This power is generated by performing commandments, summoning and controlling angelic and demonic forces, and otherwise tapping into the supernatural energies present in Creation. The practical dimension of Kabbalah involves rituals for gaining and exercising power to effect change in our world and in the celestial worlds beyond ours. In his will, one Kabbalist recommended this regime to his sons: periods of morning, afternoon, evening, and midnight prayer, two hours devoted to the Bible, four and a half to Talmud, two to ethical and mystical texts, and two to other Jewish texts, as well as one and a half hours to daily care, time to make a living – and five hours to sleep! Therefore, many willfully expand the sphere of their religious practice beyond what tradition requires, creating hanganot, personal daily devotional practices. Nonetheless, Judaism keeps its mystics grounded, and they are expected to marry, raise a family, and fulfill all customary communal religious obligations. Although neither formal nor informal monasticism is sanctioned by Jewish mysticism, experiential Kabbalists tend to be ascetics. In their quest to encounter God, Jewish mystics live spiritually disciplined lives. As Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, mystics “.want to taste the whole wheat of spirit before it is ground by the millstones of reason.” Mystics specifically seek the ecstatic experience of God, not merely knowledge about God. The experiential dimension of Kabbalah involves the actual quest for mystical experience: a direct, intuitive, unmediated encounter with a close but concealed Deity.

All Jewish mystical/esoteric traditions adopt the language of, and expand upon, the philosophic and even scientific ideas of their time. By direct revelation, which might include visitation by an angel or Elijah, spirit possession, or other supra-rational experienceĪlthough it is primarily interested in metaphysics, things “beyond” the physical universe, investigative Kabbalah is not anti-rational.By oral transmission of tradition from a Kabbalistic master.By interpreting sacred texts to uncover nistar (“hidden” meaning).In Jewish tradition, there are three ways esoteric knowledge can be obtained: The investigative aspect of Kabbalah involves searching the hidden reality of the universe for secret knowledge about its origins and its organization-a quest that is more esoteric than mystical. There are three dimensions to almost all forms of Jewish mysticism, which are likely to be understood by only small numbers of people who possess specialized knowledge or interest in the topic: Thus, the Kabbalist Moses Cordovero writes, “The essence of divinity is found in every single thing, nothing but It exists….It exists in each existent.” Even mystics who refuse to describe such a fusion of God and man so boldly, still find the whole of Creation suffused in divinity, breaking down distinctions between God and the universe. Within the soul of every individual is a hidden part of God that is waiting to be revealed. This desire is especially intense because of the powerful mystical sense of kinship that Kabbalists believe exists between God and humanity. Its practitioners tend to view the Creator and the Creation as a continuum, rather than as discrete entities, and they desire to experience intimacy with God. Kabbalistic thought often is considered Jewish mysticism. Written in medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew, the Zohar is intended to guide Kabbalists in their spiritual journey, helping them attain the greater levels of connectedness with God that they desire. The Zohar, a collection of written, mystical commentaries on the Torah, is considered to be the underpinning of Kabbalah. However, Kabbalists also believe that true knowledge and understanding of that inner, mysterious process is obtainable, and through that knowledge, the greatest intimacy with God can be attained. Whether it entails a sacred text, an experience, or the way things work, Kabbalists believe that God moves in mysterious ways. Kabbalah (also spelled Kabalah, Cabala, Qabala)-sometimes translated as “mysticism” or “occult knowledge-is a part of Jewish tradition that deals with the essence of God.

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