- Hebrew:
- “Tradition”
- Also spelled:
- Kabala, Kabbalah, Cabala, Cabbala, or Cabbalah
Kabbala
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What is Kabbala?
Kabbala, emerging in the 12th century, is a form of Jewish mysticism that emphasizes a direct approach to God, though adherence to the Law of Moses remains fundamental to Judaism. Kabbalah is essentially an oral tradition, with initiation into its doctrines and practices guided to avoid the inherent risks of mystical experiences.
Early roots of Kabbala are traced to Merkava mysticism, which began in Palestine in the 1st century CE, focused on mystical contemplation of the divine throne. The Sefer Yetzira ("Book of Creation") appeared between the 3rd and 6th centuries, explaining creation via the 10 divine numbers (sefirot) and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, together constituting the "32 paths of secret wisdom". The 12th-century Sefer ha-bahir ("Book of Brightness") interpreted the sefirot as instrumental in sustaining the universe, introducing concepts like the transmigration of souls (gilgul) and establishing Kabbala's mystical symbolism.
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Why is Kabbala called Jewish mysticism?
Kabbala is called Jewish mysticism because it represents an esoteric tradition within Judaism that seeks direct contact with the divine, independent of sensory perception and intellectual understanding. Kabbala explores the divine life and its relationship to the finite world, viewing the latter as a symbol of the former. It claims secret knowledge of divine revelation communicated to Moses and Adam. Kabbala provided a means of approaching God directly, adding a mystical dimension to Judaism.
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What are some key ideas or beliefs in Kabbala?
Kabbala is a Jewish mystical tradition that emerged in the 12th century. Key ideas and beliefs include:
- Sefirot: The 10 attributes or emanations through which God is revealed.
- Tikkun Olam: The concept of repairing the world through prayer, good deeds (mitzvot), and moral actions, to restore the connection between the divine and material realms.
- Mystical Experience: Kabbalah provides a way to approach God directly, though some view its mystical approach as pantheistic and heretical.
- Oral Tradition: Initiation into Kabbalistic doctrines and practices is traditionally guided by a personal mentor to avoid the dangers inherent in mystical experiences.
- Tree of Life: A diagram that represents the attributes and powers of God.
- Divine Revelation: Claims secret knowledge of the unwritten Torah, communicated by God to Moses and Adam.
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What is the significance of the Tree of Life in Kabbala?
In Kabbala, the Tree of Life is a central diagram with a trunk and branches, embodying the attributes and powers of God. It visually represents the 10 sefirot, or emanations, through which the Creator becomes manifest. These sefirot, also known as crowns, attributes, principles or steps, are the stages of emanation from the unknowable God (En Sof), and each sefira signifies an aspect of God as Creator. Kabbalists contemplate the mystical nature of the sefirot, which represent the rhythm of creation.
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Who studies Kabbala, and are there any special requirements?
Kabbala, a Jewish mysticism that surfaced in the 12th century, has always been an oral tradition. Initiation requires a personal guide to avoid the dangers of mystical experiences. While anyone can study Kabbalah, full participation requires intense mystical life, struggle against evil, and conformity to religious duties, making it accessible to a select few.
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How has Kabbala influenced Jewish culture and other religions?
Kabbala, a Jewish mysticism that surfaced in the 12th century, has significantly influenced Jewish culture by offering a direct approach to God, though some viewed its mystical elements as heretical. It gave rise to the Zohar, a key text, and impacted Jewish thought and spirituality, particularly through Hasidism.
Outside Judaism, Kabbala has affected Christian thought since the Renaissance, inspiring Christian Kabbala and influencing humanist scholars. Moreover, the occult, theosophic theories, and even Freemasonry have borrowed from Kabbala, though often missing its true essence.
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Kabbala, esoteric Jewish mysticism as it appeared in the 12th and following centuries. Kabbala has always been essentially an oral tradition in that initiation into its doctrines and practices is conducted by a personal guide to avoid the dangers inherent in mystical experiences. Esoteric Kabbala is also “tradition” inasmuch as it lays claim to secret knowledge of the unwritten Torah (divine revelation) that was communicated by God to Moses and Adam. Though observance of the Law of Moses remained the basic tenet of Judaism, Kabbala provided a means of approaching God directly. It thus gave Judaism a religious dimension whose mystical approaches to God were viewed by some as dangerously pantheistic and heretical.
The earliest roots of Kabbala are traced to Merkava mysticism. It began to flourish in Palestine in the 1st century ce and had as its main concern ecstatic and mystical contemplation of the divine throne, or “chariot” (merkava), seen in a vision by Ezekiel, the prophet (Ezekiel 1). The earliest known Jewish text on magic and cosmology, Sefer Yetzira (“Book of Creation”), appeared sometime between the 3rd and the 6th century. It explained creation as a process involving the 10 divine numbers (sefirot; see sefira) of God the Creator and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Taken together, they were said to constitute the “32 paths of secret wisdom.”
A major text of early Kabbala was the 12th-century Sefer ha-bahir (“Book of Brightness”), whose influence on the development of Jewish esoteric mysticism and on Judaism in general was profound and lasting. The Bahir not only interpreted the sefirot as instrumental in creating and sustaining the universe but also introduced into Judaism such notions as the transmigration of souls (gilgul) and strengthened the foundations of Kabbala by providing it with an extensive mystical symbolism.
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Spanish Kabbala
In the following century, the Sefer ha-temuna (“Book of the Image”) appeared in Spain and advanced the notion of cosmic cycles, each of which provides an interpretation of the Torah according to a divine attribute. Judaism, consequently, was presented not as a religion of immutable truths but as one for which each cycle, or eon, was said to have a different Torah.
Spain also produced the famous Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), a book that in some circles was invested with a sanctity rivaling that of the Torah itself. It dealt with the mystery of creation and the functions of the sefirot, and it offered mystical speculations about evil, salvation, and the soul.
Following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Jews were more than ever taken up with messianic hopes and eschatology, and Kabbala found wide favour.
Lurianic Kabbala
By the mid-16th century the unchallenged centre of Kabbala was Safed, Galilee, where one of the greatest of all Kabbalists, Isaac ben Solomon Luria, spent the last years of his life. According to Gershom Gerhard Scholem, a modern Jewish scholar of Kabbala, Luria’s influence was surpassed only by that of the Sefer ha-zohar. Lurianic Kabbala developed several basic doctrines: the “withdrawal” (tzimtzum) of the divine light, thereby creating primordial space; the sinking of luminous particles into matter (qellipot: “shells”); and a “cosmic restoration” (tiqqun) that is achieved by the Jew through an intense mystical life and unceasing struggle against evil. Lurianic Kabbalism was used to justify Shabbetaianism, a Jewish messianic movement of the 17th century.
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Lurianic Kabbala also profoundly influenced the doctrines of modern Ḥasidism, a social and religious movement that began in the 18th century and still flourishes today in small but significant Jewish communities.