KABBALAH

A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Pat Carlton

Introduction

Perle Besserman opens the Introduction to her study of Kabbalah, the way of the Jewish mystic, with the following story: A thirteenth-century Jewish mystic was approached by a disciple who wished to learn the art of hitbodedut, or meditation. “Are you in a condition of perfect equilibrium?” asked the master. “I think so,” said the disciple, who had prayed religiously and practiced good deeds. “When someone insults you, do you still feel injured?  When you receive praise, does your heart expand with pleasure?” The would-be disciple thought for a moment and replied somewhat sheepishly: “Yes, I suppose I do feel hurt when insulted and proud when praised.” “Well then, go out and practice detachment from worldly pain and pleasure for a few more years. Then come back and I will teach you how to meditate.”

This perhaps apocryphal story surfaces in Eastern traditions, with some variation of detail.  For example, a Buddhist monk, having just completed a meditation retreat of several years in a secluded cave, returns to his village. While walking down the street, he is jostled accidentally by a water carrier and instinctively turns and curses the man for his clumsiness.

The point of the first story would seem to be that humility and equanimity amid the vicissitudes of everyday life are necessary to absorb the benefits of meditation.  The experience of the monk in the second case would seem to bear out this truth.

The practice of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, requires the novice to annihilate his ego “out in the market place,” among his family, friends and fellow creatures, living in the midst of this worldly activity in a new way.  The Jewish mystic cannot isolate himself - for him, community and religious observance are one. Perhaps this is why only males over 40 years of age (women excluded) were traditionally allowed to study Kabbalah, giving them time to accomplish what is called bittul ha-yesh, the annihilation of the desiring self.  Given the power and potential danger of mystical practice, such restrictions may also have been intended to protect the seeker as he explored the “beyond that lies within.”

From the earliest times, the practice of Kabbalah was secret, passed down orally from master to disciple, with only a few written guidebooks to point the way. Today, Kabbalah seems to be enjoying a popular resurgence.  Although Kabbalah is a Jewish practice based on a mystical interpretation of the Torah and often of the Hebrew alphabet as well, many non-Jews have taken up its study, leading to criticism by more Orthodox proponents that the essence of Kabbalah is being subverted.

Rabbi Min Kantrowitz, in her book  Counting the Omer, tells us that the Kabbalah (a word which comes from the Hebrew root KBL, kaf, bet, lamed, meaning to receive), although referring to the mystical wisdom of the Jewish people, is not a single book or set of books, or even a specific system, approach or set of practices. The mystical approach in Jewish tradition is not satisfied only with traditional ways to approach God through religious practice and thought, but seeks a closer, more intimate and more meaningful contact between the worshipper and the Creator, a more direct experience of the Divine.

Kabbalah basics

A primary gateway to understanding of the Kabbalah is through the sefirot (sing. sefira).  Kabbalah itself means “receiving”, or “that which has been received,” or by extension, “tradition.”

                             The Ten Sefirot: Introduction

The Ten Sefirot of the Kabbalah 

Each one is also connected to a part of the body, which is represented as three pillars, left, right, and central. Some variant translations for the sefirot in the above chart, with associated areas of the body, are  -

Keter - crown, will, nothingness

Binah = understanding, palace, womb

Hokhmah = wisdom, point, beginning

Gevurah (also Din) = power, judgment, rigor, left arm

Hesed = love, grace, right arm

Hod =  splendor, prophecy, left leg

Tif’eret = beauty, compassion, blessed Holy One, harmony

Netsach = endurance,  eternity, majesty,  prophecy, right leg

Yesod = foundation, tzaddik (righteous one), covenant, genitals

Shekhinah = presence, earth, moon, queen, (also Malkhut) = kingdom, sovereignty

The theory of sefirot was articulated in great detail in the 13^th century Spanish mystical text called the Zohar, or Book of splendor, as an explanation of the way that a nonphysical, infinite being called God can interact with the material world and physical human beings with limited capacities.  Rabbi Jeremy Rosen states that to understand God we need to talk about His essence, but we humans are incapable of grasping something that is beyond the physical world, so God “emanates” by distilling Himself into forms that are more readily accessible to us but are not actually His essence. The sefirot are not distinct - from God, each other or our world - so the term “emanate” is used to imply a continuum.  The sefirot are interconnected through channels of energy.  Restoring balance in ourselves by meditating on the appropriate sefira also helps to restore equilibrium in the world as a whole.

