Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Daniel asks…

What are the views of KABBALAH in regard of Premarital Sex?

Thanks for your many answers
edit: suppose it doesn’t explicitly suggest it is for or against it. what can be understood from the UPPER stuff? I mean is there really a spiritual bonding between a man and a female, that should not be experienced unless you’re married or something?

admin answers:

Nothing. The Kabbalah says nothing in regard to premarital sex.

Ken asks…

Basic understanding of the Kabbalah?

I have a religions project in which I have to give a presentation on the Kabbalah and its origins, background and its worldview. I have been searching the internet, but I really do not understand it – it is so complicated!!! Could someone please give some basic information on it to help me understand all the stuff on the internet please!!
Thanks!

admin answers:

Although its origins are rooted in deep antiquity, from the time of ancient Babylon, the wisdom of Kabbalah has remained virtually hidden from humanity since it appeared more than four thousand years ago. To this very day, only a few know what Kabbalah really is.

For millennia, humanity was offered a wide variety of things under the name “Kabbalah”: spells, curses, and even miracles – all except for the method of Kabbalah itself. For over four thousand years, common understanding of Kabbalah has been cluttered with misconceptions and misinterpretations.

Therefore, first and foremost, the wisdom of Kabbalah needs to be made clear. Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) provides the following definition in his article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”:

This wisdom is no more and no less than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and effect, in fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as, “the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.”

In simpler words, there is an upper, all-inclusive force, or “the Creator,” governing everything in reality. All the world’s forces descend from this comprehensive force. Some of these forces are familiar to us, such as gravity or electricity, while there are forces of a higher order that act while remaining hidden to us.

Kabbalah holds the map or the knowledge of how these hidden forces are structured, and the laws by which they influence us. It teaches us how to develop a sense of these forces, and finally, discover their only purpose – to bring us to the revelation of the Creator, while living in this world.

What Kabbalah is not is just as important to know:

So, to clear up any misconceptions, let’s look at what Kabbalah is not. It is not, and has nothing to do with religion, magic, mysticism, divination, cults, holistic medicine, meditation, philosophy, theosophy, psychology or parapsychology, ESP, telepathy, dream interpretation, tarot cards, yoga, red strings, holy water, blessings, past-life regressions, numerology, reiki, channeling, astrology, astral travels or projection, communicating with the dead, out-of-body experiences, voodoo, freemasonry, reflexology, UFO’s, creationism, Sufism or any ism.

Kabbalah has been around for a long, long time and is only now taking its place in the general public awareness. Those who embrace it as the latest fad will perhaps move on to something else. But those who dig deeply into its principles are likely to find enough to keep them going for a lifetime.

Here are links to more details:

http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/38910?/eng/content/view/full/38910&main

(scroll down to the table of contents)

http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/what_is_kabbalah/what_is_kabbalah.htm

http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/what_is_kabbalah/what_does_kabbalah_teach.htm

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Ruth asks…

What are the requirements for studying Kabbalah?

I’m testing a dream I had, For example could a 35 year old spinster woman study Kabbalah?
Looks like either my dream was false (which I doubt) or in a past life I was super rebellious!

admin answers:

Depends who you ask. According to Jewish tradition, you have to be a male over the age of 40 who has already established a family. Oh, and a Jew.

According to Madonna…not so much. But her publicity for Kabbalah seriously offends a lot of Jews.

Mandy asks…

Jewish? what does mean the number 13 in kabbalah?

why do people believe it’s bad luck the number 13
well kabbalah or judaism? well I have heard 13 is positive in Judaism ?

admin answers:

The number 13 holds great significance according to Kabbalah.

The Hebrew words for “love” (ahava), “care” (de’aga), and “one” (echad) all have the numerical value of 13.

In addition, kabbalistically, the number 13 indicates the ability to rise above the influence of the 12 signs of the Zodiac (12+1=13), not being bound by the influences of the cosmos.

