D. Mystical Qabalah and Rabbinical Jewish Kabbalah
Only a very small percentage of all Jews study their own mystical tradition.
The vast majority of people who do study the Jewish Kabbalah are mainstream
orthodox and Chasidic Jews of European descent. It is but a footnote for
most conservative and reform Jews, though there is a resurgence of interest
among those in the Jewish Renewal Movement. The vast majority of the written
works of Jewish Kabbalah originated or "reemerged" within the
last 800 years. Rabbinical Jews spend many years studying the voluminous
Babylonian Talmud in order to learn and carefully adhere to
the detailed halachic interpretations of how to fulfill the 613 "mitzvoth,"
or righteous deeds, prescribed in the extant version of the Ezra
Torah. They generally regard the current version of the Torah
to be the exact original, faithful in every detail to the one penned by
Master Mosheh. Hence, they consider every word and every line to be irrefutably
"delivered by the hand of God."
Like all traditional religions that center primarily upon a conventional,
dualistic understanding of scriptures, the principal intention of the majority
of religious Jews is to cultivate purity and righteousness for the redemption
of their souls and to "secure a place in heaven in the company of the
righteous." From a qabalistic perspective, this would correspond to
ascending the Tree via the Column of the Right "Way of the Angels of
Elohim") to become like angels and gain access to the lower
heavens. While many contemporary religious students of the Jewish Kabbalah
make pretense to mystical aspirations, it has become more of an intellectual
exercise than the active pursuit of mystical awakening for most of them.
The small minority who do aspire to mystical awakening are an eclectic group.
They range from mainstream orthodox Jews to the sect of Chasidus founded
by Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ("Master
of the Good Name"), and Nachman of Bretzlav. Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer is often referred to as the "Besht,"
which is an acronym formed from the first letter of each of
the three words "Baal Shem Tov." He did not leave a firsthand
record of his teachings. Rabbi Nachman was the great
grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, and is the source of the
Bretzlaver tradition of Chabad Chasidism.
The bulk of the mainstream orthodox Jewish Kabbalists focus primarily on
the Sefer HaZohar (Book of Splendor) and the Etz
HaChayyim (Tree of Life). They engage in practices of spiritual
refinement (avodah) and meditation (devekut, "cleaving
to God") gleaned from the writings left by Abraham Abulafia, Azriel
of Gerona (disciple of Yitza'aq the Blind), Chayyim Vital (recorder of the
teachings of Yitza'aq Luria), Dov Baer (Mezhirecher Maggid and successor
to Israel ben Eliezer), Nachman of Bretzlav, and others. These practices
include a variety of visualization techniques, breathing exercises, movements
coordinated with the permutation and combination of Hebrew letters, mantric
intonation of sacred phrases, meditative prayer, and chanting devotional
songs.
A central contemplative practice among the Lubivitcher Chasidim who study
the Jewish Kabbalah is called Hitbonenuth. Hitbonenuth is
a practice involving intense directed thought within the context of proper
intention (kavanah). The process of Hitbonenuth and how it
differs from passive thought-meditation is described in detail in a Hebrew
manuscript roughly 200 years old, titled Ma'amorim Ketzarim,
written by the first Lubavitcher Rebbe Schneur Zalman of Liadi.Zalman, Rabbi Schneur. Ma'amorim Ketzarim Inyonim,
p.133, published in 1986. Hitbonenuth,
as described by Rabbi Zalman, "requires intense mental exertion to
increase one's awareness of the open, simple and revealed meaning of an
idea, to scrutinize and elaborate on a concept's many details, facets and
ramifications, and not to allow the mind to contract and settle on one point
alone."
Rabbinical Jews often feel that any qabalistic practice outside the context
of religious Jewish observance is not legitimately connected with the mystical
tradition of the children of Abraham. They generally regard such Qabalah
as either hybrid variants adulterated by admixtures of ideas from other
mystical traditions, or as the purview of occultists and the Practical Qabalah.
