Kabbalah and Judaism
- Kabbalah and Judaism are two separate practices. Judaism is a religion. Kabbalah is not a religion, but a science of attaining the upper reality, open to all.
- Kabbalah predates Judaism by around 4,000 years. It focuses on revealing the Creator and uniting humanity through attaining the altruistic spiritual force.
- Jews are people who are granted a seed of a desire to discover life’s meaning and purpose, and who work on this desire to align with the upper world’s laws.
- Is the difference between Judaism and Kabbalah that Judaism is a religion, and Kabbalah is a wisdom based on rationality and understanding?
- Which school of Judaism does Kabbalah belong to?
- Do I need to convert to Judaism in order to study and advance in Kabbalah?
- So if they do not change anything here, why do many Kabbalists also keep customs as described by Judaism?
- If Kabbalah describes that the purpose of creation is for the whole of humanity, then why does it hold onto a concept of Jews as the chosen people?
- How can it be that the Jews are the chosen people, while we do not even understand why, and don’t behave in a way that justifies that reputation?
- What about a corporeally Jewish person’s duties in observing the Jewish religious laws. Is that not part of their duty?
Introduction to Kabbalah
and Judaism
Kabbalah is not a religion, nor is it a part of Judaism. It does not belong exclusively to the Jewish people, and it is incorrect to associate it with Judaism or any religion.
Kabbalah is a science that explores the laws of nature as they operate in the upper spiritual world, and Kabbalists are scientists who discover and examine the upper world. The examination of authentic Kabbalistic texts will reveal complex material, including graphs, sketches, formulas, and scientific language that describe forces and their interactions—how one force ascends while another descends, and how powers work against each other, or combine. The science of Kabbalah thus discusses forces acting in the spiritual reality, not in our material universe, but in a dimension beyond the corporeal.
This exploration is scientific and open to everyone, regardless of their background—Jew or non-Jew, male or female. There are no prerequisites, conditions, or national affiliations required to study Kabbalah. Much like physics, Kabbalah invites anyone to delve in. However, unlike a physicist, who only needs tools and instruments to extend the perception of the corporeal senses, a Kabbalist must first develop an inner vessel, an additional sense, called a “Masach” (screen) or soul. This inner tool that Kabbalah’s students develop and discover enables them to perceive and experience reality by moving beyond the boundaries of the very self, breaking free from the limitations of ego, time, space, and physical boundaries.
Through this process, a Kabbalist rises above the corporeal world’s limits and gains access to an infinite, boundless reality. They study and document this expanded perception, creating a body of knowledge known as “the wisdom of Kabbalah.” Thus, Kabbalah is a science, much like physics, chemistry, or biology, but it focuses on turning the self into the subject of research through which an additional sense is attained, which reveals the upper world. Such a process indeed makes Kabbalah a unique and profound scientific discipline.
Kabbalah and Judaism FAQ
Is the difference between Judaism and Kabbalah that Judaism is a religion, and Kabbalah is a wisdom based on rationality and understanding?
Kabbalah is a wisdom of revealing the Creator, a system for attaining higher revelation, sublime truth, and superior knowledge. Religion, however, does not address such aspects. While a religious person focuses on following rules and living within defined boundaries, Kabbalah guides one toward the attainment of the upper world.
Which school of Judaism does Kabbalah belong to?
Kabbalah does not belong to any school of Judaism. Kabbalah predates Judaism by around 4,000 years. There is one school of Kabbalah that has existed since the times of Abraham around 4,000 years ago. Upon the destruction of the Temples, as a result of a spiritual downfall, various “schools” of Judaism emerged because, as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in item 1 of his “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” an iron wall was erected between us and the science of Kabbalah, and since then, various “schools,” “currents,” and “parties” emerged.
Kabbalists never belonged to any such schools since their course has always been aimed at uniting with the Creator, and there is one method to achieve that goal—Kabbalah. We are not connected with any “schools” or “streams” that were formed to reflect a character, a way of life, or a relationship to Zionism.
These worldly relations produce various communities, sects, parties, call them what you will. Since we do not take into account anything in the material world and focus entirely on spiritual attainment, there is no basis for defining any other “schools” beside the one we mentioned and to which we belong.
Do I need to convert to Judaism in order to study and advance in Kabbalah?
Judaism is a collection of religious rules that dictate how to conduct ourselves in our world. Other than what we must know, such as how to provide for our livelihood, how to behave, dress, or how to raise a family, Kabbalah teaches something more. The wisdom of Kabbalah discusses what we should do besides providing for our natural needs on the corporeal-human level, and discusses these as the observance of 613 laws.
Why? There is no rational answer. These laws are not even rational. From a scientific or physiological perspective there is no justification to the prohibition against eating pig’s meat, or not driving on Shabbat (Saturday). The wisdom of Kabbalah does not relate to these laws or to anything else that concerns corporeal life. It teaches what is beyond this world, and how to get there. When one begins to inquire about the upper world and enter it, one discovers that it is made of 613 spiritual particles. Their consequences in this world are called the “613 Mitzvot,” the laws of the Torah.