Read this

http://www.betemunah.org/thirteen.html

The spiritual significance of the number 13, which as reflected by the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, relates to a transcendent dimension of G-dliness. This transcendence enables one to infuse spirituality within our material world. See Or HaTorah, Bereishis 7a and other sources.

The number thirteen (13) is among the holiest of the numbers because it is closely associated with HaShem.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4 Hear, O Israel: HaShem our God, HaShem is one:

This pasuk from the Shema, tells us a very important relationship:

HaShem = sjt Echad (One)

The gematria of echad is thirteen.

HaShem is Ahavah (Love)

The gematria of ahavah is thirteen.

HaShem is echad

Echad is Ahavah

HaShem is Ahavah

HaShem is 13

Love means unification with the object of our love, and unification with HaShem means a unified heart in belief and devotion. Thus we see that HaShem equals thirteen. Therefore the meaning of thirteen is HaShem.

The yod hay vav hay (HaShem) name has a gematria of 2 X 13 = 26.

The word “echad” is spelled: sjt aleph-chet-dalet. In Kabbalah, the letter “aleph” corresponds to the highest sefirah, “Keter.” The “chet,” in this case, represents the eight sefirot below Keter (Chochmah, Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod), until the last sefirah, Malchut. The letter “dalet,” in Kabbalah, always represents “Malchut.”

From the very top of creation until the very bottom of creation, even in the darkest, most physical parts of existence, you must know and be real with HaShem’s Oneness. There is never a place that HaShem isn’t, just places where it is not proper to think about Him. There is never a time when HaShem isn’t, just times when He doesn’t seem apparent to us.

So, thirteen may be another way of expressing the unity of HaShem.

OH I know you didn’t want the none Kabbalah ‘stuff’ so I posted for 50 seconds and erased.

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Paul asks…

I want to contact God through Kabbalah but I dont know please tell me?

some jewish people have told the kabbalah is for only jews.. but I want to contact God through Kabbalah.. Kabbalah prayers. and meditation.. please tell me them
the website of kabbalah on google are bored..

admin answers:

There is lots of credible information out there on Kabbalah. Kabbalah has its origins in mystical Judaism but there is a Christian variant that developed during the middle ages among esotericists and occultists (and it remained in that realm and wasn’t absorbed into mainstream Christianity or contemplativism). A scripture called the Sefir Yetzirah is a good starting point if you have patience with historic spiritual texts. It is a canto (like poetry) of the meaning of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Look up Tree of Life on the Internet also.

To become familiar with Kabbalah, you need to understand what each sefira means and what the parts of the Tree of Life image mean and what the letters of the Hebrew alphabet symbolically mean (what they traditionally mean and what they mean to you through meditational reflection on them). They form a meditational mandala of the spiritual universe. You rest in, contemplate, and integrate the insights about it. There are other elements of Cabalist meditation and spirituality that become complex, but get the basics down first. Just explore what information is out there and little by little you will find your way and perhaps even find a teacher or a group to work with. Don’t be discouraged by some of the replies you are getting here.

Chris asks…

What is the book known as the Kabbalah?

admin answers:

Kabbalah is a body of work of a mystical nature consisting of many different books, manuscripts, and ancient teachings. There is a Hebrew/Jewish Kabbalah, a Christian Cabbala, and a Hermetic Qabbalah. They are not one book; rather each consists of a volume of books or works of knowledge dealing with the mystical composition of life.

The Jewish Kabbalah is the most popular and it is the mystical interpretation of the first 5-books of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, which is commonly called “The Torah” by Jews.

Http://www.jewfaq.org/kabbalah.htm

http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/karr/ccinea.pdf

http://www.dgswilson.com/text/HermeticQabbalah.pdf

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Lisa asks…

What are some early important writtings within Kabbalah?

