This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. For the western esoteric mystical tradition see Hermetic Qabalah. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Category:Sephiroth      Sefirah redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Qliphoth, kliffoth or klippot, Heb. ... Raziel (Hebrew RZIAL: secret[s] [of the] Lord), is an archangel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism (of the Kabbalah of Judaism) who is the Keeper of Secrets and the Angel of Mysteries. In some teachings he is said to be a Cherub, as well as the chief of the... In the Jewish Kabbalah tradition, Ayn Sof (Ain Sof, Hebrew boundlessness or without end), also known referred to as Divine Being, is the name for God as he is unknown, or the mysterious and ultimate source of all existence. ... Rishonim (ראשונים Hebrew - sing. ... In Jewish Mysticism, Tzimtzum (צמצום Hebrew: contraction or constriction) refers to the notion in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God contracted his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ... Category:Sephiroth      Main article: Sephirot (Kabbalah) Tree of life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah of Judaism which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing). ... Seder Hishtalshelus (Hebrew סדר חשתלשלות) means the order of development or order of evolution, where the word Hishtalshelus (or Hishtalshelut) is derived from the reduplicated quadriliteral root Å LÅ L to chain, and so literally means the chain-like process. This is the Kabbalistic term for the progression God continually uses to go... Jewish meditation, which in Hebrew is called hisbonenus or hitbonenut, is explained most explicitely in the Kabbalistic and Chassidic texts. ... Zodiac in a 6th century synagogue at Beit Alpha, Israel. ... In Hebrew, astrology was called hokmat ha-nissayon, the wisdom of prognostication, in distinction to hokmat ha-hizzayon (wisdom of star-seeing, or astronomy). ... Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai, (Simon son of Yohai), was a Palestinian rabbi during the Roman period, after the destruction of the Second Temple. ... Moses ben Jacob Cordovero or Moshe Cordevero (1522-1570), known by the acronym the Ramak, was a Medieval rabbi and one of the greatest scholars of Judaisms Kabbalah. ... The Grave of Isaac Luria in Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic. ... Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor רַבִּי יִצְחַק סַגִּי נְהוֹר, also known as Isaac the Blind, (c. ... Not to be confused with Bahya ibn Paquda. ... Azriel was one of the most important Jewish mystics in the Spanish town of Gerona (north of Barcelona) during the thirteenth century when it was an important center of the Kabbalah. ... Yosef Caro (1488 - March 24, 1575) was one of the most significant leaders in Rabbinic Judaism and the author of the Shulchan Arukh, an authoritative work on Halakhah (Jewish law). ... Israel Sarug Ashkenazi (also Saruk) (16th century) was a pupil of Isaac Luria, and devoted himself at the death of his master to the propagation of the latters kabalistic system, for which he gained many adherents in various parts of Italy. ... Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (רבי ישראל בן אליעזר, c. ... Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... Sefer Yetzirah (Hebrew, Book of Creation[1], ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest book on Jewish esotericism. ... Bahir or Sefer Ha-Bahir סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר (Hebrew, Book of the Brightness) is an anonymous mystical work, attributed pseudepigraphically to a first century rabbinic sage Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah said. It is also known as... This article is a stub. ... Hermetic Qabalah ( from the Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception), is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition. ...

Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה, Tiberian: qabːɔˈlɔh, Qabbālāh, Israeli: Kabala) literally means "receiving", and is sometimes transliterated as Cabala, Kabbala, Qabalah, or other spellings. It is held authoritative by most Orthodox Jews. According to its adherents, intimate understanding and mastery of the Kabbalah brings man spiritually closer to God and as a result man can be empowered with higher insight into the inner-workings of God’s creation. “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Tiberian Hebrew is an oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient forms of Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was given written form by masoretic scholars in the Jewish community at Tiberias in the early Middle Ages, beginning in the 8th century. ...

The origins of the actual term Kabbalah are unknown and disputed to belong either to the Spanish philosopher, Iba Gabriol, Solomon ibn Gabirol, (1021 - 1058) or to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. While other terms are used in many religious documents from the 2nd century CE till the present day, the term Kabbalah has become the main descriptive of Jewish esoteric knowledge and practices. Main Kabbalistic literature that served as the basis for most of the development of Kabbalistic thought divides between early works such as Bahir and Heichalot (believed to be dated 1st Century CE, and later works dated 13th century CE of which the main book is the Zohar representing the main source for the Contemplative Kabbalah ("Kabbalah Iyunit"). Solomon Ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah, is a Spanish Jewish poet and philosopher. ... Not to be confused with Bahya ibn Paquda. ... Bahir or Sefer Ha-Bahir סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר (Hebrew, Book of the Brightness) is an anonymous mystical work, attributed pseudepigraphically to a first century rabbinic sage Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah said. It is also known as... This article is a stub. ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ...

Overview

According to Kabbalistic tradition, Kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by, the Jewish patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Avot in Hebrew), eventually to be “interwoven” into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel ^[1], although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis. Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... Avot can refer to: Pirkei Avoth. ... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ...

Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands ^[2]. The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד) for two and a half millennia. A Sanhedrin (Hebrew: ; Greek: , [1] synedrion, sitting together, hence assembly or council) is an assembly of 23[2] judges Biblically required in every city. ... The term: diaspora (in Greek, διασπορά – a scattering or sowing of seeds) is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands; being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture. ... Etymology Esoteric is an adjective originating during Hellenic Greece under the domain of the Roman Empire; it comes from the Greek esôterikos, from esôtero, the comparative form of esô: within. It is a word meaning anything that is inner and occult, a latinate word meaning hidden (from which... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

Kabbalah: History:

Origins: Judaic Mysticism

According to most groups of Orthodox Judaism, Kabbalah dates from Adam and is an integral part of the Jewish religious tradition. It is believed to have come down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim ("righteous men"), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. By contrast, contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and culture milieu of that historical period. Questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary and cannot be summarized in simple doctrinaire claims. Category:Sephiroth      Sefirah redirects here. ... Image File history File links Ktree11. ... Keter (Crown; כתר) also known as Kether in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the topmost of the Sephirot, or Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree12. ... Image File history File links Ktree13. ... Binah, (meaning Understanding; בינה), in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the second intellectual Sephirah on the tree of life. ... Image File history File links Ktree21. ... Image File history File links Ktree22. ... Image File history File links Ktree23. ... Image File history File links Ktree24. ... Chokhma in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the second sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree25. ... Image File history File links Ktree31. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Daath (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree32. ... Image File history File links Ktree33. ... Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree41. ... Image File history File links Ktree42. ... Image File history File links Ktree43. ... Image File history File links Ktree44. ... Category:Sephiroth      Note: The Hebrew word chesed חסד is also the root word upon which the name Hasidism is based. ... Image File history File links Ktree45. ... Image File history File links Ktree51. ... Category:Sephiroth      Tiferet (Adornment, Hebrew: תפארת ) or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiphereth - also known as Rakhamim (Mercy, Hebrew: רחמים ) or Shalom (Peace, Hebrew: שלום ) - is the sixth sfira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. ... Image File history File links Ktree52. ... Image File history File links Ktree53. ... Hod in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the eighth sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree61. ... Image File history File links Ktree62. ... Image File history File links Ktree63. ... Image File history File links Ktree64. ... Netzach (נצח) (victory) is the seventh Sephira in the Kabbalah, located beneath Chesed, at the base of the Pillar of Mercy. Netzach is Perpetualty, Victory, and is astrologically related to Venus. ... Image File history File links Ktree65. ... Image File history File links Ktree71. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Image File history File links Ktree72. ... Image File history File links Ktree73. ... Image File history File links Ktree82. ... Malkhuth is the bottom Sephira on the Kabbalistic Tree Of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree92. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Michelangelos The Creation of Adam, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Adam, with Eve in His arm. ...

The proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, are recorded in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2. The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ...

Origins: Terms

Main articles: Ma'aseh Merkabah and Bereshit

Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also, Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ... When Moses received all of the laws that would define the Jewish tradition, he also received the explanation of these laws. ... Aggadah (Aramaic אגדה: tales, lore; pl. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... View from the summit of Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula, showing location of Jabal Musa Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa (Moses Mountain) by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. ...

When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan (Canaanite: כנען, Hebrew: כְּנַעַן, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice - meditation (“Hitbodedut” Hebrew: התבודדות) (see Jewish meditation), translated as “being alone” or “isolating oneself”, or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice - prophecy (“NeVu’a” Hebrew: נבואה). The Canaanite languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Hebrews, Phoenicians, and eventually Philistines. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... A large statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating Meditation describes a state of concentrated attention on some object of thought or awareness. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Jewish meditation, which in Hebrew is called hisbonenus or hitbonenut, is explained most explicitely in the Kabbalistic and Chassidic texts. ... This article or section seems to describe future events as if they have already occurred. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

During the C5th BC, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls (“MeGilot”), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה)[1] and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית)[2]., respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah. Tanakh (Hebrew: ‎) (also Tanach, IPA: or , or Tenak, is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ... Genesis (Hebrew: , Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... “Tora” redirects here. ...

Origins: Torah

Main article: Torah

According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash^{[citation needed]} God created the universe through the ten sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2^[3]. “Tora” redirects here. ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth (or Enumerations) are the ten emanations of God (or infinite light: Ain Soph Aur) into the universe. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ... Michelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. ... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן ) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived after they were created by God. ... Tree of Knowledge may refer to: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Book of Genesis The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment according to Buddhism The metaphysical Tree of Jiva and Atman in Vedic mythology The Axis mundi, or world axis, which takes... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... Serpent is a word of Latin origin (serpens, serpentis) which is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit term serp, that is normally substituted for snake in a specifically mythic or religious context, in order to distinguish such creatures from the field of biology. ... In the Bible, the forbidden fruit is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil eaten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ...

The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision - Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs. Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ... Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ... The angels climb Jacobs Ladder on the west front of Bath Abbey. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... Burning bush at St. ... View from the summit of Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula, showing location of Jabal Musa Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa (Moses Mountain) by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. ... Tanakh (Hebrew: ‎) (also Tanach, IPA: or , or Tenak, is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ...

The 72 names of God which are used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes are derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Red Sea parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul. Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... This 1768 parchment (612x502 mm) by Jekuthiel Sofer emulated the 1675 Decalogue at Amsterdam Esnoga synagogue. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... View from the summit of Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula, showing location of Jabal Musa Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa (Moses Mountain) by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. ... Saul (שאול המלך) (or Shaul) (Hebrew: שָׁאוּל, Standard Tiberian  ; asked for or borrowed) is a figure identified in the Books of Samuel and Quran as having been the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. ...

Talmudic Era: Mystical Doctrines

Main article: Talmud

In Talmudic times (the early centuries of the first millennium CE), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4-28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom). The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ... Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ... Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ...

In contrast to the explicit statement of the Hebrew Bible that God created not only the world, but also the matter out of which it was made, the opinion was expressed in very early times^{[citation needed]} that God created the world from matter He found ready at hand &mdash. According to some^{[citation needed]}, this is an opinion probably due to the influence of the Platonic-Stoic cosmogony. 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article is about the term Hebrew Bible. For the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh (Jewish tradition) or Old Testament (Christian tradition). ...

Eminent rabbinic teachers in the Land of Israel held the doctrine of the preexistence of matter (Midrash Genesis Rabbah i. 5; iv. 6), in spite of the protest of Gamaliel II. (ib. i. 9). Kingdom of Israel: Early ancient historical Israel — land in pink is the approximate area under direct central royal administration during the United Monarchy. ... Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ... Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. ...

In dwelling upon the nature of God and the universe, the mystics of the Talmudic period asserted, in contrast to the transcendentalism evident in some parts of the Bible, that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom (המקום "the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). This type of theology, in modern terms, is known as either pantheism or panentheism. Whether a text is truly pantheistic or panentheistic is often hard to understand; mainstream Judaism generally rejects pantheistic interpretations of Kabbalah, and instead accepts panentheistic interpretations. Philo (20 BCE - 40 CE), known also as Philo of Alexandria and as Philo Judeaus, was a Hellenized Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt. ... Genesis (Hebrew: , Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ... Pantheism (Greek: πάν ( pan ) = all and θεός ( theos ) = God) literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent abstract God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... Panentheism (from Greek: πάν (‘pan’ ) = all, en = in, and theos = God; all-in-God) is the theological position that God is immanent within the Universe, but also transcends it. ...

Even in very early times in the Land of Israel, Jewish, as well as Jewish Alexandrian theology recognized the two attributes of God, middat hadin, the attribute of justice, and middat ha-rahamim, the attribute of mercy (see: Midrash Sifre, Deuteronomy 27); and so is the contrast between justice and mercy became a fundamental doctrine of the Kabbalah. Other hypostasizations are represented by the ten "agencies", (the Sefirot) through which God created the world: namely, wisdom, insight, cognition, strength, power, inexorableness, justice, right, love, and mercy. Kingdom of Israel: Early ancient historical Israel — land in pink is the approximate area under direct central royal administration during the United Monarchy. ... Alexandria (Greek: , Coptic: , Arabic: , Egyptian Arabic: Iskindireyya), (population of 3. ... Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible. ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth (or Enumerations) are the ten emanations of God (or infinite light: Ain Soph Aur) into the universe. ...

