Celebrity Mystics: Hollywood Adopts Kabbalah

February 14, 2004
by Lauren Fluger

Hollywood is certainly the last place that Judaic scholars centuries ago would have expected Kabbalah to end up, but the ancient practice of Jewish mysticism seems to have found a place in the lives of some famous Jews as well as Gentiles—such as Britney Spears, Liz Taylor, Paris Hilton, Mick Jagger, Courtney Love and Barbara Streisand, to name a few.

Pop singer Madonna is one the movement’s most ardent followers. She claims it has tremendously improved her life since she first discovered it seven years ago.

“I found answers when I began to study Kabbalah,” she said in a recent interview. I realized that there was, and continues to be, a reaction in the world to all of my words and my actions, good and bad.”

Kabbalah, the study of Jewish mysticism, comes from the Zohar, or ‘Book of Splendor,’ a book of commentary on the Torah.

Originally, Kabbalah served as an extra layer of Jewish learning and living based on knowledge of Torah and rituals.

Rabbis’ exploration of this mysticism reflected their quest for a deeper understanding of the Torah and of their lives.

The Zohar deals with issues such as the nature of God and His identity, as well as with mystical speculations about the creation of the universe and of human beings. Traditionally, study of the Zohar was limited to married, erudite males over 40 years old.

At the center of the new Kabbalah ‘phenomenon’ is the Kabbalah Centre, self-described as the “largest leading educational organization on the wisdom of Kabbalah worldwide.”

The Centre’s headquarters, located in Los Angeles, offers novelties and souvenirs—for a price—along with spiritual guidance. According to a December 2003 article in The New York Times, ‘Kabbalah water’ sells for $3.50, and its placement in synagogue sanctuaries during Torah-reading days ensures that it will obtain the Torah’s positive energy.

Madonna may have started this trend, but others have caught on. During her trial for shoplifting, Winona Ryder wore a ‘Kabbalah bracelet,’ a red string tied with seven loops that is thought to ward off negative forces. Demi Moore recently informed Vogue Magazine that Kabbalah has helped her “discover [her] worth.” And during a recent Gap ad shoot, R&B artist Missy Elliot appeared troubled until Madonna reportedly contracted her personal spiritual guide, Rabbi Eitan Yardeni, to help her.
Said Elliot, “he gave me the red string, and he prayed for me. The rest of the shoot was fine.”

That red bracelet is a key manifestation of one’s involvement in this ‘new age’ Kabbalah.

Britney Spears wore one on her wrist when she appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in November, and even Paris Hilton is reported to have picked up her own protective red bracelet this past November.

According to Jewish tradition, wearing a red string that has been brought to Rachel the Matriarch’s grave in Hebron ensures protection from the evil eye. These same strings—which the Centre sells in packages on their website for no less than $26—are also sold in Israel and in Judaica stores in other countries.

But some feel that to wear the red bracelet simply as a means of protecting oneself from negative looks is to miss the point.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a prolific writer on Jewish mysticism, explained in a recent New York Times article that “the whole idea of the evil eye in Judaism is to become more humble so people don’t envy you. Anything else is just selling snake oil,” he said.

So why are these celebrities so attracted to an ancient and relatively unknown Jewish practice?

Said Rabbi Yehuda Berg, founder of the Los Angeles Kabbalah Learning Centre, in an October New York Daily News article, “sometimes when a person has everything and they still don’t feel fulfilled, they think, ‘Okay, there must be something more to this.’”

The ‘updated’ version of Kabbalah deals with modern issues, such as intimate relations, office politics, money-making, and successful businesses.

This ‘new and improved’ Kabbalah differs greatly from traditional Kabbalistic study. While traditional belief upholds that these esoteric concepts are only for pious and learned men, the Los Angeles branch of the Kabbalah Learning Centre welcomes anyone interested in gaining spiritual perspective. Kabbalah was once so obscure that only few would be able to understand it. But today, Rabbi Berg and his family have opened their doors to the general public.

His son estimates that 40 percent of the Centre’s members are non-Jews.
This ever-burgeoning modern Kabbalah movement has come under a lot of criticism. Some feel that its lack of grounding in Jewish texts makes it vapid and meaningless.

Tradition upholds that the study of Kabbalah includes hundreds of texts and obscure concepts such as numerology.

Each piece of text is studied in great depth and discussed thoroughly.
For one to embrace these concepts, they first had to be well-versed in the Torah, Mishna and many other Jewish texts. Traditionally, Kabbalah is an additional commentary on the Torah; therefore, one needs to be grounded in Torah and mitzvot truly to understand the teachings of the Zohar.

Rabbi Berg teaches his students at the Centre that keeping a copy of the Zohar under their pillow spiritually enlightens them. Said Berg in the New York Daily News, “You could start with the energy just being absorbed. Then the next step would be to read and understand it.”

According to Berg, the greater a connection one has with the Zohar, the more spiritually uplifted they become.

According to Rabbi Mark Diamond, Executive Vice President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, “Kabbalah was an extra level of Jewish learning and living appended to Torah knowledge and observance of mitzvot.

The people who practice Kabbalah are looking for deeper meanings in the Torah.”

“To take the conclusion and divorce it from all the steps that led up to it is inauthentic and can be dangerous,” he said.

Rabbi Shalom Raichik, the head rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Gaithersburg, Maryland agrees.

“The basic answer to why there are restrictions on the study of Kabbalah is that a person has to be able to be grounded in their studies. If you study something that you don’t understand properly, you’ll come to conclusions that are not correct, and you will act upon it in an incorrect way,” he explained.

Diamond agrees. “You can get some very strange ideas about Jewish life if you pick up the Zohar and study it without any Jewish context.”
However, Diamond believes the sincerity of celebrities’ attempts to improve their lives. “I think they’re genuine in wanting to bring meaning to their lives. I commend and applaud that.”

Jewish Texts teacher Rabbi Harold Bell agrees. “I am not in the position to question the motives of these people. We should take their actions for what they are and consider them sincere, unless given reason to believe otherwise.”

However, Diamond believes that the celebrities’ use of mysticism as a means of improving their lives is inappropriate. “We should all be on a quest to bring meaning to our lives. But the solution is shallow and not Kabbalah. People also want a quick fix, an instant spirituality,” he said.

online addendum
The Lion's Tale thanks Dr. David Levy for his contribution to this article. Restrictions in word limits necessary for the print edition do not apply online, and so we are happy to reproduce his contribution in full below:

(1) Understanding and Purpose of Kabbalah?:

Kabbalah from the root qbl (receive), are the received esoteric traditions, which academics call “Jewish Mysticism”, often dealing with secret subjects such as Ma’aseh Bereshit (secrets of creation), Sefirot (HaShem’s pleromatic emanations= Keter, Hokhmah, Binah, Daat, Gevurah, Gedullah, Tiferet, Hod Nezah, Yesod, Malkhut), zimzum (contraction), Tikkun (Repairing), Kavvanah (concentration), Ma’aseh Merkabah (secrets of HaShem’s chariot), yoredei merkabah (those who descend to the chariot), the Heikhalot (HaShem’s palaces in the seven heavens),, malkhim (the science of angels), Sodot (divine secrets), sitrei torah and razei torah (secrets of the Torah), hokhmah nistarah (hidden wisdom), the mystery of the Shem HaMeforash (the tetragramatonwhich Moshe uttered to kill the Egyptian taskmaster), devekhut, (clinging to HaShem), ecstasy, bittul ha-yesh, Atzilut (Emanation), hokmat ha-zeruf (meditation on letter combinations), the doctrine of shemittot, Kidushah (holiness), the messiahs and the messianic era, science of demonology, Kesem Lavanah (white magic), gematria and notricon, Ein Sof (without End or HaShem’s infinity understodd through the negation of a gevul/peras/grenzen), the Shekhinah (the female manifestation of HaShem), ladders of ascent, gilgulim (reincarnations), yode’ei hen (those who know grace), heikhala de-malka (children of the king’s palace), mehazdei hakla (those who reap the field), inon de-allu u-nefaku (those who entered and left in peace), apocalyptic esotericism, and much much more, etc.

