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John Rossi

Dr. Christopher Martinez

REL 2300

May 11, 2020

KABBALAH: From Medieval Spain to Madonna

The day this course concludes is ironically enough a minor Jewish holiday known as Lag

BaOmer, which has heightened significance it would seem for Hasidic Jews, as well as those

who define themselves more so only as Kabbalists. Lag BaOmer commemorates the death of

Rabbi Shimon bar YoChai who Kabbalists believe composed the Zohar in the second century.

His followers believe his light and the light brought into the world by all righteous souls is most

accessible to us when they depart from this world. Also ironic given current circumstances, the

date is also commemorated because it is the day a plague ceased which killed thousands of Rabbi

Shimon’s fellow students who studied under Rabbi Akiva. The plague was said to be punishment

because Rabbi Akiva’s students did not respect each other. Lag BaOmer is celebrated with

parades, bonfires and such. It is a popular day for weddings, haircuts, and joyous music which is

abstained from during the Counting of the Omer, which is the 49 day period between Passover,

when Jews were freed from Egypt and Shauvot, when they were handed the Torah on Mt. Sinai.

(Posner)
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Kabbalah is a Hebrew word, which translates most literally into English as reception. In

Israel everything ranging from social events, a professor’s office hours, store receipts, to the

concierge in hotels often contains some variant of the word (Dan 7). But religiously speaking,

the term refers to a mystical body of Jewish knowledge that stems primarily from the Zohar, a

book first surfacing in medieval Spain around the year 1300. Rather, we should say, most

Kabbalah today stems from Isaac Luria’s teachings that arose in the sixteenth century in Safed.

(Zohar and Kabbalah – Daniel Matt). After Luria shaped and popularized Kabbalah it was

Sabbatai Zevi, widely seen as a fake or failed Messiah, who discredited the esoteric philosophy

in the seventeenth century until its resuscitation by the Baal Shem Tov in the eighteenth. The

Baal Shem Tov is credited as being the founder of Hasidic Judaism, which has branched over

time into different sects, or dynasties as they are called. Most people today who refer to

themselves primarily, if not exclusively, as Kabbalists trace their descent to the Hasidic dynasty

of Yehuda Ashlag. If it was not Ashlag himself who intended to present Kabbalah as a universal

science or spirituality that underpins all the great religious teachings of the world this has

certainly been his legacy through his two rivaling factions; the Hollywoodish Kabbalah Centre

and Bnei Baruch, headed by Dr. Rabbi Michael Laitman.

If the Zohar, spanning many volumes, is the tree of Kabbalah then the Sefer Yetzirah (Book

of Formation) merely 2,500 words! in its longest version is the seed of that tree. Arriving on the

scene, perhaps over a thousand years before the Zohar, it was the Sefer Yetzirah that first

described the Ten Sefirot, or spheres, often described in anthropomorphic terms, through which

God filters his light to reach our world. (Kaplan xi) From the Yetzirah:
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With 32 wondrous paths of Wisdom engrave Yah, the Lord of Hosts… Ten Sefirot of Nothingness
plus twenty-two…letters: Three Mothers, Seven Doubles, and Twelve Elementals. Ten Sefirot of
Nothingness: The number of the ten fingers, five opposite, with a single covenant precisely in
the middle, like the circumcision of the membrum… Ten Sefirot of Nothingness: Their end is
imbedded in their beginning, and their beginning in their end, like a flame in a burning coal.
For the Master is singular, He has no second. And before One, what do you count? (Kaplan
261).
As Rav. Berg illustrates in his introduction to the Ashlag version of the Zohar “The Zohar more

fully expounded on the Book of Formation. Nonetheless, for reasons that remain a mystery, the

Zohar was hidden from the world until the year 1279, when it reappeared in Spain through the

Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe De Leon” (15). The dispute over the authorship or origin of the Zohar is

strikingly reminiscent of the wider known story, occurring some six hundred years later in the

new world in Christendom – that of Joseph Smith and his “Book of Mormon.”

For Kabbalists, God is understood as Infinity or Ein Sof (literally “without end” in

Hebrew). “In a beginning, It created God” is how the Zohar hyper-literally translates the opening

verses of Genesis with the It of course referring to Ein Sof. This definitively defines the

Kabbalistic view of time as circular rather than linear. To the extent God can be understood in

human terms, the Zohar views the ultimate divinity as equally male and female. The fact that

Moses De Leon (the books likely author in 1280 Spain despite Rav. Berg’s claim in the above

paragraph) lived near Catholic theologians in thirteenth century Spain who were seeking to

formally elevate the status of The Blessed Mother within Christianity was likely very influential

on De Leon. Though the Zohar is hyper-literal at times it is in no way a text that easily supports

fundamentalism. In fact, as Daniel Matt explains, the Zohar can be viewed as an antidote to

literal readings of the Torah. (Zohar and Kabbalah) The Talmud itself, contrary to popular

perception, contains its share of the irrational in the form of astrology, superstition, and
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mythology but these themes are nowhere near as common in the Talmud as they are in the Zohar.

