What is Kabbalah?

To many, the term "Kabbalah" is quite mysterious, reserved for initiates and synonymous with huge powers. How should we consider this Jewish Mystique? What esoteric knowledge does it teach us?

Kabbalah is the “authentic tradition”

This term comes from the Hebrew word Qabbala which means "tradition". It is also linked to the verb kabbel which means "to receive". So, Kabbalah verbatim means: "to receive tradition".

The Kabbalah doctrine was initially transmitted orally.

Judaic Kabbalah and Christian Kabbalah

It is interesting to highlight that Kabbalah is not limited to Judaism, because it can also be found in Muslim and Christian traditions. For instance, the Christian Kabbalah of the 15^th century (that of the Cathars).

It is the Italian Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) who wrote the first of multiple treaties and who made an extraordinary summary of the Greek knowledge and Kabbalah. He suffered the Church’s wrath, just like all the other kabbalah Christians.

What does Kabbalah consist of?

Kabbalists’ goal is to get closer to the Divine, to merge with the Creative Principle. To that end, they seek to properly understand the universe and its laws: to them, these laws are divine manifestations that appear at different stages of life.

They can be measured and explained: numbers and numerology, play a crucial role in this approach.

Kabbalah is considered to be the bond that ties human beings to the Divine. This link can be attained through love and knowledge.

Hebrew letters

Biblical texts and other written documents of the Kabbalah are composed of 22 Hebrew letters, which are considered to be the bases of the "Holy manifestation".

Hebrew letters have, in themselves, a symbolical value and represent archetypes of the different energies at work in the universe. Translated into numbers, they reveal other aspects of knowledge.

The letters are doors that open to the spiritual forces of the universe: they are the creative tools coming from the Divine plane.
It is said that the Creator carried out his work with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each letter corresponds to a number, emits an energy that is specific to its form, to the way it is pronounced and expresses a symbol.  Kabbalah and numerology are thus extremely bound.