There are hundreds of thousands Kabbalistic manuscript texts in archives and research libraries throughout the world, but some of the most well known ones include: Sefer Yezirah (book of Creation which proposes that HaShem created the world with the 22 otiot of the Hebrew alphabet), Sefer ha- Bahir, the Zohar* (footnote #1), Havdalah de Rabbi Akiba, Otiot HaMashiah, Sefer ha-Emunot by Shem Tov b. Shem Tov, Avodat ha-Kodesh by Meir b. Gabbai, Sefer ha-Temunah, Hokmat ha-Egoz, Hilkohot ha-Kisee in Merkabah Shelamah, Ra’aya Meheimna, Sefer ha-Tikkunim), Moses Cordovero’s Or Ne’erav, Tomar Devorah (Palm tree of Devorah), Pardes Rimonim, Sefer ha-Gilgulim, Rabbi Chaim Vital’s Sefer HaHezyanot (Book of Visions), Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi’s Tanya* (footnote #2), Ramhal’s Mesillat Yesharim* (footnote #3) and Derek Ha-Shem, Rav Kook’s The Lights of Return, etc.

Historically Kabbalah developed over time. In the Tanakh the accounts of Ennoch not dying, Eliyahu haNavi being transcended to heaven in a fiery chariot, Eliyahu and Eliysha’s bringing people back to life, and Yehezkel’s vision on the Chabar River in Babylon of four anthropoid figures represented by a man, Ari (lion), Shur (ox), and Nesher (eagle) which correspond according to the Zohar Va-ethannan 252b to the wheels of the chariot centered around Avraham, Yitzak, Yakov, and David HaMelekh. The specification of David haMalekh as the fourth wheel because he represents the messianic era is actually a gemarah where Rabbi Lakish argues that David was so chosen because he completed the whole chariot. After 586 B.C.E. with the Jews in Babylon these mystical traditions continued with Yehezkel’s vision of the dry bones coming back to life and Daniel’s vision of resurrection and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams such as the statue of head of gold, chest of silver, torso of bronze, and feet of clay corresponding to the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. When the Jews returned to Eretz Yisrael in 516 B.C.E. with Ezra and Nehemiah certain books like Megillat Esther during the Persian Period also were interpreted Kabbalstically. For example Mordechai is a gilgul of Yakov because Mordechai refused to bow to the wicked, Haman, shemach Shemo because Haman had an idol around his neck, while Yakov bowed to Esau. Mordechai effects a Tikkun. The previous Lubavitch Rebbe notes that when Yakov bowed to Yakov he bowed to the Shuresh (root) of Esau which was Avraham and not Esauv himself. With regards to Gilgulim Parashat Pinchas is usually interpreted by asserting that Pinchas is a Gilgul of Eliyah ha-Navi since both were zealous for HaShem. During the Greek period Jewish mysticism was undoubtly influenced by Gnosticism. During the Tannatic and Amoraic periods Jewish mysticism flourished as well. Jewish mystical speculation was then relocated to Pumberditha and Sura in Babylon where Rav Ashi and Rava redacted the Talmud. Mysticism continued to be influenced by Sufism in Arabic lands. Mysticism further developed in Medieval Provence particularly up until the 12th century where Rabbi Yitzak Saggi Nahor (Isaac the Blind) meditated in solitude. Later Kabbalah developed in Spain with Mikubalim such as Ezra of Gerona, Azriel, Ramban, Asher ben David (a nephew of Titshaq Saggi Nahor), Yakov ben Sheshet, Yakov ha-Cohen and his disciple Mosheh of Burgos who were active in Castile in the second half of the 13th century- many more also flourished. These Kabbalists of Spain had a big impact on Shelomoh ben Avraham Adret of Catalonia at the end of the 13th century and beginning of the 14th. There were also ecstatic Kabbalists like Abraham Abulafia who traveled to many Jewish communities and who wrote a mystical commentary on Rambam’s Moreh HaNevukhim. Abulafia established traditions that varied in significant ways from the Geronese and Castilian schools. In Spain Yosef Gikatilla also wrote important works on letter combinations and many esoteric subjects. David ben-Yehudah he-Hasid, Yosef of Shushan, and Yosef ben Shalom Ashkenazi must also be noted. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Kabbalistic schools appeared in Greece, Italy, and Erets Yisrael. This time also saw the development of Christian Kabbalah in Italy and Germany. The spread of Kabbalah stemming from the Hasdai Ashkenaz in German and in central Europe continued. For example in 13th century Germany Eleazar of Worms who discoursed on the names of angels and the magical names of HaShem did much in this area. During the 1600s it flourished in Safed where Rabbi Moshe Alshek, Alkabetz, Remak, HaAri HaKodesh, Rabbi Chaim Vital, and many other MiKubalim were active. Lurianic Kabbalah took on characteristic features different from Castillian Kabbalah. One autobiography, Book of Visions by Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620) says a lot about what was going on Safed.. Born in Safed and having studied esoteric subjects with Rabbi Moses Cordovero (1522-70), Rabbi Vital came to see himself as the foremost disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-72) and a successor of Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575)- the author of the Shulchan Arukh, Beit Yosef, and Maggid Mesharim (a mystical diary where he speaks with the Shekhinah personified as a woman). In The Book of visions, Rabbi Vital analyzes the sources of his soul ancestry by tracing the genealogy of his own soul spark and its reincarnations via transmigration and unification. Like Rabbi Vital, Rabbi Komarno believes himself to be his generations messiah of Joseph, places importance on dream interpretation, and gives an account of a prediction of his own destined greatness before birth. The Movement of modern Hasidism beginning with the Baal Shem Tov contributed greatly to the popular spread of Kabbalah across eastern Europe with the phenomenon of Tzadikism and Hasidic Dynasties. The music of Hasidic nigunim took on Kabbalistic significance.* (footnote #4). One of the things the Mitnagdim objected to about the Hasidic Movements of Ger, Alexander, Vishnitz, Habad Lubavitch, Bratslov, Satmar, Belz, etc, and many others was there popular interest in Kabbalah. Although the Vilna Gaon who wrote some kabbalistic commentaries and was an iluyi (genius) who put his feet in ice water to stay awake at night and learn, he would not meet with Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, author of the Tanya, when Rabbi Zalman (ztsl) to visit him in Vilna.

