Before I go about elucidating the history of the wisdom of Kabbalah, conversed upon by many, I find it necessary to begin with a thorough clarification of the essence of this wisdom, which I believe so few know. And naturally, it is impossible to speak of the history of some thing before we know the thing itself.
Although this knowledge is wider and deeper than the ocean, I will make an utmost effort, with all the strength and knowledge I have acquired in this field, to clarify and illuminate it from all angles, enough for any soul to draw the right conclusions, as they truly are, leaving no room for error, as is often the case in such matters...
In this article I would like to resolve three issues: A. What is the essence of religion? B. Whether its essence is attained in this world, or to the next world? C. Whether its purpose is to benefit the Creator, or the creatures?
At first glance, the reader might be surprised by my words, and will not understand these three questions that I have set before me as the topic of this essay. For whom is it who does not know what religion is, and especially its rewards and punishments, which are destined to come primarily in the afterlife? And we need not mention the third issue, for everyone knows that it is to benefit the creatures and to guide them to delight and happiness, and what else need we add to that?..
The wisdom of Kabbalah concerns the revelation of Godliness, arranged on its path in all its aspects—those that have emerged in the worlds and those that are destined to be revealed, and in all the manners that can ever appear in the worlds, to the end of time...
As a whole, science is divided into two parts: one is called “material research” and the other, “formative research.” This means that matter and form are perceived in every element of the entire reality before us...
Before I clarify this exalted matter, it is important for me to state that although all the readers seem to consider it impossible to clarify and bring such a matter closer to the human mind, except by relying on abstract, philosophical concepts, as is usually the case in such scrutinies, since the day I have discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah and dedicated myself to it, I have distanced myself from abstract philosophy and all its branches as the east from the west...
Philosophy has gone through a great deal of trouble to prove that corporeality is the offspring of spirituality and that the soul begets the body. Still, their words are not acceptable to the heart in any manner. Their primary mistake is their erroneous perception of spirituality, that spirituality fathered corporeality, which is certainly a fib...
First, you must know that when dealing with spiritual matters that have no concern with time, space and motion, and moreover when dealing with Godliness, we do not have the words by which to express and contemplate. Our entire vocabulary is taken from sensations of imaginary senses. Thus, how can they assist us where sense and imagination do not reign?...
It is written at the end of the Mishnah (Okatzin), “The Creator did not find a receptacle that holds a blessing for Israel, but peace, as it is written, ‘The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.’”...