What Kabbalah Is
&
What Kabbalah Is Not

Questions Everyone Asks; 
Answers Everyone Should Know!
 
By Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok.
Copyright © 1993 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.

Before you embark on a course of Kabbalah study,
here are some basic things that you should know:

Real Kabbalah Is:

* Real Kabbalah
is the metaphysical understandings underlying the physical commandments
and stories of the holy Torah given by G-d to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai.

* Real Kabbalah
is more than a subject of learning, 
it is a method of practice that revives the living spirit of the Torah 
that is concealed within it’s every word and letter.

* Real Kabbalah
explains the deepest meanings and reasons
for observing the Torah and Rabbinic commandments.

* Real Kabbalah
reveals the secret spiritual laws that govern the human soul,
individual and collective destiny and spiritual evolution.

* Real Kabbalah
reveals G-d’s master plan of the external universe and how, 
by our observance of the 613 Torah commandments,
we integrate the outer universe with the personal universe that is inside us.

* Real Kabbalah
is the secret wisdom that is studied by holy Rabbis today 
enabling them to perform miraculous deeds.

* Real Kabbalah
offers the most profound, experiential system of meditation
that enable one to achieve Devekut (ecstatic, prophetic union with G-d).

* Real Kabbalah
study and practice is considered by the Ari’zal, the Ba’al Shem Tov 
and others to be an essential and required part of Torah learning.
The Gaon of Vilna states that without proper Kabbalistic insight 
even the simplest of Torah knowledge remains unclear.

* Real Kabbalah
is an integral part of Torah and Halakha (Jewish Law).
The two can never be separated.
Only through the proper vessels can the Divine light shine.

One must be completely observant of Jewish Law 
in order to properly study Kabbalah.
Without this, Real Kabbalah can be quite dangerous!

Real Kabbalah Is Not:

* Real Kabbalah
is not black magic. It has no connection to the occult and is not superstitious.

* Real Kabbalah
does not have any Greek, Egyptian or other non-Jewish cultural elements.
It is not Christian, Rosicrucian or Hermetic.

* Real Kabbalah
has nothing to do with modern "new age" beliefs or eastern religions.

* Real Kabbalah
is not just a philosophical outlook on life that can be divorced
from the full observance of Jewish Law (Orthodox Halakha).

* Real Kabbalah
can never be correctly learned academically in a secular environment.
Mere human intellect is not strong enough to receive the Light of G-d.

* Real Kabbalah
will never be understood unless one is fully observant of Jewish Law,
which is the vessel that receives the Kabbalistic insights.

With these insights you are now ready to proceed.

When you accept the Torah, fully and completely, you may then proceed to explore Her many areas.

Kabbalah is the secret innermost chamber of the Torah.

No one can ever start the study of the Torah at the end, but only at the beginning.

Let the sweet flavor of the Kabbalah linger in your mouths as you study Torah, Gemara and Halakha.

Once the Shekhina of G-d has witnessed your sincerity in the study of Her Torah, She will eventually open up to you Her inner chambers.

Follow Her Ways (the Halakha), live by them, for they are the holy robes that cloak the Shekhina and crown Her with glory.

Only when one has cast aside all falsehoods of the non-kosher Kabbalah and becomes fully observant of the Divine commands will be welcomed by the Shekhina.

Is the Shekhina seeking you right now?

Do you seek Her??