Introduction to Kabbalah

The following is my research on Kabalistic thought. It comes from many sources and is only a summary. Kabbalah means to receive. According to the "Sayings of our Fathers" the oral law was a sacred tradition handed down throughout the generations:

“Moses received Torah from God at Sinai. He transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, the prophets to the members of the Great Assembly (1:1Pirket Avot).”

Kabbalah is often associated with the Jewish spiritualists of the Middle Ages, who claim to have a hidden tradition. However, since divine truth is eternal they are only exposing what has always been there.

There are many schools of Kabbalah including: Hasidei Ashkenaz of Germany, Sephardic from Provence and Languedoc, Catalonia/Girona and Castile, Lurianic and Cordoverian of Safed Galilee in Northern Israel, the school of Central Europe, of Italy, the Mizrachi of Morocco and Yemen, the Eastern European of the Baal Shem/Nistarim and other mystical circles, and the Mitnagdic/Lithuanian Kabbalah.

Some people have mislabel kabbalah as magic, philosophy, science or psychology. These individuals have made it into a universal principle which is part of all human thought not just Judaism.

There are many concepts which are important to Kabbalah such as the Maaseh Bereshit- Work of Beginnings, the Helakhot-Palaces, Maaseh Merkavah-the work of the Chariot described in in Ezekiel Chapter 1 & 10. Pardes-Paradise and the 4 rabbis which visited this realm. It is said that Ben Azai-gazed and died, Ben Zomah  gazed and went insane, Aher became apostate and Rabbi Akiba entered and exited in peace. 

There are important texts such as Sefer Razim, which is mystical book given to Noah by the angel Raziel, and passed down throughout Biblical history to Solomon, for whom it was a great source of his wisdom, and purported magical powers. There is also Shiur Komah, which is attributed to R. Akivah and Ishmael. It is believed to describe the foundational concepts of the sefirot. It teaches about the body of G-d based on Song of Songs 5:10-16

Sefer Yezira or Book of Creation, which is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Its mystical ideas focus on how the universe came into existence

Other concepts are Adam Kadmon and Enoch as metatron, one a prototype of Meschiach the other of yoreh merkavah

Adam Kadmon Is primordial man which existed before the creation of the earthly Adam, but was preexistent to the whole of creation. It is associated with the Messiah or the Logos 

Ein Sof (unending) is understood as God prior to his self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, This term is probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's idea of an "Endless One" 

The Sefirot are the Ten Emanations of G-d:

1. Kether

2. Chokma

3. Binah

4. Chesed

5. Geburah

6. Tiphareh

7. Netzach

8. Hod

9. Yesod

10. Malkuth

Tzimtzum means contraction/constriction/condensation, is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's new doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his Ein Sof (infinite) light in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist. 

Klipot are the "Husks" which can be described as a representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, the polar opposites of the holy Sefirot.^[3] The realm of evil is also termed Sitra Achra/Aḥra in Kabbalah texts.

According to Kabbalah there are 4 worlds

1. Atzilut-Emanation

2. Briyah-Creation

3. Yetzirah-Formation

4. Assiyah-Manifestation

Tree of Life  or Etz haChayim (עץהחיים) in Hebrew, is a classic descriptive term for the central mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism, also known as the 10 Sephirot, and the 22 Paths. It is considered to depict a map of Creation.

Jewish Meditation involves Gerushin- Repetition – which is an anchor of meditation practice, repetition of sacred phrase as well as in everyday life. Method of mental focus, filtering out distractions. The Baal Shem Tov developed the idea of kavanah which means concentration, feeling or devotion.

One of the mantras is Ribono Shelolam “Lord of the Universe”. There were chants and music used by prophets according to Aryeh Kaplan’s book (p.41 of his book Jewish Meditation) He also sees the Amidah as eighteen meditations. The Chasidim rishonim would spend an hour reciting the Amidah according to the Talmud

Heylakhot Rabbatai-Greater book of the Divine Chambers, is another book which describes the discipline of the chariot. In the book The Hidden and Manifest God (p.28) it speaks of malakh panim, Metatron, Anafiel, Dumiel, the gatekeepers, intercessors of Israel, the prince of the Torah, angels of revelation as the many the heavenly beings part of the spiritual realm.