So if they do not change anything here, why do many Kabbalists also keep customs as described by Judaism?
If we observe them in the flesh, we do it unconsciously, and by that we somewhat equalize with the 613 upper laws. For that reason, we receive a certain amount of light from above. That spiritual light does not develop us. It rather protects us, which is why it belongs to the degree of the still, which does not change.
A Kabbalist who attains the upper world also attains the inner meaning of the 613 laws of the upper world. Who gave us those laws? Moses. Where did he get them? Not from our world, but from the attainment of the upper world.
There has always been tension between those who observe the laws solely at the level of this world, and those who want to observe them in their genuine spiritual form. Those who observe them only at the level of this world assume that mere observance is enough, and regard themselves as dismissed from the upper layer, simply because they do everything “right.”
However, those who want to observe them in the upper world feel that the orthodox lifestyle does not satisfy them or give them a sense of fulfillment.
If Kabbalah describes that the purpose of creation is for the whole of humanity, then why does it hold onto a concept of Jews as the chosen people?
Kabbalah indeed describes the correction of humanity and is for any person who so feels a desire to attain the upper world. But there is an order of development. “Jews” first and foremost means people who united in their efforts and attainment of the altruistic force of the Creator above their egoistic, divisive desires. They are called “chosen people” because they were granted a seed of that spiritual desire that led them to research themselves and the surrounding reality, and with which they applied efforts to unite in order to discover the altruistic force of the Creator in their unity.
Accordingly, in order for the revelation of the Creator to expand onward to humanity as a whole, there first needs to be a critical mass of people who were given an initial desire for that revelation, and who work on themselves to attain it. They become pioneers in the attainment of forces that come from the upper world and their correct use in an altruistic modus operandi. By doing so, they can then convey such knowledge of that attainment to the rest of the world. That is what the “chosenness” of the Jewish people means. Therefore, those who are granted a desire to discover life’s meaning and purpose and who come to the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah in order to do so, if they work on the initial seed of a desire they were given, then their development of that desire passes on to positively influence humanity’s elevation of spiritual consciousness. The progress of such Jews thus determines the progress of all others. At this moment, however, we are very late in our attainment of the upper world, which causes the other nations to be late as well.
These matters are written in the books of Kabbalah. According to the plan of the upper world, all created beings without exception must rise from their present state to a much higher degree, which can be done only through the study of the upper force and our connection with it. People can change their lives while in this world. We can avoid unnecessary pains, achieve harmony, peace, happiness, eternity, and perfection. Then, there will be no difference between life and physical death since we will be living in both worlds at once.
How can it be that the Jews are the chosen people, while we do not even understand why, and don’t behave in a way that justifies that reputation?
We Jews have a special role: we have to find the way to rise from the corporeal, animal life, to a higher degree of the spiritual life, and we have to show the world how it is done. That is all we are chosen for. In the meantime, we are not doing our job, which is why we look so bad and unworthy.
Since we have special souls, and our souls are special, we have to be the first to work on attaining that knowledge and accordingly do what we must. We have no advantage over anyone, but only in that we have to start studying about the upper worlds, about the force that comes from the upper world, and initially dive into that work. Afterward, we pass it on to the other nations. This is what the books of the prophets and Kabbalah discuss.
What about a corporeally Jewish person’s duties in observing the Jewish religious laws. Is that not part of their duty?
What we know as the laws of Judaism are rules that were set by the greatest Kabbalists in every generation. They set them according to the needs of their time and the goal that they wanted to attain. The goal was to preserve the nation and the Jewish tradition in order to survive through the exiles until the exit from the last exile and the return to the Land of Israel. Their only goal was that we would not forget our Judaism and assimilate in the nations. That is why they set laws and customs that preserved what we had. It is a degree called
“sacred still.”
It is only thanks to those laws that we survived through this long exile and returned as Jews to the Land of Israel. Since our return, however, our role as Jews has changed: the goal is now a lot more active. Baal HaSulam writes at the end of his article, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” that if Jews do not add the spiritual practice of precepts to the practical practice, meaning the study of the laws of the upper world and their utilization for human development and the person’s approach to the Creator, then we will no longer be able to exist.
The practical practice of precepts (Mitzvot, the laws of Judaism), which had been important during the two thousand years of exile, was correct for the time. However, now that we have once again been granted the Land of Israel, since we have begun to settle in it, we have started a new era. We have to equalize our corporeal life with the spiritual laws of the Land of Israel. What we refer to, as the corporeal Land of Israel, is in fact a spiritual, sublime value, with a great spiritual strength, that we can attain only here. If we continue to behave as we did in exile, we will be unable to continue living here. We will not be thrown out of here, but the mission of the chosen people will be forced on us mercilessly and ruthlessly. The upper force, as we have stated above, is directing us to its sole goal in the shortest and quickest way.
The Zohar promises that we are already in the last phase of development, after which everything will fall into place. But there is a tough time ahead of us, called the “coming of the Messiah.” During that time we must discover the upper laws in order to learn how to use them.