Neil Silberman in his popular book _Heavenly Powers_ attempts to show that Kabbalah is often a revolutionary response to the tyranny of earthly potentates. Silberman's thesis is that the Kabbalah is not only a powerful mystical tradition, but also an explosive political doctrine dedicated to challenging the rule of the earthly powers-that-be. He attempts to show how each of the Kabbalah's main stages of development was in part a response to the social and political changes of the Babylonians, the Roman empire, medieval Christendom, Renaissance Humanism, the Reformation, and the rise of modern Industrial society. In this historical suspence saga, Silberman provideds an introduction to tracing the evolution of Jewish mysticism. Silberman takes readers from Babylon at the time of the prophet Ezekiel to Israel at the time of Rabbi Johanon ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiba, and Rabbi Simon bar Yohai, to Baghdad at the time of Harun ar-Rashid. The development of essoteric transmission of secret teachings proceeds to the Hasidei Ashkenaz, the Gerona circle, through the wars and international intrigue of Medieval Castile, Renaissance Venice, and the court of
Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Our journey culminates in a trip to the magical city of Safed in the mountains of Galilee where we meet great mystical scholars such as R. Solomon Alkabetz (author of Lehah Dodi) and Rabbi Moses Cordovero (author of Pardes Rimmonim, Tomer Devorah, and Or Ne'erav). Silberman recognizes that many of todays Hasidic sages who inherit a mystical tradition from the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezhirech, Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady, and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, preserve, continue, and interpret the Renaissances of previous mystical activity from Provence, Castile, and Safed. Academic scholars of Jewish mysticism such as Gershom Scholem, Isaiah Tishby, Moshe Idel, Joseph Dan, Judah Liebes, Peter Schafer, Elliot Wolfson, David Ruderman, offer us crucial critical objective analysis of the phenomena of Jewish mysticism. Silberman's book however is not academic. It is an introduction for the layperson who enjoys reading well written accounts of the evolution of movements and ideas that are placed within a historical context. Silberman also does not intend to transmit practical details of
"the hows" of inward meditation, magical rituals, and hypnotic incantation. While Silberman does acknowledge that some Jewish mystics in ascents through heavenly worlds have come to gaze upon fiery chariots, heavenly palaces of pure marble, and glimpsed the brilliance of the realm of divine presence, this book is not a manual on the manipulation of the 32 paths of wisdom (see Sefer Yetzirah), how to chanel the energies of the sefirot, how to free and uplift divine sparks, how to understand the details of Tsimtsum, or to become one with the infinite G-d as Ein Sof (without end). It is however a highly readable condensed survey and introduction to the development of the vast and diverse Jewish mystical tradition. This book will be a lot of fun, for some readers!

For Kabbalists, Judaism in all its aspects was a system of mystical symbols reflecting the mystery of HaShem and the cosmos, and the Kabbalists aim in part was to discover and invent keys to the understanding of this symbolism, to unlock the gates in the heavens, and have the soul enjoy the refreshment of the fountains of wisdom perceived therein.

It should be noted that there is a difference in method between academics like Gershom Scholem, Isaiah Tishby, Joseph Dan, Moshe Idel* (footnote #5), Frank Talmage, Yehudah Liebes, Elliot Wolfson, Moshe Halamish, Lawrene Fine, David Halperin, Elliot Ginsburg, etc. approach the subject of Kabbalah from an academic objective University historical approach while those who are “insiders” known as MiKabalim practice Kabbalah as an occult art such as the Sali Baba and many anonymous countless circles of ek-statics living in Safed, Bnai Brak, and other locations in Eretz Yisrael. “Insiders” hold that the Zohar for instance was written by Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai while academics often hold that it was written down by Rabbi Moses De Leon in Spain. The academic study of Kabbalah met resistance from many 19th century Wissenschaft des Judentums scholars such as Heinrich Graetz who viewed Hasidism as a mélange of superstition and social recidivism. Martin Buber (Early Masters and Late Masters) and Hillel Zeitlin, martyr of the Warsaw ghetto, did much to foster academic interest in Hasidism.

Kabbalah is very complicated and difficult to understand and those not grounded in classical Jewish texts the tradition holds should return to the basics. Pirke Avot likens halalkhah to the meat and potatoes (chulent) of Judaism and Kabbalah to the afterdinner drinks.

(2) How can Kabbalah be relevant to everyday life?

There is a difference between Kabbalah iyyunit (speculative Kabbalah) and Kabbalah ma’asit (practical Kabbalah) which was simply an imitation of Maimonides division of philosophy into “speculative” and “practical” in chapter 14 of his Millot ha-Higgayon (Book of Logic/syllogism). The academic Arthur Green, and countless popularizers of Kabbalah like Shmuely Boteah have made careers and published many books arguing that Kabbalah can be made relevant to everyday life. I however hold in the tradition on Rambam’s rationalism that Kabbalah should not be engaged in until the age of 40 and over and unless one is grounded in the background of traditional sources. I do however see benefit from studying the “history of “Kabbalah from an academic perspective as a legitimate University discipline. Any attempt to understand what cannot be fully understood is worthwhile. My grandmother’s uncle’s brother-in-law Dr. Saul Lieberman once introduced Scholem before giving a lecture at the JTS with the comical remark, “All of Jewish Mysticism is complete nonsense (shtiut). But the academic study of “non-sense” is scholarship.” There is much truth in this joke. Kabbalah may deal with things that are beyond the limits of what can be expressed in language. However the search for understanding and the understanding of understanding, what Aristotle calls noesis noesis, is so noble that is redemptive. Therefore the search for Hokhmah, Binah, and Daat- a philosophy of the lived experience of dedicating one’s life to Torah lishmah is certainly worthwhile. The search for the attainment of intellectual virtue however needs to be balanced with the search for the attainment of moral virtue realized through the performance of gemilut Hasidim, acts of kindness, compassion, and mercy.Thus we read in Pirke Avot, “Yafa Talmud Torah Eim Derekh Eretz.”

(3) What do you think of Berg’s Kabbalah Center in L.A.?

I read a New York Times newspaper article about the Kabbalah Learning Center in Los Angeles led by Berg. My reaction was at first one of laughter and then disgust. That is my only familiarity with this popular Hollywood phenomena. Currently I look with skepticism upon making Kabbalah into a “business.” There have been Kabbalistic works like “Shekel HaKodesh” which give mystical significance to the economic realm. However what Berg’s institution is involved in is misrepresenting and propogating misunderstandings about what kabbalah really is and what it should be. Plato who many have seen as a mystic who affirms that truth is reached in silent contemplation of the attributes of HaShem, would view such a center as the propagators of what in Greek is called doxa, or false opinions and beliefs. Kabbalah was not meant to be popularized but relegated for the select few of initiates. Democracy has an impulse to make even the esoteric accessible to people who are not qualified to receive it. DeToqueville prophecized that Democracies tendency to reduce everything down to the lowest common denominator, to popularize, to vulgarize the noble, to make common the rare, to homogenize the life world, to flatten out the heights of thinking and contemplation, to reduce complex ideas to sugar coated pills easily swallowed, in short appeal to what Plato calls “the many” (ad captum vulgi) and DeToqueiville saw that this would be a fatal flaw which will in the end possibly be the downfall of the much good that Democracy has to offer and from which we benefit. The L.A. institution is an American phenomena that attempts to popularize to the many what in its most pure form is only accessible to a select few. Most Kabbalistic texts are in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages so it is impossible for a full understanding of them if such centers relie solely on the English language. When I read the article in the N.Y. times I was overwhelmed by the contradiction that how can people with no background in Judaism (and Jewish thought and meditation) approach the most difficult of subjects in Judaism? Further the values of the commercialized culture of MTV and “easy fixes”, the “sound bite culture”, from which such institutions draw is antithetical to Kabbalah. Kabbalah is not entertainment or feel good self help. Kabbalah involves discipline. The last mishnah in Sotah describes the crisis in which many in America live, “…R. Eliezer the Great says, since the day when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed the Sages began to act like school teachers, and school teachers like synagogue attendants, and synagogue attendants like the people of the land, and the people of the land waxed feebler and feebler, and there is none that seeketh. On whom should we lean?- On our Father in heaven. With the advent of the Messiah presumptuousness shall wax great and produce shall soar in costliness; the vine shall yield its fruit but the wine will be costly; and many shall be converted to heresy and there shall be no rebuke. The house of meeting shall become one for adultery. And Galilee shall be devastated and Gablan shall become desolate; and the people of the border shall wander from twon to twon and none will show them compassion. And the wisdom of the Scribes SHALL BE DECADENT AND THOSE WHO FEAR SIN SHALL BE LOATHSOME; and the truth shall be absent. THE YOUNG SHALL PUT THE ELDERS TO SHAME, and ELDERS SHALL RISE UP BEFORE LITTLE ONES-…the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. The face of the generation is like the face of a dog, and the son will not be shamed before his father. And on whom are we to lean?- On our Father in heaven. R. Phineas ben Jain says, Zeal leads to cleanliness, and cleanliness leads to purity, and purity leads to self-restraint, and self-restraint leads to sanctity, and sanctity leads to humility, and humility, and humility leads to the fear of sin, and the fear of sin leads to piety, and piety leads to divine intuition, and divine intuition leads to the resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead shall come through Eliyah HaNavi of blessed memory, Amen.” These words form the gate through which the Ramhal’s _Path of the Just_ opens- however popularizing Kabbalah as in the LA institute does not in the least do “justice” to the complex and intricate subject of Kabbalah. Kabbalah requires cleanliness, purity, self-restrain, sanctity, humility, fear of sin, piety, divine intuition, grace and the holy spirit. Does the drug and sex culture of Hollywood promote those virtues?

