Kabbalah

[Ruhama]

Ok, so here's the thread to discuss kabbalah and its many dimensions.

First off to continue from the communion thread I'm curious to hear about the views on polytheism regarding the Sefirot.

I'm a bit rusty on my study of kabbalah and mysticism (and alas haven't even gotten round to reading the Zohar through yet)... so that's where I'm coming from, though I'm fascinated by the topic.

 

[simchat_torah]

This will be short and quick as I have to go on my "lunch" break here at work.

Polytheism is non-existent in Kabbalah. One must first understand that the Sefirot are "attributes" of Ein Sof, not multiple personalities, or multiple beings... but various views of the One.

Let's use two examples...

Imagine if you will several large colored glass balls. These glass balls are connected together. As water flows through these glass balls the water seems to take on the color of that ball, though the water itself is clear.

Imagine a stained glass window. As you peer upon the window the light that cascades down to the floor seems to be of several different colors. However, the sunlight itself is actually none of these colors, it merely is projected to be another shade as it is viewed through a particular color of glass.

Ein Sof (HaShem - or the Eternal One) can be seen as the water or the light. As we view him in various points in our life, or at various points during our walk we see different attributes expressed.

One may ask, "how can HaShem be perfect mercy, yet also be perfet judgement?" In the natural mind this would seem to be a contradiction... yet under Kabbalah, this only shows the different attributes of the same G-d.

We know that we know that we know that G-d is merciful.
We know that we know that we know that G-d exercises judgement.

In Kabbalah, this is not seen as contradictory... but more like two wings on a dove. Without two wings, the dove would not fly. But with two equal wings, the dove can take flight. One wing pulls air perfectly to the left, the other perfectly to the right.... and these two forces are in equal degrees opposed to one another, thus giving the bird flight.

The same is true with Ein Sof (also often spelled Ayn Sof, or Ain Sof).
His mercy is in equal ammounts with his judgement. These two attributes flow together to bring about the very nature of HaShem.

Shalom,
Yafet.

p.s. I could have used any attributes, but Judgement (gevurah) and Mercy (chesed) are two common examples used in Kabbalah. In fact, these two attributes are what form the left and right pillars in the Sefirotic tree... more later.

 

[Ruhama]

heh, thanks for stopping by on your lunch break!

I understand the ideas that you explained, and that is I believe the most normative description.  I've seen a few other interpretations of the Sefirot, in which the Shekhinah takes on a role of intercessor between the higher Sefirot and mortal man, drawing down God's power into the world, as a sort of recepticle vessel of blessings. I remember it being the Ein Sof that no one can see or touch, correct?

Here is a quote to more adequately illustrate what I am thinking regarding the male-female/anthropomorphic bit:

Moses de Leon, Sod Eser Sefirot Belimah
"It is said that every sage is jealous of another sage and every warrior is jealous of another warrior, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like this. He is called saddiq (righteous one) and when there is a saddiq on earth he loves him... this is a hidden mystery: a husband always hates his wife when she loves someone other than him. But [in the case] of this [divine] saddiq, the eternally living one, His woman constantly loves the earthly saddiq. The eternally living one knows this and he arouses his love for the world even more and with greater affection... This is the secret of 'But I will establish My covenant with you', for there is no erecting of theis covenant (qimah li-verit zo) except by another saddiq. Understand this for everything is correct to 'those who have attained knowledge.'" (prov. 8:9)

That's from some class notes I took while in Jerusalem... it's quoted in "Through a Speculum that Shines" by Eliot Wolfson; will try to dig up a few more here though to get some prooftexts going. 

 

[simchat_torah]

Shalom pray4,

Kabbalah comes in 3 forms really....

The first form is what many claim to be the original. Supposedly it can be traced all the way back to Moshe, and possibly earlier. It is simply an ancient philosophy on interpreting Torah. There exist no writings for this Kabbalah, though it is acclaimed to be hinted at in the Torah.

The second form is traced back to Moses de Leon. He supposedly found certain texts within a cave and then transferred them to scrolls. Whether this tradition holds true does not impact the validity of the scrolls themselves. What is written, such as Sefir Yetzirah and Zohar, are not supposed to be taken literally. These writings are understood to be alegorical. For example, there is one story about a fisherman who caught a fish, cut it open, and was able to tell the future with the guts of the fish. However, the symbolism of the story relates to the mercy of G-d. Go figure.

