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There is a famous story that the Baal Shem Tov was once in the oliomus helyonim and he keep right up to Heichel Hamoshiach and he asked him when are you coming, moshiach replied when you guys start learning Kabbalah. Nowadays with the internet nearly on every jewish site you go on you get an option to learn Kabbalah this could be bad as you could get goyim with no connection to torah or a torah way of life learning Kabbalah by the way there was once a story of some meshuganah who was trying to bring down angels and one day he died in some unusual sort of car crash, this is why I don’t think it’s good that Kabbalah has become so widespread like it is today because even not a goy lehavdil but most common jews however choshuv they may be are not on the level of a gadol and therefore should not be learning Kabbalah and especially not on any random website.
OK. So let me, in my humblekite, respond to one of the important issues of the day.
No. There is no such thing as learning Kabalah off the bat or off the internet. Or a Goy learning it. Or one who has not properly prepared himself for it. There are no shortcuts. And the ones doing it are TOTALLY fooling themselves and everyone else. They get a sniff here and there of a few terms and phrases, jumble them around (recklessly and randomly) and think they’ve mastered the thing.
No my boy. Not by any chance. These studies have a big, big preface to be able to start. They have to be studied in a setting of utmost Kedushah and Taharah.
End of story.
Tzava’ah of the son of the Shelah ose 26:
???? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ???? ??
Pele Yoetz “Yediah”:
????? ???????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ????”? ??? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ????
The Baal Shem Tov once asked, why is it called Sohd if anyone can open the Sefer and start reading? He answered that although you read the while thing and know all the terms out remains a closed book if you aren’t ready.
Let’s break this down:
There is a famous story that the Baal Shem Tov was once in the oliomus helyonim and he keep right up to Heichel Hamoshiach and he asked him when are you coming, moshiach replied when you guys start learning Kabbalah.So, the point so far is that we should all learn Kabbalah.
Nowadays with the internet nearly on every jewish site you go on you get an option to learn Kabbalah this could be bad as you could get goyim with no connection to torah or a torah way of life learning KabbalahThis part points out that Jewish websites that “teach Kabbalah,”
presumably in an attempt to bring Mashiach as per above, can be used by non-Jews, which is assumed to be a bad thing.
by the way there was once a story of some meshuganah who was trying to bring down angels and one day he died in some unusual sort of car crash, this is why I don't think it's good that Kabbalah has become so widespread like it is today because even not a goy lehavdil but most common jews however choshuv they may be are not on the level of a gadol and therefore should not be learning Kabbalah and especially not on any random website.This part tells us that the average Jew should not be learning Kabbalah, so that they don’t die as a consequence of attempting to put their knowledge to practical use (as some story has it),
another point not in favor of websites that “teach Kabbalah.”
[shrugs] I think we’ll be fine. Well, at least now we know what PAA thinks we should be learning instead of a certain kind of iyun.
The Chofetz Chaim’s son about his father:
????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ?? ??????
“Well, at least now we know what PAA thinks we should be learning instead of a certain kind of iyun.”
???
What they are learning is not kabbalah, so I am not too worried. The most brilliant Talmidei Chachomim didn’t attempt to learn Kabbalah until at least age 40 (is that supposed to be reminiscent of Rabbi Akiva,the one of four who entered the “Pardes” and came out whole, who first began learning Torah at age 40?),and very few were able to fully grasp it. So I am not concerned about a few Kabbalah wannabes, Jewish or not, who THINK they are mystical. Whenever someone has asked me if I know Kabbalah, I tell them I am still working on understanding Chumash and Rashi, and recommend that to them as a more attainable pursuit.
Pele Yoetz “Zohar”:
???? ??? ????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ????
?????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ????
??? ???? ???? ???”? ????? ????? ??? ???? ??’ ??”? ?????? ??? ???? ???”? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????? ?? ????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ????? ?? ????? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ?”? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ??????? ??”?
?? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ????”? ???’ ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?’ ??? ????? ??? ????? ???? ????”? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ??????
I don’t think there is anyone famous for his understanding of Kabbalah who waited until forty.
Oomis,
My brother (the smart one, the one who DOES learn from Kabbalah seforim – and is below 40) pointed out to me that many Torah Greats applied themselves to these works and did not live past 40, the AriZal for one.
Rebbe Akiva started his GENERAL Torah career at 40 (according to most), this sublime endeavor / undertaking was sometime afterwards.
But as I wrote earlier, someone who has not a lot of knowledge under his belt will come out with nothing. There are no quick-fix, DIY, crash-course self-studies in these works. It will not even come into the danger of being ???? ??????? as Acher did. It is only fooling oneself into being able to monkey and parrot phrases and terms.
The dangerous caution needed is for one who DOES have Torah under his belt who has been ???? ????? ?”? ???????, for such a person he need be told how to properly apply himself towards these studies, lest he come to err. This is where Acher and later (as they say) Shabbsi Tzvi went wrong. They DID have Torah knowledge, however they didn’t apply themselves to these works properly, with the utmost Kedusha and Taharah. So with their learning these works they were ???? ???????, destroyed themselves and much as well…
And PAA, that may well be, the words themselves have an inherent Kedusha, are holy, cherished words of Torah, however one must not think he understands a ???? ?? ??? of it. Just holy words of Torah for its own sake. Not the “limud of Kabalah”
Interesting post. My first reaction is the other nations already have a genetically modified version our our Torah. Nothing we can do about that. It should not stop us.
Secondly, I do believe Kabbalah should play a larger role in our studies.
While it is great to do things because we are told by great people what the good road is, I have learned from studying a few Kabballah influenced texts by the Ramchal, for example, that without some understanding, no matter how basic, of the spiritual ramifications of what we do here on earth, everything can grow to become a laundry list of things to do.
Kabballah “flavoring” makes doing Jewish things more dimensional, and helps to keep practice performed out of inspiration and less from being done from rote.
More Kabballah influence, please!
PAA: Rav Ovadia in a T’shuvah (maybe Yabiya Omer 1:OC:26) about what you can make a Siyum on quotes that and says a person who reads the entire Zohar can make a Seudas Mitzvah on it even if he didn’t understand a word.
Are there any contemporary Kabbalists that are accepted today as such uncontroversially across Klal Yisroel?
There is a famous story that the Baal Shem Tov was once in the oliomus helyonim and he keep right up to Heichel Hamoshiach and he asked him when are you coming, moshiach replied when you guys start learning Kabbalah.
I’ve never heard that story. And I don’t believe it either. So there. Moshiach said “you guys”? Really? And why when you guys start learning? Why not when you have learnt?
Anyway, I have a different story, which I also don’t believe. So the rebbe dies and he has two sons. And the one son comes to the other the next morning and says “last night tatte came to me in a dream and said I should be the next rebbe.” And the other son says, “if tatte wanted you to be the rebbe, he should have come to ME in a dream.”
If Moshiach wanted all the litvaks to learn kabballah, he should have told the Gra or Rav Chaim Volozhin.
Lior:
I don’t think you can even find a non-kaballist who is accepted uncontroversially across klal yisrael.
Sam2:
It’s interesting, because while he quotes like 15 sources for it, he doesn’t actually quote the Pele Yoetz. And you can’t even say that he didn’t learn Pele Yoetz, because earlier in this very teshuva he quotes the Pele Yoetz. Maybe he only learned part of it?
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