Perhaps the most important thing I can convey to you is the dangers that the tradition associates with Kabbalistic investigations for the unripe or immature and why the LA institute is dangerous. In one section of Haggigah a bar mitzvah child is described as being “burnt up” by meditating on the tetragrammaton. In a well known section of of Hagigah 14b four sages enter Parde through contemplation and ecstasy. Simeon b. Azzai looked and died. Ben Zoma looked and was smitten (mentally he went off the wall). Elisha b. Avuyah called Aher (other) forsook rabbinic Judaism*(see footnote #6) and “cut the shoots” becoming a Greek philosopher or some say a dualistic Gnostic. He saw metratoon sitting in a posture that suggests “there are two powers in heaven” (shtay rishuyut baShamayim).*** Dualism is to be censored according to the Rabbis. If someone says “Modim, Modim” (we give thanks, we give thanks) they are silenced because it was feared that they were recognizing a good deity and an evil deity. The book of Job raises this problem of a good and evil force and the Qumran Dead Sea Scroll sect authored “The War Scroll” in which they posited that the world is ruled by the sons of light (the Essenes) and the sons of darkness (the Romans). With the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash in 70 C.E. and the persecutions of the Romans during the Bar Kokbah revolt in 135 C.E. which gives us the Ten Martyrs in many ways the Dead Sea Sect’s prophecy came true. It is important to remember that Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death by having his flesh flayed and Rabbi Teridyon was wrapped in a Torah Scroll with wool which was lit on fire. The Romans were very cruel in the means by which they tortured Jews. Yet on Pesah we imitate Roman nobility by reclining at the seder with a pillow. The problem of dualism with which Aher got involved is anticipated by the gemarah which warns that we must not conclude that there are two deities, an evil and good one, from the manifestation of HaShem at Shirat HaYam as a mighty warrier representing traits of strict justice and judgement and that of the manifestation of HaShem at Shavuot as a kind, compassionate, merciful, gracious old man with a white flowing beard. These are mere anthropomorphic representations of HaShem who is not ignorant, not a finite, and not a body (AIn Lo Demut HaGuf VeAino Guf). To understand this one must learn over and over again Rambam’s Moreh HaNevukhim and it is perhaps such wisdom that Rabbi Akiva understood as he was the only one of the four who entered Pardes while still in this world alive who ascended in peace and descended in peace. The fate of the other three warns of the extremely dangerous and hazardous nature of Kabbalistic activitity amongs the unripe, immature, and those not grounded in the fundamentals and core texts of the Jewish tradition. Indeed such interest risks one’s sanity. Ben Zoma is referred to as “eating too much honey.” While we do try to sweeten the judgement around Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur by eating honey and Rabbi Yonatan Eyebeshutz wrote a mystical collection of drashot called “the Honeycombs Flow (Yirat HaDevash) be very careful not to get too caught up in Kabbalah. Mysticism is liked to honey. Honey is not a main stable of a healthy diet. Better to engage in Halakhah and Jewishy law which are likened to the stapples and main course of a nutritious diet.

(4) Can Christians practice Kabbalistic rituals?

History documents that there have been many great Christian scholars of the kabbalah including such as Abner of Burgos (see Yitzak Baer, Tarbiz 27, (1988)), Paul de Heredia who composed Iggeret ha-Sodot and Galei Rezaya in the name of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and other tannaim. Christian speculation on Kabbalah also developed amongs the Medicis in Florence and made possible by the Renaissance. These Florentine circles believed that they had discovered in the Kabbalah an original divine revelation to mankind that had been lost and would now be restored and with the adi of which it was possible not only to understand the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, and the Orphics, etc. Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola (1463-94) who had long passages of Kabbalastic texts translated to him into Latin by Samuel b. Nissim Abulfaraj is a good example of a Christian scholar of Kabbalah. Pico began his Kabbalistic studies in 1486 and drew heavily on Menachem Recanati’s commentary on the Torah. He argued that no science can better convince of of the divinity of Jesus Christ than magic and the Kabbalah. Pico tried to prove the dogmas of the Trinity and Incarnation on the basis of Kabbalahistic axioms. In Italy, German, and France further Christian Platonists sprung up. The great Christian Hebraist Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522) also took up the study of Kabbalah and published two Latin books, De Verbo Mirifico (On the Miracle of the Name) and Arrte Cabalistica (On the Science of the Kabbalah). The convert Paul Ricius, the private physician of Emperor Maximilian developed Pico and Reuchlin’s work. Cardinal Egidio da Vitero (1465-1532) rote Scechina and “On Hebrew Letters” which was incluenced by ideas in the Zohar and Sefer ha-Temunah. The Franciscan Francesco Giorgio of Venice (1460-1540) authored De Harmonia Mundi and Problemata in which the Kabbalah assumed an important role. Frenchman Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) translated the Zohar and the Sefer Yezirah into Latin. Another dedicated Christian Kabbalist scholar was Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter (1506-1557) who collected many rare manuscripts that can be found in the Munich library. Jacob Boehme and Knorr von Rosenroth in the 17th century drew on kabbalah. Rosenroth’s Kabbalah De-Nudata (1677-84) made available sections of the Zohar and excerpts from Lurianic Kabbalah. The Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher drew upon the Kabbalistic doctrine of Adam Kadmon. The Dutch Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont made available to the Cambridge Platonists led by Henry More and Ralph Cudworth, much later some Kabbalist ideas. Christian Kabbalists in the 16th century developed the interpretation of alchemical symbolism which is the subject of some of Umberto Eco’s books. Christian Kabbalists like Heinrich Khunrat, Blaise de Vigenere, Abraham von Frankenberg, Robert Fludd, and Thomas Vaughan and Geor von Welling should also be noted. Welling wrote Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum. (1735). F. C. Oetinger influenced Hegel and Schelling. A late phase of Christian Kabbalah is represented by Martines de Pasqually (1727-1774) in his Traite de la reintegration des etres. His disciple was Louis Claude de St. Martin. More recently still Franz Josef Molitor’s (1779-1861) wrote Philosophie der Geschichte oder Ueber die Tradition which drew on Christian Kabbalah. So yes, there can be Christian Kabbalists who know Hebrew and Aramaic. Moshe Idel has written extensively on Christian Hebraicists who explored Kabbalah.

(5) What do you think of the Hollywood craze for Judaism?

