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Understanding
Understanding
KABBALAH

When we hear the word “mysticism,” many of us think of a
mysterious subject that should be approached with caution or
even trepidation.
Many Christians have heard of Kabbalah – a word for the
“received” Jewish mystical tradition – but questions, fears, and
doubts about Kabbalah abound: What is it? Is it prohibited?
Does it diverge from biblical teaching or affirm it?
In this eBook, IBC provides you with an academic approach to
Jewish mysticism, including an introduction to its literature and
history. It is my great pleasure to share this eBook with you in
the hopes that you will be enriched and encouraged to explore
diverse topics in the study of Judaism and to understand the true
Jewish character of Israel’s Scriptures.
Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg
Warmest wishes,

1
The Short
Introduction to Jewish
Mysticism
Jewish mysticism has taken many
forms, with Kabbalah being
undoubtedly the most famous one.
Thanks to pop culture and
worldwide known celebrities
popularizing this form of
spirituality (like Madonna), it has
become something that most of us
at least heard of, but without
realizing what it truly is.
Kabbalah is commonly associated
with magic, esoterism, rituals, and
many other things. Its history
started long before the 20th
century. The first forms of Jewish
mysticism emerged actually
thousand of years ago!
ISRAEL BIBLE CENTER PAGE 3

Merkavah mysticism (especially
popular in the 1st century AD)
was the most common early
form back then, trying to
understand, explain and also
experience the vision of the
divine throne presented in the
Book of Ezekiel.
It was believed (based on the
Talmud and midrash) that
visions of the Divine Throne can
be achieved simply by assiduous
studying the Torah.
Another form of early mysticism is based on the book called "Sefer
Yetzirah". Despite being short, it's the most important work of
creation mysticism, describing the creation of the world through the
arrangements of letters and numbers.
Sefer Yetzirah is a mystical Jewish book, but it is not a rabbinic
book. It consists of concepts that have little in common with the
Judaism developed by the rabbis in the Talmud, and it reflects a
disinterest in Jewish Law and Torah commentary.
The composition of Sefer Yetzirah is very unusual: its brief and
cryptic passages describe mythic images and directions for
meditative practices that focus on the individual’s relationship with
the Creator rather than the collective covenant between God and
his people.

Sefer Yetzirah presents an image of a cosmic Temple that can be
found through the simple contemplation of the Hebrew letters. This
mystical view is in opposition to the rabbinic view, which located
sanctity in the sacred biblical text. Sefer Yetzirah connects sacred
text (the letters) with the world (the cosmic Temple).
Why is all of this so important?
The book’s impact on the medieval texts of Kabbalah was
considerable. Sefer Yetzirah may actually be called a proto-
Kabbalah work. Despite many crucial differences, several of Sefer
Yetzirah's concepts influenced later Jewish mystical tradition and
practice. Sefer Yetzirah is not studied much by contemporary Jews,
but it still offers contemporary readers with rich and interesting
reflections on the mysteries of creation.

2What is Kabbalah
all about?
Kabbalah emerged in the twelfth
century in Provence, southern
France, However, the Kabbalistic
traditions took their final form in
thirteenth-century Spain with the
composition of the Book of
Splendor (Sefer ha‑Zohar).
Ultimately, the Kabbalah became
the main form of Jewish mysticism,
theosophy, and esotericism.
But Kabbalah includes many
different mystical ap
proaches that
can be contradictory, which is why
there are several philosophical
paradoxes contained in Kabbalah:

1 Kabbalah has seen many variations and taken
different forms, spanning from ancient times
until today
2 There are paradoxical expressions and
interpretations of Kabbalah, and even
competing versions of Jewish mysticism
3 Modern scholars have varying views of the
origin, history, and meaning of Kabbalah
Gershom Scholem, regarded as the founder of the modern,
academic study of Kabbalah, wrote,
“Because mystical experience as such is formless, there is in
principle no limit to the forms it can assume(1). It is well known that
the descriptions given by the mystics of their peculiar experiences
and of the God whose presence they experience are full of
paradoxes of every kind... The particular reality which the mystic
sees or tastes is of a very unusual kind(2)."
Despite all this complexity, we can still establish the foundations of
the Kabbalistic system.
1 Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, 8
2 Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, 5

MAIN THEMES
Heb. ‫אין‬ (ein) “there is not”, ‫סוף‬ (sof) “end”
EIN SOF
In the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah, God is
described as "The One Without End” or "The Infinite."
Speaking of God, the Zohar says, "Before He gave any shape
to the world, before He produced any form, He was alone,
without form and without resemblance to anything else. Who
then can comprehend how He was before the Creation?"

