter establishes, and that this book is about, is that Kabbalah is best understood by doing Kabbalah, not just reading about it.
Getting to Know Kabbalah, “The Received Tradition”
The word “Kabbalah,” like every Hebrew word, is based on a root. The root usually consists of three Hebrew letters that serve as the basis for many words. Each root has a primary meaning; the meaning of the root of “Kabbalah” is “to receive.”
What is the person who’s engaged in the study of Kabbalah receiving? The answer is both simple and, in a sense, impossible. Kabbalists receive knowledge of God and guidance for living.
Taking the root meaning a step further, the word “Kabbalah” also means “the received tradition.” I once asked one of my teachers how to perform a certain ritual. When he explained it to me, I told him that I had heard that it was done differently. He replied, “You can do it the other way, too, but the way I do it is the way my teacher taught me. That’s my Kabbalah!”
In order to receive the tradition of Kabbalah, you must open and make room within yourself so that you’re able to receive the teachings.
IS KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM?
The biggest myth about Kabbalah, and one that has remarkably snuck into the definition of Kabbalah by most writers and teachers who look at Kabbalah from the outside, not the inside, is that Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism. As Professor Joseph Dan, one of the world’s leading authorities on Kabbalah, explains, until the 19th century, there were no “Jewish mystics.”
The term “mysticism” isn’t even a part of Jewish culture or language. The term “mysticism” was borrowed from a term found in Christian thought, that of unio mystica, the mystical union with God. Some scholars thought that some of the central ideas of Kabbalah were parallel to this Christian notion, and so the term “Jewish mysticism” evolved and attached itself to Kabbalah.
For example, one of the primary uses of the term “mysticism” is that it describes notions and experiences that can’t be put into words or language. Because Kabbalah stresses that, ultimately, God can’t be described, the use of the term “mysticism” became a common one. Mysticism is also used when referring to experiences that are beyond the senses. Here, too, because Kabbalah often deals with matters of faith, it seems to be useful to say that Kabbalah is “Jewish mysticism.” In this book, I barely use the term “mysticism” because the Kabbalistic literature itself never uses it.
Kabbalah is Jewish theology
In a real sense, the history of Kabbalah is the history of Judaism — the two can’t be separated. Throughout the centuries, the greatest sages of Judaism have been serious students of Kabbalah. You may be wondering, “If Kabbalah and Judaism are part of the same thing, what’s the difference between them? Why is there even a need for the word ‘Kabbalah,’ let alone a book about Kabbalah? Why isn’t Kabbalah For Dummies simply a book about Judaism?”
Throughout this chapter, I explore the idea that Kabbalah is a theological process central to Judaism. That is, Kabbalah is the way in which Jewish tradition tries to grasp the Infinite and tries to communicate to each generation the ways that the sages have understood that human life — in relation to the Creator — should be lived.
Asking life’s ultimate questions
Kabbalah is concerned with life’s ultimate questions. For example, when I look at the world, I see so much suffering of all kinds, and I’m left to wonder why God would have created a world with so much suffering. It often seems that good people suffer and that, too often, people who do evil thrive. The tradition within Judaism that deals with such issues and questions is the Kabbalistic tradition.
When people come to realize that life is really a temporary journey and that life can end in a painful and difficult way, they’re prompted to ask what this life is all about and wonder how this seemingly crazy design makes any sense. Kabbalah is the part of Jewish existence and belief that ponders such questions and offers answers to such immense riddles (see Chapters 5 and 6 for more about this).
Taking on the spiritual level of existence
Kabbalah is that part of Judaism that explores the nature of life and the soul and the meaning of human existence. It comes into play when people begin to perceive that they aren’t just flesh and blood but seem to have a spirit — a spark of life. Kabbalists detect that the human experience may be profoundly different from that of plants and animals thanks to free will and one’s consciousness of oneself. Kabbalists also realize that, as humans, they not only have bodies that are temporary but also have souls that have much greater longevity than physical things.
