Development of Jewish Mysticism

7/28/2019 Development of Jewish Mysticism

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The Development of Certain Trends within Jewish Mysticism in Context of Adjacent Cultures

The entirety of the Jewish mystical tradition, known as kabbalah, is often interpreted to mean

“to receive”, based on its Hebrew root word kbl (Gonzalez-Wippler xviii), however Gershom

Scholem, the preeminent scholar in this field considers kabbalah to simply mean “tradition” (1).

Kabbalah possibly developed over millennia, primarily through the study of the Five Books of

Moses in the Bible, otherwise known as oral and written or miqrah Torah (Samuel 149). Yet,

arguably the Jewish mystical tradition was formulated within the context of a certain amount of

outside cultural influence. Being that the Jewish people have experienced multiple exiles and a

lengthy Diaspora, developments within the kabbalistic tradition were not created insularly within a

vacuum of normative Judaism alone, but likely considered the beliefs of surrounding cultures to

some degree in their formulation.

Kabbalah possibly originated in some form during Biblical times, and made its way to

Western Europe via Babylon and other centers of Diasporic Jewry (Verman 9-20). It was originally

a secretive tradition, passed down orally from teacher to student, rabbi to rabbi or father to son

(Matt 2). Traditionally, one had to be a married man of at least forty years of age, with experience

as a rabbi to study kabbalah (17). Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan categorically states that the Biblical Prophets

were the first mystics, and that their prophetic tradition was somehow clandestinely kept alive after

the destruction of the First Temple, eventually becoming kabbalah. He classifies three types of

kabbalah: theoretical or philosophical, which constitutes a treatment of mechanics of the divine

realm, meditative kabbalah, or how to attain direct experience of God, and practical or magical

kabbalah, the manipulation of creation to bring about change in material world. Very little is truly

known about this branch, of which there are forbidden means that are considered evil, known as

sitra ahra, and permitted means, which require a divine directive to use these forces (Kaplan

interview). Along with these distinctions, it is important to note that there are fundamentally two





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nature of this time gave rise to some splits within normative Judaism, that which would become

defined later as rabbinical Judaism, and sectarian groups deemed heterodox by the former (11).

The account of Ezekiel’s vision of the chariot, ma’aseh merkavah, experienced in the beginning

of the 6th century B.C.E., served as a starting point for much of Jewish mysticism (Matt 3). This

vision inspired a Talmudic story about four rabbis who attempted ascent to pardes, or paradise, with

only Rabbi Akiva remaining ‘unscathed’ (4). This type of mysticism inspired a branch of kabbalah

called the ‘Work of the Chariot’, which involves an exploration of the microcosm, personal

purpose and the individual relationship with the Divine (Cohen 1). It also inspired the Hekhalot

literature, which deals with the ascent to the ‘divine throne’ through heavenly “halls” or “palaces”

(Schafer 13). An early account describing the body of God in an anthropomorphic sense, Shi’ur

Qomah or the “measurement of the divine stature” was also written and was influential to later

kabbalah (Matt 4). A branch of mysticism dealing with cosmology, ma’aseh bereshit the ‘Work of

Creation’, was also created (Verman 45). This form focused more on pondering the macrocosm

and the dynamic structure and function of the universe with relation to time and space (Cohen 1).

During the exile in Babylon, the formulation of rabbinical Judaism occurred within

proximity to the religions of the Babylonians, a type of Zoroastrianism being a prominent faith at

the time. Zoroastrianism, a religion that originally possessed a complex pantheon of deities not

unlike Hinduism, later exhibited particularly dualistic traits in the form of two primary cosmically

and morally opposed principles, absolute Good as Ahura Mazda and absolute Evil as Ahriman

(Guiley 278). This reformed tradition not only greatly influenced Gnosticism in several of its

iterations, but branches of early Judaism and therefore Christianity as well (Segal 20).

