The Evolution of Kabbalah

foreign the Jewish mystical tradition the Kabbalah formed an integral part of the Taurus transmission from its very Beginnings the earliest kabbalistic works are attributed to Abraham the first Jew or even earlier to Adam the first man the talmud and the madrashem incorporate many kabbalistic passages these teachings however were the exclusive province of a small number of sages who engaged in the study of this esoteric wisdom and even fewer who dared to disseminate it thank you this vision of the Divine Chariot merkova recorded in the Book of Ezekiel is the biblical source for many kabbalistic principles and ideas a number of early kabbalistic tests were composed in mushnetic times in the first and second century of the Common Era these texts however are extremely terse and mysterious their meaning decipherable only to those who were privy to the oral tradition that accompanied them the great mission of sage Ravi Shimon baryakai taught the wisdom of Kabbalah to a close circle of disciples these discourses and discussions were recorded in the Zohar which Remains the most basic text of Kabbalah the Zohar however would remain a secret text for more than a thousand years although Snippets of it found their way into some of the Torah Works composed in the interim the first fissures in the veil of secrecy surrounding Kabbalah began to appear in the 12th century in Spain France Italy and Germany where small groups of kabbalists and their disciples were expounding and transcribing their teachings it was during this period that the Zohar was first published making its hitherto hidden teachings available to those who were admitted into the secret of kabbalistic circles the hasidim of ashkanas was a school of Jewish Mystics who were active in the German Rhineland in the 12th and 13th centuries its leaders of worms one of the preeminent sages of Spanish jewelry authored important Works in all areas of Torah biblical commentary talmudic analysis Torah law philosophy and ethics was also a master kabbalist who Incorporated many kabbalistic ideas into his commentary on the Torah Rabbi Abraham abulafia and his disciples active in 13th century Italy emphasized the practice of meditative Kabbalah and the attainment of mystical Union with God other noted kabbalists of the medieval period include the anonymous author of the foundational kabbalistic workhanti RB mayor IBN Gabi and Rabbi Yehuda hayat despite the surge in dissemination by the medieval kabbalists cabala was still a secret discipline studied and taught by an exclusive circle of Mystics the next breakthrough came in the mid 16th century when spot a city in the north of the Holy Land became a center of Jewish mystical learning one of the early teachers of Kabbalah and svat was rabi Al quebeth who is known as the author of the mystical poem lechadodi come my beloved to meet the bride song in Jewish communities on Friday evening to welcome the Shabbat rabiosev Caro known primarily as the author of The Nara code of Jewish law was also an accomplished kabbalist who recorded his mystical Visions in his Magid mushara at the Hub of the spot Mystics were two great teachers of Kabbalah abhimosha Cordova known as ramak and rabies known by the acronym Ari the lion remarks encyclopedic partis ramonim Orchard of pomegranates was the first of its kind systematic explanation of the multitude of Worlds verot and concept that populate kabbalistic teaching Ari although his adjourning spot was cut short after only two years when he died in a plague at the age of 38 Left Behind numerous disciples and a vast body of teachings indeed almost all subsequent Jewish mystical learning is predicated on the Aries teaching a re-revolutionized the realm of Jewish mystical learning by proclaiming that the restrictions on disseminating kabbalistic teachings applied only in earlier generations and that in these times it is permitted and obligatory to reveal this wisdom as a result a number of Aris disciples labored to record and publicize his teachings and to seat centers of kabbalistic learning throughout the Jewish world one of these disciples Rabbi Israel sarug traveled for 20 years throughout Italy the Balkans Germany Poland turkey Egypt and elsewhere to introduce the lyrianic Kabbalah foreign the teachings of Kabbalah spread across the Jewish World in the following Generations additional Masters and schools of kabbalistic learning developed in various Jewish communities Maharaja was a Mystic and philosopher who expressed kabbalistic ideas and philosophical terms his teachings influenced many subsequent schools of Jewish thought maharaja's Kabbalah appears to derive from earlier sources as its Fati and Kabbalah had not yet reached Eastern Europe in his day there is a tradition that Maharaja used kabbalistic formulas to create a Golem a humanoid to save the Jewish community of Prague from the frequent blood libels of the time another influential figure in Jewish philosophy and mysticism was Rabbi Isha Yahoo Horowitz who served as a rabbi in numerous Jewish communities in both Europe and the Holy Land including dubna Frankfurt Prague Jerusalem svat and Tiberius he's known as Shala after his magnum opus two tablets of the Covenant which blends Kabbalah talmudic discourse Torah law and Customs biblical commentary and ethics shallaz Works incorporate the teachings of Vermont and Ari and their disciples other 16th and 17th century capitalists include rabi Israel Najjar of Gaza mazaria difano of Italy and Rabbi naftali herzbacharach of Germany prominent 18th century capitalists include ramhal a prodigious author of Kabbalah philosophy ethics and poetry on our behind ibnatar the grass School of Kabbalah encompasses the kabbalistic teachings of Rafael Yahoo the Gown of illna and his disciples in Jerusalem the BET L School of Kabbalah was a center of mystical learning for 250 years its leaders included Rabbi Shalom sharabi of Yemen and Rabbi hayam Yosef David Azul notwithstanding all of this activity and Publications Kabbalah remained a closed book for the great majority of Jews the teachings remained esoteric requiring a subtle mind and extensive knowledge and training to properly understand as a rule the restrictions placed on the study of Kabbalah were still widely enforced for example a person had to be past the age of 40 and had to be thoroughly versed in the revealed portions of the Torah such as talmud and halacha before they would be permitted to approach its hidden element the final breakthrough which paved the way for the realization of the Aries declaration that the time had come for the inner soul of Torah to be revealed came with the founding of the Hasidic Movement by rabi Israel Bal shemtov in 1734. in addition to revealing an entirely new dimension of Torah facetism also popularized and made accessible the teachings of Cabela by explaining its ideas in ways that made them comprehensible and applicable to all [Music]

Channel: Jewish Learning Institute

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Length: 7min 20sec (440 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 21 2023