While the Sefirot are based on these ten creative "potentialities", it is especially the personification of wisdom which, in Philo, represents the totality of these primal ideas; and the Targ. Jerusalem Talmud i., agreeing with him, translates the first verse of the Bible as follows: "By wisdom God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis Rabbah equates "Wisdom" with "Torah." Philo (20 BCE - 40 CE), known also as Philo of Alexandria and as Philo Judeaus, was a Hellenized Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt. ...

So, also, the figure of the Sar Metatron passed into mystical texts from the Talmud. In the Heichalot literature Metatron sometimes approximates the role of the demiurgos (see Gnosticism), being expressly mentioned as a "lesser" God. One text, however, identifies Metatron as Enoch transubstantiated (see: Enoch, III). Mention may also be made of other pre-existent states enumerated in an old baraita (an extra-mishnaic teaching); namely, the Torah, repentance, paradise and hell, the throne of God, the Heavenly Temple, and the name of the Messiah (Talmud Pesahim 54a). Although the origin of this doctrine must be sought probably in certain mythological ideas, the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence has modified the older, simpler conception, and the pre-existence of the seven must therefore be understood as an "ideal" pre-existence, a conception that was later more fully developed in the Kabbalah. Metatron (Hebrew מטטרון or מיטטרון), is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christianity. ... The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ... This article is a stub. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, Repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... In Judaism and Jewish eschatology, the Messiah (Hebrew: משיח; Mashiah, Mashiach, or Moshiach, anointed [one]) is a term traditionally referring to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line who will be anointed (the meaning of the Hebrew word משיח) with holy anointing oil and inducted to rule the Jewish people during...

The attempts of the mystics to bridge the gulf between God and the world are evident in the doctrine of the preexistence of the soul, and of its close relation to God before it enters the human body — a doctrine taught by the Hellenistic sages (Wisdom viii. 19) as well as by the Palestinian rabbis. The mystics also employ the phrase from (Isaiah 6:3), as expounded by the Rabbinic Sages, "The whole world is filled with His glory," to justify a panentheistic understanding of the universe.

Early Medieval and Medieval Era: Kabbalah

Main Articles: Solomon ibn Gabirol; Isaac the Blind; Azriel (Jewish mystic); Nahmanides; Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia; Joseph Chiquitilla; Bahya ben Asher; Moses de Leon; Eleazar Rokeach.

The tree of life.

From the 8th-11th Century Sefer Yetzirah and Hekalot texts made their way into European Jewish circles. Modern scholars have identified several mystical brotherhoods that functioned in Europe starting in the 12th Century. Some, such as the "Iyyun Circle" and the "Unique Cherub Circle," were truly esoteric, remaining largely anonymous. Solomon Ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah, is a Spanish Jewish poet and philosopher. ... Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor רַבִּי יִצְחַק סַגִּי נְהוֹר, also known as Isaac the Blind, (c. ... Azriel was one of the most important Jewish mystics in the Spanish town of Gerona (north of Barcelona) during the thirteenth century when it was an important center of the Kabbalah. ... Nahmanides (1194 - c. ... Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (Hebrew: אברהם בן שמואל אבולעפיה) was born in Saragosa in 1240, and died sometime after 1290, in Comino, Maltese archipelago. ... Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (1248-ca. ... Not to be confused with Bahya ibn Paquda. ... Rabbi Moses ben Shem-Tov de Leon (c. ... Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus of Worms (Hebrew: אלעזר מוורמס, also Elazar Rokeach or Rokeiach) (ca. ... This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Category:Sephiroth      Main article: Sephirot (Kabbalah) Tree of life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah of Judaism which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing). ...

One well-known group was the "Hasidei Ashkenaz," or German Pietists. This 13th Century movement arose mostly among a single scholarly family, the Kalonymus family of the French and German Rhineland.

There were certain rishonim ("Elder Sages") of exoteric Judaism who are known to have been experts in Kabbalah. One of the best known is Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194-1270) whose commentary on the Torah is considered to be based on Kabbalistic knowledge. Bahya ben Asher (the Rabbeinu Behaye) (d. 1340) also combined Torah commentary and Kabbalah. Another was Isaac the Blind (1160-1235), the teacher of Nahmanides, who is widely argued to have written the first work of classic Kabbalah, the Bahir. Rishonim (ראשונים Hebrew - sing. ... Nahmanides (1194 - c. ... Events November 20 - Palermo falls to Henry VI, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire December 25 - Henry VI is crowned king of Sicily. ... For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... Not to be confused with Bahya ibn Paquda. ... Events Europe has about 74 million inhabitants. ... Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor רַבִּי יִצְחַק סַגִּי נְהוֹר, also known as Isaac the Blind, (c. ... Events Eric IX of Sweden is succeeded by Karl Sverkersson. ... Events Anglo-Norman invasion of Connacht St. ... Bahir or Sefer Ha-Bahir סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר (Hebrew, Book of the Brightness) is an anonymous mystical work, attributed pseudepigraphically to a first century rabbinic sage Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah said. It is also known as...

Sefer Bahir and another work, the "Treatise of the Left Emanation", probably composed in Spain by Isaac ben Isaac ha-Cohen, laid the groundwork for the composition of Sefer Zohar, written by Moses de Leon and his mystical circle at the end of the 13th Century, but credited to the Talmudic sage Shimon bar Yochai, cf. Zohar. The Zohar proved to be the first truly "popular" work of Kabbalah, and the most influential. From the thirteenth century onward, Kabbalah began to be widely disseminated and it branched out into an extensive literature. Historians in the nineteenth century, for example, Heinrich Greatz, argued that the emergence into public view of Jewish esotericism at this time coincides with, and represents a response to, the rising influence of the rationalist philosophy of Maimonides and his followers. Gershom Scholem sought to undermine this view as part of his resistance to seeing kabbalah as merely a response to medieval Jewish rationalism. Arguing for a gnostic influence has to be seen as part of this strategy. More recently, Moshe Idel and Elliot Wolfson have independently argued that the impact of Maimonides can be seen in the change from orality to writing in the thirteenth century. That is, kabbalists committed to writing many of their oral traditions in part as a response to the attempt of Maimonides to explain the older esoteric subjects philosophically. It has been suggested that Aaronites be merged into this article or section. ... ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Maimonides (March 30, 1135 or 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. ...

Most Orthodox Jews reject the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development or change such as has been proposed above. After the composition known as the Zohar was presented to the public in the 13th century, the term "Kabbalah" began to refer more specifically to teachings derived from, or related, to the Zohar. At an even later time, the term began to generally be applied to Zoharic teachings as elaborated upon by Isaac Luria Arizal. Historians generally date the start of Kabbalah as a major influence in Jewish thought and practice with the publication of the Zohar and climaxing with the spread of the Arizal's teachings. The majority of Haredi Jews accept the Zohar as the representative of the Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'reshit that are referred to in Talmudic texts. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... The Grave of Isaac Luria in Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic. ... The Grave of Isaac Luria in Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic. ... Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ...

Early Modern Era: Lurianic Kabbalah

Main Article: Isaac Luria.

Following the upheavals and dislocations in the Jewish world as a result of the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the trauma of Anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, Jews began to search for signs of when the long-awaited Jewish Messiah would come to comfort them in their painful exiles. Moses Cordovero and his immediate circle popularized the teachings of the Zohar which had until then been only a modestly influential work. The author of the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law"), Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), was also a great scholar of Kabbalah and spread its teachings during this era. Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... Saint Dominic (1170 – August 6, 1221) Presiding over an Auto-da-fe, by Pedro Berruguete, (1450 - 1504). ... Not to be confused with 1492: Conquest of Paradise. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... In Judaism and Jewish eschatology, the Messiah (Hebrew: משיח; Mashiah, Mashiach, or Moshiach, anointed [one]) is a term traditionally referring to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line who will be anointed (the meaning of the Hebrew word משיח) with holy anointing oil and inducted to rule the Jewish people during... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Yosef Caro (1488 - March 24, 1575) was one of the most significant leaders in Rabbinic Judaism and the author of the Shulchan Arukh, an authoritative work on Halakhah (Jewish law). ... // January 8 - The present Royal Netherlands Navy was formed By decree of Maximillian of Austria. ... Year 1575 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ...

As part of that "search for meaning" in their lives, Kabbalah received its biggest boost in the Jewish world with the explication of the Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) by his disciples Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Israel Sarug, both of whom published Luria's teachings (in variant forms) gaining them wide-spread popularity. Luria's teachings came to rival the influence of the Zohar and Luria stands, alongside Moses De Leon, as the most influential mystic in Jewish history. Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... 1534 (MDXXXIV) was a common year in the 16th century. ... January 16 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (1543 in Safed-6 May 1620 in Damascus) was one of the most famous exponents of Kabbalah. ... Israel Sarug Ashkenazi (also Saruk) (16th century) was a pupil of Isaac Luria, and devoted himself at the death of his master to the propagation of the latters kabalistic system, for which he gained many adherents in various parts of Italy. ...

Kabbalah: ban against studying

The ban against studying Kabbalah was lifted by the efforts of the sixteenth century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulai (1570-1643). Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the bull Regnans in Excelsis May 20 - Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas. ... // Events January 21 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga February 6 - Abel Tasman discovers the Fiji islands. ...

I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the Wisdom of Truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E). From then on after is called the "Last Generation", and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M'hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit King Mashiach will come in the future – and not in any other merit – it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah]. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai)

Kabbalah: Sefardi and Mizrahi

The Kabbalah of the Sefardi (Spanish/Mediterranean) and Mizrahi (African/Asian) Torah scholars has a long history. Kabbalah in various forms was widely studied, commented upon, and expanded by North African, Turkish, Yemenite, and Asian scholars from the 16th Century onward. It flourished among Sefardic Jews in Tzfat (Safed), Israel even before the arrival of Isaac Luria, its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous hymn Lekhah Dodi, taught there. In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the... Mizrachi is also an organisation of the Religious Zionist Movement Mizrahi Jews or Oriental Jews (מזרחי eastern, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים easterners, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm... Safed (Hebrew: צְפַת, Tiberian: , Israeli: Tsfat, Ashkenazi: Tzfas; Arabic: صفد ; KJV English: Zephath) is a city in the North District in Israel. ... Yosef Caro (1488 - March 24, 1575) was one of the most significant leaders in Rabbinic Judaism and the author of the Shulchan Arukh, an authoritative work on Halakhah (Jewish law). ... Rabbi Shlomo (Solomon) Halevi Alkabetz (also transliterated as Alqabitz) (c. ... Lekhah Dodi (לכה דודי transliterated as Lecha Dodi, Lchah Dodi, Lekah Dodi or Lechah Dodi) is a Hebrew liturgical song recited Friday at dusk, usually at sundown, in synagogue to welcome Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) prior to the Maariv evening services. ...

His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu De Vidas authored the classic work, Reishit Chochma, combining kabbalistic and mussar (moral) teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one authorized to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings. Title page from Moses Cordoveros Pardes Rimonim. ... Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543-1620) was the closest disciple of the great 16th-century kabbalist, the Ari - Rabbi Itzchak Luria and his foremost interpreter. ...

Among the most famous was the Beit El mystical circle of Jerusalem, originally a brotherhood of twelve, mostly Sefardic, mystics under the leadership of Gedaliyah Chayon and Shalom Sharabi in the mid-18th century. The group endured into the 20th Century and there is still a yeshivah of that name in the Old City of Jerusalem. An old print depicting the Beit El synagogue See Beit El Yeshiva, for the Religious Zionist Yeshiva. ... Sar Shalom Sharabi (The Rashash) (Hebrew: שלום שרעבי) (Sharab, Yemen 1720 - Jerusalem 1777 (10 shevat 5537)) was a Yemenite Jewish Rabbi who was a master of Kabbalah, as well as Torah and Talmud. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ...

Kabbalah: the Maharal

Main Article: Judah Loew ben Bezalel

One of the most important teachers of Kabbalah recognized as an authority by all serious scholars up until the present time, was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609) known as the Maharal of Prague. Many of his written works survive and are studied for their deep Kabbalistic insights. The Maharal is, perhaps, most famous outside of Jewish mysticism for the legends of the golem of Prague, which he reportedly created. During the twentieth century, Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) continued to spread the Maharal's teachings indirectly through his own teachings and scholarly publications within the modern yeshiva world. Judah Loew ben Bezalel (Judah Loew son of Bezalel, also written as Yehudah ben Bezalel Levai [or Loew], 1525 – August 22, 1609 or Elul 18, 5369 according to the Hebrew calendar) [citation needed] see discussion was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi... Judah Loew ben Bezalel (Judah Loew son of Bezalel, also written as Yehudah ben Bezalel Levai [or Loew], 1525 – August 22, 1609 or Elul 18, 5369 according to the Hebrew calendar) [citation needed] see discussion was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi... Events January 21 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manzs mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. ... // Events April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia. ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... For instances of Golem in popular culture, see Golem in popular culture. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Rabbi Yitzchok (Isaac) Hutner (1906 - 1980) was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger hasidim and mitnagdim in their origins. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the Jewish educational system. ...

