Kabbalah

Kabbalah- Kabbalah- In Hebrew means receiving to accept. The root of the word is “kabal,” which means “receives.” Kabbalah is the Jewish mysticism. While codes of Jewish law focus on what G-d wants from man, kabbalah tries to access deeper, to G-d's essence itself. It consists of a large body of speculation on the nature of divinity, the creation, the origin and fate of the soul, and the role of human beings. It consists also of meditative, devotional, mystical and magical practices.

In the middle ages many of these mystical teachings were committed to writing in the books of the Zohar. The //Zohar// is written in Aramaic, which was the language used in the Second Temple period and in part of the bible and the Talmud. The zohar first appear in Spain in the 13th century. It was published by Moses De Leon, who claimed that the book contained the mystical writings of the second-century rabbi Simeon bar Yochai. The historical Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a Talmudic sage in the generation of the Tannaim, the senior rabbis of the Talmud. He was alive during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans (132-135 C.E.), and was one of the many rabbis who resisted the Romans during that period. His teacher, Rabbi Akiva, was martyred by the Romans, as was the rabbi who bestowed ordination upon him, Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava. Bar Yochai himself, it is recounted in the Talmud, hid from the Romans in a cave for thirteen years. The 17th century rabbis legislate that the kabbalah should be studied by men over 40 and those who have already learned Torah and Talmud. In recent years, the Kabbalah has become very popular — even a fad.