The word Kabbalah, simply means "tradition". Its root is the Hebrew word for "receive". It implies a received tradition. There have been traditions handed down, orally and in writing, throughout the three thousand and more years of Jewish history. From its very inception Judaism had different paradigms of leadership that sometimes overlapped and sometimes conflicted. Moses gave way to Joshua, who was succeeded by judges, and then kings. The priesthood was initially the repository of the religious tradition, but it sometimes failed in its role and either judges or prophets stepped in to fill the gap. There have been alternative, mystical traditions, too, from the period of the prophets--those spiritual outsiders who railed against the betrayals of the established religious structures. Mysticism has always been an essential part of the Jewish spiritual tradition. Some even suggest the mystical goes back to Abraham. A fascinating Midrash suggests that the Wisdom of the East originated from the teachings he passed on to the sons of his concubines.

Academic convention assumes that the technical term "Kabbalah" applies exclusively to a body of esoteric literature that emerged in Medieval Spain, and Provence in France, and went on flourishing from there. It is true that two thousand years ago the rabbis of the Talmud did not use this word but rather spoke about "nistar", the secret world of Torah that paralleled the "niglah", the revealed. But I believe the roots of what is called Kabbalah go back to the very beginning of the Jewish tradition.

It is to Elijah the prophet that the mystical tradition is first ascribed by the Talmud and "fire" is the code. Elijah, in the Book of Kings¹, draws fire down from God on Mount Carmel to defeat the prophet of Baal. Before him only Moses seems to have had this power². Elijah when he dies is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire³ and the text there also talks about a whirlwind, another crucial mystical symbol.

Three hundred years later, the prophet Ezekiel, writing in Babylon, in the first chapter of his book gives an image of God so fantastic that Erich Von Dannekin thought it was proof that space ships had been to earth. Ezekiel's vision owes a great deal to an earlier vision of Isaiah but because of its extended detail it became the major source for mystical interpretations of God. Many of the crucial ideas and terms of the later mystical books are borrowed from this essential chapter. Here too, fire and whirlwinds play an important part. In time, Elijah's chariot and Ezekiel's vision became conflated under the general term of Ma'aseh Merkava, "the knowledge of the Chariot".

The period in Jewish history either side of the Common Era was one of turbulence and sectarian conflict. But it was also rich in alternative theologies, and mystical texts, sometimes considered heretical, began to emerge. Some of these texts were to do with the measure of humans in relation to God (Shiur Komma) and others to do with the "chambers of God" (Hechalot). The Dead Sea Scrolls increased our knowledge of these alternative texts substantially.

The rabbis of the Talmud either ignored these other ideas and referred simply to Ma'aseh Merkava, or they actively discouraged studying them because of their association with sectarian schisms. The Talmud⁴ insists that anything to do with "The Chariot" should not be taught to the masses, but only to those of learning and maturity. This is the source of the tradition that real Kabbalah will only be taught to a select and expert few.

The Talmud⁵ tells a story of four rabbis "entering the Orchard", another code for mystical reality. Only one, Rabbi Akivah, came out safely, and that was because he warned the others not to be misled by appearance. The others were affected destructively in different ways. The possible negative impact of mysticism was already spoken of then.

But the central mystical character of the Talmudic tradition is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. He hid from the Romans for thirteen years in a cave. When he emerged he was on such a high mystical level that birds flying above him were burnt, and if he disapproved of humans on a lower level than himself, he burnt them too. God warned him to control his powers otherwise he would be sent back to the cave. Clearly not everyone was expected to, or indeed could, rise to his level. Shimon Bar Yochai reaffirms the connection between fire and mysticism. Although later on the Zohar was attributed to him, the Talmud makes no mention of any book he wrote. However, there is mention of the secrets of Sefer Yetzirah, the Book of Creation.