Sabbatian Mysticism: Failure

Main article: Sabbatai Zevi

The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... Pogrom (from Russian: ; from громить IPA: - to wreak havoc, to demolish violently) is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious or other, and characterized by destruction of their homes, businesses and religious centers. ... Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. ... 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Events April 5 - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Events September 30 - Nurhaci, chieftain of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing Dynasty dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji. ... Events January 29 - Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia First measurement of the speed of light, by Ole Rømer Bacons Rebellion Russo-Turkish Wars commence. ... Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book...

His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It has been suggested that Yahweh be merged into this article or section. ... Nathan of Gaza (1643–1680) - Nathan became famous as a prophet for the false messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi. ... In Judaism and Jewish eschatology, the Messiah (Hebrew: משיח; Mashiah, Mashiach, or Moshiach, anointed [one]) is a term traditionally referring to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line who will be anointed (the meaning of the Hebrew word משיח) with holy anointing oil and inducted to rule the Jewish people during... Apostasy (from Greek αποστασία, meaning a defection or revolt, from απο, apo, away, apart, στασις, stasis, standing) is a term generally employed to describe the formal renunciation of ones religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish (official); spoken languages include Abkhazian, Adyghe, Albanian, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Azerbaijani... Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... A drawing of Ezekiels Visionary Temple from the Book of Ezekiel 40-47 The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was located on the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit) in the old city of Jerusalem. ...

Many of his followers, known as Sabbateans, continued to worship him in secret, explaining his conversion not as an effort to save his life but to recover the sparks of the holy in each religion, and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Donmeh movement in modern Turkey is a surviving remnant of the Sabbatian schism. Sabbateans are a group of Crypto-Jews of the Near East who followed Sabbatai Zevi (also called Shabbatai Zvi) and converted to Islam in 1666. ... Donmeh refers to a group of Crypto-Jews of the Near East who followed Sabbatai Zevi (also called Shabbatai Zvi) and converted to Islam in 1666. ...

Kabbalah: the Frankists

Main article: Jacob Frank

The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by apparently converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership. Jacob Frank. ... Jacob Frank. ... Events George Friderich Handel becomes a British subject. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church...

Kabbalah: the 1700s

Main articles: Israel ben Eliezer , Nachman of Breslov , Vilna Gaon , and Moshe Chaim Luzzatto

The eighteenth century saw an explosion of new efforts in the writing and spread of Kabbalah by four well known rabbis working in different areas of Europe: Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (רבי ישראל בן אליעזר, c. ... Nachman of Breslov (Hebrew: נחמן מברסלב) also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Nachman from Uman, or simply as Rebbe Nachman (in local Yiddish reb Nokhmen Broslever) (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810 (18th of Tishrei)) was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic dynasty. ... Elijah Ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist. ... Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (also Moses Chaim, Moses Hayyim, also Luzzato) (1707-1746), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RAMCHAL (also RAMHAL), was a prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, mystic, and philosopher best remembered today for his ethical treatise Mesillat Yesharim (Path of the Just). ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ...

1. Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760) in the area of Ukraine spread teachings based on Rabbi Isaac Luria's foundations, simplifying the Kabbalah for the common man. From him sprang the vast ongoing schools of Hasidic Judaism, with each successive rebbe viewed by his "Hasidim" as continuing the role of dispenser of mystical divine blessings and guidance.
2. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 - 1810), the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revitalized and further expanded the latter's teachings, amassing a following of thousands in Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania and Poland. In a unique amalgam of Hasidic and Mitnagid approaches, Rebbe Nachman emphasized study of both Kabbalah and serious Torah scholarship to his disciples. His teachings also differed from the way other Hasidic groups were developing, as he rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself—and within himself.
3. Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (Vilna Gaon) (1720-1797), based in Lithuania, had his teachings encoded and publicized by his disciples such as by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who published the mystical-ethical work Nefesh HaChaim. However, he was staunchly opposed to the new Hasidic movement and warned against their public displays of religious fervour inspired by the mystical teachings of their rabbis.

Although the Vilna Gaon was not in favor of the Hasidic movement, he did not prohibit the study and engagement in the Kabbalah. This is evident from his writings in the Even Shlema."He that is able to understand secrets of the Torah and does not try to understand them will be judged harshly, may God have mercy". (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 8:24). "The Redemption will only come about through learning Torah, and the essence of the Redemption depends upon learning Kabbalah" (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 11:3). Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (רבי ישראל בן אליעזר, c. ... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc. ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word רבי. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement. ... Nachman of Breslov (Hebrew: נחמן מברסלב) also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Nachman from Uman, or simply as Rebbe Nachman (in local Yiddish reb Nokhmen Broslever) (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810 (18th of Tishrei)) was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic dynasty. ... Year 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... This article incorporates text from the public domain 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia Israel ben Eliezer Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (about 1700 Okopy Świętej Tr jcy - May 22, 1760 Międzyborz) was a Jewish Orthodox mystical rabbi who is better known to most religious Jews as... The banner of White Ruthenia White Russia is a name that was historically applied to different regions in Eastern Europe, most often to the region that roughly corresponds to the present-day Belarus. ... Mitnagdim or misnagdim is a Hebrew word (מתנגדים) meaning opponents; this term was used to refer to European religious Jews who opposed Hasidic Judaism. ... Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Elijah Ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist. ... Elijah Ben Solomon, the Vilna Gaon The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist. ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Chaim Volozhin (or Chaim Volozhiner or Chaim of Volozhin) (1749-1821) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist. ...

1. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), based in Italy, was a precocious Talmudic scholar who arrived at the startling conclusion that there was a need for the public teaching and study of Kabbalah. He established a yeshiva for Kabbalah study and actively recruited outstanding students and, in addition, wrote copious manuscripts in an appealing clear Hebrew style, all of which gained the attention of both admirers and rabbinical critics who feared another "Zevi (false messiah) in the making".

He was forced to close his school by his rabbinical opponents, hand over and destroy many of his most precious unpublished kabbalistic writings, and go into exile in the Netherlands. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Some of his most important works such as Derekh Hashem survive and are used as a gateway to the world of Jewish mysticism. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (also Moses Chaim, Moses Hayyim, also Luzzato) (1707-1746), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RAMCHAL (also RAMHAL), was a prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, mystic, and philosopher best remembered today for his ethical treatise Mesillat Yesharim (Path of the Just). ... Events January 1 - John V is crowned King of Portugal March 26 - The Acts of Union becomes law, making the separate Kingdoms of England and Scotland into one country, the Kingdom of Great Britain. ... // Events Catharine de Ricci (born 1522) canonized. ... The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ... This article is about the Jewish educational system. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Kingdom of Israel: Early ancient historical Israel — land in pink is the approximate area under direct central royal administration during the United Monarchy. ... Derekh Hashem (The Way of God), written in the 1730s, is a philosophical classic text systematizing the basic principles of Jewish belief regarding the existence of God, Gods purpose in Creation, and the logical consequence of other concepts in Judaism, by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, the author of the...

The Modern Era

One of the most influential sources spreading Kabbalistic teachings have come from the massive growth and spread of Hasidic Judaism, a movement begun by Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), but continued in many branches and streams until today. These groups differ greatly in size, but all emphasize the study of mystical Hasidic texts, which now consists of a vast literature devoted to elaborating upon the long chain of Kabbalistic thought and methodology. No group emphasizes in-depth kabbalistic study, though, to the extent of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, whose Rebbes delivered tens of thousands of discourses, and whose students study these texts for three hours daily. Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc. ... The Baal Shem Tov Rabbi Israel (Yisroel) ben Eliezer (רבי ישראל בן אליעזר, August 27, 1698 – May 22, 1760) is considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hasidic Philosophy or Chassidic philosophy (also Hasidism or Hassidism, Chassidus or Chassidut or Chasidut) is the teachings and philosophy underlying Hasidic Judaism. ... Chabad Lubavitch, or Lubavich, is one of the largest branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi . ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word רבי. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement. ... Tomchei Temimim is the central Yeshiva (Talmudical school) of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement. ...

Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn of Lubavitch urged the study of kabbala as prerequisite for one's humanity: Shmuel Schneersohn (or Rabbi Shmuel or Maharash) (1834–1882), was an Orthodox rabbi. ...

"A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus."[3]

The writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864-1935) also stress Kabbalistic themes: Seder Hishtalshelus (Hebrew סדר חשתלשלות) means the order of development or order of evolution, where the word Hishtalshelus (or Hishtalshelut) is derived from the reduplicated quadriliteral root ŠLŠL to chain, and so literally means the chain-like process. This is the Kabbalistic term for the progression God continually uses to go... This article is about commandments in Judaism. ... Rabbi, in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’, or more literally, ‘great one’. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ or ‘distinguished (in knowledge)’. Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word ribbī; the modern Israeli pronunciation rabbī is derived from a... Abraham Isaac Kook (1864 - 1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the (now) Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, and a renowned Torah scholar. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

"Due to the alienation from the "secret of God" [i.e. Kabbalah], the higher qualities of the depths of Godly life are reduced to trivia that do not penetrate the depth of the soul. When this happens, the most mighty force is missing from the soul of nation and individual, and Exile finds favor essentially... We should not negate any conception based on rectitude and awe of Heaven of any form - only the aspect of such an approach that desires to negate the mysteries and their great influence on the spirit of the nation. This is a tragedy that we must combat with counsel and understanding, with holiness and courage." (Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Orot 2 )

Another influential and important Kabbalah character is Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag 1884-1954 (also known as the Baal HaSulam — a title that he was given after the completion of one of his masterworks, The Sulam). Ashlag is considered by many to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time. Abraham Isaac Kook (1864 - 1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the (now) Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, and a renowned Torah scholar. ... // Yehuda Ashlag (1884—1954) or Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag רַבּי יְהוּדָה לֵיבּ הַלֵּוִי אַשְׁלַג is also known as Baal Ha-Sulam בַּעַל הַסּוּלָם, meaning Owner of the Sulam for his Sulam commentary on The Zohar. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He developed a study method that he considered most fitting for the future generations of Kabbalists. He is also notable for his other masterwork Talmud Eser HaSfirot — The Study of the Ten Emanations — a commentary on all the writings of the ARI. Some today consider this work as the core of the entire teaching of Kabbalah. Baal Hasulam's goal was to make the study of Kabbalah understandable and accessible to every human being with the desire to know the meaning of life. There are several organizations that are actualizing his ideas today. Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ...

Renewed interest in Kabbalah has appeared among non-traditional Jews, and even among non-Jews. Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal have been the most influential groups in this trend. Neo Hasidism: There has been significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non-Orthodox Jews due to the writings of non-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish authors like Martin Buber, Arthur Green and Abraham Joshua Heschel. ... Jewish Renewal is a new religious movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices. ...

Kabbalah: Diagrams:

Main articles: Sephirot, Tree of Life (Kabbalah), Tree of Life, Four worlds (Kabbalah), and Jacob's Ladder

Category:Sephiroth      Sefirah redirects here. ... Category:Sephiroth      Main article: Sephirot (Kabbalah) Tree of life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah of Judaism which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing). ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Jacobs Ladder may refer to: Jacobs Ladder (Bible) on which Jacob saw angels ascending and descending Crepuscular rays shining down a hole in the clouds Jacobs ladder (nautical), specialized ladders used at sea, especially a rope ladder with wooden steps for ascending from the deck to the... Category:Sephiroth      Sefirah redirects here. ... Image File history File links Ktree11. ... Keter (Crown; כתר) also known as Kether in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the topmost of the Sephirot, or Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree12. ... Image File history File links Ktree13. ... Binah, (meaning Understanding; בינה), in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the second intellectual Sephirah on the tree of life. ... Image File history File links Ktree21. ... Image File history File links Ktree22. ... Image File history File links Ktree23. ... Image File history File links Ktree24. ... Chokhma in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the second sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree25. ... Image File history File links Ktree31. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Daath (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree32. ... Image File history File links Ktree33. ... Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Image File history File links Ktree41. ... Image File history File links Ktree42. ... Image File history File links Ktree43. ... Image File history File links Ktree44. ... Category:Sephiroth      Note: The Hebrew word chesed חסד is also the root word upon which the name Hasidism is based. ... Image File history File links Ktree45. ... Image File history File links Ktree51. ... Category:Sephiroth      Tiferet (Adornment, Hebrew: תפארת ) or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiphereth - also known as Rakhamim (Mercy, Hebrew: רחמים ) or Shalom (Peace, Hebrew: שלום ) - is the sixth sfira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. ... Image File history File links Ktree52. ... Image File history File links Ktree53. ... Hod in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the eighth sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree61. ... Image File history File links Ktree62. ... Image File history File links Ktree63. ... Image File history File links Ktree64. ... Netzach (נצח) (victory) is the seventh Sephira in the Kabbalah, located beneath Chesed, at the base of the Pillar of Mercy. Netzach is Perpetualty, Victory, and is astrologically related to Venus. ... Image File history File links Ktree65. ... Image File history File links Ktree71. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Image File history File links Ktree72. ... Image File history File links Ktree73. ... Image File history File links Ktree82. ... Malkhuth is the bottom Sephira on the Kabbalistic Tree Of Life. ... Image File history File links Ktree92. ...

Sefirot

The Hebrew word Sefirah (סְפִירָה) literally means "Numbering" or "Numeration". Sefirot is the plural, "Numerations". Sometimes, Jewish midrashic interpretations reread the Hebrew letters of this word to mean "Spheres" or "Narrations". Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ...