Anyway, that second type of Kabbalah is highly mystical in nature and should never be studied outside of the context of Torah. It is to be a commentary on Torah. In fact, at one point it was required that you had to be a 40 year old male in order to even study these books because they were sooo highly mystical in Torah interpretation that it took a firm foundation on Torah to even come close to understanding (though this rule of thumb is tossed aside today). The writings in this type of Kabbalah were never meant to be taken as a literal interpretation, but were meant to be esoteric of Torah.

Finally, the third type of Kabbalah is modern Kabbalah... often spelled with a Q... Q'balla (or many variations thereof). This type if Q'bala takes the writings of the second form of Kaballah and makes a literal application. You will see many modern Jews wearing charms, crystals, etc trying to fortell the future through these items or using them as protection amulets.
This last type of Q'balla is highly paganistic and demonic. It should be avoided like the plauge.

I have seen it stated before that a person without a soul is death... or that they are dead. The same can be said of Kabbalah and Torah. Kabbalah without the foundation of Torah is death.

You see many celebreties today (ie: Madonna) who practice modern Q'balla without the Torah.

Kabbalah was originally intended to MERELY understand the infinate nature of G-d. It was never intended to be magical.

I hope this helps....

Now I'll get back to shedding light on true Kabbalah.
shalom,
Yafet.

 

[Ruhama]

I'd have to disagree on that a bit, the magical bit, since you do find stories of those experimenting with ecstatic trances, people sitting with their feet in buckets of ice water, other mystical practices.  Dunno if that falls within Kabbalah per se but some kabbalists, like all mystics, took it to that extreme.

While you posted I found a few more quotes to play with.  Btw I do find your insight on this really good; most of what I know of kabbalah is from just reading Scholem and from this class. 

Gikatilla, Gates of Light
"The Righteous One stands gazing out at humanity. When he sees human beings engaged in Torah and mitzvot... then the Righteous One expands, filling himself with all kinds of flowing emanation from above, to pour into the Shekhinah, in order to reward those purifying themselves (etc.). Thus the entire world is blessed by those righteous humans, and the Shekhinah is likewise blessed through them.  But if, God forbid, humans defile themselves... when he sees, he gathers and contracts himself, ascending higher and higher. then the flow of all the channels ceases, and the Shekhinah is left dry and empty, lacking all good. ... Now come and see the power of the righteous: they can unite all the sefirot, harmonizing the upper and the lower worlds."

Kabbalistic Manuscript Tradition
"The head of man corresponds to the Supreme Crown... the brain and the palate fo man correspond to Wisdom... His tongue corresponds to Understanding... The extension of the body corresponds to Beauty... The arms correspond to Love and Power, Love is the right and Power the left. Endurance on the right and majesty on the left. foundation corresponds to the phallus which is set in the middle. This is the form that we have explained... and it corresponds to the human body, for the nine sefirot are portrayed as the anthropos..."
(the 10th is the wife)

 

[Ruhama]

On another note, relating back to the multipersonality thing... There seem to be a number of references to the dual nature of God (justice verses mercy, etc.) affecting how he created mankind. I.e., just as God is dual-natured he created male and female to face each other like his own attributes face each other.  Thot that was kinda interesting. 

There were some (such as I think Abulafia) who believed that one side of God was good (the mercy/right side) and the other was evil (the judgment/left side), and that all evil came from the left side of God. Is this a kabbalistic idea or more of its own thing?

 

[simchat_torah]

Both pillars of the Sefirot are good.... there is no evil in the Sefirot. The evil came from what is called "broken" shards of creation... a whole nother story... but no, the side of judgement is not evil. Think of judgement as perfect righteousness... is righteousness evil?
obviously not.

In a Swartzenaggery voice: I'll be back

 

[Ruhama]

LOL

That's your opinion though... and mine too - but that wasn't what everyone used to think (and what some still think).

 

[simchat_torah]

Well, I was speaking from the writings, not my opinion... he he he...

Maybe some interpret it differently? But the Zohar never states otherwise!

 

[simchat_torah]

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to show this...lol...

but you see my avatar? The 10 circles you see are the individual sefirot. The left side (consisting of three circles) is called "Chesed" (mercy) and the left side of three are called the "Gevurah" (judgement). There are literally hundreds of teachings that emphasize various attributes of G-d's nature using this diagram. I'll get to much of it later, but I just wanted to point it out real quick before I was off to bed.

Shalom,
Yafet.

 

[simchat_torah]

There are four levels of interpretation in Kabbalah:

{P}ashat (Heb. "simple")
[R]emez (Heb. "hint")
[D]rash (Heb. "search")
od (Heb. "hidden")

Pshat, the simple level, is the literal meaning of a word or passage.
Remez, the "hinted at" level, is often referred to as the "dual" or implied meaning.... usual a deeper truth is contained here.
Drash, the "searched out" level, is what many scholars refer to as the alegorical meaning, this takes creativity to find and an exegesis.
Sod, the "hidden" level, is the mystical meaning, at times this involves returning words to their basic element, or finding the root of a word and deriving a spiritual meaning hidden behind it.