<Who Was Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal)?>

It is perhaps of no coincidence that the Zohar appeared during the lifetime of Moses

Maimonides who arguably had the greatest impact on Judaism to date. One recalls the popular

Jewish saying regarding Maimonides “From Moses to Moses never has there been a prophet so

great as Moses.” Arthur Green wrote in his recent introduction to the Daniel Matt translation of

the Zohar that the Kabbalists could have been putting their long-established oral traditions to

paper to “combat the rationalism of Maimonides (XL – XLI).” Green continues

“The God of the Kabbalists is not primarily the powerful, passionate, Leader and Lover of His
people found in the Hebrew Bible… The Kabbalists God also differs sharply from the
increasingly abstract notions of the deity created by Jewish philosophers in the Middle Ages,
beginning in the tenth century with Saadia Gaon and culminating in the twelfth with Maimonides
(XLV).”
Isaac Luria, a German Jew born in Jerusalem in 1534 first won fame as a poet. Luria taught

a concept known as zimzum. The idea was that God shrank himself to create the void in which

our world emerged from. Joseph Dan explains

The most innovative concept that lies at the heart of Luria’s teaching is the imperfection of
beginning. Existence does not begin with a perfect Creator bringing into being an imperfect
universe; rather the existence of the universe is the result of an inherent flaw or crisis within the
infinite Godhead, and the purpose of creation is to fix it. (87)
Luria, like Moses De Leon before him, was likely influenced to some extent by Catholicism as

he taught communion with the deceased righteous akin to praying to saints. He also formed a

group of Kabbalists who practiced confessing their sins to each other on Friday nights. (“Isaac

Ben Solomon Luria”) For Kabbalists prior to Isaac Luria, God created our world through

emanating His Light outward from Himself. Luria, however, taught that God withdrew from

Himself into Himself to begin the process of creation (Scholem 28-29). As Scholem notes “the
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whole process would thus have to be conceived as a kind of divine catharsis (30).” Henry

Abramson points out that Luria’s influence on Judaism extends well beyond its Kabbalistic

realms. According to Abramson one would be hard pressed today to find a synagogue that does

not have multiple Lurianic features. <Who Was Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal)?> Fifteen years

ago Madonna came under fire from certain quarters of the Jewish world for releasing a song

entitled Isaac, which critics felt was Madonna attempting to profit from the name of Isaac Luria.

Though the singer claimed at the time to not know who Isaac Luria was, this is a highly dubious

claim even given the singer’s then decade long affiliation with the Kabbalah Centre. (Vineyard)

Luria’s Kabbalah fell out of favor, most believe, due to Sabbatai Zevi. As Karen Berg of the

Kabbalah Centre explains

The Shabbatai Tzvi fiasco tainted the study of Kabbalah. In the minds of most rabbis the wisdom
contained in the Zohar become something dangerous, and its study was relegated to a shadowy
world. During the Age of Enlightenment, eighteenth century rabbis prohibited unsupervised
access to the writings. Even when printing presses made the books more readily available, many
rabbis sought to transmit the manuscript in handwritten form to strictly limit their distribution.
Some of the wisdom was encoded so that only those previously trained in Kabbalah could read
it. (39)
Sabbatai Zevi was born in what is now Turkey in 1626. When Zevi eventually proclaimed

himself the Messiah large swaths of the Jewish world believed him. His movement had tentacles

in Venice, Amsterdam, Hamburg, London and numerous other cities across Europe and North

Africa. He was imprisoned by the Sultan in 1666 and given the choice to either face martyrdom

or publicly convert to Islam. Choosing the latter naturally caused almost all his followers to

abandon him. The former would be Jewish Messiah accepted a generous allowance to become

the Sultan’s doorman and took the name Mehmed Efendi. (Britannica)

Sabbatai Zevi would not have gotten very far if it were not for being endorsed by the very

influential Nathan of Gaza who taught it was more important for Jews to believe in Zevi as
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Messiah than it was for them to follow rabbinical law. He also taught that Zevi, as Messiah,

could decide, based on his own discretion, whether to save an individual regardless of their

respective merits or sins. Perhaps even more provocative than this was Nathan’s assertion that

Sabbatai Zevi would free Jesus Christ from the Hell he was in according to the Talmud.