Ten Sefirot as process of Creation

According to Kabbalistic cosmology, Ten Sefirot (literally, Ten Numerations) correspond to ten levels of creation. These levels of creation must not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different ways of revealing God, one per level. It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.

While God may seem to exhibit dual natures (masculine-feminine, compassionate-judgmental, creator-creation), all adherents of Kabbalah have consistently stressed the ultimate unity of God. For example, in all discussions of Male and Female, the hidden nature of God exists above it all without limit, being called the Infinite or the "No End" (Ein Sof) - neither one nor the other, transcending any definition. The ability of God to become hidden from perception is called "Restriction" (Tzimtzum). Hiddenness makes creation possible because God can then become "revealed" in a diversity of limited ways, which then form the building blocks of creation. In the Jewish Kabbalah tradition, Ayn Sof (Ain Sof, Hebrew boundlessness or without end), also known referred to as Divine Being, is the name for God as he is unknown, or the mysterious and ultimate source of all existence. ... In Jewish Mysticism, Tzimtzum (צמצום Hebrew: contraction or constriction) refers to the notion in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God contracted his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ...

Ten Sefirot and physical sciences

Notable is the similarity between the concept in Kabbalah that the physical universe is made of Divine Light, and the modern concept in Physics that it is made of energy.

Moreover in Kabbalah, Divine Light is the carrier of consciousness. Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ...

"The human soul is a part of the Creator [that is, Divine Light]. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and the soul. The difference is that He is the 'whole' and the soul is a 'part'. This resembles a stone carved from a rock. There is no difference between the stone and the rock except that the rock is a 'whole' and the stone is a 'part'". (Yhuda Ashlag, Introduction in Ha-Sulam.)

Thus, a human's consciousness is a part of the Divine Consciousness, where the rest of the infinite Divine has been hidden from the human. This kabbalistic concept that consciousness is an aspect of Divine Light is similar to the protoscientific hypothesis that the electromagnetic field generated by the brain is the carrier of consciousness. In other words if the hypothesis is correct, consciousness would be an aspect of light (electromagentic radiation) and not an aspect of the physical brain per se. // Yehuda Ashlag Yehuda Ashlag (1884—1954) or Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag רַבּי יְהוּדָה לֵיבּ הַלֵּוִי אַשְׁלַג is also known as Baal Ha-Sulam בַּעַל הַסּוּלָם, meaning Master of the Ladder for his Sulam Commentary on The Zohar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The electromagnetic theory of consciousness is a theory that says the electromagnetic field generated by the brain (known for a long time, and measured by EEGs) is the actual carrier of conscious experience. ... This page includes English translations of several Latin phrases and abbreviations such as . ...

The Ten Sefirot mediate the interaction of the ultimate unknowable God with the physical and spiritual world. Some students of Kabbalah suggest that the Sefirot may be thought of as analogous to fundamental laws of physics. God's "Restriction" (Tzimtzum) within the spiritual levels is often compared with the Big Bang in the lowest physical level. Just as the resulting gravity, electromagnetism, strong force, and weak force allow for interactions between energy and matter, the Ten Sefirot allow for interactions between God and creation. (Compare Theory of Everything.) In Jewish Mysticism, Tzimtzum (צמצום Hebrew: contraction or constriction) refers to the notion in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God contracted his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ... According to the Big Bang model, the universe emerged from an extremely dense and hot state. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The Ten Sefirot are sometimes mentioned in the context of the Ten Dimensions that some physicists suspect the Superstring Theory may require. Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings. ...

Ten Sefirot as process of ethics

Divine creation by means of the Ten Sefirot is an ethical process. Examples: The Sefirah of "Compassion" (Chesed) being part of the Right Column corresponds to how God reveals more blessings when humans use previous blessings compassionately, whereas the Sefirah of "Overpowering" (Gevurah) being part of the Left Column corresponds to how God hides these blessings when humans abuse them selfishly without compassion. Thus human behavior determines if God seems present or absent. In Judaism Chesed is the forth Sefirah on the tree of life. ... In Judaism Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah), and is the second of the emotive attributes of the Sefirot. ...

"Righteous" humans (Tzadikim) ascend these ethical qualities of the Ten Sefirot by doing righteous actions. If there were no "Righteous" humans, the blessings of God would become completely hidden, and creation would cease to exist. While real human actions are the "Foundation" (Yesod) of this universe (Malchut), these actions must accompany the conscious intention of compassion. Compassionate actions are often impossible without "Faith" (Emunah), meaning to trust that God always supports compassionate actions even when God seems hidden. Ultimately, it is necessary to show compassion toward oneself too in order to share compassion toward others. This "selfish" enjoyment of God's blessings but only if in order to empower oneself to assist others, is an important aspect of "Restriction", and is considered a kind of golden mean in Kabbalah, corresponding to the Sefirah of "Adornment" (Tiferet) being part of the "Middle Column". Yesod (foundation) is one of the important Kabbalistic sephirot. ... Malkhuth is the bottom Sephira on the Kabbalistic Tree Of Life. ... In philosophy (especially that of Aristotle), the golden mean is the felicitous middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency; for this meaning, see golden mean (philosophy). ... Tiphereth (Glory; תפארת) or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiferet, or rahamin (mercy in Hebrew) in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the sixth Sephirah on the tree of life. ...

Ten Sefirot as vowel sounds

The Scholar and Rabbi Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport notes that according to the Masoretes there are ten vowel sounds. He suggests that the passage in Sefer Yetzirah, which discuss the manipulation of letters in the creation of the world, can be better understood if the Sefirot refer to vowel sounds. He posits that the word sefirah in this case is related to the hebrew word sippur - to retell. His position is based on his belief that most Kabbalistic works written after Sefer Yetzirah (including the Zohar) are forgeries. (Igrot Shir(Heb.) "Letters of Shir) - available on Google Books) Portrait of Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport. ... The Masoretes (baalei masorah) were scribes based primarily in at least three places, Tiberias (the best known); Eretz Yisrael, or the land of Israel; and Babylonia. ... Sefer Yetzirah (Hebrew, Book of Creation[1], ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest book on Jewish esotericism. ...

See also: Kabbalistic use of the Tetragrammaton; Masseket Azilut; Four graduated worlds; Tree of Life; Tree of Life (Kabbalah) At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHWH), the name of God. ... Massekhet Azilut (Hebrew: מסכת אצילות) is an anonyomous kabalistic work from the early 14th century, the earliest literary product of the speculative Kabbala which contains the doctrine of the four graduated worlds (a doctrine not contained in the Zohar) as well as that of the concentration of the Divine Being. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... Category:Sephiroth      Main article: Sephirot (Kabbalah) Tree of life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah of Judaism which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing). ...

Kabbalah: Concepts:

Kabbalistic understanding of God

Ein Sof(in-finite) and the emanation of angelic hierarchies (Universes or olamot עולמות)

Kabbalah teaches that God is neither matter nor spirit. Rather God is the creator of both, but is himself neither. But if God is so different from his creation, how can there be any interaction between the Creator and the created? Kabbalah - Ein Sof and angelic hierarchies (Universes or olamot) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... Kabbalah - Ein Sof and angelic hierarchies (Universes or olamot) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHVH), the name of God. ...

This question prompted Kabbalists to envision two aspects of God, (a) God himself, who in the end is unknowable, and (b) the revealed aspect of God that created the universe, preserves the universe, and interacts with mankind. Kabbalists speak of the first aspect of God as Ein Sof (אין סוף); this is translated as "the infinite", "endless", or "that which has no limits". In this view, nothing can be said about this aspect of God. This aspect of God is impersonal. The second aspect of divine emanations, however, is at least partially accessible to human thought. Kabbalists believe that these two aspects are not contradictory but, through the mechanism of progressive emanation, complement one another. See Divine simplicity; Tzimtzum. The structure of these emanations have been characterized in various ways: Four "worlds" (Azilut, Yitzirah, Beriyah, and Asiyah), Sefirot, or Partzufim ("faces"). Later systems harmonize these models. Ein Sof (Hebrew: without end denoting boundlessness), also known as Divine Being, is the name for God, within the Kabbalah of Judaism, as he is unknown, or the mysterious and ultimate source of all existence. ... In theology, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is without parts. ... In Jewish Mysticism, Tzimtzum (צמצום Hebrew: contraction or constriction) refers to the notion in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God contracted his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth (or Enumerations) are the ten emanations of God (or infinite light: Ain Soph Aur) into the universe. ...

Some Kabbalistic scholars, such as Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, believe that all things are linked to God through these emanations, making us all part of one great chain of being. Others, such as Schneur Zalman of Liadi (founder of Lubavitch [Chabad] Hasidism), hold that God is all that really exists; all else is completely undifferentiated from God's perspective. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero or Moshe Cordevero (1522-1570), known by the acronym the Ramak, was a Medieval rabbi and one of the greatest scholars of Judaisms Kabbalah. ... Portrait of Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) founder of Chabad Lubavitch and author of Tanya and Shulchan Aruch HaRav. ... Chabad Lubavitch, also known as Lubavitch Chabad, is a large branch of Hasidic Judaism. ... Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ...

If improperly explained, such views can be interpreted as panentheism or pantheism. In truth, according to this philosophy, God's existence is higher than anything that this world can express, yet He includes all things of this world down to the finest detail in such a perfect unity that His creation of the world effected no change in Him whatsoever. This paradox is dealt with at length in the Chabad Chassidic texts. Panentheism (from Greek: πάν (‘pan’ ) = all, en = in, and theos = God; all-in-God) is the theological position that God is immanent within the Universe, but also transcends it. ... Pantheism (Greek: πάν ( pan ) = all and θεός ( theos ) = God) literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent abstract God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ...

Theodicy: explanation for the existence of evil

Kabbalistic works offer a theodicy, a philosophical reconciliation of how the existence of a good and powerful God is compatible with the existence of evil in the world. There are mainly two different ways to describe why there is evil in the world, according to the Kabbalah. Both make use of the kabbalistic Tree of Life: This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Category:Sephiroth      Main article: Sephirot (Kabbalah) Tree of life is a mystical concept within the Kabbalah of Judaism which is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing). ...

The ten Sephiroth or 'emanations' of God

• The kabbalistic tree, which consists of ten Sephiroth, the ten "enumerations" or "emanations" of God, consists of three "pillars": The left side of the tree, the "female side", is considered to be more destructive than the right side, the "male side". Gevurah (גבורה, "Might"), for example, stands for strength and discipline, while her male counterpart, Chesed (חסד, "Mercy"), stands for love and mercy. Chesed is also known as Gedulah (גדולה, "Glory"), as in the Tree of Life pictured to the right. The "center pillar" of the tree does not have any polarity, and no gender is given to it. Thus evil is really an emanation of Divinity, a harsh byproduct of the "left side" of creation.
• In the medieval era, this notion took on increasingly gnostic overtones. The Qliphoth (or Kelippot) ( קליפות, the primeval "husks" of impurity) emanating from the left side were blamed for all the evil in the world. Qliphoth are the Sephirot out of balance. Sometimes the qliphoth are called the "death angels", or "angels of death". References to a word related to "qlipoth" are found in some Babylonian incantations, a fact used as evidence to argue the antiquity of kabbalistic material.
• Not all Kabbalists accepted this notion of evil being in such intimate relationship with God. Moses Cordovero (16th century) and Menasseh ben Israel (17th century) are two examples of Kabbalists who claimed "No evil emanates from God." They located evil as a byproduct of human freedom, an idea also found in mythic form in Rabbinic traditions that claim most demons are either the "dead of the flood" or products of human sexual debauchery.

The ten Sephiroth This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... The ten Sephiroth This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... The tree of life. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah). ... Bravery and Fortitude redirect here. ... Discipline is any training intended to produce a specific character or pattern of behaviour, especially training that produces moral, physical, or mental development in a particular direction. ... Category:Sephiroth      Note: The Hebrew word chesed חסד is also the root word upon which the name Hasidism is based. ... Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection or profound oneness. ... Pierre Montallier: The Works of Mercy, c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Qliphoth or klippot (singular: qliphah) refer to the representation of evil forces in the mystical teachings of Judaism (such as in the Kabballah. ... The tree of life. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Moses ben Jacob Cordovero or Moshe Cordevero (1522-1570), known by the acronym the Ramak, was a Medieval rabbi and one of the greatest scholars of Judaisms Kabbalah. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Menasseh Ben Israel (1604-1657), Jewish rabbi, scholar, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, founder of the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam in 1626. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

The human soul in Kabbalah

The Zohar posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ach, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows: The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ...

• Nefesh (נפש) - the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings.
• Ruach (רוח) - the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
• Neshamah (נשמה) - the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other lifeforms. It is related to the intellect, and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. This part of the soul is provided at birth and allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.

The Raaya Meheimna, a section of related teachings spread throughout the Zohar, discusses the two other parts of the human soul, the chayyah and yehidah (first mentioned in the Midrash Rabbah). Gershom Scholem writes that these "were considered to represent the sublimest levels of intuitive cognition, and to be within the grasp of only a few chosen individuals". The Chayyah and the Yechidah do not enter into the body like the other three - thus they received less attention in other sections of the Zohar. The suckling of a newborn at its mothers nipple is an example of an instinctive behavior. ... A moral is a one sentence remark made at the end of many childrens stories that expresses the intended meaning, or the moral message, of the tale. ... Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ) is moral excellence of a person. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In religion and ethics, evil refers to morally or ethically objectionable thought, speech, or action; behavior or thought which is hateful, cruel, violent, or devoid of conscience. ... Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. ...

