Kabbalah

[Snowy]

Please explain what Kabbalah is.

[jgonz]

Kabbalah is supposed to only be studied by men, at least 40 years old (I think I'm remembering that correctly). It's a combination of Judaism and mysticism.

Kabbalah in Hollywood however, is absolutely nothing like what Jewish Kabbalah is supposed to be.

[Snowy]

so is it wrong that I am reading it then? I find it interesting

[HaNotsri]

Snowy,

You can't read the Qabbalah, because there is not one book that is Qabbalah. It's a whole slew of mystical though that is comprised of many different books (the central text being the Zohar). All of those texts are in either Aramaic or Hebrew. It takes years of study, you must be steeped in Torah knowledge to even begin to understand its intricacies (sp?). It has the ability to be extremely powerful. Most Messianics (at least that I have come across) would feel that its hocus pocus or black magic

[shinbits]

Wouldn't Madonna have to change her name? That is a name for the Virgin Mary, A central Catholic figure, which is a different religion from hers

[visionary]

Wouldn't Madonna have to change her name? That is a name for the Virgin Mary, A central Catholic figure, which is a different religion from hersMadonna is a good catholic girl from a private catholic school.

[BarbB]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_1_72.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN) Madonna is a good catholic girl from a private catholic school.

[talmidim]

Arturo was mysterious, stunning and sleek in his black cape, skin-tight black pants and knee-high leather boots. There he semi-reclined in silhouette against the backlit curtains of the backdrop. The bolero played softly and he was the picture of it. The fractured reflections from the mirror ball didn’t seem quite as dated and cheesy as they should have. All the effects together congealed into a surreal scene that somehow mitigated the laughable and low budget effect that was its heritage.

Even though he closely resembled Esteban, hocking guitars on late-night infomercials, there was still a sense of expectation, of something greater to come. His right hand and foot slowly moved in a symmetrical sweep down and away before he smoothly glided a few steps forward into the full glare of the par-cans and multi-colored pin-beams. His body, a slave to both the dance and his immense ego, swayed provocatively and straightened from the waist. His sure steps testified to a love of his vocation and self as he accepted the silent carress of thousands of beams of light.

Ever-conscious of the "good" side of his profile, he slowly raised his head that his face might be unveiled beneath the shadow of his perfectly flat brim. Positioning his head "just so" for his audience, he arched an expectant eyebrow for effect and waited for the pregnant pause to come to full term. Suddenly, in a staccato burst of Ricky Ricardo Cuban flavored English he exclaimed, "Qabbalah!" and paused while the echoes faded in the wings. He could hear the rustle of the audience suddenly shifting in their seats and it told him of the effectiveness of his delivery. The now magical light of the spinning shining orb seemed to stop with time. We waited only moment when, with a William Shatner flair for the over dramatic, he concluded his pronouncement in slightly lowered tones.

"Qabbalah!" we thought to ourselves in unison, and he answered our unspoken chorus with these words, "The FORBIDDEN dance..."

Somehow, we knew that this Qabbalah was a discipline that only the most talented and dedicated individuals could ever hope to study seriously, much less master. It must be a man's job and a special man at that! Why, it is something that would take years of sacrifice by persons well beyond our feeble abilities. Our heart sang out, "Ahhh, thank you Arturo! Thank you!" as we jumped to our feet. The ovation was deafening. Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, on and on we roared! And Madonna never once set foot on stage...

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[talmidim]

OK, I'm sorry. But c'mon you guys. It really is fun to get completely over-the-top ridiculous every now and then. No harm intended...:blush:

[Snowy]

OK, I'm sorry. But c'mon you guys. It really is fun to get completely over-the-top ridiculous every now and then. No harm intended...:blush:


LOL...I read that and wondered what in the world...;)

[Tishri1]

OK, I'm sorry. But c'mon you guys. It really is fun to get completely over-the-top ridiculous every now and then. No harm intended...:blush:Me thinks that someone got a case of Mogen David for Hanukkah;)

http://www.badgerwest.com/images/MogenDavidBlackberry.jpg

[Tishri1]

OK, I'm sorry. But c'mon you guys. It really is fun to get completely over-the-top ridiculous every now and then. No harm intended...:blush:Me thinks that someone got a case of Mogen David for Hanukkah;)

http://www.badgerwest.com/images/MogenDavidBlackberry.jpg

[shinbits]

Madonna is a good catholic girl from a private catholic school.
I'm not sure if you're joking or not. (She's one of the most sexually liberal artists of all time)

Well......

Maybe she'll change her name from Madonna to Kaballa.

[visionary]

I'm not sure if you're joking or not. (She's one of the most sexually liberal artists of all time)

Well......

Maybe she'll change her name from Madonna to Kaballa.Yes, there was a tongue in the cheek when I wrote that... didn't you hear the *snicker... snicker* up my sleeve?

[jgonz]

didn't you hear the *snicker... snicker* up my sleeve?