The Hollywood craze may act as negative publicity for Judaism. It may eclipse the fundamentals of Halakhah. It is also may neglect the rationalistic tradition in Judaism of which Rav Saadia Gaon’s _Sefer Emunot Ve Deot_, Rambam’s _Moreh HaNevukhim_, Abraham ibn Daud’ s _Emunah Ramah_, Ralbag’s _Milhamot HaShem_, and countless other Aristotelian works are a part of. The Haskalah and the modern Enlightenment of Moses Mendelssohn is also abandoned in favor of more glitzy and sexy subjects. There is no engagement with the Kantian Jewish tradition of Solomon Formstecher, Samuel Hirsch, Nachman Krochmal, and Solomon Ludwig Steinheim, Moritz Lazarus, and Hermann Cohen. Kabbalah is viewed by some historians like Jacob Katz as a rebellion and response to Jewish philosophic rationalism.

(6) What do you think of the intentions of the Hollywood Kabbalists?

I cannot speak for the intentions of Hollywood stars such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton. I do not know them and do not watch them in the media. In fact I would be unable to recognize them.. However I can assure you that their unsneisdic mode of being, lifestyles, and manners are probably counterthetical to the grace, beauty, nobility, of the Shekhinah which is a subjet of Kabbalah. Beauty in kabbalah is a beauty of the soul- not of the flesh. Greek Philosophy promises us that this beauty in the soul is eternal, psuche ton anthropos athanatos, but the consumer quick fix, glitzy, immodest culture of which these Hollywood actors are a part is ephemeral and fly by night. I am not opposed to film as an artistic medium. One must choose the films that they watch very carefully. The majority of Hollywood films produced on the market I have no interest in. Ergo, the Brandeis Film institute, Ma’aleh Film School in Jerusalem produce plenty of good films that make Hollywood unnecessary. The Drug/pleasure hedonistic culture of Hollywood is something I try to distance myself from. When I walk into my rented efficiency at night after work and Kollel- and see the Shas and other great texts on the shelves I know that there is plenty to learn without the seduction of Hollywood. As Rabbi Tarfon says, “the day is short, the task is great, the laborers are idle, and the wage is great, and the Master is urgent.”

***footnote #1 on editions of Zohar in Englishand the question of the permisability to translate Kabbalistic texts***

Many frum Jews forbid the Zohar to be translated from Aramaic into other languages. However a good Hebrew translation was done by Isaiah Tishby called _Mishnat HaZohar_. The Zohar composed mostly in lyrical Aramaic is a mystical mosaic of Bible, medieval homily, spiritual fantasy, and imaginative commentary or Midrash on the Torah. In it a group of rabbis, Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai and his disciples, wander through the hills of Galilee, discovering and sharing secrets of Torah- at times they interpret the actions of biblical figures, and at other times, they take center stage themselves through adventures on the road and their encounters with various astonishing characters. Though the precise history of the Zohar is shrouded in mystery, academic historians identify Rabbi Moses ben Shem Tov de Leon in 13th Century Spain, as the creative force behind writing down much of the Zohar while traditionalists ascribe its authorship much earlier to Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai. Along with esoteric works like the Bahir, Tanya, and countless other texts, the Zohar is the foremost classic of Kabbalah and thus deserves to be a part of every library.
Moshe Idel correctly and succinctly notes that "Daniel Matt's work is superior to any other available translation of the Zohar (in English) because of its superb poetic language, the exegetical contribution of its copious notes, and its superior underlying Aramaic text, which was specially prepared by Dr. Matt from numerous original Zohar manuscripts and serves as the basis for his translation." Matt's text is the most authoritative English translation of the Zohar. It is the only English edition that goes directly to the source- unearthing many of the major surviving manuscripts of the original language. It restores much of what was censored out of the genteel prose of the previous English translation composed in the 1930s by Harry Sperling, Maurice Simon, and Paul Levertoff and published by Soncino press. Libraries that own the Soncino edition of the Zohar should certainly purchase Daniel Matt's twelve volume more critical edition as well. The Sperling edition avoided unfamiliar terms, censored erotic material and images, skipped difficult passages and even entire sections. Since Matt's translation is accompanied by commentary and critical apparatus of notes the esoteric symbolism of the Zohar is more penetrable revealing some of the unique terminology, multiple meanings, and cryptic connotations. Matt's running commentary on the same page with the text makes the mysteries of the Zohar more accessible.
A work of this kind is a significant development in the dissemination of Kabbalah to readers of English. However historically such popularization of Kabbalah was resisted by the Mitnagdim who opposed the Hasidim for teaching Kabbalah more generally. The Vilna Gaon would not meet with Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi for instance. The Pritzker edition makes more widely available the estoteric teachings of this complicated and difficult area. It can be argued that without knowledge of Aramaic and Hebrew the language of traditional texts of Kabbalah such as the Zohar a reader will not be able to enter fully into the mystical gates of which Kabbalah speaks. For instance the following topics in Kabbalah in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages have multilevel valences accessible perhaps only to Mikubaalim: ma'aseh Bereshit (secrets of creation), Sefirot (HaShem's pleromatic emantiaons (Keter, Hokmah, Binah, Daat, Gevurah, Gedulah, Tiferet, Hod, Nezah, Yesod, Malkhut), zimzum (contraction), Tikkun (reparing), Kavvanah (concentration), Ma'aseh Merkabah (secrets of HaShem's chariot), yoredei Merkabah (those who descend to the chariot), The Heikhalot (HaShem's palaces in the 7 heavens), malkhim (angels), Sodot (divine secrets), sitrei Torah and razei Torah (secrets of the Torah), hokmah nistarah (hidden wisdom), the mystery of the Shem HaMeforash (the tetragrammaton that Moshe uttered to slay the Egyptian taskmaster), devekhut (clinging to HaShem), bittul ha-yesh, Atzilut (Emanation), hokmat ha-zeruf (meditation on letter combinations), the doctrine of shemittot, Kidushah (holiness), Mashiach, science of demonology, gematria and notricon, Ein Sof (Without end or HaShem's infinity- negation of gevul/peras/grenzen), seulah (ladder of ascent), gilgulim (reincarnations), yode'ei hen (those who know grace), heikhala de-malka, mehazdei hakla (those who reap the field), inon de-allu u-nefaku (those who entered and left in peace), apacalyptic essotericism, and much much more. Many religous Jews fluent in Aramaic and Hebrew will undoubtly object to Matt's translation into English out of fear that knowledge of the original language of the texts of Kabbalah are prerequisite for their understanding. Many of these texts have not been translated into English such as: Havdalah de Rabbi Akiba, Otiot HaMashiah, Sefer ha-Emunot by Shem Tov b. Shem Tov, Avodat ha-Kodesh by Meir b. Gabbai, Sefer ha-Temunah, Hokmat ha-Egoz, Hilkhot ha-Kisee in Merkabah Shelamah, Ra'aya Meheimna, Sefer ha-Tikkunim, Or Ne'erav of Rabbi Moses Cordoveros, Pardes Rimonim, Sefer ha-Gilgulim. The following Kabbalistic texts in English are only the "tip of the iceberg": Sefer Yezirah translated by Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer ha-Bahir translated by Gershom Scholem, Remak's Tomar Devorah translated by Shragastein for Feldheim, Sefer HaHezyanot (book of Visions by Rabbi Chaim Vital), Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya translated by Kehot Publishing, Ramhal's Derekh Ha-Shem and Mesillat Yesharim translated by Mordecai Kaplan and others, the Lights of Return by Rav Kook, etc. Some resistant to the Zohar being translated into English could cite Agnon's comment that "Anyone who translates is a liar. And anyone who doesn't translate is a thief." Bialik commented that reading in translation is like kissing the bride through the veil. When the Tanakh was miraculously translated into Greek by 70 elders all in different rooms but who came up with the exact same rendering one gemarah has it that this was a bad thing because Hellenized Jews would then assume that they did not have to learn Hebrew to read the original text. Further the Septuagint paraphrases and alters the meaning of certain passages such as confusing whether Pharoah's daughter retrieved Moses with her (yadah) or did she send out her maidens to retrieve the baby in the basket? When the Tanakh was translated into Latin in the Vulgate by St. Jerome many rabbis lamented the triumph of Edom. The translation into Arabic known as the Tafsir also altered the meaning of verses for example in the Akedah where the standard translation is "For now
I know (yad'ati) that you are a God fearing man." However Rav Saadia Gaon's Arabic translation of the verb yad'ati is quite different. Instead of the expected "araftu (I knew), we have "arraftu alnas", which means "I have made known to mankind." The consequences of Rav Saadia's translation choce is to emphasize the omniscience of God. God didn't learn anything new whne Abraham was about to kill Isaac and the Malakh cries "Al Tishlach Yadchah Al HaNaar." The test is to educated mankind not God who is perfect. Likewise Mendelssohn's German translation the Beur and Rozenzweig and Buber's later translation (Die Heilige Schrift und Ihren Verdeutschung) of the Tanakh in German represents interpretations that serve as intermediaries between the reader and the orignal meaning. The Syriac translation (the Peshitta) is another case and point. Thus it can be concluded from these examples of translation that the Zohar's translation into English is a mixed blessing for some traditional Jews.
Daniel C. Matt spent the past four years in Jerusalem completing the first phase of his immense project which involves publishing in twelve volumes an annotated English translation of the Zohar. The first two volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition are set to appear from Stanford University Press on November 7, 2003, with a new volume scheduled to appear approximately every year. For over twenty years Matt served as Professor of Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He also taught at Stanford University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has published six books, including: Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment; Zohar: Annotated and Explained; The Essential Kabbalah; and God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Spirituality.
Volume I includes the Zohar's own introduction to the work and its explication of the stories of Creation and Noah's Ark in Genesis. In this volume there is also an introduction by Arthur Green that traces the development of Kabbalah and the historical and literary significance of the Zohar and a Translator's Introduction by Daniel C. Matt that describes how he was able to establish the Aramaic text and offers suggestions on "How to Read the Zohar."