(Scholem 282-291). Zevi initially sought out Nathan of Gaza, or Nathan Ashkenazi as he is

sometimes called, to gain healing from his spiritual condition (consensus seems to be Zevi was

quite bipolar though that diagnosis and disorder was unknown in his day); to figure out what his

“tikkun” or correction was. Scholem notes “Nathan preached repentance, told men their

innermost secrets, and gave them their tiqqun” (215-116). Kabbalists to this day still teach the

importance of finding one’s tikkun as I will demonstrate in a later paragraph. In any event

Sabbatai Zevi loved music and singing and would re-interpret secular, Spanish songs in a divine

mystical light. (158). At one point he married a Torah scroll claiming everyone who loved Torah

was in a sense its bride (159). Maybe most controversial of all his antics, Zevi uttered the Lord’s

divine name Jews are forbidden from speaking (160). During Zevi’s manic periods known as

‘illuminations’ he flouted religious law, though later during his depressive moods known as

‘hiding the face’ he would seem regret these actions (163).

About a hundred years after the disappointing Zevi affair the Baal Shem Tov (Master of the

Good Name) arose to prominence. The Baal Shem Tov is considered the founder of Hasidic

Judaism, a populist Orthodox movement that made popular physical movements while praying.

Basically, the Baal Shem Tov, using Kabbalah, made religion more palatable to the illiterate

masses of Jews during his time who had grown quite distant to the rabbinical, religious class.

The Baal Shem Tov gained fame as an amulet maker. Henry Abramson explains that folk

religion was very popular during this era. The amulets had holy inscriptions on them that were to
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protect the health of the wearer, or cure illness, assure good luck, etc. They were placed on

doors, under beds, or worn. This may remind one of the way Kabbalah Centre students,

Madonna among them, wore their much-maligned red bracelets in the late nineties, sold at quite

a mark-up by the Centre. Additionally, it should be noted that some of Madonna’s children’s

books were said to be based on stories of the Baal Shem Tov (Perez). In any event the Baal Shem

Tov was not the only one selling amulets in his day but we can assert his amulets were, shall we

say, name brand. Abramson repeats a famous saying about the Baal Shem Tov “if you take the

stories surrounding the Baal Shem Tov literally you are a fool. If you don’t believe them at all

you’re a heretic.” (Who Was the Baal Shem Tov?)

Rachel Kohn, writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about a decade ago

points out that

Perhaps the most influential 'gift' that Hasidism is responsible for is the fore-grounding of
Kabbalistic thought in Jewish life, which has generated a spiritual enthusiasm and creativity
among a younger generation of Jews who might have thought the Christians were right after all,
that Judaism is all about the Law.

It never was, and the interest in Kabbalah, via the Hasidic movement, has led to a rediscovery of
much earlier trends of mystical, poetical, and philosophical Jewish writing.
But whereas Hasidic Judaism employed Kabbalah to invigorate spiritual lives of so many

uneducated Jewish lay people in eastern Europe the descendants of Yehuda Ashlag removed

Kabbalah from Judaism to bring this sort of new, de-Judaized Kabbalah to non-Jews.

One of the reasons the Kabbalah Centre has encountered such controversy and questions of

its legitimacy is its intermixing of the Kabbalah with other non-Jewish or quasi-Jewish elements.

Above I mentioned the infamous red strings worn by the Centre’s Hollywood acolytes.

Astrology would be another example. Reading Rav. Berg’s astrology book one is encouraged to
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locate their birthdate on a chart which will show them which month their correction (or “tikkun”)

is in. Per Kabbalah Centre doctrine finding where my “tikkun” resides is central to my life’s

spiritual work. According to the late Rav, I have an enormous amount of pride left over from my

last incarnation as a Capricorn in which I valued material success over interpersonal

relationships. I was also consumed by social missions yet, ironically, selfishly cut off from other

people. Therefore, with my “tikkun” in Cancer I am encouraged to focus on healthy family and

friend relationships, creating a happy home. (Rav. Berg… Astrology)

Criticism of the Kabbalah Centre’s teachings and profit seeking are not just limited to non-

Kabbalist Jews and other outsiders. The Houston based Kabbalist, Rabbi Yaakov Cohen believes

that the Centre exploits the teachings of Yehuda Ashlag. He says there is a usefulness to it and

that it has merit because they do turn people on to Jewish spirituality but that they just do not go