• Chayyah (חיה) - The part of the soul that allows one to have an awareness of the divine life force itself.
• Yehidah (יחידה) - the highest plane of the soul, in which one can achieve as full a union with God as is possible.

Both rabbinic and kabbalistic works posit that there are a few additional, non-permanent states of the soul that people can develop on certain occasions. These extra souls, or extra states of the soul, play no part in any afterlife scheme, but are mentioned for completeness:

• Ruach HaKodesh (רוח הקודש) - ("spirit of holiness") a state of the soul that makes prophecy possible. Since the age of classical prophecy passed, no one (outside of Israel) receives the soul of prophesy any longer. See the teachings of Abraham Abulafia for differing views of this matter.
• Neshamah Yeseira - The "supplemental soul" that a Jew can experience on Shabbat. It makes possible an enhanced spiritual enjoyment of the day. This exists only when one is observing Shabbat; it can be lost and gained depending on one's observance.
• Neshamah Kedosha - Provided to Jews at the age of maturity (13 for boys, 12 for girls), and is related to the study and fulfillment of the Torah commandments. It exists only when one studies and follows Torah; it can be lost and gained depending on one's study and observance.

Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (born in Saragosa 1240- and d. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... “Tora” redirects here. ...

Tzimtzum

Main articles: Tzimtzum and Four worlds (Kabbalah)

The act whereby God "contracted" his infinite light, leaving a "void" into which the light of existence was poured. The primal emanation became Azilut, the World of Light, from which the three lower worlds, Beriah, Yetzirah and Assiyah, descended. In Jewish Mysticism, Tzimtzum (צמצום Hebrew: contraction or constriction) refers to the notion in the Kabbalistic theory of creation that God contracted his infinite essence in order to allow for a conceptual space in which a finite, independent world could exist. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Kabbalah: Applications:

Number-Word mysticism

Main articles: Gematria, Notaricon, and Temurah

Among its many pre-occupations, Kabbalah teaches that every Hebrew letter, word, number, even the accent on words of the Hebrew Bible contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these meanings. One such method is as follows: This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Temurah is one of the three ancient methods, the other two are gematria and Netrikon, used by the Kabbalists to rearrange words and sentences in the Bible to derive the esoteric substratum and deeper spiritual meaning of the words. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article is about the term Hebrew Bible. For the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh (Jewish tradition) or Old Testament (Christian tradition). ...

As early as the 1st Century BCE Jews believed that the Torah (first five books of the Bible) contained encoded message and hidden meanings. Gematria is one method for discovering its hidden meanings. Each letter in Hebrew also represents a number; Hebrew, unlike many other languages, never developed a separate numerical alphabet. By converting letters to numbers, Kabbalists were able to find a hidden meaning in each word. This method of interpretation was used extensively by various schools. An example would be the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria[4].

There is no one fixed way to "do" gematria. Some say there are up to 70 different methods. One simple procedure is as follows: each syllable and/or letter forming a word has a characteristic numeric value. The sum of these numeric tags is the word's "key", and that word may be replaced in the text by any other word having the same key. Through the application of many such procedures, alternate or hidden meanings of scripture may be derived. Similar procedures are used by Islamic mystics, as described by Idries Shah in his book, "The Sufis". Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Idries Shah (16 June 1924–23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayyid Idris al-Hashimi, was an author in the Naqshbandi sufist tradition on works ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies. ...

Divination and clairvoyance

Some Kabbalists have attempted to foretell events or know occult events by the Kabbalah. The term Kabbalah Maasit ("Practical Kabbalah") is used to refer to secret science in general, mystic art, or mystery. Within Judaism proper, the foretelling of the future through magical means is not permissible, not even with the Kabbalah.

However, there is no prohibition against understanding the past nor coming to a greater understanding of present and future situations through inspiration gained by the Kabbalah (a subtle distinction and one often hard to delineate). The appeal to occult power outside the monotheist deity for divinative purpose is unacceptable in Judaism, but at the same time it is held that the righteous have access to occult knowledge. Such knowledge can come through dreams and incubation (inducing clairvoyant dreams), metoscopy (reading faces, lines on the face, or auras emanating from the face), Ibburim and Maggidim (spirit possession), and/or various methods of scrying (see Sefer Chasidim, Sefer ha-Hezyonot).

Practical applications

The Midrash and Talmud are replete with the use of Divine names and incantations that are claimed to effect supernatural or theurgic results. Most post-Talmudic rabbinical literature seeks to curb the use of any or most of these formulae, termed Kabbalah Ma'asit ("practical Kabbalah"). There are various arguments for this; one stated by the Medieval Rabbi Jacob Mölin (Maharil) is that the person using it may lack the required grounding, and the spell would be ineffective. Yet the interest in these rituals of power continued largely unabated until recently. And in fact, since the Talmud exempts virtually all forms of magical healing from this prohibition ("Whatsoever effects healing is not considered witchcraft" - Tractate Shabbat), there has been the widespread practice of medicinal sorcery, amulets, and segullot (folk remedies) in Jewish societies across time and geography. Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ... The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ... Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of Judaisms rabbinic writing/s throughout history. ... Rabbi Yaakov Moelin (c. ...

Other dramatic examples of such "practical" power include: the knowledge required to produce a Golem, a homunculus or artificial lifeform. Some adherents of Kabbalah developed the idea of invoking a curse against a sinner termed a Pulsa diNura (lit. "lashes of fire",) although the majority of Kabbalists reject the notion that a person can actually cause it. For instances of Golem in popular culture, see Golem in popular culture. ... Hartsoekers homunculus The concept of a homunculus (Latin for little man, sometimes spelled homonculus, plural homunculi) is often used to illustrate the functioning of a system. ... Pulsa diNura or Pulsa Denoura (Aramaic: פולסא דנורא lashes of fire) is a kabbalistic ceremony in which God is asked to unleash angels of destruction to block heavenly forgiveness of the subject’s sins, causing all the curses named in the Bible to befall him resulting in his death. ...

Many kabbalistic rituals require the participation of more than one individual, e.g., the creation of a Golem, for which at least three individuals are required. Further, Kabbalah itself can only be taught to a very small group of select individuals who had mastered the other branches of Torah. For these reasons, the English word "cabal" came to refer to any small, secretive and possibly conspiratorial group. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A cabal is a number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a church, state, or other community by intrigue. ...

Kabbalah: Primary Texts:

On Texts

Main Article: Kabbalah: Primary Texts

Title page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558 (Library of Congress).

Like the rest of the Rabbinic literature, the texts of Kabbalah were once part of an ongoing oral tradition, though, over the centuries, many have been written up. They are mostly meaningless to readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish spirituality and assume extensive knowledge of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Midrash (Jewish hermeneutic tradition) and Halakhah (practical Jewish law). Nevertheless, Kabbalistic literature uses powerful paradigms that are elegant, universal and easy for anyone to understand when pointed out. Download high resolution version (450x718, 180 KB)Tile page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558. ... Download high resolution version (450x718, 180 KB)Tile page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558. ... Tanakh (Hebrew: ‎) (also Tanach, IPA: or , or Tenak, is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. ... Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ... Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. ...

Jewish forms of esotericism existed over 2,000 years ago. Ben Sira warns against it, saying: "You shall have no business with secret things" (Sirach iii. 22; compare Talmud, Hagigah, 13a; Midrash Genesis Rabbah, viii.). Nonetheless, mystical studies were undertaken and resulted in mystical literature, the first being the Apocalyptic literature of the second and first pre-Christian centuries and which contained elements that carried over to later Kabbalah. The term Esotericism refers to the doctrines or practices of esoteric knowledge, or otherwise the quality or state of being described as esoteric, or obscure. ... Apocalyptic literature was a new genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. ...

Throughout the centuries since, many texts have been produced, among them the Heichalot literature, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, Sefer Raziel HaMalakh and the Zohar.

See Kabbalah: Primary Texts.

Kabbalah: Scholarship:

Claims for authority

Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority (see, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in his Circle of the Unique Cherub). As a result, virtually all works pseudepigraphically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam by the angel Raziel after he was evicted from Eden. The malach of the secret rulers ha (!) ... Raziel (Hebrew RZIAL: secret[s] [of the] Lord), is an archangel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism (of the Kabbalah of Judaism) who is the Keeper of Secrets and the Angel of Mysteries. In some teachings he is said to be a Cherub, as well as the chief of the... // Eden may refer to: Garden of Eden, an original meaning, a place east of Eden described in Book of Genesis. ...

Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4) A similar belief prevails in Islam, where the angels are named Harut and Marut (see Qur'an, Ch. 2: 102). Sefer Yetzirah (Hebrew, Book of Creation[1], ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest book on Jewish esotericism. ... The angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac (Rembrandt, 1634) Abraham (Hebrew: , Standard Avraham Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom Tiberian  ; Arabic: ,  ; Geez: , ) is a figure in the Bible and Quran who is by believers regarded as the founding patriarch of the Israelites and of the Nabataean people in Jewish, Christian and... Pseudepigrapha (Greek pseudos = false, epi = after, later and grapha = writing (or writings), latterly or falsely attributed, or down right forged works, describes texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded in actuality. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ... This article is about the religious practice of divination. ... Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut. ... A modern interpretation of Azazel as a Satanic, goatlike demon, from Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris,1825). ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

The appeal to antiquity has also shaped modern theories of influence in reconstructing the history of Jewish mysticism. The oldest versions have been theorized to extend from Assyrian theology and mysticism. Dr. Simo Parpola, professor of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki, remarks on the general similarity between the Sefirot of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and the Tree of Life of Assyria. He reconstructed what an Assyrian antecedent to the Sephiroth might look like,^[4] and noted parallels between the characteristics of En Sof on the nodes of the Sefirot and the gods of Assyria. The Assyrians assigned specific numbers to their gods, similar to the numbering of the Sefirot. However, the Assyrians use a sexagesimal number system, whereas the Sefiroth is decimal. With the Assyrian numbers, additional layers of meaning and mystical relevance appear in the Sefirot.^{[citation needed]} Normally, floating above the Assyrian Tree of Life was the god Assur (god), corresponding to the Hebrew Ay Sof, which is also, via a series of transformations, derived from the Assyrian word Assur. Simo Parpola is professor of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki, Finland. ... University of Helsinki is not to be confused with Helsinki University of Technology. ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth (or Enumerations) are the ten emanations of God (or infinite light: Ain Soph Aur) into the universe. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... An Assyrian winged bull, or lemmasu. ... Ein Sof (Hebrew: without end denoting boundlessness), also known as Divine Being, is the name for God, within the Kabbalah of Judaism, as he is unknown, or the mysterious and ultimate source of all existence. ... An Assyrian winged bull, or lemmasu. ... The sexagesimal (base-sixty) is a numeral system with sixty as the base. ... The decimal (base ten or occasionally denary) numeral system has ten as its base. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ... Assur was the head of the Assyrian pantheon and the rival of the Babylonian Marduk. ...

Parpola re-interpreted various Assyrian tablets in terms of these primitive Sefirot, such as the Epic Of Gilgamesh. He proposed that the scribes had been writing philosophical-mystical tracts, rather than mere adventure stories, and concluded that traces of this Assyrian mode of thought and philosophy eventually reappeared in Greek Philosophy and the Kabbalah. Gilgamesh, according to the Sumerian king list, was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), the son of Lugalbanda, ruling circa 2650 BC. He is also the central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which says that his mother was Ninsun, (whom some call Rimat... Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. ...

Skeptical scholars find attempts to read Kabbalah back into the pre-Israelite Ancient Near East, as Parpola does, to be implausible. They point out that the doctrine of the Sefirot started to seriously develop only in the 12th century CE with the publication of the Bahir, and that for this doctrine to have existed undocumented within Judaism from the time of the Assyrian empire (which fell from cultural hegemony in the 7th century BCE) until it "resurfaced" 17–18 centuries later seems far-fetched. A plausible alternative, based in the research of Gershom Scholem, the pre-eminent scholar of Kabbalah in the 20th Century, is to see the Sefirot as a theosophical doctrine that emerged out of Jewish word-mythology of late antiquity, as exemplified in Sefer Yetzirah, and the angelic-palace mysticism found in Hekalot literature, and then fused to the Neo-Platonic notion of creation through progressive divine emanations. (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... Bahir or Sefer Ha-Bahir סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר (Hebrew, Book of the Brightness) is an anonymous mystical work, attributed pseudepigraphically to a first century rabbinic sage Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah said. It is also known as... (8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC - other centuries) (700s BC - 690s BC - 680s BC - 670s BC - 660s BC - 650s BC - 640s BC - 630s BC - 620s BC - 610s BC - 600s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Scythians arrived in Asia Collapse... Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. ... Emblem of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) described at [1] Theosophy, literally wisdom of the divine (in the Greek language), designates several bodies of ideas. ... Hekalot (“Palaces/Temples”) or Merkava The first distinctly mystical movement in Jewish history, Ma’asei Merkavah, appeared in the late Greco-Roman period. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists. ...

