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.

The failure of Sabbatian mysticism

:Main article Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank.

Related Topics:
Sabbatai Zevi - Jacob Frank

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The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage. His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

Related Topics:
Isaac Luria - Pogrom - Chmielnicki Uprising - 1648 - 1654 - Sabbatai Zevi - 1626 - 1676 - Millennialism - Tetragrammaton - Nathan of Gaza - Jewish Messiah - Apostate - Islam - Ottoman - Sultan - Temple in Jerusalem

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Many of his followers continued to worship him in secret and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership.

Related Topics:
Jacob Frank - 1726 - 1791 - Catholicism

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