The four levels of ineterpretation.
It is quite important that when studying Kabbalah one undertands we were speaking of the Drash and Sod levels of interpretation.

Shalom Mishpochah,
Yafet.

 

[LN]

This is my first post here but I noticed something interesting while watching Fox News last night.

Madonna, who has claimed to study the Kabbalah dilligently, has come out with an anti-war song that Sadaam himself listens to for enjoyment. How could someone who is "Jewish" (she's really an Italian from Detroit but that's a whole different story) not want to see the state of Israel protected? I mean, if there is anyone who Sadaam dislikes more than Americans it is probably Jews. It just made me wonder if those who study Kabbalah consider themselve Jewish or if she is just "convieniently" religous.

 

[MissytheButterfly]

LOL, she's not Jewish. And she didn't convert.. she just studied with a Jewish Rabbi while doing her next to the last album.. I saw it on tv 2 yrs ago she was talking about it and so was the Jewish rabbi that she studied with.. she didn't convert though at least that's what they both said in that interview..

She also stated that she studied Indian religion too..hence the reason she was wearing those Henna tattoos for a while and wearing some prayer necklace...

But hey, she wore a Rosary around her neck too years ago..so go figure..

But alas she's also one of the celebrities that "take on causes" . There was an anti-war rally not to long ago .. Kelly Lynch, Angelica Houston, and George Clooney were all involved in that rally to protest the war in Iraq. Just because someone isn't for war doesn't neccessarily mean they aren't for Israel. Just like Jeananne Girafalo (sp) is against the war, but she says Saddam needs to be removed but peaceably, and she also says she's for Israel..

Missy

 

[LN]

*sigh* I guess its hard for a celebrity to realize that you can't have your cake and eat it too. These people are used to getting life served to them on a silver platter.

 

[simchat_torah]

What Madonna practices is what I labaled witchcraft, or the third form of Kabbalah, where one literally interprets the writings, and uses amulets and the such. This is paganism pure and simple... and has nothing to do with Ancient Jewish philosophy, but everything to do with idolatry.

shalom,
Yafet.

 

[Ruhama]

I made a comment in the other thread, simchat, that you will probably want to debate me on, namely the role that Gnosticism had in kabbalah. I consider 1st century mysticism "early" kabbalah. But I infer that you believe it goes much older than that? Go ahead and prove me wrong if you feel my comments are uninformed.

The deeper and hidden meanings of mystical Jewish writings have always seemed to me rather clear, since I've had mystical experiences of my own (which I will never repeat God willing). For that reason I'm leary of them, and maybe I'm prejudging the writings and they are not what they seem. However I want to see what kind of fruit the proverbial tree bears, and the writers mostly seem to have had serious personal... I dunno, problems?  I don't want to be offensive but this has been my impression.

Also I think maybe I might be arrogant to think the meanings are so clear.  Perhaps I should just sit on it for a while, till I'm 40, and then reevaluate, as one is supposed to do.   They were right - in mysticism you walk a very fine, dangerous line.

 

[simchat_torah]

Well, gnosticism reflects nothing in Kabbalah. True, it is spiritual, but it is centered around the self. Kabbalah is centered around understanding the attributes of G-d.... not man.

 

[Ruhama]

Maybe we should define Gnosticism then. I understood it to be the pursuit of the "secret truth" - about God and reality.

 

[Ruhama]

For example, Metatron, the angel closest to the Throne, is sometimes equated with God (portrayed as the Shekhinah, the one who wrestles with Jacob, etc.).  Apparently in places he also was called "the lesser YHWH" and was responsible for the creation of the three lower worlds (as the head of creation), which reminds me a lot of the Demiurge.

The pursuit of self-elevation is partly what mysticism is all about.  You want God to show you the seven heavens.  You want to see him on his throne (shiur qoma, merkavah)... much practice is all about getting into the right frame of mind for ecstatic trance where God will reveal himself to you.  Granted, it is arguable that the end goal is to worship him.  But the focus is also very much on getting yourself to the right place SO he will do these things.  At least that is what it seems to me.

 

[simchat_torah]

"Maybe we should define Gnosticism then. I understood it to be the pursuit of the "secret truth" - about God and reality."

That would apply to every religion... not just Kabbalah or gnosticism.