SEFIROT & PARTZUFIM
In Kabbalah, the Sefirot are the ten “emanations” of God that
describe divine attributes by which the One Without End –
the Ein Sof – is revealed in both the physical and
metaphysical realms.
These sefirot are connected to Partzufim: "Divine Personas"
or "faces" of the Divine. The partzufim are structured like a
person with "248 limbs" and arranged in a pattern that
encompasses all of the ten Sefirot.

SITRA AHRA
Kabbalah divides everything in this world into either Sitra
D’Kedushah (the side of holiness) or Sitra Achra – the “other
side” of impurity and evil. This “other side” (Kelipah) is a
domain of dark emanations and demonic powers.
Kedushah and Kelipah function as two separate realms,
between which there's nothing. There is no idea of neutral
ground or something belonging to both of these realms
simultaneously. According to Kabbalisti thought, all our
actions, words, and even thoughts belong to Kedushah OR to
Kelipah.

TZIMTZUM
Tzimtzum means "contraction." In order for our finite world to
be created, the eternal God needed to undergo self-
contraction – a kind of divine self-limitation that made it
possible for God to create the limited world we see around
us.
The concept of Tzimtzum contains the paradox of
simultaneous divine presence and absence; God is both fully
eternal and partially absent through contraction, which
results in the creation of our world.

SHEKHINAH
The word Shekhinah is built on a Hebrew root (shakhan) that
means "to settle, inhabit, or dwell." “Shekhinah,” which
means “Divine Presence,” does not occur in the Bible; it is a
later concept developed in rabbinic literature. The term
usually refers to the feminine aspects of God: God as a
mother, as the One who gives birth, and the Comforter.
Kabbalists associate the Shekhinah with the cloud that
covered the Tent of Meeting and guided the Israelites during
their wilderness wanderings. God's dwelling among his
people, his protective presence, granted them freedom.

GEMATRIA
Gematria (a Hebrew rendering of the Greek word from which
we get the English “geometry”) is a method of interpreting
Hebrew words and phrases based on their numerical values.
In the Hebrew alphabet, each letter has a numerical value,
and these digits can be counted to reveal “spiritual”
interpretations. According to Kabbalah, God created through
the power of the Hebrew letters and their numerical values.
The many names of God signify numbers that the kabbalists
believed to contain mystical power.

3The Role of the Torah
and the Name of God
According to the great Kabbalah
scholar, Gershom Scholem, the
Torah has a special place in
Kabbalistic tradition.
The process that the Kabbalists
described as the emanation of
divine energy and divine light was
also characterized as the unfolding
of the divine language (3).
The divine language appears as the
letters of the Scriptures. Not only
are letters and names used as a
means of communication, but they
represent a concentration of energy
and express a wealth of heavenly
meaning that cannot be translated
into human language.
3 Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, 35-36

The principle of God's name
The principle of the Torah as an organism
The principle of the infinite meaning of the divine word (4)
Therefore, say the Kabbalists, the Torah is a source of mystical
meaning that can reveal the mysteries of Creation.
According to Sholem, the Kabbalistic conceptions of the Torah’s
nature are based on three fundamental principles:
1.
2.
3.
According to Kabbalah, the name of God holds the highest
concentration of divine power and has mystical capabilites. In fact,
not only does the the Torah contain the various names of God, but
the entire text is one long name of God!
4 Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, 37

Ancient Jews understood the Bible as a living document, a kind of
literary organism whose various meanings allowed for almost
infinite interpretations. As early as the Mishnah (c. 200 CE) one
rabbis described Torah study as “turning over” the text: “Turn it
over and turn it over, for everything is in it!” (m. Pirke Avot 5:22).
The Talmud associates the Torah with a “well of living water,”
which suggests that the Scriptures are alive; just as one draws
water from a well, one can return continually to the living well of
the Bible. Building on these principles, Kabbalah understands the
Torah as a living body with many different parts and functions.
Torah is seen as an organism
with a magical structure that
enables people to control the
world around them. Before
Kabbalah was created, Rabbi
Eleazar alluded to this power
contained in the Torah, saying,
“The various sections of the
Torah were not given in their
correct order. For if they had
been given in their correct order,
anyone who read them would
be able to wake the dead and
perform miracles. For this
reason, the correct order and
arrangement of the Torah were
hidden and are known only to
the Holy One." (5)
5 Midrash Tehilim, ed. Buber, p. 33

