Kabbalah

views updated

Kabbalah

Kabbalah (literally, the "received tradition") is the general term for Judaism's mystical tradition. Scholars acknowledge that such a tradition existed from at least the early centuries of the common era, and the earliest written texts go back to about the fifth century c.e. Important older texts include the Sefer Yetzira (ca. eighth century), the Bahir (eleventh century), the Zohar (thirteenth century), and the writings of a circle of mystics of Sfat, Israel (sixteenth century). In Renaissance times some Christians became interested in Kabbalah, and in the late nineteenth century, theosophical groups sometimes included studies of Kabbalah in their research into the world's traditions.

Originally Kabbalah was a highly secretive aspect of Judaism, confined to adult, married males who had devoted themselves to study and had already mastered the sacred texts of Torah and Talmud. With the founding of Hasidism, a pietist movement of Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century, the teaching of mystical concepts became more widespread, though in contexts still dominated by male teachers. In modern times, rabbis and teachers educated in the Hasidic movement have been responsible for most of the revival of interest in Kabbalah. In the 1940s and 1950s the writings of Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel, both from Hasidic backgrounds, popularized some of the stories and teachings of Hasidic masters. Since the 1970s, such teachings have become available to a larger public, still primarily Jewish, but extending in recent years to non-Jews as well.

While different versions of the teachings come from different sources, the principal tenets of Kabbalah are fairly clear: The world we see, and everything in it, is a purposeful manifestation of an infinite God, and thus everything in creation has within it a divine spark or soul. However, God intentionally concealed the divinity within each entity, so that it is the work of human beings to uncover and clearly reveal that divine essence. This work constitutes the individual and collective purpose of existence.

In particular, Kabbalists since at least medieval times have envisioned the divine as manifesting itself through ten channels of energy, known as sefirot, from the Hebrew word for "number." These are usually known, in English translation, as Crown, Wisdom, Understanding (alternatively, Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge), Loving-Kindness, Discipline, Beauty, Victory, Glory, Foundation, and Kingship. The first three are spiritual and intellectual qualities, the next six are character attributes relevant to our emotional and physical expression, and the last is the ultimate manifestation of these in the world. By working to perfect oneself in these qualities a person can become a pure channel for divine energy and thus help to perfect the world.

Different sorts of groups disseminate these teachings. Among Orthodox Jews the best-known groups are the Hasidic sects of Lubavitch and Breslov. Lubavitch is also known by the acronym Chabad, in which the C, B, and D are taken from the Hebrew words for the three upper sefirot, Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. Both groups emphasize the study of teachings of their particular spiritual leaders—in the case of Chabad a lineage of seven rabbis from late-eighteenth-century Russia until the early 1990s, and in the case of Breslov one rabbi, Nachman of Breslov, who lived in the Ukraine in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Chabad teaches a more intellectual contemplation of concepts leading to intimacy with the divine, while Breslov emphasizes the pouring out of the heart in a personal relationship to God. Both encourage Jews to observe the traditional commandments, as transmitted through mainstream rabbinic tradition, while deepening their understanding of the mystical meanings of those commandments. They have helped fuel the baal teshuvah (returnees to Judaism) orthodox revival movement.

Another important channel of Kabbalistic teachings has been the Jewish Renewal movement. Beginning in the late 1960s, two charismatic rabbis, both from the Chabad tradition, separately inspired a new generation of Jewish youth. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a brilliant scholar of contemplative, musical, and philosophical aspects of Judaism, encouraged followers to incorporate into Judaism elements of other religious and ethical traditions, notably Hindu meditative techniques and environmental ethics. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, an outstanding composer and singer, inspired Jews all over the world to infuse tradition with emotion. Both helped establish new Jewish communities and encouraged Torah observance without requiring it. Their students have helped bring mystical teachings to a larger audience and have also contributed to the baal teshuvah movement.

In general, the emphasis in contemporary Kabbalistic teachings is on personal and community development through study, self-examination, and moral improvement. Study typically includes the Bible, interpreted in its symbolic more than its historical or practical dimensions; ethical texts; and Kabbalistic or Hasidic inspirational material. Self-examination involves frequent inventory of one's behavior and personal relationships, working toward more positive attitudes in all aspects of life and adopting a broad perspective of loving-kindness and forgiveness toward all beings. Ultimately the goal is to recognize the unique purpose that each person has in life, the preciousness of one's connection to God, and the inter-connectedness of all beings in the framework of the divine purpose for all human life. While most traditional teachers focus primarily on the student's awareness of the relatedness of all Jews and the purposes of the Jewish people, many of the newer teachers see the message of Judaism, as understood through Kabbalah, as relevant to all human beings.

Kabbalah differs from other contemporary mysticism in certain emphases and tendencies. First, it incorporates Judaism's traditional emphasis on living in the ordinary world. Kabbalists do not normally withdraw from the world or practice asceticism, but look to the ordinary structures of Jewish life for their disciplines. This tends to be the case even if the practitioners do not accept all the traditional laws—for example, those in the Jewish Renewal movement generally use a modified form of dietary laws, with a preference for vegetarianism. Second, whereas some forms of mysticism have one standard method of meditation, Kabbalistic traditions offer a variety of types of meditation and prayer. The traditional Jewish prayer book is recognized as a text that encodes many mystical meanings in the ordinary prayers. Third, Kabbalah views each individual as a potential channel for the divine, depending on the extent to which a person has cleared himself or herself of ego-centeredness. Each can "draw down" godly influence into himself or herself, and "elevate" each area of life through this influence. Thus humans are cocreators with God. Finally, Kabbalah emphasizes the collective aspect of human existence: All souls come from one source; all are intricately interconnected; and each individual is a unique part contributing to the whole.