I have done various research on Kabbalah and have read the following:
Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation)
Bahir (Book of Illumination)

I only know of one other which is the largest I have yet to read called the Zohar. However in an overview book simply entitled Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem which goes on to detail important concepts I have not found in the above books. Please let me know if your familiar with true early writtings. I am guessing the Talmud and Zohar but maybe more?

admin answers:

The kabbalah is not meant to be learned without deep roots in contemporary Orthodox Judaism, with Chassidic Judaism as well, it’s like taking a particle accelerator, pressing buttons randomly, and saying “Look at me, I am a physicist!!” with no training, if you rush to the Kabbalah without the other teaching…

Joseph asks…

Jews: How do you feel about people studying Kabbalah?

Jews know that Kabbalah has pre-requisites required for even comprehending what it has to offer. How do you feel about gentiles (or others) who “study” Kabbalah then?
…given that they have none of the pre-requisites to begin with.

admin answers:

I find it amusing. People liek to talk about Kaballah as if it is just chock full of mystical secrets and thats it. Actually, most of Kaballah is commentary on the Torah- bringing the hidden, mystical side of the events of the Torah to teach us about it. A lot of the other stuff is derived form it- but it means that devoid of the Jewish understanding- it becomes meaningless.

So, if non-Jews want to study Kaballah, who cares? They are not going to be learning from a genuine source and even if they did, devoid of the context and necessary background, they aren’t going to get to the essence of what it teaches anyway- at best they are going to get a surface understanding.

As for cults like Phillip Berg’s “Kaballah Centre” (which Madonna and some other celebreties frequent)- those I find disgusting. They are a sbad as any other cult, destroying lives and fleecing people in a scam to enrich the people at the top. Really- selling people copies of the Zohar, in hebrew and aramaic and unreadable by the purchaser, and telling them that merely looking at them is of benefit is sickening! Bottom line- you actually have to be able to read and understand anything to get benefit from it!

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Jenny asks…

What do Kabbalah believers believe?

does anyone know exactly? try to keep it short and 10 pts for best answer, thank u!

admin answers:

Since so much misinformation is out there, short isn’t easy to answer what you ask. Rico gave you good and short, I’ll go into greater detail and star this in hopes that allonyoav will come answer, too. He has one of the best Yahoo Answers length explanations I’ve yet read about Kabbalah overall.
BTW, I think all Y/A users are aware that a BA gets 10 points.
Now an essay I wrote 3 years ago:
Kabbalah, no matter how you transliterate it into English, is Jewish mysticism and the advanced levels of Torah study. Kabbalah as it is promoted by the likes of Madonna, Brittney and Demi bears little resemblance to the real Kabbalah as taught by experts such as the late Gershom Scholem and by Orthodox Rabbis to their qualified students. Places like the Kabbalah Center are not respected by Jewish scholars and teach a New Ager mish mash of various forms of occult/esoteric ancient eastern mysticism from Golden Dawn to Rosicrucian teachings and rely heavily on the medieval superstitions and amulets that were used to symbolize various powers. Often they attempt to integrate unrelated esoterica by imposing concepts from other sources into the Zohar and Sepher Yezirah. Madonna and other followers of what they call Kabbalah even try to separate it from Judaism outright by stating that Kabbalah isn’t Jewish, but a separate religion.

Traditional Kabbalah isn’t a religion of itself, it is medieval Jewish mysticism that attempts to understand and gain deepest insight into what the Kabbalist sees as the underlying or hidden meanings of the Torah. If one is not fluent in the Torah in Hebrew, it is impossible to be a genuine Kabbalist. I am not one of those people; my Hebrew is that of a novice, so I do not claim to be an expert on Kabbalah. I can understand basic explanations of it written for the layman in much the same way that I can grasp parts of astro-physics from the writings of Stephen Hawking. I believe that without a working knowledge of Torah in Hebrew as a prerequisite to Kabbalah study, it would be akin to a layman with only a high school level of physics knowledge claiming to be able to grasp the intricacies of Quantum physics because they read a popular text on the topic and follow a guru scientist. Unless one has a thorough knowledge of the Torah and Gematria (Hebrew numerology and mystical meaning associated with each letter) as prerequisites to study of Kabbalah, you aren’t going to be able to understand what a Kabbalist knows. Discovery relies on those prerequisites in order to explore the Kabbalah’s deepest meanings found in the Torah and to employ the power that is believed to emanate from them. You cannot separate Kabbalah from Torah.