I did! I about spit my water on the computer screen when I first read that! ^_^

[Yovel]

Arturo was mysterious, stunning and sleek in his black cape, skin-tight black pants and knee-high leather boots. There he semi-reclined in silhouette against the backlit curtains of the backdrop. The bolero played softly and he was the picture of it. The fractured reflections from the mirror ball didn’t seem quite as dated and cheesy as they should have. All the effects together congealed into a surreal scene that somehow mitigated the laughable and low budget effect that was its heritage.

Even though he closely resembled Esteban, hocking guitars on late-night infomercials, there was still a sense of expectation, of something greater to come. His right hand and foot slowly moved in a symmetrical sweep down and away before he smoothly glided a few steps forward into the full glare of the par-cans and multi-colored pin-beams. His body, a slave to both the dance and his immense ego, swayed provocatively and straightened from the waist. His sure steps testified to a love of his vocation and self as he accepted the silent carress of thousands of beams of light.

Ever-conscious of the "good" side of his profile, he slowly raised his head that his face might be unveiled beneath the shadow of his perfectly flat brim. Positioning his head "just so" for his audience, he arched an expectant eyebrow for effect and waited for the pregnant pause to come to full term. Suddenly, in a staccato burst of Ricky Ricardo Cuban flavored English he exclaimed, "Qabbalah!" and paused while the echoes faded in the wings. He could hear the rustle of the audience suddenly shifting in their seats and it told him of the effectiveness of his delivery. The now magical light of the spinning shining orb seemed to stop with time. We waited only moment when, with a William Shatner flair for the over dramatic, he concluded his pronouncement in slightly lowered tones.

"Qabbalah!" we thought to ourselves in unison, and he answered our unspoken chorus with these words, "The FORBIDDEN dance..."

Somehow, we knew that this Qabbalah was a discipline that only the most talented and dedicated individuals could ever hope to study seriously, much less master. It must be a man's job and a special man at that! Why, it is something that would take years of sacrifice by persons well beyond our feeble abilities. Our heart sang out, "Ahhh, thank you Arturo! Thank you!" as we jumped to our feet. The ovation was deafening. Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, on and on we roared! And Madonna never once set foot on stage...

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Hillarious

[Nimrauko]

Wouldn't Madonna have to change her name? That is a name for the Virgin Mary, A central Catholic figure, which is a different religion from hers
Kabbalah isnt a religion, and its not a requirement that one be Jewish to study it. http://www.kabbalah.info/ Look at some of those videos.
They will explain things I think better than anyone else has thus far.

[HadassahSukkot]

Wow, talk about zombie threads! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/antsinmypants/Emoticons/ththe_window-4Les.gif

[Nimrauko]

>_>
Really

[A_Pioneer]

Everyone of you have read some Kabbalah books in your bible! Johns books also much of Sha'ul writings are (Spiritual)Mystical.


Baruch Ha’ba B’Shem Adonai
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

[simchat_torah]

yup yup.

[HeatherMicaela]

I'm not sure if you're joking or not. (She's one of the most sexually liberal artists of all time)

Well......

Maybe she'll change her name from Madonna to Kaballa.
That is her real first name though.

I saw some thing that she said she knew shed either have to be a nun or something way opposite her name

[GerTzedek]

Madonna is a good catholic girl from a private catholic school.
So funny I forgot to laugh.

[GerTzedek]

Wow, how come you guys aren't trying to answer Snowy's question?

Snowy, the Kabbalah is a collection of books that are Jewish mysticism. The ideas spring from two sources: Jewish mystics, and the mysticism from sources outside Judiasm that Jewish philosophers were exposed to.

The texts are very typically poetic as are all mystical texts, whether Jewish, Christian, gnostic, taoist, yada yada yada... As a mystic who has talked to a good number of other mystics, I can say that generally speaking, we seem to speak the same language even if we come from widely divergent religious backgrounds. It is as if even though what we have been taught is different, there is simply a commonality of experience.

I have never read the Tanya, one of the books of the Kabbalah, but I looked it up for this post. It's opening lines are:

Be righteous and be not wicked; and even if the whole world judging you by your actions tells you that you are righteous, regard yourself as wicked.

The commentary is:

The soul of a Jew descends into a body for a purpose — in order to fulfill a specific spiritual mission in this world. To enable him to fulfill it a heavenly oath is administered to him that he “be righteous and not wicked,” and concurrently, that he regard himself as wicked and not righteous.

It is the sort of paradoxical truth which becomes obvious during the moment of a noetic mystical experience, but which sounds like religious garbage to more sensible people.

[HadassahSukkot]

Ger, in the timeframe this question was originally posed, the forum's atmosphere was not really very conducive to answer as the OP would have liked.

Long story short, this was about two years ago when the thread was started

[TheRabbi]

The main body of Kabbalah is divided into two types of oral tradition mentioned by the Mishnah. Maaseh Breishit and Maaseh Hamerkavah. These are "The workings of creation" and "The workings of the chariot" (A reference to Ezekiel's heavenly chariot vision).

The first invovles the processes through which God created, maintains and governs the universe.

The second involves the forces and methods involved in prayer, meditation, Holy Spirit and Prophecy.

That's Kabbalah in a nutshell. It's the oral tradition regarding these two subjects. That's pretty much it.

