Kabbalah is a Jewish mystic tradition that is often misunderstood and misrepresented. The word Kabbalah is derived from the root “to receive” and is sometimes also spelled Qaballah or Cabala because some words in the Hebrew alphabet have more than one representation in the English alphabet. It is a tradition that teaches the deep insights in the nature of God and the purpose of Creation. It is a mystical way of interpreting the Torah, the primary teachings of Jewish Scriptures and a way to better understand God.
Although Kabbalah draws many of its teachings from the Jewish books of the Torah and Talmud, it is not believed to be meant for only one specific sect of people but rather to be used by all of humanity. Besides the Torah and Talmud, Kabbalah has its own core of texts with the most important being the Zohar. The Zohar, which means “radiance”, covers the fundamental teachings of Kabbalah. Even though it is contained in over twenty volumes, the Zohar is still considered by Kabbalists to contain only a tiny fragment of God’s wisdom and is also considered but the first step in a lifelong path of understanding God.
Kabbalah teaches one to think beyond the surface of things, beyond the experiences of the day to day world and to master meditative techniques that can allow a person to truly experience the presence of God.
The exact origins of Kabbalah are not known, but it is believed to go back as far as the second century C.E. and to have grown in awareness during the eleven hundreds. During the 16th century, Rabbi Isaac Luria provided a new understanding of Kabbalah both philosophically and through the creation of canonized prayers. He said that God had created the universe by contracting and leaving a space for the world we now live in. He also said that God had sent a Divine light to this world and filled vessels with this light, but that the vessels shattered because they were not perfect and could not contain that light. In this way, the world is also seen as not perfect and life on this earth as broken. But Luria taught that the mission of all humanity is to repair the world and redeem God’s light through prayer, study and charity.
Initially, Kabbalistic teachings were only studied by a small, closed group of people. Traditionally a person was only allowed to study Kabbalah if they were male, over the age of forty, married and found an appropriate teacher. However today the teachings of Kabbalah are open to all that are willing to learn.
Because God is seen as infinite, Kabbalah is not so much a way to fully understand God but to instead have a better understanding of God and of one’s self. This is taught through a specific set of paths most commonly referred to as the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is a visual model showing these paths which are connected by the ten sefirot, or emanations of God, by which He manifests Himself to all creation. The ten sefirot describe the many attributes of God such as beauty and understanding, strength and mercy. At the top is the crown, which is called keter and this is considered the highest level of consciousness and intellect that is humanly possible.
The attributes of the ten sefirot are often seen as feminine and masculine in nature, and Kabbalists believe that these need to be united in order to truly understand God. It is also believed that some people have attributes and qualities that are out of sync and, through Kabbalistic prayer and meditation, these can be brought into better balance and one’s own qualities can be unified. In this way, one can connect with their inner soul and better follow their path of helping to repair the world.
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