User:Lechaim66/Kabbalah

Introduction to Kabbalah

Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎, lit. "receiving") is a discipline that concerns itself with revelation of the single causal force of nature (Creator) to man (His creation). Traditional Judaism views that it was first revealed to Adam, i.e. in the 38th century BCE. While it is used heavily in different forms by some denominations, it is not generally considered standard practice in Judaism. Kabbalah seeks to define the creation of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods for spiritual attainment by studying its concepts. Kabbalists describe this wisdom as the deepest, inner meaning of the Holy Books, and differentiate clearly between religious observance and true spiritual attainment. In their writings it is commonly referred to as 'the wisdom', or 'the wisdom of truth.' While early sources, such as Torah, Talmud and Gemara and Mishnah are considered traditional Holy Books in Judaism, they are only a part of kabbalistic literature that exists also outside of traditional Judaism, such as the Book of Zohar, the works of Ari, Talmud Eser HaSefirot and others.

In a narrow sense, kabbalah signifies the practices introduced in Judaism after the 10th century, which includes magic, occultism and attempts to decipher the Holy Books for finding spiritual truth, however, some kabbalists have written on the