The pop version of Kabbalah calling it a religion independent of Judaism is another form of replacement theology. As other religions that sprang up in a similar method, they take elements of Judaism and use its terms and concepts in ways that are often contradictory to its teachings. The New Ager Kabbalist often dishonors what the Kabbalist believes are it’s deepest truths. Kabbalah tattoos of the name of God are a prime example of that kind of disrespect. Adopting somewhat superstitious rituals that became associated with Kabbalah as of prime importance to obtain great power is yet another example. That’s where the $26 for a piece of yarn long enough to wrap around your wrist comes from. You can buy a whole skien for less than that.

Women were not considered as Kabbalah scholars in the past as women were not historically the ones devoted to Torah study giving them prerequisite knowledge necessary to enable them to begin what the Kabbalist considered the most advanced level of Torah. Many Jewish women now study Kabbalah. The prerequisite of being over 40 is also now not always followed if the knowledge of the student is adequate as deemed by the rabbi who is teaching the lessons. Some claim that Jews were remiss in keeping this knowledge ” secret” from everyone else. The Kabbalah was not taught to all as it was believed by them to contain wisdom that gave them great power and with great power came great responsibility. They wanted to only share it with those who were prepared and would handle such power without abusing it or dishonoring God.
If you separate Torah and Judaism from Kabbalah, you don’t have Kabbalah. I am not really interested in devoting the time or energy that would require me to become a Kabbalist. I prefer to read the works written by Gershom Scholem and Aryeh Kaplan and other respected authorities on the topic. Gershom Scholem was considered the world’s foremost modern expert on Kabbalah in his lifetime, having a chair at Hebrew University named in his honor. I know I can’t be an expert on everything, so I try to find the experts to help me with a layman’s working knowledge on topics that interest me. If New Age religion is your cup of tea, and you want to call the mix of many different eastern mysticisms and “ shamanism” Kabbalah, so be it.
Copyright © 2006 mama_pajama_1
I recall channel flipping one night and I caught Madonna on a nationally televised interview that she said that the Kabbalah she follows is ” not Judaism”, she said it was an ” entirely separate religion”. This is a false statement as It is not a religion. It is PART of a study of Torah, using mysticism. As one who values honesty, I speak out when I see someone misrepresent any aspect of Judaism.
Unfortunately, The Kabbalah Center teaches things AS Kabbalah that have nothing to DO with Kabbalah. All one has to do to determine this is to look at their OWN web pages. I shall copy paste from a Q&A page at their site( note that all caps are MY emphasis )”Is Kabbalah Jewish?
IT IS QUITE UNDERSTANDABLE THAT KABBALAH COULD BE CONFUSED WITH JUDAISM. It goes on ..and then..
The second reason why so many people of different faiths become connected to Kabbalah is that IT IS A WAY OF LIFE THAT CAN ENHANCE ANY RELIGIOUS PRACTICE. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Jews use Kabbalah to improve their spiritual experience.” .

I highlighted those two things because they misrepresent Kabbalah. Kabbalah is DEPENDENT on Torah precepts. If a religion is in CONFLICT with Torah it can NO way “enhance” ANY religious practice. Polytheism is at odds with Torah, the Christian notion of a tripartate God is at odds with Torah. This does not mean that Kabbalah is not meant as universal wisdom. Misrepresenting Kabbalah is only ONE of the reasons why The Kabbalah Center is widely criticized by Orthodox Jews who take seriously the deep meanings of the most advanced level of Torah study.

Helen asks…

what is Kabbalah? do they believe in a god?

is it a religion? what do they believe? what do people have to do to belong to that group or, what ever they are considered?

admin answers:

To answer your question yes they believe in God, but there is so much more.