Kabbalah and creation

There are two ways to approach the act of creation and the creation of the Earth. The latter is what most people refer to when discussing creation - the Creation Story of Genesis, and subsequently, of Adam and Eve and the beginning of human life as we know it.

The prevailing Kabbalistic theory of Earth’s Creation was elaborated by the 16^th century Kabbalist master Isaac Luria, known as Ha-Ari, “the Lion,” or just Ari. Luria pondered the question of beginnings. How did the process of emanation start?  If Ein Sof pervades all space, how was there room for anything other than God to come into being?  Luria taught that the first divine act was not emanation, but withdrawal.  Ein Sof withdrew its presence in all directions away from one point at the center of its infinity, thereby creating a vacuum.  This vacuum served as the site of creation.  Into the vacuum Ein Sof emanated a ray of light, channeled through vessels. As the emanation proceeded, some of the vessels could not withstand the power of the light, and they shattered. Most of the light returned to its infinite source, but the rest fell as sparks, along with the shards of the vessels.  Eventually, these sparks became trapped in material existence. The human task is to liberate, or raise, these sparks, to restore them to divinity. The process of tikkun (repair or mending) is accomplished through living a life of holiness.  This so-called “Lurianic myth” of tsimtsum (or contraction), shevirah (shattering) and tikkun  is central to Kabbalah.

As for Adam and Eve, their original form was the androgynous Adam ha-Rishon or Adam Kadmon (primeval human consciousness), of tremendous proportions, seeing from one end of the universe to the other, in the pure awareness of Ohr Ein Sof (Limitless Light). The creation of male and female was simultaneous. “Male and female [God] created them.”  It was known over two thousand years ago that the idea that Eve came from Adam’s rib was a common misunderstanding of Torah.

As for creation apart from the initial emanation, according to Rabbi Cooper, Kabbalah teaches that creation is not just something that happened at some point in time; creation is happening at all times. It is happening now. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the story of the inception of a new level of awareness about fifty-seven hundred years ago.  But creation is ongoing and constant - an unceasing phenomenon. Some Kabbalistic thought as early as the Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of creation) which appeared after 200 C.E., posits seven universes and seven firmaments, some of which may run concurrently.

The four worlds of Kabbalah

Kabbalah distinguishes between four “planes of existence,” or “four levels of consciousness,” referred to as “four worlds,” that successively link Ein Sof with our physical finite creation :

Azilut (Emanation) - On this level the light of the Ein Sof (Infinite Divine) radiates and is still united with its source. This supernal revelation therefore precludes the souls and Divine emanations in Azilut from sensing their own existence. 

Beriah (Creation) - On this level is the first concept of creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing), however without any shape or form. This is also where the Highest Ranking Angels are to be found.

Yezirah (Formation) - On this level the created being assumes shape and form. 

Asiyyah (Action) -  On this level the creation is complete; however, it is still on a spiritual level. At a later stage there is the 'physical Assiah' comprising our physical Universe with all its creatures.

Each of these worlds is progressively grosser and further removed from any revealed Godliness, but the ten Sephirot are manifest in each one. All the worlds are dependent for their continual existence on the flow of Divinity they constantly receive from the Divine Will to create them. Creation is continuous.