***footnote #2 on editions of Tanya****

Tanya should be read in the original Hebrew. If a Hebrew translation is needed use the Kehot editions. The following is an assessment of Steinsaltz translation and commentary: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has written an inspiring and illuminating introduction to the Tanya, including overviews of its broad philosophical and spiritual messages as well as a point-by-point commentary on the text written originally by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Steinsaltz' commentary covers only the introduction and the first twelve chapters of Tanya, a fundamental work of Hasidism and one of the greatest books of moral teaching (mussar) of all time. The Kehot Publication Society has granted permission to use the English translation of the Tanya. Steinsaltz has added explanations of basic Hasidic concepts, theoretical background, metaphors and parables from daily life, and stories from the past and present lives of the Hasidim. This remarkable book helps us learn how we can elevate our soul to a higher level of awareness and understanding. Steinsaltz' book contains a Glossary defining and expounding on various terms and concepts. Steinsaltz' book adds to the work of Nissan Mindel's biography on Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi and his The Philosophy of Chabad.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is a scholar, teacher, scientist, writer, mystic, and social critic. Best known for his monumental commentary on the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Steinsaltz is the recipient of the Israel Prize and a resident scholar at academic institutions including Yale and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Steinsaltz' book is recommended for public, Jewish, religion libraries hosting Jewish Studies Departments. No library should be without the complete Kehot bilingual edition of the Tanya by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and Rabbi Steinsaltz' commentary on the cohesive unit of the first twelve chapters is a welcome addition helping to make that part of the original text more discernable and better understood. If your library does not have the bilingual edition published by Kehot of the Tanya they should purchase this classic before even Rabbi Steinsaltz' commentary and translation. No library should be without Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi's work. It is not only a fundamental text of Chabad Lubavitch but a classic in the long tradition of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.

***footnote #3 on editions of Mesillat Yesharim**

It is crucial to have the Mesillat Yesharim in Hebrew. If an English crutch is needed use the Shraga Silverstein edition. In Yaakov Feldman’s translation of the Mesillat Yesharim he offers a modern commentary on Ramhal's classic He applies a modern twentieth century frame of reference to make this work contemporary to the needs and concerns of English reading audiences. For example Feldman relates the tehologically laden term "vestibule" (prozdur in Pirke Avot 4:21- HaOlam ha zeh prozdur le olam ha ba)to a sotry about a modern businessman called to give a presentation to a corporate executive (p. 13). As well certain elucidations of text by Feldman offer to supplement readers' knowledge in understanding the Ramhal's method and purpose. Feldman clarifies for the reader allusions made by Ramhal to the Torah, the oral Torah, and the Kabbalistic literature. For example Feldman in a note (#14, p.229) cites in English for the reader the famous baraita of R. Phinehas Ben Jair (Sotah 9:15; Avodah Zarah 20b) that describes the order in which one may attain various character traits, upon which the Ramhal based his book. R. Phineas ben Jair says, Zeal leads to cleanliness, and cleanliness leads to purity, and purity leads to self-restraint, and self-restraint leads to sanctity, and sanctity leads to humility, and humility leads to fear of sin (yirat chet), and fear of sin leads to piety, and piety leads to divine intuition, and divine intuition leads to the resurrection of the dead, and the ressurection fo the dead shall come through Eliyahu haNavi of blessed memory. Amen." Each of these virtues forms a three part section in the work. Feldman has added an introduction to each of the books original 26 chapters (the gematria of the tetragramaton). These introductions act as overal presentations of the contents of the chapters involved in the part and attempt to Hebraize the English terms as much as possible by citing the connotations the original would indicate. Feldman then comments upon particulars within the body of the translation which call for explanation and focus. Thirdly, Feldman includes a synopsis of the main pointsof each part in abbreviated and accessible form for the reader's use and partcial appllication of the principle sof the book. While Feldman has retained the original 26 chapters he has also divided the book into ten parts, nine of those parts corresponding to the 9 traits Ramhal dwells upon, and the 10th to Ramhal's introduction and first chapter. These user-friendl divisions, introductions and summaries might be of particular help to neophytes in their introduction to this ethical work. Hebrew readers may find that previous Hebrew and bilingual editions such as those by Shraga Silverstein and Mordecai Kaplan may be preferable because they are printed alongside the Hebrew text. Kaplan's editions also includes an excellent essay on the differences between philosophic ethical works by thinkers such as Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics) and Kant (The Metaphysics of Morals) and Jewish ethical works by sages such as R. Bahya ibn Paquda (Hovot ha-Levavot) and Rambam (Shemonah Perakhim). Kaplan's work will be objectionable to some more traditional orthodox readers since he eliminated from his siddur the Torah blessings and censored from his Pesah Haggadah "???? ???? ?? ????? ??? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ??? ??
Ideally the reader's interest will be piqued in studying more of Ramhal's owrk including Derekh HaShem, Da'ath Tevunoth, Zohar Tinyana, poetry, and dramas. Ramhal teaches us how to make people morally, and intellectually better through discipline of self-mastery and dedication. These teachings are never more relevant and urgant than today when corrosive forces threaten to turn many away from the paths of righteousness, piety, and truth. We must remember the the perverse, licentious, and depraved world described in Sotat 9:15 which precedes the baraita that provides the structural principle of Ramhal's work. Ramhal teaches discipline of the inner disposition in alife of piety, saintliness, and proper conduct. Ramhal teaches virtues of caution, control, modesty, abstinence, honesty, compassion, benevolence, reverence, fearing and loving G-d, cleanliness, and humility. Ramhal also warns us to shun the vices of levity (kol rosh) and laughter, mockery, gossip, lashon ha-rah, lazziness, drunkeness, arrogance, anger, jealousy, pride, covetousness, and jealousy. Feldman's book might have been supplemented by biographical background about the Ramhal. For example how he was put in herem (excommunicated) for studying/learning kabbalah when he was under the age of 40 and never married. Kabbalah holds that Ramhal lived until 40 years old because he was a gilgul of Rabbi Akiba since Rabbi Akiba did not start learning until the age of 40.

