Kabbalah

Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה "reception", Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, "soul" of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature.

Origin of Jewish mysticism

Torah and Tanakh

The origin of mysticism for Jews goes hand-in-hand with the origins of the entire Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). The Torah's description of the creation in the opening of the Book of Genesis remains the strongest textual source for an "invisible" and "inscrutable" God creating the universe, the world, and finally Adam and Eve, who are placed in a mysterious Garden of Eden with its Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and a Tree of Life, and the interaction of these creations with the which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2 http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=1&CHAPTER=2.

Related Topics:
Tanakh - Hebrew Bible - Torah - Book of Genesis - Adam - Eve - Garden of Eden - Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - Tree of Life - Forbidden fruit

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Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven is another example of a mystical experience. Moses' experience with the Burning bush and his encounters with God on Mount Sinai, the prophet Ezekiel's visions are all evidence of mystical events and beliefs in the Tanakh, and most importantly, all these episodes form the bed-rock of Kabbalah's teachings.

Related Topics:
Jacob - Ladder to heaven - Moses - Burning bush - Mount Sinai - Ezekiel

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Early forms of Jewish mysticism at first consisted only of empirical "lore". In the medieval era it greatly developed with the appearance of the mystical text, the Sefer Yetzirah. Jewish sources attribute the book to Abraham. It became the object of the systematic study of the elect who were called baale ha-kabbalah (בעלי הקבלה "possessors or masters of the Kabbalah"). From the thirteenth century onward Kabbalah branched out into an extensive literature, alongside of and often in opposition to the Talmud.

Related Topics:
Mysticism - Medieval - Sefer Yetzirah - Abraham - Talmud

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Kabbalah teaches that every Hebrew letter, word, number, and accent of the Hebrew Bible contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these meanings.

Related Topics:
Hebrew letter - Hebrew Bible

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Orthodox Judaism rejects the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development and change.

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