Kabbalah texts 

Sefer yetzirah (Book of creation) - the most important text of the early Kabbalah. Its exact date and authorship are unknown, but it is believed to date from 200 CE or later. It is written in a poetic style, and states in its last chapter that an angel visited Abraham and gave him the secrets of the universe contained in the book. According to its opening chapter, the world has to be understood on three levels : the written, the spoken and the numerical. Hebrew letters were the vehicle used to reveal the Torah, and each one has a numerical value. Therefore, every word can be seen as composed of written letters heard through sound and thought of in numbers. The Sefer yetzirah is the first text to contain a systematic description of the sefirot, which are central to kabbalistic thought. The Sefer yetzirah describes how the infinite and non-physical God, Ein Sof, is interconnected with Schechina through the sefirot. It draws on astronomy and angelology to show how God enters into everything, including intellectual, emotional and even sexual experience.

Sefer hasidim (Book of the pious) - written by Judah Ben Samuel (1150-1217), was not a book of mystical theory as such, but developed from a group of 12^th and 13^th century German mystics called the Hasidei Ashkenaz. The book placed tremendous emphasis on piety and holy behavior as a means of achieving enlightenment and closeness to God. Contemplation, described by the term devekut (attachment to good), could lead to direct spiritual communion. The Hasidei Ashkenaz  found new ways of understanding traditional sources and laid the foundations for practical Kabbalah through exercises and devotions.

Bahir (Book of light) - different in structure from the Sefer yetzirah, but shares the same mystical premises.  Attributed to the first century rabbi Nechunia Ben HaKna, it is written in a Talmudic style, and shows the influence of gnosticism, the belief that two powers control the universe - a benevolent God constantly challenged by an evil force (similar to the Christian Devil). Another key idea in the Bahir is that humans need to make themselves Ein (ayin, without substance), to get closer to God. It is also the first Jewish text to talk specifically about the transmigration of souls, a notion that helps to explain human suffering.

Zohar (Brightness) - a compilation of texts make up this central book of the Kabbalah, which is also one of the most influential books in all Judaism. It first appeared in 14^th-century Spain, and is attributed to Shimon Ben Yochai (Simeon bar Yohai).  More a compendium than a systematic theology, it is used by many Jews today as a source of inspiration and meditation, as well as material for daily study. The main body is a detailed commentary on the Five Books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers up to Chap. 26, and a few fragments from Deuteronomy. In addition, there are three major lectures and around twelve other lectures or booklets. All the books are written in Aramaic, and share the style and content of a mystical novel.  They do not deal with the literal meaning of the holy texts, but treat almost everything transcendentally, above and beyond time and space.  Characters of the Bible represent different aspects of God. There are epic struggles between good and evil. Slavery in Egypt is the slavery of the soul trapped in the body. The structure and ceremonies of the Tabernacle are symbolic, and show us how to respond to God and bring divine energy down to Earth.

Masters of Kabbalah

Any discussion of Kabbalah must begin with the earliest biblical “fathers” of mysticism - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. Abraham, born into a time of idol worship, came to recognize that there was a single creative force behind the universe. He dedicated his life to teaching others how to experience God.  He showed that it was possible to engage and struggle with God.  Isaac totally accepted that it was his fate to be sacrificed. He was the passive mystic who is credited with inventing meditation. Jacob, through his engagement with the angel, illustrates that belief in God requires a struggle, involving the body as well as the soul. If we want to be close to God, we have to engage with the world, both physically and mentally. Moses, in mystical Judaism, is the teacher of secrets, the vehicle of divine revelation.  The location of Moses’ grave was kept secret so that people would not be tempted to follow and worship him instead of the Torah and God. 

Bahya ben Joseph Ibn Paquda - judge in the rabbinical court at Saragossa, Spain, during the first half of the eleventh century, and author of the Book of direction to the duties of the heart.  Bahya was critical of the rabbis who paid attention only to the outward law. The mind should function as a discriminating corroborator of religious experience and not of blind belief or practice. He posits ten gates of passage corresponding to ten levels in a person’s spiritual life. Like all Jewish mystics, Bahya believed that by enacting interior states, one was unifying the spiritual with the physical. This is a very important concept in Judaism - there cannot be any progress on the spiritual path without corresponding physical behavior. “Deathbed repentance occupies a low rank in Judaism,” says Perle Besserman.  Influenced by Moslem Sufi mystics of the period, Bahya injected an element of  asceticism into Jewish mystic practice.