1 Peshat means plain or simple, and it refers to
the most literal or surface meaning of the text.
2 Remez means hints. This approach reads a text
in an allegoric way to find hidden or symbolic
elements beyond the literal sense.
3
Derash means to inquire or seek, and it
provides the Hebrew root of “Midrash” --
the rabbinic way of reading Scripture that
elucidates its meaning by comparing words
and phrases that appear throughout the
Bible.
4
Sod means mystery or secret. It's a way of
looking for the esoteric and mystical
meaning of the biblical text, and it’s a
favorite form of interpretation in Kabbalah.
According to medieval Jewish interpretation, there are four ways to
understand the meanings behind the biblical texts:

4
The Mysterious
Kabbalah: should we
approach it or avoid it?
No doubt, many people are
interested in mystery – especially
when it pertains to the things of
God.
Some believe that esoteric
knowledge and secret wisdom can
be dangerous. The notion of
“hidden” or mysterious information
conjures notions of the magical,
forbidden, or even heretical, and
should be avoided. For others,
mysticism is a key to true knowledge
that pushes us beyond the surface
level of our world. In this view,
Kabbalah might be a valid way to
get a grasp on the realities around
us.
How can we tell who's right? Let's
demystify mysticism... just a little bit!

According to some, there is no such thing as mysticism. Since all we
have is ancient text, assigning “mystical” qualities to those texts
cannot be an objective activity. (6)
However, the Bible itself alludes to mystery that is beyond objective
comprehension. For instance, Deuteronomy declares,
“The secret things belong to YHWH our God, but the things
revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may
follow all the words of this Instruction (Torah).”
— Deuteronomy 29:28H/29E (NASB, slightly modified)
Speaking to the Jesus assembly in Corinth, Saul/Paul wrote,
“Now I say this, brothers [and sisters], that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable [lit., corruption]
inherit the imperishable [lit., incorruption]. Behold, I am telling you a
mystery/secret.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:50-51a (NASB)
According to Colossians, “the mystery which had been hidden from
the [past] ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His
holy ones...”
— Colossians 1:26 (NASB, slightly modified)
6 Boaz Huss, The Mystification of the Kabbalah and the Modern
Construction of Jewish Mysticism

According to the apostle Paul,
everything we can feel, see,
hear, taste, and experience is
temporary, finite, and belongs to
this world. But all those things
we can't see — like peace, truth,
goodness, and justice — belong
to the reality beyond the visible;
these things are eternal.
Finally, Paul tells the Corinthians,
“Looking not at things seen, but at
things unseen – for visible things
are temporary, whereas invisible
things are eternal.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:18 (trans., Dr.
Yeshaya Gruber)
Whatever we might think of this dichotomy between the finite and
the infinite, there is no denying that Paul's statements can be
described as “mystical.”
For Paul and other Jewish mystics, we are still able to approach
what is mysterious and mystical. Though the revelation of God and
Scripture, terrestrial human beings can view and experience what
occurs in the heavenly realm. The Bible refers to mysteries and the
possibility of seeing "through the veil of the finite world." Still, we
certainly shouldn’t believe everything we read, just because it calls
itself "revealed."

Yet that is precisely the point. In order to truly make up our minds
about obscure topics and decide what we want to believe, we must
carefully and academically explore the claims of mysticism.
Kabbalah and mystical approaches to the Divine are no exception.
Kabbalistic conceptions about Messiah(s), infinity, and God's
presence in the world, can only be adopted or discarded after close
study. This eBook can only touch on these important topics; it
cannot provide the in-depth analysis. That's why we would love to
invite you for a real, academic journey through all the topics
mentioned here... and so much more!
The true challenge is to assess mystical assertions with measured
wisdom, biblical knowledge, and experience of God. The goal of
presenting Kabbalah in this eBook is not to prove that such
mysticism is "true," but rather to inform readers about the ways that
Jewish interpretation throughout history has imagined the Divine.
Why stumble through the fog of misconceptions and heresay? Begin
your academic quest into Jewish mysticism with Israel Bible Center!

The definitions of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism
Historical overviews of mystical Jewish writings
God, Creation, and Nothingness
Secret Mysteries and Revelations
Broken Worlds and Messiah(s)
and much more!
After taking this course, you’ll have a handle on:
NEED TO KNOW MORE?
WE RECOMMEND OUR FASCINATING COURSE:
KABBALAH AND THE
BIBLE: PART 1
Grab your seat, now!
SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS

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historically and academically.
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challenge these traditional views based on our studies of history,
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