Kabbalah tries to perceive the metaphysics of life and tries to teach people how to use the spiritual forces that exist and how to use them wisely. Kabbalists notice that life and human existence seem to contain some working metaphysical principles, in which some things seem good and healthy while others seem bad and destructive, and in which some things seem to lift humans to sublime heights while others seem to degrade human lives.
Studying Kabbalah: First, do it; then, understand it
A fundamental principle among those individuals throughout the centuries who have lived their lives based on the teachings of Kabbalah is that it’s impossible to grasp these teachings unless you participate in them.
Take a kiss, for example. You can read about kissing, study scientific books about kissing, understand all the facial muscles needed to form a kiss, and even watch Andy Warhol’s film Kiss, which has extreme close-ups of people kissing, but the only real way to know — to truly know — about kissing is to kiss!
Correct Posture: Opening Oneself
The student of Kabbalah needs to acquire a certain posture — not a physical posture but an inner one. I call it “opening oneself.” By this, I mean you need to keep an open mind. You also need to try on a new idea. Think about it. Get used to it. Don’t quickly reject a new idea. Give it a chance. Sit with it.
In the Torah (Exodus 24:7), when God offers the commandments to the Children of Israel, they say, “We will do and we will hear.” Usually, it’s the other way around: First, we hear something, and then we consider doing it. But the Torah suggests that the best way to understand something is to do it, to get involved with it, and to know it from the inside. I’m not suggesting that you need to accept something blindly. I am suggesting that you lend yourself to a new idea and see how it feels. A physicist once said, “In physics, you never understand a new idea; you just get used to it.” The same applies to new ideas from Kabbalah. Don’t fold your arms in front of you and say, “Prove it to me.” Rather, open yourself to Kabbalah, and it will slowly seep into your consciousness. And then you’ll come to know it from the inside.
Hey, What Are the Big Ideas?
You can’t adequately summarize Kabbalah in a few sentences. On the contrary, in Kabbalah you have to build ideas, putting them together to form larger ideas. Comparing Kabbalah to math, first, you learn how to add and subtract; then, you learn how to multiply and divide. After that, you can start learning simple algebra, and then you can go on to advanced algebra, and so on.
The first, foremost, and central idea of Kabbalah is God. For Kabbalists, by the way, God is hardly a human idea. In fact, a Kabbalist would say that humans are an “idea” of God. How to “know” God is the primary goal of the Kabbalist. On a course of knowing — or trying to know — God is several key concepts that form the foundation of Jewish theology, known as Kabbalah.
Why did God create the world?
The question often asked is, “Why did God create the world?” The great sages of Kabbalah point out that God surely didn’t create the world because God needed the world. To say that God needs something implies that there’s some deficiency in God, and one of Kabbalistic tradition’s fundamental notions about God is that God is whole, perfect, flawless, and in need of nothing. By the way, according to Kabbalah, God didn’t create the world in one moment and then stop. Rather, Kabbalah teaches that God continues to create the world every moment. Creation is an ongoing Divine activity. (For more on this topic, check out Chapter 4.)
Why, then, does God create the world? As a gesture of love and because God wants humans to receive. Kabbalists say that God wants humans to receive the greatest pleasure possible: knowledge of God.
“Knowledge of God?” you may be asking. “That’s the greatest pleasure?” The teachings of Kabbalah emphatically declare that, indeed, the greatest possible pleasure is to know God — to really know God.
The point of life is getting to know God, even if it’s impossible
Kabbalah is the system of beliefs, ideas, and actions contained in Jewish tradition that help people truly know the Divine. If you don’t recognize a problem at this point, you should. You’ve just collided with a paradox.
Now, Kabbalah is filled with paradoxes. A paradox is a statement that appears to contradict itself. But a paradox isn’t an absurdity; it can contain awesome truths. So, the first paradox to consider is the Kabbalistic view that, although the greatest pleasure is to know God, knowledge of God is impossible.
Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that complete knowledge of God is impossible. Kabbalistic tradition provides ways to glimpse God — and even a tiny glimpse contains profound pleasure.
One of Kabbalah’s primary principles is an unbridgeable gap between God and humans. Although a person can make contact with God, ultimately, this contact can’t take place solely through the efforts of the person. No matter how hard a person tries, they can’t reach God. Kabbalah teaches that the gap can indeed be crossed, but only by God. When that gap is crossed, it’s because God reaches out.
It’s all about receiving
God makes the gesture to reach out to a person, and it’s the person’s job to receive (remember that “Kabbalah” means “to receive”). The rituals, customs, laws, and activities of the person who lives according to Kabbalistic tradition are intended to prepare that person to receive God, to receive knowledge of God, and to receive the greatest possible pleasure.
Given the immense chasm between people and God, you may wonder what gives a Kabbalist the confidence that God is reaching out to bridge the gap. When a Kabbalist reads the Torah, the dominant theme, literally from the beginning, is that God continually seeks us out and wants us to actively receive a Divine overture. He wants us to make a home for God with us. Receiving God becomes the Kabbalist’s greatest joy.
Kabbalah is the tradition received from the Jewish sages in order to help people perceive and live in the fullness of the presence of God.
You may say, “Knowledge of God isn’t the greatest pleasure.” Some people think that having lots of money is the greatest pleasure. Others may think that sex is the greatest pleasure. Still, others may feel that fame or food or any number of things are among the greatest pleasures of life. But Kabbalah teaches that the most profound source of pleasure is to know God.
Preparing to know God
How does one prepare to receive the knowledge of God? Many have taught that the first step is to make room for this knowledge. If one is all closed down or filled up, then knowledge of God has no way to enter and no place to reside.
If a person holds on tightly to the ideas and beliefs that they currently have, it’s usually impossible to let new ones in. But the biblical view — first do and then understand — is a useful approach. There’s no need to do everything and surely no need to do everything at once, but students of Kabbalah have found that by participating in a little study, prayer, and ritual observance, the doors begin to open, and true learning can take place.
A few more key Kabbalah concepts
The following is a list of other major concepts that require in-depth study in order to benefit from Kabbalah as a system of daily practices:
God is infinite:
Kabbalah understands God to be a perfect, supreme being who’s infinite and both formless and changeless. You can find out more about the infinite nature of God in
Chapter 16
.
Divine contraction:
One of the questions that Kabbalah tries to answer is, “If God is infinite, where is there room for God’s Creation?” The Kabbalistic term for the process of God contracting in order to make room for Creation is
tzimtzum
(
tzim
-tzoom). The Kabbalistic view of Creation imagines that God prompted an absence of the Divine, which resulted in a “space” for Creation to happen.
Ten utterances: Kabbalah teaches that God creates the world through the ten utterances, which form, by their infinite combinations, all the details of existence. These ten utterances are also congruent with another major concept, the ten sefirot (see Chapter 4).
It’s absolutely impossible to study Kabbalah without a grasp of the ten sefirot. The ten sefirot are ten Divine powers or channels or flows of Divine plenty that continuously create and nourish Creation. For the Kabbalist, the mastery of the ten sefirot is a major life task and a major tool used to connect with God. The ten sefirot flow downward from God to God’s Creation, and human actions send the flow back “up” to the Divine.
The breaking of the vessels: The Kabbalistic concept of Creation includes shevirat ha-kelim (sheh-vee-raht hah-kay-leem; the breaking of the vessels). Some refer to it as the great catastrophic event that occurred when God poured infinite Divine Light into vessels that were unable to contain this light (see Chapter 5).
The shards produced by this shattering are the stuff of Creation. The Divine Light is embedded within every aspect of Creation, and the task of humans is to release the Divine that resides in all of Creation through good deeds, righteous living, and spiritual acts.