Moses Cordovero (1522-70) -  mystic and leader in the Israeli town of Safed, founded by mystic Kabbalists and modeled on the Essene commune system. Representing the Socialist ideal of co-operation, Safed was home to many Kabbalists, and thanks to the influx of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, became a thriving economic, spiritual and intellectual center.  A group of mystic chaverim (comrades) formed in Safed and followed a course of instruction laid out by Cordovero, based on imitating the thirteen divine attributes of God recited in the daily prayers.  Cultivating humility was the primary focus of the practice, since the keter, or crown, of the Eytz Hayim is associated with Nothingness, the symbol of perfect humility. He died young at forty-eight.

Isaac Luria, the “Ari,” Lion of Safed - undisputed leader of the mystic school of Safed. The Ari (a permutation of the name Rabbi Isaac Ashkenazi) was born in Jerusalem in 1534, of German ancestry.  Before his birth, the Ari’s father was visited by the prophet Elijah who said that through this child  “shall be revealed the teachings of Kabbalah to the world.”  At age seventeen Luria, out of curiosity, bought a book from an illiterate Spanish Marrano (converted Spanish Jew secretly practicing Judaism) at his synagogue in Cairo which turned out to be a copy of the Zohar.  After eight years of study, he spent two years in prayer and fasting, after which the prophet Elijah appeared to him nightly to instruct him in the Kabbalah. Luria then moved his family from Egypt to Safed, where a kabbalistic community was living.  He was welcomed and beloved by the community for his unlimited generosity and personal sweetness.  Luria taught that the Kabbalist, once having attached his purified mind to the divine source, must re-descend into the lower worlds and rescue the holy sparks from the husks of matter encasing them, reminiscent of the task of the Buddhist Boddhisattva who returns to relieve suffering in the world.  For this purpose, he developed the system of elaborate mental exercises called kavannot over the letters and phrases of the daily prayers. The Ari loved all creatures, and avoided harming even insects and worms, for these. too, would evolve through the course of transmigrating souls. His insistence on simplicity, humility, and charity was even greater than Bahya or Cordovero.

Moses Chayim Luzzato - born in Padua in 1707, considered himself a spiritual son of the Ari. He began to practice the so-called “Lurianic”  meditations at university as the leader of a group of students who emulated the Safed mystics.  His code of practice aimed to move the disciple from the point of mere ethical behavior toward Saintliness.  The Jewish saint, or tzaddik, lives completely detached from the pleasures of the world.  Like the Buddhist boddhisattva,  he is an enlightened being who has assumed human form and lives among other human beings in order to elevate them to divine status. Like the Safed chavarim, Luzzato Circle members also abstained from eating meat or even killing insects.  Luzzato, like other mystics, advocated moving along slowly, according to one’s capacity.  Acquire a little today, a little tomorrow, until through habit it becomes second nature.  Unfortunately, Luzzato fell into disfavor with the rabbis because of his visionary experiences and communication with holy voices, and was excommunicated and forced to flee Italy to Amsterdam. He died of plague in 1746. 

Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai - second century sage and  presumed author of the Zohar.  After escaping from the Romans by living in a cave with his son for thirteen years, Rabbi Simeon  was able to emerge, only to return to meditate for another year when he found a lack of spirituality among the Jews.  Finally, a voice in the cave resoundingly told him to leave ordinary men to their own devices and to teach only those who were ready to hear him. The discourses he gave after his re-emergence to those who gathered around him comprise the Zohar.  Many exercises and meditations are contained in this work, such as breathing, and meditation on the Shema prayer. The highly metaphorical language used makes it difficult to outline clear and practical instructions for meditating on the tree of life.  Besserman, however, has found parallels with  techniques from Taoist meditation.