As the Christian world based itself on Greek philosophy, and its power and influence spread, in general, within Judaism too, alternative approaches were sidelined. Sefer Yetzirah, the first book that defines mainstream Kabbalah, appears somewhere between the third and the fourth century. It is referred to in the Midrash . However, many academics argue that the text we have today is another one of later provenance.

In Sefer Yetzirah we find the first clear statement of an alternative way of looking at the world, life, and God, based on the Sephirot and the Hebrew alphabet. (Incidentally, the symbolic power of letters and numerology, was something Pythagoras had already written about.)

New writings--Sefer Raziel ("The Book of Raziel, the Angel"), Sefer Bahir ("The Book of Enlightenment"), and then the Zohar ("Bright Light")--emerged into the public domain. The Zohar was discovered, some say written, by Moses De Leon (about 1290 in Spain) but attributed to Shimon Bar Yochai. It is a multi-volumed collection of monologues and commentaries on the Torah that creates a totally different atmosphere from the rational commentators. It became the most widespread and accepted book of the Kabbalah.

As life under Christian monarchs in Spain became unstable and God seemed to retreat from the Jews, a non-rational world became both an escape and a comfort. Mystics such as Abraham Abulafia (born in Spain at the end of the thirteenth century) preached messianism and a new world order. They courted danger. (Abulafia was imprisoned by the Pope, and Shabbetai Zvi, much later, in Constantinople, was imprisoned by the Sultan.)

The expulsion of Jews from Spain caused great chaos and upheaval. But the establishment of a "city of refuge" in Safed in Galilee created a dynamic centre for a new wave of Kabbalistic innovation. Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and Chayim Vital, all expanded the ideas found in Sefer Yetzira and Sefer Bahir, and combined them with ecstatic mystical practices and experiences. They popularized Kabbalah as a way of reaching God and living a fuller, more spiritual life.

The fact that they did, indeed, encourage a wider, non-academic audience to join them, and the fact that they elevated experience over scholarship, drew down opposition from the mainstream rabbinate. To make matters more confusing, many of the other marginal, magical, superstitious, esoteric and fringe movements of Jewish life pinned their colours to Kabbalah. The excesses of some of these movements led to a campaign to uproot and expunge mystical writings from Jewish life, particularly in Europe after the rationalism of the seventeenth century began to spread.

Shabbetai Zvi was a highly charismatic mystic who was born in Turkey in the seventeenth century. He succeeded in convincing most of the Jewish world that he was the Messiah. But when he got to Istanbul he converted to Islam and the whole movement collapsed. The Shabbetai Zvi debacle discredited Kabbalah. Indeed, Moshe Hagiz, from Jerusalem, went on a voyage around the Jewish world campaigning against the Sabbatean heresy, and as a result Kabbalists were all but driven underground. The Enlightenment also led to the marginalization of Kabbalah.

It was Chassidism, the eighteenth century charismatic revolution in Eastern European Jewry that popularized, and to some extent legitimized, the Kabbalistic approach to life and brought it back towards the mainstream. The early Chassidic masters drew inspiration, both in prayer and ideology, from Lurianic Kabbalah. Initially the free, experimental mood of Safed mysticism suffused the Chassidic masters of the second and third generation. But then, like many revolutionary movements, it lost its anti-establishment and innovative character and became part of the structured religious life of Orthodoxy. It lost its creative identity.

Nevertheless, both in the Sepharadi and the Ashkenazi world, small groups of learned men and, more rarely, women, did continue to keep mysticism alive, both through their writings and their private esoteric practices. Some of the smaller and more secretive Chassidic sects still maintain an ecstatic style of worship and experience. In the North African world, particularly, Kabbalistic practices were associated with folk medicine, miracle workers and special "wonder rabbis". It became more a tool of popular mystique than genuine spiritual elevation. However, in both worlds the study of the Zohar gained in popularity and authority. Over time it has came to acquire a canonical status on a par with Talmudic literature. The study of the Zohar is quite unremarkable in Orthodox circles; selections are included in some variations of the daily service and there is a daily obligation among some Chassidic groups to study it as set out in the Chok LeYisrael prayer book. But the more concentrated practices and exercises are not readily available to the general public. In my years in yeshiva only a few very special pupils were invited to join the select groups of students taught by the masters.

