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.

Theodicy: explanation for the existence of evil

Kabbalistic works offer a theodicy, a philosophical reconciliation of how the existence of a good and powerful God is compatible with the existence of evil in the world. There are mainly two different ways to describe why there is evil in the world, according to the Kabbalah. Both makes use of the kabbalistic Tree of Life:

Related Topics:
Theodicy - Tree of Life

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• The kabbalistic tree, which consists of ten Sephiroth, the ten "enumerations" or "emanations" of God, consists of three "pillars": The left side of the tree, the "female side", is considered to be more destructive than the right side, the "male side". Gevurah (גבורה), for example, stands for strength and discipline, while her male counterpart, Chesed (חסד), stands for love and mercy. Chesed is also known as Gedulah (?????), as in the Tree of Life pictured to the right. The "center pillar" of the tree does not have any polarity, and no gender is given to them.
• In the medieval era, old ideas from Babylon gained new strength. The Qliphoth, (or Kelippot)(קליפות the primeval "husks" of impurity), were blamed for all the evil in the world. Qliphoth are the "evil twin" of the sephiroth. The tree of Qliphoth is usually called the kabbalistic Tree of Death, and sometimes the qliphoth are called the "death angels", or "angels of death". The qliphoth are found in the old Babylonian incantations, a fact used as evidence in favor of the antiquity of most of the kabbalistic material.