What is Kabbalah?

A tradition within Judaism

Kabbalah is not a separate religion or a technique; it is part of Torah study and assumes keeping the commandments. Its central ideas include the Ein Sof (God as infinite), the ten sefirot through which God’s will is revealed in creation, and tikkun – repairing the world through mitzvot and prayer. Many prayers and customs, such as the Kabbalat Shabbat service, come from Kabbalistic circles.

Caution in the sources

The Mishnah limits the teaching of the “work of creation” and “the chariot” – the mystical subjects – to one or two worthy students. The Talmud tells of four sages who “entered the orchard” (pardes), and only Rabbi Akiva came out unharmed. Maimonides writes that one should not “stroll in the orchard” before filling oneself with “bread and meat” – knowledge of what is permitted and forbidden.

Who may study it?

A well-known custom, cited in later authorities, is to wait until age forty and a solid grounding in Talmud and law. Hasidic movements made Kabbalistic ideas accessible in simpler form, and today many study works of Jewish thought based on Kabbalah. Selling “Kabbalah” as amulets, red strings or a path to success is foreign to the tradition.