Not Madonna's Kabbalah

Chabad.org ^ | 9/4/2011 | Tzvi Frieeman

[Phinneous]

Inside your body breathes a person—a soul. Inside the body of Jewish practice breathes an inner wisdom—the soul of Judaism. We often call it “Kabbalah”, meaning “receiving.” Just as Jewish practice is received through an unbroken, ancient tradition from the revelation at Sinai, so is its soul.

Kabbalah, then, is the received wisdom, the native theology and cosmology of Judaism.

[Phinneous]

In case anyone was curious what those Kabbalists are up to...

[expat1000]

Bookmarked. Thank you.

[wideawake]

Traditional Kabalah, like the Madonna version, is built on a text called the Zohar - a text which is first attested in 1290.

It teaches such doctrines as metempsychosis (transmigration of souls), plurality of the Godhead, mystical emanations and the efficacy of magical incantations.

[Stepan12]

Maybe some experienced kabbalhist can conjure up a frankenstein

who will serve as a golem type to rescue the Jewish people.

[GOPJ]

“We saw all the secrets of the cosmos open before us. We saw how each thing is generated into being at every moment. We saw that there is truly nothing else but the one Creator, and all else is but articulations of His will.”

This resonates within me...

[miss marmelstein]

Isn’t it more like: they can conjure up a golem that is sorta like a Frankenstein, lol?

Saw the play once - a bad production, a fascinating story.

[Stepan12]

Can it be believed that Germany made a pre Karloff, Frankenstien type film called The Golem (part 7 of 7)? How things changed when Hitler came along.

Also, the scene between the Golem and child (hopefully pictured in the link) is a lot more touching than the scene of Boris Karloff and a child (Karloff's Frankenstein throws the child into the water mistakenly thinking she will float like the child).

[Piranha]

Plurality of the Godhead? Please explain.

[Tzfat]

Traditional Kabalah, like the Madonna version, is built on a text called the Zohar - a text which is first attested in 1290. It teaches such doctrines as metempsychosis (transmigration of souls), plurality of the Godhead, mystical emanations and the efficacy of magical incantations.

Who are you quoting? It is clear you have never studied the Zohar. It is one text for Kabbalah, but not the primary. The Zohar is a commentary on the Torah and other Scripture. It is mystical, but so are portions of the New Testament. Also, the Zohar affirms the Oneness of G-d. Your assertion is an often quoted, never attributed statement. It is available in English for crying out loud.

[wideawake]

You begin with condescension. It is apparently very important for you to reassure yourself that you are better-read than I am. When you are ready to discuss matters seriously, let me know.

[Tzfat]

Plurality of the Godhead? Please explain.

Doesn't know what he is talking about. He seems to think that the Zohar's explanation of the Sefirot, the 10 attributes of Ein Sof (not G-dhead) are somehow a plurality. Ein Sof (the Infinite) is One. HaShem (the Name) is One. Deut 6:4.

[wideawake]

The Lurianic interpretation of Kabalah sees the Biblical usage of plural references to the divine as evidence for the Sefirot.

[wideawake]

The Ein Sof, being strictly unnamable, is not perfectly contiguous with HaShem (having a name) since the Sefirot are attributed to HaShem yet not to the Ein Sof. That’s the ambiguity of Kabalah.

[MurrietaMadman]

A few months back I was moved to seek out the meaning of Sheckinah Glory. In doing that, because the term Sheckinah, according to my notes, originated with Talmudic Judaism, a Kaballah explanation emerged. According to these notes, the origin Talmudic Judaism occurred during the Babylonian ( Chaldean ) captivity of the Jewish people. During their captivity the Jews started studying Mystery Babylon religion and incorporated it into Mosaic Law. The basis for the Chaldean religion can be boiled down to the term Deified Man. That Chaldean thought intertwined into Mosaic Law resulted in a sect called the Pharisees. The Kaballah of the Pharisees, at first passed down as oral traditions from Master to disciple inspired the compilation of the Talmud using an Aramaic translation called Targum. Talmud is Kaballah and Kaballah is Talmud. After visiting http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1567567/jewish/Kabbalah.htm the results of my earlier research about Sheckinah Glory appear substantiated from my Christian KJV point of view. The notes I am referring to as I write this are not original thoughts. I will admit to wondering every now and then about where on earth occultism sprang from. What I learned months ago seemed to provide the answer. While the roots of such esoteric groups as Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism go deep into the Mystery Babylon religion, the Talmud provided a vehicle to ingrain occultic concepts to God's Chosen People. Who better to control/deseminate that knowledge than the Pharisees. The chabad.org website touches on an explanation of Light and Vessels of Light and the Ten Sefirot which sounds to me like a lead in to the Deified Man concept. Next, it explains the Union of Opposites: The entire universe is a dynamic of male and female union. The life-soul of the universe, known as the Shechinah, and the Infinite Light yearn to reunite with one another, as does the human soul yearn to reunite with its origin within G‑d. The study of Torah and performance of mitzvot brings about these unions, thereby allowing new, transcendental light to penetrate the cosmos. Since Sheckinah started me on this trip I wil share some more of my notes. Talmudic Judaism holds different ideas about Sheckinah. One school of thought believes Sheckinah was God's first creation. The most consistent belief and the one that is reflected in the chabad.org website, is that God has both male and female attributes. Hence, Sheckinah is God's feminine nature. That belief is borrowed from Babylonian goddess worship of Ashtoreth, otherwise known as the Queen of Heaven. God's response to that will be found in KJV Jeremiah 44:25. As one brought up Catholic, that chapter and verse was an eye opener. To close this unintentionally long post, neither Christ nor his Apostles ever used the Targum translation of the Old Testament nor the term Sheckinah. And chapter 23 of Mathew tells what Jesus thought of Pharisees. There is only One God and One Saviour, His Son Jesus Christ. My apologies for the appearance of the post if it comes out in one big paragraph. It didn't leave looking like that!

[wideawake]

Your sources are in error.

The Pharisees as a school developed long after the Babylonian Captivity.

The Torah was reestablished in Jerusalem by the men of the Great Assembly, who produced the theology of Malachi and Ezra.

Moreover, the term "Mystery Babylon" has no historical value. It was invented by Alexander Hislop, whose work has been proven to be mostly invented out of his own fevered brain.

I would point out that the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth was more closely related to the Pharisees than it was to any other school of Judaism.

[MurrietaMadman]

Thanks for working through that blob. Tried fixing it a number of times.

The Torah you referred to, is that the Talmud? I’m trying for an understanding here. I was under the impression the Old Testament, the Mosaic law version is the Torah.

[Tzfat]

You begin with condescension.

Your post was filled with misrepresentations, and dismissive at best - indicating a pretext based not upon personal "reading" but based upon someone else's "reading."

[wideawake]

There is only one Torah. There are two Talmuds, each one a commentary on the Mishneh, which itself is a commentary on the Torah.

[bronx2]

A type of ancient Book of Mormon. Thanks but no thanks.

[Tzfat]

References to the Shekinah predate the Talmud. Shekinah is indeed a femine word, but the Sages of Israel used the masculine/femine construct in a manner of balance, not in the human reckoning which is related to procreation.

Just because there are similarities in ancient religions, does not mean a common point, or borrowing. There have always been counterfeits. A case in point: circumcision was practiced by the Egyptians. "Scholars" have tried to use this to prove that Israel adopted the practice from their time in slavery. Ironically, those same "scholars" would know nothing of Israel in Egypt apart from the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible). So, we should ask such "scholars" if you are going to take the Torah's word for one thing, why not believe it all?