Jews were exposed to their oppressors’ religious culture for a lengthy seven decades. Whilst

Judaism eventually emerged still as a monotheistic tradition, the dualistic influence of this period

would forever impact Judaic religious culture. The presence of certain angels was already part of



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Israelite religion, yet the acknowledgement of lesser immortal beings in the formation of a

complex, highly developed angelology reverberated the Zoroastrian belief in yazatas, or angelic

beings (Guiley 278). Concepts that would play an even greater role in later Jewish Christianity,

such as the adversary, known to Christians as Satan, Messianism, the idea of a coming savior, and

apocalyptic or eschatological preoccupations with Final Judgement and the realms of Heaven and

Hell are also thought to be influenced by the Persians. The Essenes, a dualist Jewish sect of ascetics

living at Qumran in the 1st century C.E. particularly embodied these ideas (Segal 20). From what

little is known of them from the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, they did practice a type

of mysticism that included some form of the Tree of Life, a prominent glyph and structure in later

kabbalah (Cohen 262). While the Zoroastrian tradition did have some kind of effect on Judaism,

the efforts of 19th century Christian theosophists Adolphe Franck and Eliphas Lévi to make kabbalah

out to be some sort of ‘universal’, non-Jewish tradition stemming from Zoroaster may be more

than a bit of a stretch (Hanegraaff 126). There is plenty of textual evidence to suggest a long-

standing, continuous tradition of Jewish input into kabbalah that predates the exile in Babylon.

The Sepher Yetzira is a book of emanationist cosmogony and cosmology that concerns itself

with the ten numbers or sephirah (Halevi 25), the nature of the Hebrew alphabet and God’s creation

of the world. It was not necessarily a mystical text, yet was used as such by many (Stenring vi). It

is considered the earliest or one of the earliest kabbalistic texts (Yetzirah ix), thought by some to be

composed in Palestine between the 3rd and 6th centuries C.E. (Matt 4). Its authorship is usually

attributed to Talmudist Rabbi Akiba Ben Yoseph (Stenring vii), yet both the Zohar and Raziel state

that Abraham wrote the text (Yetzirah xii). There is speculation that Joseph Ben Uzziel may have

actually the true author, writing down the revelations of prophet Jeremiah (Stenring 12). The

numerous translations, versions of and commentaries on the Sepher Yetzirah are perhaps the most

extensive of any text within kabbalah (Yetzirah xxvi).





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scribe for Rav Shimon bar Yochai and his group of havrayya, or mystical companions (Matt 6). The

text doesn’t comment very frequently on mystical or meditative experience; more so, it focuses on

the relationship between the sephirot and how they relate to ethical and spiritual conduct of

humanity (Matt 11). Along with the tradition stemming out of the writings of the Iyyun, or

contemplation meditation group, especially those of the Ari, or Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (Samuel 149),

the Zohar would become the most popular writing within all of kabbalah (Halevi 19).

Abraham Abulafia, a controversial and well-traveled man who lived in Sepharad , or Spain in

the 13th century, was one of the best-known proponents of ecstatic kabbalah. This form of kabbalah

emphasized forms of meditation that revolved around recitation of divine names and contemplation

of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet over all other aspects. During his travels, Abulafia may have

encountered and incorporated the teachings of Sufism and yoga. He met with many obstacles along

the way. Not only did he narrowly escape death after boldly attempting to convert Pope Nicholas

III, he was condemned as a charlatan by Solomon Adret, a rabbinical authority, forcing him to flee

Spain (Matt 12). His influence on Spanish kabbalah was minimal, yet his teachings were accepted in

Palestine, which accounts for Sufism’s introduction into kabbalah (13).

A Cathar influence on Abulafia and the Bahir has also been speculated about, proposed by

Shulamit Shahar (Idel 33). Part of the theory is based on what Shahar views as similar conceptions

of evil and Satan. The other part of her theory points out the peculiarity of the presence of Gilgul ,

the transmigration of the soul being present within an Abrahamic tradition. She points out the

interesting correspondence of a similar Cathar belief in metempsychosis, or a form of reincarnation

(39). While there were Jews living simultaneously in the same regions as the Cathars, the

Languedoc and parts of Catalonia, and while kabbalistic spiritual traditions shared many doctrinal

similarities, the association cannot be proven (Scholem 97).