Tikkun:
Following from the notion of the shattering of the vessels is the Kabbalistic concept of
Tikkun
(tee-
koon
; repair). Tikkun is the purpose of human existence and the way to come to know God. Instruction for this repair is found in the Torah and specifically in the
mitzvot,
which are guidelines for healthy living found in the Torah.
Halachah: Halachah
(hah-lah-
khah;
the way to walk) is the sum of the laws and instructions of the Torah that will make the necessary repairs. Humans must participate in the repairing of the world and must learn the proper ways to do so in order to separate good from evil and ultimately extinguish the evil that exists in the universe. Every human being is required to do their part in perfecting the world (see the chapters in
Part 3
).
Mitzvot: A mitzvah (mitz-vah) is a Divine commandment, and “mitzvot” is the plural form of the word. These commandments are divided into two groups: positive commandments describing what one is supposed to do and negative commandments describing what one is supposed to refrain from doing. For example, giving charity is a positive commandment; “Do not murder” is a negative commandment.
Jewish tradition teaches that 613 commandments are found in the Five Books of Moses. But as it’s taught, this number is deceptive because there are actually thousands of teachings in Jewish tradition that help us align with our highest possible selves. All commandments have two purposes: to make people conscious of God as the one and only reality and to repair the world. I discuss mitzvot in the chapters of Part 3.
Everything is for the best:
One of the most difficult and profound teachings in all Kabbalistic traditions is the view that everything that happens is for the best. (What? Even the Holocaust? Even the death of an innocent child?) Kabbalists live in a paradox: On the one hand, people are obliged to repair the world, to help relieve suffering, to work to advance medical science, to cure diseases, to fight evil, and to mourn the dead. On the other hand, people have an equal obligation to cultivate the belief that, ultimately, the world is in God’s hands, God knows what’s happening, and everything has a purpose beyond anything humans can possibly imagine. For more on this topic, turn to
Chapter 5
.
Souls:
Kabbalah teaches that humans live in two realms: the physical world and the spiritual world. Humans are unique in this way, being the only creatures that partake of both realms. The human struggle is to make sure that one’s body is the tool or instrument of the soul. The body should be ruled by the spirit. Kabbalah teaches that the soul exists before the body, and after the body dies, the soul continues on its spiritual journeys — sometimes by being reincarnated into another body in order to have another go at it. I examine the nature of bodies and souls in
Chapter 6
and reincarnation in
Chapter 7
.
A Constant Search for God
The first thing Kabbalah students learn about God is that God is beyond any conception that a person can possibly imagine. As one of my teachers taught, if you think you grasp God, one thing is certain: You’re wrong. In a sense, the Kabbalistic definition of God is that which is beyond any possible human conception.
Nevertheless, Kabbalah teaches that the human task in life is to look for God, reach out to God, and learn from the great spiritual masters of Jewish tradition how to undertake the search for God. Ultimately, God makes contact with humans, but great importance lies in human effort and reaching.
Missing the forest for the trees
Within Judaism are seemingly countless practices and rituals — things to do and things to refrain from doing. To an outsider, these dos and don’ts seem almost like a petty list of unrelated commands. In fact, many Jews alienate themselves from the practices of Judaism because they seem like such senseless details. But the situation can be compared to looking at trees: If you get up close to a tree, you see a huge number of little details and details within details. However, if you focus on the details of just one tree, you miss the magnificence of the forest.
The laws of Judaism are deeply connected to Kabbalah. The most well-known and authoritative Code of Jewish Law was compiled by one of the most revered Kabbalists of Jewish history, and many people don’t realize that every page of the Code of Jewish Law has a Kabbalistic commentary that spells out the spiritual meaning of each law.
God is in the details
From awakening each morning until falling asleep through the course of the day, week, year, and one’s life, the Kabbalistic lifestyle offers countless opportunities and methods to connect with a consciousness of God.
The Kabbalist wants to be aware of God at all times. Kabbalah connects a person to God while eating, working, and doing every other human activity. The goal is to have God in one’s mind and heart constantly.