Kabbalah: Critique:

Kabbalah: Gnosticism

Main article: Gnosticism

Gnosticism frequently appears as an element of Kabbalah. Gnosticism ( systems of secret spiritual knowledge, or some sources say, the concept of Hokhmah (חכמה "wisdom")) seems to have been the first attempt on the part of Jewish sages to give the empirical mystic lore, with the help of Platonic and Pythagorean or Stoic ideas, a speculative turn. This led to the danger of heresy from which the Jewish rabbinic figures Rabbi Akiva and Ben Zoma strove to extricate themselves. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Platonic idealism is the theory that the substantive reality around us is only a reflection of a higher truth. ... The Pythagoreans were an Hellenic organization of astronomers, musicians, mathematicians, and philosophers; who believed that all things are, essentially, numeric. ... Stoicism is a school of philosophy commonly associated with such Greek philosophers as Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, or Chrysippus and with such later Romans as Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. ...

1. The original teachings of Gnosticism have much in common with Kabbalah:
2. Core terminology of classical gnostics include using Jewish names of God.
3. Mainstream Gnostics accepted a "Jewish Messiah" as a key figure of gnosticism

A key text of Gnosticism, the Apocryphon of John, mentions 365 powers who created the World. 365 is a number of recurrent interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the solar year figuring prominently in the texts.

However, there are aspects of Gnosticism at odds with Kabbalah. Within most of the Christian Gnostic groups the Jewish creator God was relegated to the status of a demi-urge. Their responses ranged from pity for what the Gnostics felt was an imperfect Godhead, to identification of the Jewish God with evil.

Dualism

Main article: Dualism

Although Kabbalah propounds the Unity of God, one of the most serious and sustained criticisms is that it may lead away from monotheism, and instead promote dualism, the belief that there is a supernatural counterpart to God. The dualistic system holds that there is a good power versus an evil power. There are two primary models of Gnostic-dualistic cosmology: the first, which goes back to Zoroastrianism, believes creation is ontologically divided between good and evil forces; the second, found largely in Greco-Roman ideologies like Neo-Platonism, believes the universe knew a primordial harmony, but that a cosmic disruption yielded a second, evil, dimension to reality. This second model influenced the cosmology of the Kabbalah. It has been suggested that Combative dualism be merged into this article or section. ... For the Celtic Frost album, see Monotheist (album) In theology, monotheism (from Greek one and god) is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God. ... It has been suggested that Combative dualism be merged into this article or section. ... Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would...

According to Kabbalistic cosmology, the Ten Sefirot correspond to ten levels of creation. These levels of creation must not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different ways of revealing God, one per level. It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.

While God may seem to exhibit dual natures (masculine-feminine, compassionate-judgmental, creator-creation), all adherents of Kabbalah have consistently stressed the ultimate unity of God. For example, in all discussions of Male and Female, the hidden nature of God exists above it all without limit, being called the Infinite or the "No End" (Ein Sof) - neither one nor the other, transcending any definition. The ability of God to become hidden from perception is called "Restriction" (Tsimtsum). Hiddenness makes creation possible because God can become "revealed" in a diversity of limited ways, which then form the building blocks of creation. In the Jewish Kabbalah tradition, Ayn Sof (Ain Sof, Hebrew boundlessness or without end), also known referred to as Divine Being, is the name for God as he is unknown, or the mysterious and ultimate source of all existence. ...

• Later Kabbalistic works, including the Zohar, appear to more strongly affirm dualism, as they ascribe all evil to a supernatural force known as the Sitra Ahra ("the other side") that emanates from God. The "left side" of divine emanation is a negative mirror image of the "side of holiness" with which it was locked in combat. [Encyclopaedia Judaica, Volume 6, "Dualism", p.244]. While this evil aspect exists within the divine structure of the Sefirot, the Zohar indicates that the Sitra Ahra has no power over Ein Sof, and only exists as a necessary aspect of the creation of God to give man free choice, and that evil is the consequence of this choice. It is not a supernatural force opposed to God, but a reflection of the inner moral combat within mankind between the dictates of morality and the surrender to one's basic instincts.

• Rabbi Dr. David Gottlieb notes that many Kabbalists hold that the concepts of, e.g., a Heavenly Court or the Sitra Ahra are only given to humanity by God as a working model to understand His ways within our own epistemological limits. They reject the notion that a Satan or angels actually exist. Others hold that non-divine spiritual entities were indeed created by God as a means for exacting his will.

• According to Kabbalists, humans cannot yet understand the infinity of God. Rather, there is God as revealed to humans (corresponding to Zeir Anpin), and the rest of the infinity of God as remaining hidden from human experience (corresponding to Arikh Anpin). One reading of this theology is monotheistic, similar to panentheism; another a reading of the same theology is that it is dualistic. Gershom Scholem writes:

"It is clear that with this postulate of an impersonal basic reality in God, which becomes a person - or appears as a person - only in the process of Creation and Revelation, Kabbalism abandons the personalistic basis of the Biblical conception of God....It will not surprise us to find that speculation has run the whole gamut - from attempts to re-transform the impersonal En-Sof into the personal God of the Bible to the downright heretical doctrine of a genuine dualism between the hidden Ein Sof and the personal Demiurge of Scripture." (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism Shocken Books p.11-12) This article or section should include material from Episteme Epistemology (from the Greek words episteme=science and logos=word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ... For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation). ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is an ethereal being found in many religions, whose duties are to assist and serve God. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Panentheism (from Greek: πάν (‘pan’ ) = all, en = in, and theos = God; all-in-God) is the theological position that God is immanent within the Universe, but also transcends it. ... Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. ...

Perception of non-Jews

Another aspect of Kabbalah that Jewish critics object to is its metaphysics of the human soul. Since the Zohar was written, most Kabbalistic works assume that Jewish and non-Jewish souls are fundamentally different. While all human souls emanate from God, the Zohar posits that at least part of the Gentile soul emanates from the "left side" of the Sefirotic structure and that non-Jews therefore have a dark or demonic aspect to them that is absent in Jews.

Later Kabbalistic works build and elaborate on this idea. The Hasidic work, the Tanya, fuses this idea with Judah ha-Levi's medieval philosophical argument for the uniqueness of the Jewish soul, in order to argue that Jews have an additional level of soul that other humans do not possess. Likkutei Amarim ( ליקוטי אמרים תניא, Hebrew, collection of statements), more commonly known as the Tanya, is an early work of Hasidic Judaism, written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty, in 1797 CE. The name Tanya derives from the books first word, which is Aramaic...

Theologically framed hostility may be a response to the demonization of Jews which developed in Western and Christian society and thought, starting with the Patristic Fathers. By the Middle Ages, Jews were widely characterized as minions of Satan, or even devilish non-humans in their own right.

The Kabbalistic view concerning non-Jews can be compared with the Christian doctrine that baptized Christians form part of the Body of Christ while (at least according to Augustine of Hippo) all others remain in the massa perditionis. The Body of Christ is a term used by Christians to describe believers in Christ. ... “Augustinus” redirects here. ...

In an article that appears in The Seductiveness of Jewish Myth, David Halperin theorizes that the collapse of Kabbalah's influence among Western European Jews over the course of the 17th and 18th Century was a result of the cognitive dissonance they experienced between Kabbalah's very negative perception of gentiles and their own dealings with non-Jews, which were rapidly expanding and improving during this period due to the influence of the Enlightenment.

Modern Judaism has rejected, or at least dismissed, this outdated aspect of Kabbalah as non-relevant^{[citation needed]}, as it possibly persists in only the most recondite and anti-modernist corners of the Jewish world.

For a different perspective, one might consult the first chapter of Elliot R. Wolfson, Venturing Beyond: Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism (Oxford University Press, 2006). Wolfson provides extensive documentation to illustrate the prevalence of the distinction between the souls of Jews and non-Jews in kabbalsitic literature. He provides numerous examples from the seventeenth to the twnetieth centuries, which would challenge the view of Halperin cited above as well as the notion that "modern Judaism" has rejected or dismissed this "outdated aspect" of the kabbalah. There are still kabbalists today, and many influenced by them, who harbor this view. It is accurate to say that many Jews do and would find this distinction offensive, but it is inaccurate to say that the idea has been totally rejected. As Wolfson has argued, it is an ethical demand on the part of scholars to be vigilent with regard this matter and in this way the tradition can be refined from within.

Critique: Orthodox Judaism

Main article: Orthodox Judaism

The idea that there are ten divine sefirot could evolve over time into the idea that "God is One being, yet in that One being there are Ten" which opens up a debate about what the "correct beliefs" in God should be, according to Judaism. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

• Rabbi Saadia Gaon teaches in his book Emunot v'Deot that Jews who believe in reincarnation have adopted a non-Jewish belief.
• Maimonides (12th Century) belittled many of the texts of the Hekalot, particularly in the work Shiur Komah with its starkly anthropomorphic vision of God.
• Rabbi Avraham ben haRambam, in the spirit of his father Maimonides, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, and other predecessors, explains at length in his book Milhhamot HaShem that the Almighty is in no way literally within time or space nor physically outside time or space, since time and space simply do not apply to His Being whatsoever. This is in contrast to certain popular understandings of modern Kabbalah which teach a form of panentheism, that His 'essence' is within everything.
• Around the 1230s, Rabbi Meir ben Simon of Narbonne wrote an epistle (included in his Milhhemet Mitzvah) against his contemporaries, the early Kabbalists, characterizing them as blasphemers who even approach heresy. He particularly singled out the Sefer Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and describing some of its content as truly heretical.
• Rabbi Yitzchak ben Sheshet Perfet, (The Rivash), 1326-1408, stated that Kabbalah was "worse than Christianity", as it made God into 10, not just into three. Most followers of Kabbalah have never followed this interpretation of Kabbalah, on the grounds that the concept of the Christian Trinity posits that there are three persons existing within the Godhead, one of whom became a human being. In contrast, the mainstream understanding of the Kabbalistic Sefirot holds that they have no mind or intelligence; further, they are not addressed in prayer and they cannot become a human being. They are conduits for interaction, not persons or beings. Nonetheless, many important poskim, such as Maimonidies in his work Mishneh Torah, prohibit any use of mediators between oneself and the Creator as a form of idolatry.
• Rabbi Leone di Modena, a 17th century Venetian critic of Kabbalah, wrote that if we were to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism, as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot. This critique was in response to the knowledge that some European Jews of the period addressed individual Sefirot in some of their prayers, although the practise was apparently uncommon. Apologists explain that Jews may have been praying for and not necessarily to the aspects of Godliness represented by the Sefirot.
• Rabbi Yaakov Emden, 1697-1776, wrote the book Mitpahhath Sfarim (Scarf/Veil of the Books), a detailed critique of the Zohar in which he concludes that certain parts of the Zohar contain heretical teaching and therefore could not have been written by Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai. Opponents of his work claim^{[citation needed]} that he wrote the book in a drunken stupor. Emden's rationalistic approach to this work, however, makes neither intoxication nor stupor seem plausible.
• Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, an early 20th century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhhamoth HaShem, (Wars of the L-RD) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's view of Kabbalah into modern times.
• Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903-1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
• There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria's, the Arizal's kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, Maimonides,^{[citation needed]} completely reject Arizal's kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'resheyt mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find rabbis who both sympathize with such a view,^{[citation needed]} while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.

Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ... Emunoth ve-Deoth (אמונות ודעות; Hebrew: Beliefs and Opinions) written by Rabbi Saadia Gaon - originally Kitab al-Amanat wal-ltikadat (Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma) - was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism. ... Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Maimonides (March 30, 1135 or 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. ... Hekalot (“Palaces/Temples”) or Merkava The first distinctly mystical movement in Jewish history, Ma’asei Merkavah, appeared in the late Greco-Roman period. ... Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Hebrew: רבי משה בן מיימון; Arabic: Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdallah al-Kurtubi al-Israili; March 30, 1135—December 13, 1204), commonly known by his Greek name Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Maimonides (March 30, 1135 or 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. ... Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ... Panentheism (from Greek: πάν (‘pan’ ) = all, en = in, and theos = God; all-in-God) is the theological position that God is immanent within the Universe, but also transcends it. ... Bahir or Sefer Ha-Bahir סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר (Hebrew, Book of the Brightness) is an anonymous mystical work, attributed pseudepigraphically to a first century rabbinic sage Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya Ben Ha-Kanah said. It is also known as... Nehunya ben ha-Kanah (Hebrew: נחוניה בן הקנה) was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries. ... Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet (1326-1408) (Hebrew: יצחק בר ששת) was a Spanish Talmudic authority, also know by his acronym, Rivash (ריבש). He was born at Valencia and settled early in life at Barcelona, where he studied under Perez ha-Kohen, under Hasdai ben Judah, and especially under R. Nissim ben Reuben (RaN), for... Posek פוסק (Hebrew; pl. ... The Mishneh Torah or Yad ha-Chazaka is a code of Jewish law by one of the most important Jewish authorities, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides or by the Hebrew abbreviation RaMBaM (usually written Rambam in English). ... Leon de Modena or Yehudah Aryeh de Modena (1571-1648) was a Jewish scholar born in Venice of a notable French family which had migrated to Italy after the expulsion of the Jews from France. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia, Latin: Venetia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Sephirah, also Sefirah (Hebrew language סְפִירָה Enumeration); plural Sephiroth or Sefiroth סְפִירוֹת. In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth (or Enumerations) are the ten emanations of God (or infinite light: Ain Soph Aur) into the universe. ... Jacob Emden was a Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and opponent of the Shabbethaians. ... Yihhyah Qafahh was a prominent Yemenite rabbi of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Yemenite Jews (Hebrew: תֵּימָנִים, Standard Temanim Tiberian ; singular תֵּימָנִי, Standard Temani Tiberian ) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן, Standard Teman Tiberian ; far south), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... Rabbi Yosef Qafih (יוסף קאפח), also spelled Kafich or Qafehh or Gafeh (1917-2000), was one of the foremost leaders of the Yemenite Jewish community, first in Yemen and later in Israel. ... Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... Dor Daim, sometimes known as Dardaim, are adherents of the Dor Deah movement in Judaism. ... Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994) was an Israeli scientist, philosopher and public figure noted for his outspoken and often controversial opinions regarding morals, ethics, politics, and religion. ... Nechama Leibowitz (1905 in Riga, Latvia – 12 April 1997 in Jerusalem) was a noted Israeli biblical scholar and commentator, who rekindled an intense interest in the study of the Bible and its commentaries among Jews everywhere. ... Modern Orthodox Judaism is a philosophy that attempts to adapt Orthodox Judaism and interaction with the surrounding non-Jewish, modern world. ... Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ... Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish mystic in Safed. ... The Grave of Isaac Luria in Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–July 25, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic. ... Modern Orthodox Judaism (or Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy; sometimes abbreviated as MO or Modox) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize traditional observance and values with the secular, modern world. ... Dor Daim, sometimes known as Dardaim, are adherents of the Dor Deah movement in Judaism. ... Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Hebrew: רבי משה בן מיימון; Arabic: Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdallah al-Kurtubi al-Israili; March 30, 1135—December 13, 1204), commonly known by his Greek name Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. ... Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai, (Simon son of Yohai), was a Palestinian rabbi during the Roman period, after the destruction of the Second Temple. ...

