|
The
Origins and History of Kabbalah
Kabbalah claims
a divine authorship, though it probably originated in the 12th
century A.D. Allegedly, the truth of Kabbalah was first given to the
angels before God created the world. Mankind then
received it on three separate occasions through three
different men. Adam was the first to receive the
teaching through the Archangel Raziel as Adam and Eve were expelled from the
Garden of Eden. But, because people were more interested in the
ways of the world than the things of God, the truth of Kabbalah
was eventually lost. It is said that Kabbalah is derived
from ancient Hebraic priesthood practices that has the goal of
human transformation.1
Abraham (around 1700 B.C.) was the second to
receive the truth of Kabbalah. Abraham was supposedly initiated
into Kabbalistic mysticism by Melchizedek.
Kabbalah was part of the covenant that God made with Abraham.
After his descendents became enslaved in Egypt, Kabbalah was
once again lost.
The third and final revelation of Kabbalah was given to Moses when he went to
Mount Sinai to meet God. The first time Moses went up he received the
10 Commandments. The second time he went up he received the
Kabbalah.2 "When Torah was transmitted to Moses,
myriads of celestial angels came to scorch him with flames from
their Mouths, but the blessed Holy One sheltered him."3
Kabbalists refer to the
Mosaic encounters as the outer and inner teaching. The
first encounter of Moses with God is when he received the 10
Commandments. This is called the outer teaching. It was upon the second
encounter with God that Moses received the Kabbalistic truths.
This is referred to as the inner teaching.
Throughout history, Kabbalists have chosen to keep
their esoteric interpretations of the Torah hidden from the
general populace and religious leaders of the day. Many of
the Kabbalists were persecuted and many others knew that their
teachings contradicted accepted Jewish and Christian theologies.
Therefore, they practiced a self-imposed silence.
Nevertheless, Kabbalah survived and was passed down
through the centuries. Originally, only Jewish men who
were at least 40 years old could study Kabbalah. But later
this restriction was abandoned by many people.
The earliest documented Kabbalistic writing is called
the Sepher Yetzirah, or the book of formation. One tradition is
that Abraham wrote the book, placed it in a cave, and it was
discovered later and published as the Sepher Yetzirah. Another
tradition says that the Rabbi Akiva wrote it. He is supposed to
be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.
Moses De Leon, a 14th century Spanish Kabbalist
presented the Zohar, an extremely influential book in
Kabbalistic philosophy. De Leon originally claimed that he
found the scrolls that have been written much earlier, more than
a thousand years earlier. Recent scholarship supports the
idea that he is the one who wrote the Zohar.
Present-day Kabbalah is said to have descended through
John Dee (1527-1608) who was a mathematician and geographer and
Isaac Luria (1534-1572) who he is commonly referred to as the
greatest Kabbalist of modern times. Contributers were
Chayim Vital (1543-1620), Shabbetai Zvi (1626-1676),
Gaon of Vilna ( 1720-1797),
Rabbi Ashlag (1886-1955), and others.
Today
Today
Kabbalah has become popularized by such writers as Yehuda Berg
and spread by the internet and TV. Many traditional Jewish
cabalists condemn contemporary Kabbalah movements as fanciful
and overly popularized misrepresentations of authentic
Kabbalistic philosophy. Whichever the case, today's Kabbalah is
definitely more new age than biblical. Even though modern
popularized Kabbalah has been condemned by traditional
cabalists, readings from the Zohar, which is several
hundred years old and is at the heart of Kabbalah, reveals
theology reminiscent of the new age: reincarnation, inner
divinity, pantheism, etc.
The truth is that Kabbalah has evolved. But it
has evolved from one heresy deeper into another. It is not
biblical and it is not true.
__________________
References
-
Leet, Leonora.,
The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah. Rochester Vermont:
Inner Traditions, 1999. p. 2
-
Hopking, C.J.M., The Practical Kabbalah
Guidebook. New York, New York: Sterling
Publishing Co. 2001. p. 8
-
The Zohar, http://www.sup.org/zohar/ p. 27
Return to
Kabbalah
|