Kabbalah has nothing to do with Jewish mysticism or any other mysticism. It has nothing to do with being Jewish or any other religion. Anyone can study Kabbalah. It has nothing to do with red strings, holy water spells, astrology and a host of other misconceptions that exist. . Authentic Kabbalah was concealed for thousands of years and only in 1995 was it reintroduced to society. It is for those who want to answer questions like “what is the meaning of life ?”…is there a God ?”…what is the purpose of all this?

Authentic Kabbalah is about attaining the properties of the Creator. It is about the study of the Spiritual World, which is not related to religion at all.

Below is a link to a free series of lessons that deal with these questions like what is the meaning of life. It starts up September 3.

Http://www.kabbalah.info/course/course.p…

The link below is a short video on what is Kabbalah
http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/kabbalah

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Still Looking Good

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It is sad that a lot of women take their looks for granted once they are married. It’s almost as if they just tried to look good to attract a man and after finding and catching him, she is done with her mission. This doesn’t sound right to me yet this is a reality for a lot of women. Either they felt that looking good was too much work or they just didn’t care anymore. What these women are forgetting is that looking good for their husbands make the husbands feel appreciated.
Tags: | the life force | raise your vibration |

Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Ruth asks…

Jews: Do You consider learning and following the Kabbalah heretical?

admin answers:

Based on the Tantra of Moses:
The Tree of Knowledge thinks a single thought of lust and the Tree of Life begins to blossom. Stimulate the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge begins to blossom and you tap into the other 90% of the brain that most people will never use because they are ****ing their brains out, literally.

Charles asks…

How many doctrines do Kabbalah have?

admin answers:

Hi Penguin,

Kabbalah isn’t about doctrines at all. No one is ever coerced to believe a certain way. Judaism/Kosher Kabbalah lean toward acceptance of a number of different opinions — all of them Jewish. The word “Kabbalah” (as well as the practice) in Hebrew means “to receive” — not “believe”. This is a fundamental difference between Christianity and Judaism – no doctrines in Judaism. That’s a Western philosophical activity.

Doctrines only deal with the left side of our brains — the parts that reason and analyze. While Kabbalah deals with that some — it is really the jumping off place from doctrines to something else. And the something else requires more right side, intuitive inspired brain function

So to re-phrase your question to ask how much of Kabbalah has to do with the left side of our brains: a vague “Some” but not all. Kabbalah requires one to study the Talmud/legal/moral issues first, which can be fairly left brained pursuit. (Although TAlmud isn’t all left brain because even study of the law requires insight and inspiration more than just doctrination).

In addition to some of that left-brained mental realm that likes to create doctrines and studies historical content, a Kabbalist learns emotional and social precepts to achieve emotional, moral, and spiritual maturity, a sound base, before venturing into Kabbalah. Kabbalists cannot use use just half of their brains, but must develop the non-doctrine side as well.

The closest things that approximates doctrines in any part of Judaism are the 13 foundations of Judaism by RamBam, but that’s basic Judaism not advanced Kabbalah.

The closest thing to systemization of Kabbalah, the deeper things of Judaism, can be found in Moses Chaim Luzzatto’s books, for example The Way of G-d (an intro to Kabbala). Luzzatto lays a foundation for development and integration of perceiving other realms and connecting to G-d. Systemization of thought should not be misconstrued as ‘doctrines’ though.

Below is the outline of the Way of G-d (Derech HaShem) by Moses Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) which explains a Jewish outlook on G-d, human beings, povidence and the interaction of G-d and human beings, and how the universe works. Other religions have created doctrines about them you may have heard. You can read for yourself in Ramchal to see the differences.