A Kabbalist defines their life as a relationship with God. All other relationships, whether they be with friends, partners, parents, children, neighbors, employers, or even Kabbalah teachers, are seen as temporary. The only permanent relationship, the only relationship that truly defines who a person is, is the relationship they have with God.
Who Can Study Kabbalah?
Kabbalah is a Jewish tradition. In fact, Kabbalah is Jewish tradition. Although some have tried to represent Kabbalah as a philosophy or approach to life that’s independent of Judaism, that simply isn’t accurate. And it’s not only inaccurate; it’s impossible.
Every great sage of Kabbalah throughout the ages has taught that Kabbalah and Jewish tradition are part of the same whole. You can certainly extract ideas from Kabbalistic tradition, separating them from anything Jewish, but what you’re left holding isn’t true Kabbalah. Just as a few Buddhist teachings don’t represent the rich and ancient tradition of Buddhism, the gathering of a few notions familiar to Kabbalists in past centuries doesn’t make up the tradition of Kabbalah.
True, some books written by Jewish teachers and even contemporary rabbis relegate Kabbalah to some fringe of Jewish history. You can find books written by teachers who aren’t Jewish who claim that Kabbalah isn’t a specifically Jewish phenomenon. You also can find books and teachers who claim that one can understand Kabbalah and even be a Kabbalist without participating in Jewish life, rituals, and celebrations.
But the simple fact is that Kabbalah is the soul of Jewish life. Every great Kabbalist and authority on Kabbalah for centuries has lived life as a Jew profoundly involved in Jewish study, Jewish prayer, Jewish ritual, and Jewish life.
Do you have to be Jewish?
One principle of Kabbalah is that Kabbalah and Jewish law are inextricably linked. One can’t be a Kabbalist and abandon the guidelines for a Jewish life. Without that flow of rituals and practices, the container necessary for the profound insights of Kabbalah is simply missing. One cannot be a Kabbalist and ignore Jewish rituals. To the Kabbalist, Jewish ritual without Kabbalah is an empty shell, and Kabbalah without Jewish practice is incomplete and a mere splinter of something whole and complete. Another way to put this is that we cannot make room for God’s plan to be here with us while ignoring His instructions on how to do so.
Of course, you don’t have to be Jewish to study Kabbalah. On the contrary, in today’s world, the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions is, for the first time, universally available. In the past, you may have been able to find a book here or there or spend some time with an occasional teacher from a religious or spiritual tradition that wasn’t your own. But now, books, Web sites, and ease of travel afford the opportunity to encounter the world’s great religious and spiritual traditions. There’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to nourish oneself at the watering hole of any source of wisdom.
It’s also perfectly fine to borrow an idea or integrate a piece of wisdom from Kabbalah (or any tradition, for that matter) into your own life. When someone who isn’t Jewish approaches Kabbalah, expresses an interest in its wisdom and even incorporates that wisdom into their life, it’s a natural phenomenon.
But it’s important to know that every great Kabbalist, every important book on Kabbalah, and every law, ritual, or practice of Kabbalah that exists comes from Jews who are speaking to Jews. Kabbalah and Judaism are unlike some religious traditions that teach that everyone needs to believe what they believe and unlike many spiritual traditions or teachers who think they have a monopoly on wisdom and truth. Kabbalah is a legacy of the spiritual tradition of the Jewish people and is central to the spiritual culture of the Jewish family.
Can an atheist be a Kabbalist?
Although Kabbalah is primarily concerned with the human relationship to God, there’s nothing inappropriate about someone who’s a nonbeliever, or even a confirmed atheist, spending time trying to grasp the basic ideas of Kabbalah.
A well-known statement made to atheists is, “The God that you don’t believe in, well, I don’t believe in that God either.” In other words, a person may state that they are a nonbeliever, but when a believer explores just what it is that the nonbeliever doesn’t believe in, the believer finds that they also don’t believe in that conception of God.