The uneducated often make attampts to show parts of Kabbalah as being borrowed from late pagan or eastern thought. It must be considered that "has some similarity to" does not necessarily equal "borrowed from".

The similarities between parts Gilgamesh and the Biblical flood account does not mean that the Hebrews borrowed the flood narrative from epic of Gilgamesh. It simply means that they show some similarity, no need to hastily write off the Biblical account. The same is true of Kabbalah.

The only English books I would reccomend on the subject were written by the teacher of my teacher, the late Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z'l. Most everything else is garbage.

Try these:
Meditation And The Bible
Innerspace
Meditation And Kabbalah.
Jewish Meditation (I reccomend this for everyone)

[Snowy]

oh wow....

[simchat_torah]

A few years ago I had a thread floating around here called Kabbalah 101. Now if only we could find that thread ;)

[A_Pioneer]

A few years ago I had a thread floating around here called Kabbalah 101. Now if only we could find that thread ;)
http://www.bfm101.com/

Shalom

[simchat_torah]

haha, not quite. It was something I put together ;)

[A_Pioneer]

Sorry, I don't read minds. Sam has a series called Kabbalah 101, so I thought that was what yo were refering to.

Shalom

[Nimrauko]

Special times guys.

So is this thread dead now?

[Snowy]

Special times guys.

So is this thread dead now?



nope...it keeps getting resurrected :P

[TheRabbi]

Nimrauko,
If you needed to bring someone out of a merkavah meditation, how would you do so?

[Henaynei]

A few years ago I had a thread floating around here called Kabbalah 101. Now if only we could find that thread ;) only site supporters can do a title search on 4u.ms maybe some one who is one could do the search for you.

[Talmidah]

A few years ago I had a thread floating around here called Kabbalah 101. Now if only we could find that thread ;)

Is it this one (http://foru.ms/t99182-judaisms-kabbalah-not-open-for-debate-please.html), st?

[simchat_torah]

Yeah, that was the second thread I had made, but probably the most extensive thread. Thanks Tal!

[MichaelTheeArchAngel]

I had read once, a long time ago, that women used to teach from the Torah, until they started teaching that God was a woman. And because they would not repent of that belief, they were put to death. After that they were never allowed to teach from the Torah again. If anyone here knows what Im talking about, I would like to see that book again.

[simchat_torah]

?

[TheRabbi]

My thoughts exactly

[ContraMundum]

Please explain what Kabbalah is.

An interesting theory that ends up in Babylonian counterfeit mysticism.

Thank, thank you....*takes bow*.:D

[Bananna]

I had read once, a long time ago, that women used to teach from the Torah, until they started teaching that God was a woman. And because they would not repent of that belief, they were put to death. After that they were never allowed to teach from the Torah again. If anyone here knows what Im talking about, I would like to see that book again.

Haven't a clue.

Sounds more like puritinism to me. JMO
bananna

[MichaelTheeArchAngel]

Haven't a clue.

Sounds more like puritinism to me. JMO
banannaI was hopeing to find that source of info. No luck today.

[stone]

I just learned that Kabballah is similar to witchcraft in that curses can be said to others useing this.

[Torah613]

I just learned that Kabballah is similar to witchcraft in that curses can be said to others useing this.
umm ask any mom in a shtetl about the evil eye.

Belief in such is not singular to Kabbalah but rather part of traditional jewish folk culture.

Yochanan

[MichaelTheeArchAngel]

I just learned that Kabballah is similar to witchcraft in that curses can be said to others useing this. Originally Kabballah was Jewish mysticism, and still is today. But it seems that it is being taught that it is a science now. I have also heared people say that astrology is a true science. Now what do you think of that?

[Steve Petersen]

The principal book of Kaballah is the Zohar. Soncino has it in English. You should read it before you leap to conclusions.

[simchat_torah]

I just learned that Kabballah is similar to witchcraft in that curses can be said to others useing this.That would be Qabollah.

[stone]

That would be Qabollah.


ah, good to know that there is a difference.

[stone]

The principal book of Kaballah is the Zohar. Soncino has it in English. You should read it before you leap to conclusions.


What do you, a person that only believes in what you can taste and touch, have to do with kabballah?

[Steve Petersen]

What do you, a person that only believes in what you can taste and touch, have to do with kabballah?

Nothing. Interesting to see how people's minds work. Vast spiritual conceptions based on nothing. After all 'spiritual' by definition is not 'material.'

[MichaelTheeArchAngel]

The Zohar - Book of Splendor - Original Text of Kabbalah, Spiritual Power of the Zohar.

[stone]

Nothing. Interesting to see how people's minds work. Vast spiritual conceptions based on nothing. After all 'spiritual' by definition is not 'material.'


I assume that you have read the Zohar, what conclusion have you come to, about how people's minds work?

[MichaelTheeArchAngel]

Nothing. Interesting to see how people's minds work. Vast spiritual conceptions based on nothing. After all 'spiritual' by definition is not 'material.' My spiritual conceptions are based upon the bible, and that is a tangible.

[Torah613]

written torah without oral torah is only half the picture.

OOPS! time to dash and light candles.

Good Shabbos everyone!