***footnote #5 on Moshe Idel who published dissertation on Abraham Abulafia (I was in a class with Dr. Idel on Abulafia in 1988)

Idel’s work on Abulafia is thought provoking, enriching, rewarding, instructive, interesting, scholarly, and highly readable and draws on primary oriignal sources such as manuscripts from the Vatican, Oxford, Muenchen, N.Y. (JTS), Paris (Seminaire Israelite de France), British Library, Jerusalem, Moscow, Leiden, etc. Highly accessible to layman and scholar, this carefully written, authoritative, and outstanding book demonstrates much research and is an important contribution to the topic. This excellent edition makes available two out of print studies by Idel published by SUNY press in 1987 and 1989. _The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia_ (transl. by Chipman) and _Language, Torah, and Hermeneutics in Abraham Abulafia_ (trans. by M. Kallus). His most recent edition on Abulafia is an edition that corrects misprints, completes certain blank spots in the learned footnotes, and provides a unified system of transliteration of Hebrew words into Roman script.
Moshe Idel's method of dealing with Abulafia's thought has been to gather the relevant material from the scores of manuscripts and to present it with the intention of enabling the reader to have unmediated connection with the texts in translation, but also to interpret them, both through the act of presenting them within specific context, as well as by deciphering the allusions and sources of the author.
Abulafia's stratus is controversial as a spokesman of the ecstatic Kabbalah. Idel begins by discussing the senses of sight and hearing of the mystic in a state of ecstasy and the techniques enabling him to reach this state. He explores the nature of mystical experience and related matters in clarifying the importance of Abulafia, who has given us an extensive literary heritage, within the framework of Jewish medieval mysticism. Idel's analysis of Abulafia's mysticism demonstrates reference to an entire Kabbalistic school, spreading over many years and draws on the study of the writings of many different Kabbalists. However Idel shows how Abulafia's Kabbalah differed from the classical theosophic-theurgic Spanish Kabblah of Castile and Catalonia.
Idel’s books are recommended for all libraries that collect works on Jewish mystiicism, the history of Kabbalah, Jewish culture, and Sephardic studies. Since Chaim Wirszubski in his study, _Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism_ has definitely established that Abulafia's writings, translated into Latin, were one of the main sources of Christian Kabbalah, this book will also want to be purchased by libraries that collect the history of Christian Kabbalah. In Idel’s work “Studies in Maimondies,” Idel demonstrates that Rambam is an Aristotelian rationalist, and not a Kabbalist, while to be sure the Rambam's work influenced Kabbalah. For example Abulafia's commentary on the 36 secrets of the Moreh HaNevukhim, Sitre Torah, is just one of many Kabbalistic works that sought to appropriate the Rambam's teachings to the Kabbalistic camp. Abulafia's pupil, Gikatilla in his mystical commentary to the Moreh HaNevukhim also sought to relocate Maimonides' teaching within the constellation of Jewish mysticism. The legend of Maimonides conversion to Kabbalah by Rabbi Yakov the Nazarite seems connected to Rabbi Yitzak of Acre's presentation in Meirat Einaim. Rambam however rejects a corporeal Creator espoused in works such as Shi'ur Qomah, and encapsulated by Yigdal's proclamation, "Ain Lo Demut HaGuf VeAino Guf." In that the Sekel HaPoal is the Kesher Bain Adam VeHaShem, the irrational element in Kabbalah made the Rambam very cautious and warry.

***footnote #4 on Kabbalah and Hasidic Niggunim***

Dov Bear Pinson popular book _Inner Rhythms: The Kabbalah of Music_ is accessible to the layman, though footnotes offer rabbinic sources for those who wish to know more. Although not a history of Jewish music or a technical treatise in musicology. this interesting book does offer a meditation on Jewish music within the context of Hasidic mystical traditons for the layman. Pinson testifies to the power of music when he recounts how, through intense kavanah (concentration/intention), the Baal Shem Tov's soul entered eternity through song. Further testimony is given in the account of Rabbi Michael of Zlotchov, who, before he died, sang a melody with intense concentration to ascend to the loftier worlds, a phenomenon we call _ratzu beli shuve_, a withdrawal without return.
Music is the link between man and the heavenly realms. Thus when the Toroh, Haftorah, and Megillot are chanted/layned with the proper Masoretic cantillation, singing the correct musical trope opens the palace doors of the seven heavens (see Rabbi Aaron ben Moses ben Asher's _Dikduke ha-Ta'amim_ and _Ta'ame ha Ta'amim).
Pinson describes how meditation, when accompanied by music, can allow for _mochin d'gadlut_ (expanded consciousness). Prophets like Elisha would listen to music to attain a higher state of consciousness, thereby elevating the soul to prophecy (II Kgs 3:15). Pinson notes that, by dancing in a circle, Hasidim can achieve a level of happiness through _bittul_ (self nullification). The importance of music and dance is also to be noted in Parashat Beshellah where we sing Shiras haYam, in which Miriam, timbrel in hand, leads the Israelite women in dance and song, proclaiming, "Shir LaAdoshem Ki Goah Goah..."
In that the Tzemach Tzedek, the grandson of Rabbi Shneur Zalman regards song as an expression of the inner soul, Pinson clearly diagrams the four parts of the soul: nefesh (soul), ruah (spirit), neshama (breath), chaiyah (living essence), and their correlations with the four worlds of Kabbalah: asiyah (completion), yitzirah (formation), beriah (creation), and atziluth (emanation), which in turn have correlations with the four sacred letters of the tetragrammaton.
Pinson's work, which focusses on music within the context of Hasidic mysticism, is not the last word on the subject of Jewish music. It is however, a welcome popular addition to the vast literature on Jewish music, which includes the following important works: Alfred Sendrey's _Music in Ancient Israel_, Abraham Idelsohn's _Jewish Music in Its Historical Development_, Kurt Sach's _The Wellsprings of Music_, Johann Weiss's _Die Musikalischen Instrumente in den Heiligen Schriften des Alten Testamentes_, and Joseph Yasser's Restoration of Ancient Hebrew Music. Also see Braun's work on ancient Jewish music reviewed in this CESJDS book review database. Braun's work is a scholarly but accessible to the layman and a must read as the first book on Jewish music for those interested in Jewish music in antiquity.