Critique: Conservative and Reform Judaism

Main articles: Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism

Since all forms of reform or liberal Judaism are rooted in the Enlightenment and tied to the assumptions of European modernity, Kabbalah tended to be rejected by most Jews in the Conservative and Reform movements, though its influences were not completely eliminated. While it was generally not studied as a discipline, the Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat service remained part of liberal liturgy, as did the Yedid Nefesh prayer. Nevertheless, in the 1960s, Rabbi Saul Lieberman of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is reputed to have introduced a lecture by Scholem on Kabbalah with a statement that Kabbalah itself was "nonsense", but the academic study of Kabbalah was "scholarship". This view became popular among many Jews, who viewed the subject as worthy of study, but who did not accept Kabbalah as teaching literal truths. Conservative Judaism, (also known as Masorti Judaism in Israel predominantly), is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s. ... Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of American Jews and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th-century Germany. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Conservative Judaism, (also known as Masorti Judaism in Israel predominantly), is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s. ... Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of American Jews and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th-century Germany. ... Saul Lieberman (1898-1983), was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud. ... The Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, and is the movements main rabbinical seminary. ...

According to Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean of the Conservative Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies in the University of Judaism), "many western Jews insisted that their future and their freedom required shedding what they perceived as parochial orientalism. They fashioned a Judaism that was decorous and strictly rational (according to 19th-century European standards), denigrating Kabbalah as backward, superstitious, and marginal". Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (http://www. ...

However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries there has been a revival in interest in Kabbalah in all branches of liberal Judaism. The Kabbalistic 12th century prayer Ani'im Zemirot was restored to the new Conservative Sim Shalom siddur, as was the B'rikh Shmeh passage from the Zohar, and the mystical Ushpizin service welcoming to the Sukkah the spirits of Jewish forbearers. Ani'im Zemirot and the 16th Century mystical poem Lekhah Dodi reappeared in the Reform Siddur Gates of Prayer in 1975. All Rabbinical seminaries now teach several courses in Kabbalah, and both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles have fulltime instructors in Kabbalah and Hasidut, Eitan Fishbane and Pinchas Geller, respectively. Reform Rabbis like Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner have renewed interest in Kabbalah among Reform Jews. The siddur (plural siddurim) is the prayerbook used by Jews over the world, containing a set order of daily prayers. ... The Zohar (Hebrew: זהר Splendor, radiance) is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ... The sukkah is a temporary dwelling that Jews use during the holiday of Sukkot. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

According to Artson "Ours is an age hungry for meaning, for a sense of belonging, for holiness. In that search, we have returned to the very Kabbalah our predecessors scorned. The stone that the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)... Kabbalah was the last universal theology adopted by the entire Jewish people, hence faithfulness to our commitment to positive-historical Judaism mandates a reverent receptivity to Kabbalah".^[3]

Also see Neo-Hasidism Neo Hasidism: There has been significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non-Orthodox Jews due to the writings of non-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish authors like Martin Buber, Arthur Green and Abraham Joshua Heschel. ...

Kabbalah: Non-Traditional:

Kabbalah Centre

Main article: Kabbalah Centre

To its proponents, the Kabbalah Centre is a spiritual organization which teaches the principles of Kabbalah in a unique and user-friendly system accessible to anyone, regardless of religion, race or gender. To its detractors, the Kabbalah Centre has been described as an "opportunistic offshoot of the faith, with charismatic leaders who try to attract the rich and vulnerable with the promise of health, wealth, and happiness." The Kabbalah Centre comprises Jewish and non-Jewish teachers and students and is not supported by the greater part of the Jewish religious establishment. Jewish organizations frequently distinguish it as non-Jewish and often consider participation by Jews in it to be a problem since classical Judaism forbids Jews to participate with non-Jews in religious rituals. The Kabbalah Centre is a worldwide marketing [1] organization with headquarters in Los Angeles, California that offers a number of beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses on Kabbalah, both online and through its locally established centres. ...

The Kabbalah Centre embraces many of the criticisms applied to it by traditional Judaism, by pointing out that these criticisms only prove the insidious tendency for organized religion, Jewish or otherwise, to ultimately preach superiority and exclusion rather than universal love and equality, which the Kabbalah Centre maintains is the single most important foundation of Kabbalah itself, both of the traditional variety and that expounded at the "Centre".

Kabbalah in non-Jewish society:

Kabbalah has gained an audience outside of the Jewish community. Christian understandings of Kabbalah began in the 15th Century with Pico Della Mirandola's 900 thesis on the syncretism of religions. By the late 19th century several western esoteric groups existed which incorporated Kabbalistic principles into their corpus. Because of the influence of these magical orders on Wicca and neo-paganism many Kabbalistic concepts are inherent in present day western mystical practice. Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... Pico della Mirandola. ...

Hermetic Qabalah

Main article: Hermetic Qabalah

Hermetic Qabbalah ( from the Hebrew קַבָּלָה "reception"), is a western, esoteric, mystical tradition which is a precursor to the neo-Pagan, Wiccan and New Age movements which draws on a great many influences, most notably; Jewish Kabbalah, western astrology, tarot, alchemy, pagan religions (especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman), Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, the Enochian system of angelic magic of John Dee, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and Tantra. It differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly syncretic system while still retaining many concepts deriving from Jewish Kabbalah. Hermetic Qabalah ( from the Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception), is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition. ...

Christian Kabbalah

Main articles: Pico della Mirandola, Athanasius Kircher, Johann Reuchlin, and Christian Knorr von Rosenroth

Christian Kabbalah arose during the Renaissance as a result of the studies of, and translations by, Christian Hebraists. The invention of the printing press also played its part in the wider dissemination of texts. Among the first to promote the knowledge of Kabbalah beyond exclusively Jewish circles was Pico della Mirandola (1463 - 1494)[5] a student of Marsilio Ficino at his Florentine Academy. His syncretic world-view combined Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah[6]. Mirandola's work on Kabbalah was further developed by Athanasius Kircher (1602 – 1680), a Jesuit priest, hermeticist and polymath, who wrote on the subject in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, 1652. Though they both worked from within the Christian tradition, both were more interested in the syncretic approach. Their work led directly into Occult and Hermetic Qabalah. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (February 24, 1463 – November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance humanist philosopher and scholar. ... Athanasius Kircher (sometimes spelt Kirchner) (May 2, 1601?–27 November 1680) was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. ... Johann Reuchlin (January 29, 1455 - 1522) was a German humanist and Hebrew scholar. ... Sefirotic diagram from Christian von Rosenroths Kabbala Denudata. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (July 15, 1631–1689) was a Christian Hebraist born at Alt-Randen, in Silesia. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... A Christian Hebraist is a scholar of Hebrew who comes from a Christian family background/belief, or is a Jewish convert to Christianity. ... Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (February 24, 1463 – November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance humanist philosopher and scholar. ... Domenico Ghirlandaio. ... Athanasius Kircher (sometimes spelt Kirchner) (May 2, 1601?–27 November 1680) was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. ... Hermetic Qabalah ( from the Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception), is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition. ...

That could not be said of Reuchlin, Rosenroth and Kemper. Johann Reuchlin, (1455 - 1522), was a German humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew. For much of his life, he was the centre of Greek and Hebrew teaching in Germany. Having met with Mirandola in Italy, he later studied Hebrew with a Jewish physician, Jakob ben Jehiel Loans, producing thereafter De Arte Cabbalistica in (1517). The following century produced Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, (1631–1689), a Christian Hebraist who studied Kabbalah, in which he believed to find proofs of the doctrines of Christianity, as did Johann Kemper, whose tenure at Uppsala University lasted from 1697-1716. Kemper, formerly known as Moses ben Aaron of Cracow, was a convert from Judaism and Swedenborg's probable Hebrew tutor. During his time at Uppsala (1697-1716), he wrote his three-volume work on the Zohar entitled Matteh Mosche (The Staff of Moses), in which he tried to show that it contained the Christian doctrine of the trinity.See Elliot R. Wolfson's study available at [7]. This belief also drove him to make a literal translation of Matthew's Gospel into Hebrew and to write a kabbalistic commentary on it. Johann Reuchlin (January 29, 1455 - 1522) was a German humanist and Hebrew scholar. ... Sefirotic diagram from Christian von Rosenroths Kabbala Denudata. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (July 15, 1631–1689) was a Christian Hebraist born at Alt-Randen, in Silesia. ... Emanuel Swedenborg, 75, holding the manuscript of Apocalypsis Revelata (1766). ...

Emanation: Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Main article: Eastern Orthodox Church

The Kabbalistic concept of emanation can be compared to the statements made by fourteenth-century Eastern Orthodox theologian Gregory Palamas. He drew a distinction between God's essence and energies, affirming that God was unknowable in His essence, but knowable in His energies. Palamas never enumerated God's energies, but described them as ways that God could act in the universe, and particularly on people, from the light shining from the face of Moses after he descended from Mt. Sinai, to the light surrounding Moses, Elijah and Jesus on Mt. Tabor during the transfiguration of Jesus. For Palamas, God's energies were not separate from God, but were God. However, the idea of energies was kept distinct from the idea of the three Persons of the Trinity, the unity of the Three Persons of the Trinity being united by God's transcendent Essence. The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that views itself as: the historical continuation of the original Christian community established by Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, having maintained unbroken the link between its clergy and the Apostles by means of Apostolic Succession. ... ... Gregory Palamas Gregory Palamas (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς) (1296 - 1359) was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later Archbishop of Thessalonica known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. ... The Energies of God are a central principle of theology in the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition a similar example is found in the writings and system of Nikitas Stithatos:

"Nikitas Stithatos' decad has affinities with the decads of both the foregoing theories (kabbalistic and pythagorean decads), although it cannot be identified with either. It has roots in the conception of the celestial hierarchy or concatenation formulated by St Dionysios the Areopagite. This hierarchy constitues a threefold structure, each level of which consists of three orders or ranks of celestial intelligences, giving a total of nine such interlocking and mutually participating orders. The function of the lowest of these orders, that of the angels, has two aspects. The first is to transmit the divine grace and illumination, which it has received from God through the meditation of the orders about it, to the order below it, the human order, that taken as a whole thus represents the tenth order, the second is to convert the human intelligence, the "finest of all the offerings; that can be made by this human order, so that it mounts upward and stage by stage returns, again through the meditation of the celestial hierarchy, to a state of union with its divine source and in this way achieves Divinization. This double meditation descending and ascending, constitues the cyclic movement...."

He further states in On Spiritual Knowledge, verse 99 that, "The nine heavenly powers sing hymns of praise that have a threefold structure...." The Highest Rank: Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. The Middle Rank: Authorities, Dominions and Powers. The Lowest Rank: Principalities, Archangels and Angels. Humanity is the last component to complete the Decad.

Notes

1. ^ Megillah 14a, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:22,Ruth Rabbah 1:2, Aryeh Kaplan “Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide” p.44 - p.48
2. ^ See "Preface to the Wisdom of Truth" p.12 section 30 and p.105 bottom section of the left column as preface to the "Talmud Eser HaSfirot" by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag (Yehuda Ashlag)
3. ^ ^{a b} Artson, Bradley Shavit. From the Periphery to the Centre: Kabbalah and the Conservative Movement, United Synagogue Review, Spring 2005, Vol. 57 No. 2
4. ^ Parpola S. 1993. The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy. Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 52(3) pp161-208

// Yehuda Ashlag (1884—1954) or Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag רַבּי יְהוּדָה לֵיבּ הַלֵּוִי אַשְׁלַג is also known as Baal Ha-Sulam בַּעַל הַסּוּלָם, meaning Owner of the Sulam for his Sulam commentary on The Zohar. ...