During the Middle Ages, in certain circles, the trend of secretiveness in kabbalah shifted to a



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method of more public and open dispensation for a time (Verman 27). By the 15th and 16th

centuries, with the Renaissance in full swing, kabbalah was being translated, studied and

perpetuated outside the context or guidance of Judaism (Stenring x), and study of some form of it

became integral to membership in several secret societies (xii). Its teachings were fused with

alchemical doctrines (Hogan 9), tarot card correspondences and other occult traditions by Gentile

kabbalah enthusiasts and practitioners (Stenring 13). By the 18th century, during the Haskalah, or

what approximated a Jewish Enlightenment movement, one of the elements of Jewish heritage that

was sacrificed by most Western European Jews in favor of adopting European culture was kabbalah

(Scholem 1).

With the rise of science in the 19th century, kabbalah was largely abandoned in Jewish circles

outside of Eastern European Hasidim (Hoffman 1). This mystical revival movement, initiated by

Israel Baal Shem Tov, was based on Lurianic teachings, emphasized joy as a way to achieve union

with God (Bernstein 187) and it added a psychological component to kabbalah (Matt 16). As a

resurgence of interest in spirituality occurred in the 20th century, and with the work of scholars

such as Gershom Scholem, kabbalah has gained a renewed interest from Jews and non-Jews alike

that continues in the present (Hoffman 2). So much time has passed since the inception of Jewish

mysticism, along with much cultural exchange and revision, intentional and otherwise. What

ultimately constitutes a ‘proper’ or ‘true’ kabbalah today is difficult to determine and largely based

on opinion; however, the myriad interpretations and streams of practice that have arisen from the

original dispensation make for a rich and colorful collection of related traditions.



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Works Cited

Ben Joseph, Akiba. The Book of Formation or Sepher Yetzirah. Trans. Knut Stenring. Berwick: Ibis

Press. 2004. Print.

Ben Shimon Halevi, Z’ev. Kabbalah: The Divine Plan. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

1996. Print.

Bernstein, Henrietta. Cabalah Primer: Introduction to English/Hebrew Cabalah. Caramillo: DeVorss

Publications. 1984. Print.

Cohen, Penny. Personal Kabbalah: 32 Paths to Inner Peace and Life Purpose. New York: Sterling

Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

de Léon, Moses. The Kabbalah: The Essential Texts from the Zohar . Trans. S.L. MacGregor Mathers.

London: Watkins Publishing. 2006. Print.

Gonzalez-Wippler, Migene. Kabbalah for the Modern World. Woodbury: Llewellyn Worldwide.

2006. Print.

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Demons & Demonology . New York: Infobase Publishing,

Inc. 2009. PDF File.

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “The Beginnings of Occultist Kabbalah: Adolphe Franck and Eliphas Lévi.”

Ed. Huss, Boaz, Marco Pasi and Kocku von Stuckrad. Kabbalah and Modernity: Interpretations,

Transformations, Adaptations. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2010. 107-128. PDF file.

Hoffman, Edward, ed. Opening the Gates: New Paths in Kabbalah and Psychology. Boston: Shambhala

Publications. 1995. Print.

Hogan, Timothy. The 32 Secret Paths of Solomon: A New Examination of the Qabbalah in Freemasonry.

Lexington: Lulu Publishing. 2011. Print.

Idel, Moshe. Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1988. PDF

file.



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Kaplan, Aryeh. “Jewish Mysticism.” The First Estate: Religion in Review . By Dr. Russell Barber. 1979.

Web.

Kaplan, Aryeh. The Bahir: Illumination. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, Inc. 1979. Print.

Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation In Theory and Practice. York Beach: Samuel

Weiser, Inc. 1997. Print.

Matt, Daniel C. The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism. New York: HarperCollins

Publishers, Inc. 1996. Print.

Samuel, Gabriella. The Kabbalah Handbook: A Concise Encyclopedia of Terms and Concepts in Jewish

Mysticism. New York: Penguin Group. 2007. Print.

Schafer, Peter. The Hidden and Manifest God . Albany: State University of New York Press. 1992.

PDF File.

Segal, Alan F. Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity and Gnosticism . Leiden:

Koninklijke Brill NV. 1977. PDF file.

Scholem, Gershom. On the Kabbalah and It’s Symbolism. New York: Schocken Books. 1996. Print.

Solomon, Norman. Judaism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

2000. Print.

Verman, Mark. The Books of Contemplation: Medieval Jewish Mysticism. Albany: State University of

New York Press. 1992. Print.

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Development of Jewish Mysticism