This is not surprising. The orthodoxy in all organized religions has historically
viewed the study and practice of mystical ideas as a threat to their authority.
At the same time, in order to cull new members from older, often indigenous
populations, they have on numerous occasions absorbed and assimilated mystical
ideas and holy observances that posed no serious threat, and with which
the newcomers could identify and feel comfortable. To see a clear example
of this, consider how many of the so-called "pagan" traditions
(ignorantly labeled as satanic witchcraft by fundamentalists) were assimilated
into orthodox Western Christianity.Christianity assimilated December 25 as the birthday of Master Yeshuvah. Before that, the indigenous peoples of
Western Europe, whom the Christians called "Pagans," had
celebrated it as Yule, and a number of other traditions as the
birthday of solar saviors. The Mithraists, for instance,
regarded it as the birthday of Mithra. The Romans celebrated
the date as Dies Natalis Solis Invictus, "Day of Birth of the
Undefeated Sun." The Christian observance of the Pentecost
replaced the tradition of Whitsunday, the holy day of the
Goddess Frigg, the Norse Queen of Heaven and consort of
Odin. Easter absorbed the Pesach of the Jews, and was
named after Eostre or Ostara, the Pagan goddess of Spring.
The rabbinate responded in a similar manner to diffuse the powerful influence
and popularity of the Karaite movement, which originated in Persia. "The
Karaites arose in reaction to and as a revolt against Rabbinical Judaism
in the eighth century CE, and were not fully put down until the fifteenth
century CE. From its earliest beginning, it (the Karaite revolt) spread
throughout the Jewish Diaspora into every stratum of society. 'Karaism'
derives from the Hebrew word karah (lit. to read) i.e. to read the
Torah without the intervention of rabbis. They rejected the
Talmud as a conspiracy of the rabbis to separate ordinary
people from the simplicity of the Torah. For them, the Torah
was the sole source of religious laws. Karaites created different oral laws
to deal with modern life. Many Talmudic dietary laws were abolished and
the use of tefillin (phylacteries) was abandoned. In response to
the threat that the Karaites posed to their authority, the Jewish rabbis
were able to prevent a final schism in Judaism by co-opting many acceptable
Karaite ideas and reforming abuses. Gradually, the Karaite revolt dissipated
and ceased after almost 700 years.Dimont, Max. Jews, God, and History, Simon and Schuster, New York p. 205., 1962." It is also relevant to note that
the Karaites attacked the provocative anthropomorphism of the qabalistic
doctrines.
While few contemporary Jews know anything about the Karaites, the impetus
for their revolt is similar to conditions in modern Judaism. Many Jews today
feel ambivalent about and tenuously connected to Rabbinical Judaism. Many
orthodox Jews regard the Conservative and Reform branches of Judaism as
"heretical sects," declaring them to be Jews only in the biological
sense. In recent decades, an extraordinary number of people born and raised
by Jewish parents have set out to explore the ideas and practices of other
mystical traditions, as if in search of traces of their own. We hear the
colloquialisms "HindJews" and "Jewdhists," reflecting
the many Jews who have passionately embraced the Hindu and Buddhist mystical
traditions. Some Jews, who seriously studied and engaged in the meditation
practices of other mystical traditions, have recently come back to Judaism
only to discover or see in a new light their own Mystical Qabalah. This
has been one of the major factors involved in the Jewish Renewal Movement.
As a final note, anything that runs counter to an ingrained sense of religious
identity can be perceived as a threat to that identity. Those with an orthodox
or fundamentalist viewpoint may therefore feel uncomfortable with or disturbed
by the universal perspective of this book, perhaps dismissing it outright
as New Age synthesis or ashram spirituality. Each of the religious vessels
through which the universal mystical spirituality has been filtered and
uniquely clothed is a precious asset to be respected and afforded its "place
at the table." At the same time, none of them should assume that they
have been assigned an exclusive licensing agreement or that only their watch
tells the correct time.
