The Origin of Kabbalah
The science of Kabbalah is unique in the way it talks about you and me, about all of us. It doesn’t deal with anything abstract, only with the way we are created and how we function at higher levels of existence.
The science of Kabbalah is unique in the way it talks about you and me, about all of us. It doesn’t deal with anything abstract, only with the way we are created and how we function at higher levels of existence. [Tweet This]
Many Kabbalistic books have been written about it, starting with Abraham the Patriarch four thousand years ago, who wrote a book called Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation). The next important work is The Book of Zohar, written in the second century CE. The Zohar is followed by the works of the Ari, a renowned 16th century Kabbalist. And the twentieth century saw the appearance of the works of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag.
Ashlag’s texts are best suited for our generation. They, as well as other Kabbalistic sources, describe the structure of the upper worlds, how they descend and how our universe, with everything that’s in it, came into existence.
Yehuda Ashlag’s textbook Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) is designed as a study aid with questions, answers, materials for repetition and explanations. This is, if you will, the physics of the upper worlds, describing the laws and forces governing the universe on the spiritual realm.
This material gradually transforms the students, because when searching how to experience the spiritual world, one gradually adapts oneself to the spiritual laws described in the textbook.
The science of Kabbalah does not deal with life in this world. Instead, by studying this system we re-attain the level we possessed before we descended. During this ascent, the study of Kabbalah builds within the student a system equal to the spiritual system.
To ensure the spiritual benefit from the text, we at Bnei Baruch study only authentic sources (originals in Hebrew, and translated into many languages; see Kabbalah International), focusing on those that have been written for the purpose of assisting the spiritual progress of the student. These sources are
- The Book of Zohar
- The writings of the Ari
- The writings of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag
For the most part, we concentrate on the writings of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, since his texts are the most suitable for our generation.