“next level.” (Kabbalah of the Sulam- Pt. 3) Another Kabbalist critic of the Centre, who also

traces his authority to Ashlag is Dr. Michael Laitman who says of Rav Berg that he

did not study Kabbalah with any true Kabbalist; you can ask Ashlag or Brandwein about it. No
true Kabbalist could have taught him to sell Kabbalah for money. And I never wanted his center.
I had a teacher – the last great Kabbalist, the eldest son of Baal HaSulam and his spiritual
successor – Rav Baruch Ashlag. I was never connected to the Kabbalah Center. I was there once
to give an introductory lecture and immediately understood that there is nothing to learn there.
Whether or not the Bergs and their Kabbalah Centre teach “ genuine Kabbalah” what is most

relevant to point out here is that both the Kabbalah Centre and Bnei Baruch, Dr. Laitman’s

group, see Kabbalah almost as more of an applied universal science than a spirituality. Both

groups have described Kabbalah as a “spiritual technology” which is remarkably similar to

scientology lingo, leading one to wonder if they didn’t copy that group’s marketing scheme

seeing the financial success of that group.

Ultimately, the Kabbalah Centre follows a very American script. Water down theology and

ritual in favor of a generic pop psychology, every now and then conscientiously “branding” what

you’re dispensing with phrases like, in this case, “and as we know from the Kabbalistic wisdom”

as one will often hear David Ghiyam, a self-made millionaire at 15 of the Kabbalah Centre do.

The fact that his Kabbalah Centre biography is sure to mention his financial success is evidence

that the Kabbalah Centre clearly has strong currents of New Thought, Prosperity Gospel, etc

running through its veins. It’s ultimately quite fitting that the Kabbalah Centre’s online address is

kabbalah.com -.com being short for commercial- Kabbalah for commercial purposes, while its

rival Dr. Laitman’s group is at Kabbalah.info and sure enough one will find at kabbalah.info

much more historical, primary source material of the kind mentioned in this paper.

Judaism has no real equivalent of a catechism and aside from Kabbalah no real theology, or

doctrines concerning the nature of its Godhead. It is more concerned with telling its adherents

what to do, rather than what to believe. For those who will inevitably be curious as to why there

is Kabbalah.
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Works Cited

Abramson, Dr. Henry. “Who was the Baal Shem Tov?” YouTube, 22 February 2012,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwJFC4wYPg. Accessed 3 May 2020.
Abramsom, Dr. Henry. “Who was Isaac Luria (the Arizal)?” YouTube, 9 January 2014,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwspR3PH4ME. Accessed 28 April 2020.
Berg, Rav Phillip. Kabbalistic Astrology and The Meaning of Our Lives. New York. Kabbalah
Centre International, 1997. Kindle Edition. “Tikkun Reference Table”, “IF Your Tikkun is in
Cancer.”
Berg, Karen. Two Unlikely People; To Change The World. New, York. Kabbalah Centre
International, 2019.
Britannica. “Sabbatai Zevi” www.britannica.com/biography/Shabbetai-Tzevi. Accessed 1 May
2020.
Cohen, Yaakov. “Kabbalah of the Sulam – Pt. 3.” Youtube, 19 April 2020.
Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2006.
“Isaac Ben Solomon Luria.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed 3/25/20.
Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation (In Theory and Practice). The Estate of
Aryeh Kaplan, 1997.
Laitman, Dr. Michael. “Authentic Kabbalah or Authentic Business.”
www.laitman.com/2008/07/authentic-kabbalah-or-authentic-business, Accessed 30 April 2020.
Matt, Daniel. “Zohar and Kabbalah.” YouTube, 3 December 2012. www.youtube.com/watch?
v=OAkCeMZk-Pw, Accessed 5 April 2020.
Perez, Alex. “Madonna’s Triptych.” Tablet Magazine. 29 September 2004,
www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/madonnas-triptych, Accessed 4 April 2020.
Vineyard, Jennifer. “Madonna Denies Blasphemy Charges.” 19 October 2005
www.mtv.com/news/1511816/madonna-denies-blasphemy-charges-explains-origin-of-isaac,
Accessed 28 March 2020.
Yochai, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. “The Zohar Volume One With the Sulam (Ladder)
Commentary of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag” Yeshivat Kol Yehuda.
Kohn, Rachel. www.abc.net.au/religion/the-baal-shem-tov-a-mystic-healer-and-radical-jew-
1698-1760/10102112
http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/33576?/eng/content/view/full/33576&main
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https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/679300/jewish/What-Is-Lag-BaOmer.htm
http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/4520?/eng/content/view/full/4520&main