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A theme of this course has been connecting with God through the
imagination. Kabbalah is the part of Jewish tradition that most
highlights this way of connecting with God.
Kabbalah is a part of the Jewish mystical tradition. Mysticism
basically has to do with becoming aware of God and spirituality
in a deep way -- not just believing in things, but knowing them
by experience. Kabbalah offers various ways to deepen our awareness
and grow into direct knowledge of the spiritual, especially through
meditation and through text study.
Sefirot
An important concept in Kabbalah is "the Ten Sefirot"; many Kabbalistic
meditation practices involve focusing on the Sefirot and many
Kabbalistic texts describe them. "Sefirot" literally means "numbers"
and also has the connotation of "radiances" (connected with "sapir",
sapphire, a shining gem). In Kabbalah, the Sefirot are manifestations
of God in relation to the world. Through the Sefirot, which can
be described and imagined in various ways, we can know God. According
to most Kabbalists, the Sefirot in some way are God. One has to be careful in thinking about this, because no
Kabbalistic theory holds that God is plural or divided into parts;
on the contrary, God is One. On the other hand, part of what Kabbalah
is about is risky, daring thinking, and so some texts deliberately
push things and make it sound as if, indeed, the Sefirot are separate
parts of God or even different personalities within God. The Sefirot
are present in us (both our bodies and our souls are on the pattern
of the Sefirot) and so we can influence them as well as receiving
from them -- another daring idea.
 The Sefirot are often listed in the following order and pattern:
1. Keter ("Crown")
2. Chokhmah ("Wisdom")
3. Binah ("Understanding")
4. Chesed ("Lovingkindness")
5. Gevurah [also Din ("Justice")]
6. Tif'eret ("Beauty")
7. Netzach ("Eternity")
8. Hod ("Acknowledgement"/ "Majesty")
9. Yesod ("Foundation")
10. Malkhut ("Dominion")
There is a flow of Divine light and energy from one Sefirah to
the other, and they connect and relate with each other in a variety
of ways. For example, Tif'eret is often described in male imagery
and Malkhut in female imagery; much of our spiritual task in the
world, according to Kabbalah, has to do with bringing these male
and female aspects of the Divine together in unity.
Kabbalah has ancient roots, but as a distinct tradition in Judaism
it begins in Provence (southern France) and Spain in the 1100s
and 1200s. The most important Kabbalistic book, the Zohar, first
appeared in Spain in the late 1200s. There was a flowering of
Kabbalah in the 1500s in Tsfat (Safed) in Israel, led by Rabbi
Moshe Cordovero and Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Ari, who brought many
new ideas and images into the tradition. For at least the following
two centuries Kabbalah was an accepted and respected part of mainstream
Judaism. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it was eclipsed
by other trends, but there are still authentic Kabbalists continuing
the traditions, as well as an increasing number of people who
are interested in Kabbalah and derive inspiration from it.
Many people have heard that there are dangers in studying Kabbalah
and that you have to be 40 years old to study it. The restriction
to age 40 was never applied to all Kabbalistic texts and was never
enforced anyway; some of the greatest Kabbalists were in their
20s or 30s when they became great teachers. There are some real dangers, however, because Kabbalah can be very challenging,
in fact mind-blowing, and having your mind blown is always risky.
I don't think the texts we are going to look at will shake anyone's
sanity, however.
Kabbalah is a very important part of what nourishes me spiritually
and keeps me Jewish. (One of the great Hasidic masters, Rebbe
Pinchas of Koretz, said "the Zohar has kept me Jewish", and I
feel the same way.) However, I am not a Kabbalist. First of all,
being a Kabbalist usually involves having learned from oral tradition,
through a teacher, as well as from books, since part of Kabbalah
has never been written down and the teacher-disciple relationship
is an important part of the learning. I have not been blessed
to learn in this way. Secondly, Kabbalists generally make a truth
claim about Kabbalah -- that its ideas and images are an accurate
description of reality. For example, they would say that the Ten
Sefirot are real; they are the actual manifestation of God and
the structure of the universe and the human body and soul. I don't
happen to believe this. To me, the Ten Sefirot are a way of imagining
the Divine; they're a wonderful metaphor for the fact that we
can experience and perceive God in many different ways. In general,
the daring ideas and the rich images of Kabbalah for me are ways
of opening my mind, getting away from comfortable habits, making
it possible for new insights and new experiences to happen.
We continue with two pages of selected texts, and then have some
explanatory notes and discussion. |
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