1. G-d’s existence, incomprehensibility, independence, simplicity and unity.
2. The purpose of creation – bestowal of good, that we must earn and develop to receive the bestowal of good, G-d is the ultimate good, and there is no else. Evil was created as a tool. Human beings were created to receive good and to grow to be able to give back.
3. Free will, its existence, and it’s limitations to the One Will of G-d, Body and soul have a number of facets, Effort and reward. The World to Come, The world of souls, Resurrection of bodies and souls.
4. Human responsibility to the physical, spiritual, environment, Use ofthe world, Commandments, Awareness (fear) of G-d.
5. The spiritual realm and angels.
6. Providence – everything has a purpose, influence of the stars.
7. Prophecy and the inspiration of the soul. The prophetic experience and how to train for it. Mistaken prophecy. False prophecy. Moshe.
8. Heavenly tribunals.
9. Israel and the Nations
10. Spiritual Realms
11. Individual Providence – Circumstances, associations, atonement, suffering, reincarnation, etc.
12. Theurgy – our spiritual roots are in heaven. Miracles versus Sorcery.
13. Divine Service to G-d – torah study, cultivating love, awe, and fear (awareness), prayer, Shema, Order of the Day, Periodic Observances and Seasonal Commandments, Blessings over food and rituals. Each thing has it’s commandment.

If you are interested in the Jewish points of views on these topics, I suggest reading “The Way of G-d” by Moses Chaim Luzzatto (his nickname is Ramchal).

P.S. Age, number and gender of children, being married, is not important in learning Kabbalah– most great Kabbalists were younger than 40 by the time they died. Many had written some of the greatest works by their early 20s, some only had girls (not one girl and one boy as some say is a must to study)!

A Jewish perspective or two is perhaps more important than doctrines, so starting with Ramchal is a good place to get that. Other good starting points are Chassidut like the Tanya and works by Breslov.

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Mark asks…

What planets (and gods) coencide with each of the 10 SEFEROT in Kabbalah?

admin answers:

Read the Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune and A Garden of Pomgranites by Israel Regardie: these give the best list of references and corresponces for the sephirot.

Ruth asks…

Kabbalah! Is “the red string” bad or good?

I recently discovered what Kabbalah is. From what I read it’s a judism religion that believes in self growth and discipline. I’m Christian and don’t know much about Kabbalah. But I do know that tying a red string around your wrist stops “the evil eye” from getting you. Is this a good or bad thing if I do this? It sounds good, but sometimes I wonder if it’s bad luck. Please help!!

admin answers:

Pop-kabbalah is what you’ve found. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s a pale imitation of the real thing.

If it or a chamsa makes you feel better about things, why not? Self-fulfilling prophecy is a documented phenomenon.

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Your Questions About Kabbalah

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Joseph asks…

How can I learn more about Kabbalah?

understand, study and apply it etc.

admin answers:

Contrary to what is thought by most, few Rabbis are not well versed in the Kabbalah. Finding one that is and would discuss it with an outsider might be difficult. I would suggest starting with the Kabbalahist writings on Sacredtext.com. These are free and the Ancient Qabbalah is very insightful as to the true meaning of the Kabbalah. Go to Yahoo groups and search Kabbalah. I am sure that there are some Kabbalahist discussion groups on line. Be careful of many of the books concerning this. Many are indeed watered down while others are made too difficult by writers that are stroking their ego by the “depth” of their writings. It is a very personal study that will lead to other disciplines such as some Alchemy, Tantra, religion of the ancients and perhaps a touch of the concepts of Buddhism. It is a wonderful journey that I have been on for years. Many of the “teachings attributed” to Jesus were Kabbalahist and many theologists tend to belief that Jesus and John the Baptist were Kabbalahist.

Jenny asks…

Kabbalah on Will & Grace? What’s with the red wrist band things?

I finally got around to watching that episode and Jack and Karen and Grace were all talking about kabbalah and wearing like red ribbon around their wrist. I looked it up on wikipedia and it said it was a religion, but i didn’t see anything about the ribbon?
were they talking about something else?
someone please explain!

thanks ~

admin answers:

It’s a celebrity thing.
First Demi Moore was wearing one, then Madonna, and then Britney Spears.

I think it lost it’s appeal after a few months to the “in” crowd that weren’t Jewish.

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