Why then has Kabbalah become so fashionable now? We have experienced a reaction against the rational and the scientific. As science has advanced and so changed our lives, it becomes clearer that science does not help us deal with moral and spiritual issues. Even in medicine we are aware of how effective alternative methods can be. And so we turn to alternative ways of coping with life and its pressures. Established religions have not fared well. We have become far more individualistic and experimental in our lives. But charismatic alternatives within mainstream religion and eastern traditions are, indeed, increasingly attractive.

And so it is with Kabbalah. Its long association with rebellion against the established authorities makes it an attractive alternative to people alienated from religious structures and systems. Amazing similarities between Kabbalah and Eastern systems of healing and self-realization make Kabbalah particularly relevant to those inspired by Eastern ideas. And yet it still allows for and encourages normal participation in everyday life.

Mainstream Judaism still maintains that one can only understand the secrets of Kabbalah after one has mastered the revealed Torah. And I would agree with this. But the times require different approaches. "When it is time to do things for God, they rejected the Torah.⁶"

I see that mystical attitudes resonate more easily with many people nowadays. I see how many feel alienated from religious structures, yet still seek a mystical and spiritual approach to life without having to "convert" or change allegiance to another system. The basics of Kabbalah offer this.

On the other hand, susceptible people are easily seduced into joining sects and esoteric groups that use Kabbalah to persuade them that there is an easy, magic formula to solve life's problems without the need for a deep and structured religious framework. There is no magic in real Kabbalah, only a straight and a direct route to self-improvement and God that is essentially embedded in and inseparable from a traditional way of life. If people say otherwise, you can be assured that they are charlatans.

The Kabbalah is made up of three elements. Theoretical Kabbalah is an abstract and theoretical way of looking at the relationship of God to the universe and humanity. It is a very consciously non-philosophical alternative to a rational or scientific worldview. Its ideas are often fantastical and intricate and very difficult to understand, even if the often rare Aramaic words are understood. But I have to say I find them very exciting and stimulating, so long as one suspends one's critical faculties.

Practical Kabbalah is the range of practices, meditations, formulae, and permutations that are designed to connect with the Divine Spirit and give a person the experience of relating to God. They include dervish-like revolutions, abstract permutations of letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, yoga-like exercises, and breathing and focusing very similar to eastern methods. Unlike Eastern meditation, that seeks to create a unity with the universe, the Kabbalists sought to achieve this and then go beyond to a transcendental union with the Divine.

Finally, and least significantly, there is the astrological. In rabbinic literature the influences of the planets and signs of the Zodiac are influential in a general rather than specific way. They indicate the different kinds of unseen forces and pulls, like that of the moon on the tides. They do not determine human behavior in the way that current astrology teaches. However, they have been and are used by some rabbis as tools of control and influence and superstitious power. To focus on this marginal aspect of Kabbalah is like seeing Alchemy as the core of science.

My approach is to present the essential texts of the Kabbalistic tradition as an initial sampling and to show how complex it is. My aim is simply to point in the direction of a profound and important aspect of Jewish spirituality that is a closed book to most Jews and, as a result, leaves them unaware of the depth of their own religion.

But one has to bear in mind that the study and involvement, that is offered here is only a start. Otherwise, it is like a visitors' open-day at a gym. Spiritual fitness requires effort and practice, too.

Notes:

¹ 2nd Kings 18.38
² Exodus 3.2. Leviticus 9.24 (other examples are where it is used punitively)
³ 2nd Kings 2.11
⁴ ibid
⁵ Otzar Midrashim Psk 4. See Rashi Sanhedrin 65b
⁶ Psalms 119

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