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Very interesting, Jeff. Where do we get
the rest of the series? Izzy From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Jeff Powers Jeff in red, I belive John
wrote: I learned today, that Madonna is studying
Kabbalah. I doubt if madonna and her
ilk have a clue about real Kabbala. In fact, I know that I'm not,hmmmmmm,
need a word,mature enough to get involved in Kabbala study. I need to
grow spiritually before getting into kabbala. Anyway in spite of the confusion
caused by judy's ignorant attempt at adding kabbala to Torah I went looking for
this. I read it some time ago and forgot where, but found it and
hopefully it clears the air somewhat, enjoy Jeff
Kabbala #1 - What Is
Kabbala? Kabbala is the Torah's _expression_ of the way the world works. Removed
from its source, it's a whole lot of rubbish. (First
in a series.) Most people have heard something or other about
Kabbalah. But it is highly unlikely that what is going around in the general
marketplace posing as Kabbalah is anywhere close to the real thing. What most people have been exposed to is a smorgasbord
of pop psychology and self-help that pretends to have some connection to Jewish
mysticism, but it rarely, if ever, does. It is easy to see how people are fooled. In most
disciplines, you expect to know and understand something after studying it. But
when it comes to mysticism, people expect to be mystified. So they are willing
to accept incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo. Kabbalah is supposed to be mysterious
and enigmatic. It's mysticism after all! So much nonsense is presented in the name of Kabbalah,
it is important to have some sort of forum where people can find the basic
understandings that they crave. In this series, we will attempt to present the central
ideas of Jewish mysticism in a methodical and intelligent manner, minimizing
abstruse terminology and shying away from a sense of the incomprehensible. WHAT KABBALAH IS AND ISN'T
In order to understand what Kabbalah is and what it
isn't, let us use the following illustration. A researcher sits in his lab examining all sorts of
atomic phenomena. He smashes atoms at great speeds, and records what he sees
happening. He is very meticulous in his work, and may even draw some immediate
conclusions from the data at hand. But he leaves it at that. A great scientist picks up these notes, reads them and
ponders their meaning. He begins to construct a mega-picture. He tries to
envision what the entire system may be like. He knows that there are no
instruments, nor can there be, to actually see the particles he imagines, and
therefore he gropes for metaphors that will accurately connect the bits of data
that the physicist collected. Thus, he begins to speak of "super
strings," "atomic tunnels," "energy bridges," and
"ten dimensions." A third person, who has a highly fertile mind but with
no sense of science, is eavesdropping. His imagination has been fired and, in
no time at all, he is carrying forth about people that have mysteriously
disappeared in "atomic tunnels," and unlimited sources of energy
contained in various of the "ten dimensions." These three people illustrate the different approaches
to Kabbalah. The "data" or facts that Kabbalah deals with
are the narrative of the Torah, and its entire body of religious law. The
"researcher" represents a person who sees the laws and narrative as
they are, understands their immediate meaning, but does not get the larger
picture. The "great scientist" represents the
Kabbalist who sees the various local points and then begins to get a feel for
the greater picture. He needs metaphors to describe the abstract unity he
perceives, and he is aware that this tool is likely to be vague and only approaching
the understanding that he has acquired. Although limited by the tools at his
disposal, the complex picture the great scientist communicates can still give
us a sense of the reality that he is grappling with. And then there is the pseudo-Kabbalist -- "the eavesdropper"
-- whose Kabbalah is basically unrelated to Torah, except perhaps as a
springboard for his imagination. He has discovered "sources of
energies," "divine emanations," and ways to "expand
consciousness," but it all stems from his fanciful illusions. IN SUMMARY Kabbalah is to Torah what philosophy is to science. Like science, the Torah gives us the facts that are
fully perceived sensually and rationally quantifiable. Like philosophy, Kabbalah gives us the grander
abstract picture that the facts present. The
upcoming segments of this series will be exploring some of the fundamentals of
Kabbalah. Rabbi Leiberman is a leading Jewish
educator in |
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