***footnote #6 on Aher’s dualism (based on a paper written for Rabbi Joseph Baumgarten in a course on Sektim Yam HaMelakh***

*Dualism is a theological view that sees an eternal conflict between the warring powers of good and evil. The rabbis refer to the doctrine of two powers as stay rishiyut (Hag. 15a, Gen R. 1; Eccl. R. 2:12) In rabbinic literature the rabbis rejected the dualism of groups such as the Manicheans, Gnostics, and Zoroastrians. The religion of Zoroaster assigns all that is good to Ahuramzda and all that is evil to Ahriman. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901 Zoroastrianism, Philonic theosophy, Manicheanism, and gnostiism were the dualistic phenomena opposed by the rabbis. However the Essenes embraced dualism and in the War scroll the war between the sons of darkness (Rome) and the Essenes (sons of light) is outlined. Dualism is refuted by passages such as Isaiah 45:7 where we read that HaShem formed light and created darkness, that He “is the Maker of peace and Creator of evil which found its way into the daily liturgy when we say yotzer Or oBoray Heshech oseh Shalom oBoray et Hachol. In the liturgy the word “ra” into “ha-Kol” is prompted y an aversion for having “evil” directly associated with G-d’s name. This benediction is justified by Berakhot 1:4 that specifies that one must preface the Shema with two benedictions and follow it with one. The first benedictions are named for their beginnings Yozer Or, Creater of Light, Aversion to dualism is further seen by the rabbis is their explanation that the yezer ha-ra can be an agency working for the good (Gen Rabbah 9) since no one would ever marry, build a house, or earn a living without the yezer ha-ra. In Berakhot we read, that if someone says Modem Modem, he is silenced. Since the eighteenth benediction begins with Modim to repeat this term twice would be tantamount to belief in a dual divinity. In the gemara of Berakhot 33b we read that we understand why he is silenced if he says, “We give thanks, we give thanks” because he is manifesting belief in two powers. The Essenes did not silence such practice as is apparent from the Thanksgiving Psalm which reads, “I thank thee my God for Thou has dealt wonderously to dust and mightly towards a creature of clay. I thank The, I Thank thee. Elbogen comments on the rejection of repeated use of Modim when he writes, “Einschube in diesen Text scheinen schon fruh ublich gewesen zu sein, die Mischna erwahnt und verpont zwei, deren Sinn und Zweck uns nicht mehr verstandlich sind, weil sie wahrscheinlich mit gnostischen Anschauungen im Zusammenhang stehen, namlich die Wiederholung des Wortes Modim am Anfange und die Satze “Al Ken Tzipor yegiah rahamechah ve-al Tov Yibarechichah tovim oder yizkor shimechah, die jedenfalls ans Ende gestellt wurden. Das Verbot hat nicht verhindert, daB auch nach 300 einzelne Vorbeter sinc die Freiheit nahmen, ahnliche Satze enzufugen (Ber. 33b) The gemarah in Berakhot goes on to say that if one say “be your name mentioned for good” because this implies for the good only and not for the bad, and we have learnt a man must bless God for the evil as he blesses Him for the good. This tag remark is similar in content to Megillah 4:9. Similarly Yerushalmi Megillah 4:10 directly states that he who says “May the good bless you- this is two powers.” Repeatedly liturgical language that suggests two powers is censored by the rabbis. The relationship between Aher’s apostasy and “two powers in heaven” is based on Hagigah 15a. Having successfully avoided the dangers of ascent to Pardes Aher arrives at the Pardes and sees the angel Metratron enthroned in heaven. Astounded Aher asks whether there are two powers in heaven and becomes a heretic when he returns to earth. The rabbis themselves associated “two powers” with Aher who had traveled to heaven and seen Metratron in a posture suggesting two powers. Aher’s observation that Metratron’s seated posture gives the impression that there are two powers is not illogical. It stands to reason that divine and exalted creatures seated in heaven are enthroned. The rabbis are determined to refute the whole idea of heavenly enthroned by stating that such things as sitting, and other anthropomorphic activities must be interpreted symbolically for a pure conception of heaven. Thus Rambam enjoins Ain Lo Demut HaGuf VeAino Guf. Reports of two powers in heaven were seen by Graetz as extreme Gnosticizing within Judaism, a tendency exemplified by Aher and characterized by a rejection of those aspects of Judaism which wer difficult or dangerous to observe in the Hadrian persecutions. Trevers Hereford believes that the two powers in heaven were Gnostic Christians who argued that the plural form of Elokim suggested more than one power. R. Simlai and R. Yohanan are credited with a principle for defeating heretics who based their belief on the plurality of divinitities on scripture. For instance some heretics used statements like “Let us make man in our image (Gen 1:26) as positive proof that there is more than 1 God. Either Rabbi Yochanan or R. Simlai simply observed that wherever God is described in plural terms a singular form follows closely in scripture, disproving the heretical exegesis. Frank Cross in his book _Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic_ argues that the pluaral form of God’s name was a common title, not a plural name, also prevalent in the Canaanite language.

In Mekilta of R. Ishmael in section Bahodesh 5 Shira 4 the contrast between God revealed at the crossing of the Reed Sea as a young mighty warrior and the appearance of God at Sinai as an old man full of mercy is made. However lest scripture give an opportunity to the nations to say “there are two powers” the verse in Shemot, “I am the L-rd your God” is asserted. In this passage from the Mekilta we find two manifestations of God. On the first He is a young warrior. In the second He is an old man at Sinai. The passage allows the interpretation that God changes aspects. The citation of Dan 7:9 opens up the possibility of heretical application of dualism attributed to God. However the rabbis forbid that no doctrine of two powers in heaven should be derived from the passage. Exodus 15:3 the verse being commented upon, is itself the proof-text that repudiates the false doctrine. At the end of the section there is a peroration which articulates implications present already in the designation “two powers in heaven” by directly stating that the doctrine is a threat to monotheism and condemning it roundly with biblical texts from Isaiah and Deuteronomy. In Pesikta Rabbati there is a similar passage where the two manifestations of God as a warrior at the Reed sea and God as an old man at Sinai are observed. In regard to God’s guises we are told that R. Hiyya bar Abba says, “If a whoreson should say to you there are two gods, quote God as saying in reply, “I am the One of the Sea and I am the One of Sinai.” The sugya goes on to have Rabbi Levi teach about God’s different faces. Again R. Hiyya bar Abba says that if a whoreson should say to you there are two gods reply to him scripture does not say “the gods have spoke. Face after face but The L-rd has spoken with you face after face. Rabbi Levi (290-320 C.E.) first contributes the midrash that God appears in whatever form is appropriate to His action. R. Hiyya b. Abba answers in Aramaic that a heretic says there are two gods. The rabbinic tradition cited in the name of Rabbi Akiba that God has two aspects of mercy and justice associated with Him. The tetragrammaton signifies his mercy and compassion and the plural form of the name his strict justice and judgement that are activated on Yom Kippur as G-d moves back and forth between the throne of forgiveness and justice God still is the same entity as He moves from one throne to the other. Deuteronomy 32, Isaiah 44, Exodus 20:2 remain proof texts deoreita for the unity of God.

In the continuation of our passage from the Mekilta Rabbi Nathan offers refutation of the heretics who say there are two powers. Rabbi Nathan directs his remarks against the sectarians, who are viewed by the rabbis as heretics. In Sifre Devarim 379 we find an anonymous midrashic warning against belief in two powers. Those who deny the existence of God are refuted by reference to Devarim 32:39.Those who believe in two powers in heaven are refuted with the continuation of the same verse. Those who believe in God but deny his ability to resurrect are refuted by Isaiah 44:6, Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, and a passage from Daniel that some who sleep in the dust will rise to praise. Also asserted in the midrash is the power of G-d to resurrect and meet out reward and punishment. The two powers argument is brought up because the Hebrew word NY is repeated twice, possibly implying two speakers. The charge that one god might be thought to be in charge of killing while another in resurrection is countered by the use of Hosea 6:2 where God says that He has struck down and will heal. From this periscope we can conclude that Deuteronomy 32:39 became a favorite scripture- like Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 6:4, and Isaiah 44-47 to defeat heretical notions of dualistic godhead. The idea of the sefirot was used by some non-Jews to argue for notions of not only dualism, trinitarianism (Hokmah, Binah, Daat), and multiplicity in the Godhead. The Rabbis recognized the dangers of such incorrect interpretations of Kabbalah when not mediated by the proper grounding in traditional texts.