References

• Aivanhov, Omraam Mikhael The Fruits Of The Tree Of Life (The kabbalistic Tradition), ISBN 2-85566-467-5
• Bodoff, Lippman, "Jewish Mysticism: Medieval Roots, Contemporary Dangers and Prospective Challenges": The Edah Journal 2003 3.1 [8]
• Deepak Chopra and Mike "Zappy" Zapolin Ask The Kabala Oracle Cards/ Kabala Guidebook ISBN 978-1401910396
• Dan, J., The Early Jewish Mysticism, Tel Aviv: MOD Books, 1993.
• __________, The Heart and the Fountain: An Anthology of Jewish Mystical Experiences, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
• __________, “Samael, Lilith, and the Concept of Evil in Early Kabbalah,” AJS Review, vol. 5, 1980.
• __________, The ‘Unique Cherub’ Circle, Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1999.
• Dan, J. and Kiener, R., The Early Kabbalah, Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1986.
• Dennis, G., The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism, St. Paul: Llewellyn Wordwide, 2007.
• Fine, L., ed., Essential Papers in Kabbalah, New York: NYU Press, 1995.
• ____________, Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and his Kabbalistic Fellowship, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
• ____________, Safed Spirituality, Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1989.
• ____________, ed., Judaism in Practice, Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.

• Green, Arthur. EHYEH: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003.
• Idel, Moshe. Kabbalah: New Perspectives. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988.
• Idel, M., The Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid, New York: SUNY Press, 1990.
• _________, Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic, New York: SUNY Press, 1995.
• _________, “Kabbalistic Prayer and Color,” Approaches to Judaism in Medieval Times, D. Blumenthal, ed., Chicago: Scholar’s Press, 1985.
• _________, The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia, New York, SUNY Press, 1988.
• _________, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, New Haven: Yale Press, 1988.
• _________, “Magic and Kabbalah in the ‘Book of the Responding Entity,’” in The Solomon Goldman Lectures VI, Chicago: Spertus College of Judaica Press, 1993.
• _________, “The Story of Rabbi Joseph della Reina,” in Behayahu, M., Studies and Texts on the History of the Jewish Community in Safed.
• This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

• Kaplan, Aryeh Inner Space: Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy. Moznaim Publishing Corp 1990.
• John W. McGinley, 'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly; ISBN 0-595-40488-X
• Scholem, Gershom, Kabbalah, Jewish Publication Society.
• Dominique Aubier, Don Quijote, Profeta y cabalista, ISBN 84-300-4527-9
• Wineberg, Yosef. Lessons in Tanya: The Tanya of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (5 volume set). Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, 1998. ISBN 0-8266-0546-X

• Wolfson, E. Through a Speculum That Shines: Vision and Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.

• ________, Language, Eros Being: Kabbalistic Hermeneutics and Poetic Imagination, New York: Fordham University Press, 2005.

• ________, Venturing Beyond: Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism, Oxford: Oxford * University Press, 2006.

• _______, Alef, Mem, Tau: Kabbalistic Musings on Time, Truth, and Death, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.

• _______, Luminal Darkness: Imaginal Gleanings From Zoharic Literature, London: Onworld Publications, 2007.

• The Wisdom of The Zohar: An Anthology of Texts, 3 volume set, Ed. Isaiah Tishby, translated from the Hebrew by David Goldstein, The Littman Library.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (January 31, 1900, Serbtzi, Bulgaria - December 25, 1986, Fréjus, France) was a French philosopher, pedagogue, alchemist, mystic, magus, astrologer with Macedonian roots. ... The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Aryeh Kaplan (1934 - 1983) was a noted rabbi and author, who had a background in both physics and Judaism. ... Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Kabbalah in film and fiction

• In Sidney Lumet's 1992 film A Stranger Among Us, a Hasidic rebbe's son is studying the Kabbalah, which is considered daring for a man under 40--he is in his mid-20's.
• Guy Ritchie's 2005 film, Revolver, functions as a Kabbalistic cinematic text on liberation of the self from the material world. It implies that those who are 'enlightened' by this process are able to control the material world in ways that were previously unachievable.
• Umberto Eco's 1989 novel Foucault's Pendulum weaves Kabbalistic concepts into an imagined global conspiracy involving Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, druidism, and the Knights Templar. The book's ten sections are named after the ten Sefiroth.
• In the 1997 X-Files episode Kaddish, a widow whose husband was murdered by white supremacists for being Jewish uses her father's Sefer Yetzirah to bring her husband back to life as a golem for one last chance to say goodbye.
• In The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Richard Zimler is plotting a murder mystery which takes place in 16th century Portugal.
• Another novel that deals with Jewish mysticism and mythology is The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne.
• In Darren Aronofsky's Pi, number theorist Max Cohen is pursued by a group of Kabbalah mysticists who are trying to unlock the secrets of the Torah through numbers.
• Kabbalistic themes and symbols figure heavily in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion
• The comic Promethea by Alan Moore features a Thelemic version of the Qabalah. Over a number of issues, the characters undergo a journey that takes them along the 32nd path, through most of the stations of the Qabalah.
• The storylines in the video game series Xenosaga, and its predecessor Xenogears, borrow Kabbalistic names, concepts, and symbols. They also include such things from other subjects that borrow from Kabbalah, like alchemy and, by extension, the writings of Carl Jung. Characters, objects, and events featured in the storylines are named for Kabbalistic symbols, as well as alchemic and Jungian symbols based on Kabbalah, like Rubedo, whitening, the Zohar, and the Path of Sefiroth.
• The storyline of the manga 666 Satan has a Kabbalah and a reverse Kabbalah (upside down Kabbalah) positioned at the north and south pole of the world, which absorb 10 angels (Kabbalah) and 10 demons (reverse Kabbalah) in order to unlock their power as a weapon.
• Kabbalah is mentioned many times in the novel Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.

Portrait of Sidney Lumet, May 7, 1939. ... A Stranger Among Us is a movie by Sidney Lumet, starring Melanie Griffith and released in 1992. ... Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word רבי. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement. ... Guy Ritchie (born 10th September 1968 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire[1]) is an English writer-director. ... Revolver is a 2005 crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. ... Umberto Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays. ... Cover of Foucaults Pendulum, 1989 Picador edition. ... The Temple of the Rosy Cross, Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens, 1618 The Rosicrucians are a legendary and secretive order dating from the 15th or 17th century, generally associated with the symbol of the Rose Cross, which is also used in certain rituals of the Freemasons. ... The Masonic Square and Compasses. ... Druidry or Druidism was the religion of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic and Gallic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ... The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), popularly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple, were among the most famous of the Christian military orders. ... X-Files intro from first 8 seasons The X-Files was a popular 1990s American science fiction television series created by Chris Carter. ... Kaddish is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of The X-Files. ... This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ... This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ... Richard Zimler (b. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from μυολογείν mythologein to relate myths, from μύος mythos, meaning a narrative, and λόγος logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and... Sam Bourne is the nom de plume of the British journalist Jonathan Freedland intended to distinguish his work in fiction from his journalism. ... Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. ... Ï€ (or Pi) is a 1998 American psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky. ... Number theory is the branch of pure mathematics concerned with the properties of numbers in general, and integers in particular, as well as the wider classes of problems that arise from their study. ... “Tora” redirects here. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... Original run October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996 No. ... Promethea is a comic book series created by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III with Mick Gray, published by Americas Best Comics/Wildstorm. ... Alan Moore (born November 18, 1953, in Northampton) is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. ... The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Xenosaga ) is primarily a series of video games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Namco. ... Xenogears ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Carl Jungs partially autobiographical work Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Fontana edition Carl Gustav Jung (IPA: ) (July 26, 1875, Kesswil – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology. ... 666 Satan also refers to the Number of the Beast. ... Gravitys Rainbow is an epic postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973. ... Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ...

See also

Philip Berg (original name Feivel Gruberger) is the leader and founder, together with his wife Karen Berg, of the modern Kabbalah Centre. ... Aryeh Kaplan (1934 - 1983) was a noted rabbi and author, who had a background in both physics and Judaism. ... Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky is a Haredi rabbi and posek (decisor of Jewish law) living in Bnei Brak, Israel. ... Warren Kenton (Hebrew name Zev ben Shimon Halevi) is an author of books on the Kabbalah and a teacher of the discipline with a worldwide following. ... Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, D.H.L., Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati; Brooklyn Chabad Ordination 1947. ... Rebbi Adin Steinsaltz (עדין שטיינזאלץ) (or Adin Even Yisrael עדין אבן ישראל) (born 1937) is an ordinated rabbi and currently serves as the Nasi (president/prince) in the attempt to re-establish the Sanhedrin of old. ...

External links

Orthodox sites Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ...

• Kabbalah of the weekly torah portion for todays spiritual seeker
• Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism Talmudist perspective of Kabbalah
• What is Kabbalah? Chabad
• Kabbalah 101 Aish
• [9] Bibliography in the Temani (Yemenite) Rabbinic tradition
• [10] KabbalahCast, run by Rabbi Berel Lerman.

Unconventional and non-traditional sites Yemenite Jews (תֵּימָנִי, Standard Hebrew Temani, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānî; plural תֵּימָנִים, Standard Hebrew Temanim, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānîm) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors...

• Kabbalah Review
• Glossary of kabbalistic technical terms Bnei Baruch
• kabbalahnow

Folk and pop Kabbalah sites

• Scholarly overview of "magical" Kabbalah F. Levine
• Intro to Kabbalah and Self Discovery (12-part audio download online)

General information sites

• Resources > Medieval Jewish History > Jewish Mysticism Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• FAQ about Kabbalah JewFaq.org
• Cabala JewishEncyclopidia.com
• Kabalah
• Overview of Kabbalah
• Chassidic Kabbalah
• Essay on availability of Rabbinic Kabbalah texts in English

Online rabbinic Kabbalah texts

• Who Should Learn the Hidden Torah? Rambam (Maimonidies) comments and warnings in Guide for the Perplexed relevant to Kabbalah.
• English and Aramaic Zohar Online (searchable) Kabbalah Centre
• Online Rabbinic Kabbalah Texts in English University of Utah
• Kabbalah Digital Library (Responsa-like searchable) Bnei Baruch
• Important Kabbalah texts in English KabbalahOnline.org

Online Hasidic Kabbalah texts Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Hebrew: רבי משה בן מיימון; Arabic: Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdallah al-Kurtubi al-Israili; March 30, 1135—December 13, 1204), commonly known by his Greek name Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. ... The Guide for the Perplexed (Hebrew:מורה נבוכים, translit. ...

• Lessons in Tanya Chabad
• The Gate Of Unity Translation & Commentary of The Gate Of Unity

Jewish Kabbalah organizations

• Official site of KabbalahOnline.org a project of Ascent-of-Sefad for kosher Kabbalah in Sefad (Tsfat) the historic city of Kabbalah in Israel
• Official site of Chabad
• Site of Chabad for Kabbalah in UK
• Official site of Kabbalah Centre - Philip Berg
• Official site in Hebrew of Or HaGanuz, Kibbutz dedicated to Kabbalah - Mordechai Shineberg
• Official site of Iyyun - Dov Ber Pinson
• Kehilat Romemu: Transdenominational, Kabbalistic, integral Synagogue founded by Rabbi David Ingber

Non-rabbinical Jewish Kabbalah Safed (Hebrew צפת Tzfat, Arabic صفد Safad, other English spellings Zefat,Safad,Tsfat etc. ... The Kabbalah Centre is a worldwide marketing [1] organization with headquarters in Los Angeles, California that offers a number of beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses on Kabbalah, both online and through its locally established centres. ... Philip Berg (original name Feivel Gruberger) is the leader and founder, together with his wife Karen Berg, of the modern Kabbalah Centre. ... Or HaGanuz (Hebrew: ) is a Jewish village in the eastern upper Galilee, about six kilometres northwest of the town of Safed. ...

• II International Congress of Kabbalah - Nov07 Barcelona
• Work of The Chariot: A site on Qabalah.
• The Kabbalah Society Toledano tradition.
• The Art of Kabbalah

Jewish criticisms of Kabbalah

• Anti-Maimonidean Demons Article by José Faur on the Maimonist/Anti-Maimonist controversy
• Maimonides Agonist: Disenchantment and Reenchantment in Modern Judaism Article by Menachem Kellner contrasting Maimonidean with Zoharic Judaism.
• Milhamot Hashem Attack on the Zohar by Yihhyah Qafahh. Hebrew
• Emunat Hashem Reply to Milhamot Hashem by Jerusalem rabbis. Hebrew
• Idol worship is still within us An interview with Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz by Shlomo Mallin

José Faur Hebrew: יוסף פאור Rabbi, scholar and professor at Jewish Theological Seminary and currently Professor of Talmud at Bar Ilan University. ... Yihhyah Qafahh was a prominent Yemenite rabbi of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994) was an Israeli scientist, philosopher and public figure noted for his outspoken and often controversial opinions regarding morals, ethics, politics, and religion. ...

Portal and commons

Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...