Kabbalah
Kabbalah or Qabalah ( kə-BAH-lə, KAB-ə-lə; Hebrew: קַבָּלָה, romanized: Qabbālā, pronounced [kabaˈla] ; lit. ‘reception, tradition’) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (מְקֻובָּל, Məqubbāl, ‘receiver’).
Jewish Kabbalists originally developed transmissions of the primary texts of Kabbalah within the realm of Jewish tradition and often use classical Jewish scriptures to explain and demonstrate its mystical teachings. Kabbalists hold these teachings to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional rabbinic literature and their formerly concealed transmitted dimension, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.
Historically, Kabbalah emerged from earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, in 12thto 13th-century Hakhmei Provence (re:Bahir), Rhineland school of Judah the Pious, al-Andalus (re: Zohar) and was reinterpreted during the Jewish mystical renaissance in 16th-century Ottoman Palestine. The Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah, was authored in the late 13th century, likely by Moses de León. Isaac Luria (16th century) is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah; Lurianic Kabbalah was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. During the 20th century, academic interest in Kabbalistic texts led primarily by the Jewish historian Gershom Scholem has inspired the development of historical research on Kabbalah in the field of Judaic studies.
Though minor works contribute to an understanding of the Kabbalah as an evolving tradition, the primary texts of the major lineage in medieval Jewish tradition are the Bahir, Zohar, Pardes Rimonim, and Etz Chayim (‘Ein Sof’). The early Hekhalot literature is acknowledged as ancestral to the sensibilities of this later flowering of the Kabbalah and more especially the Sefer Yetzirah is acknowledged as the antecedent from which all these books draw many of their formal inspirations. The document has striking similarities to a possible antecedent from the Lesser Hekhalot, the Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva, which in turn seems to recall a style of responsa by students that arose in the classroom of Joshua ben-Levi in Tractate Shabbat. The Sefer Yetzirah is a brief document of only a few pages that was written many centuries before the high and late medieval works (sometime between 200-600CE), detailing an alphanumeric vision of cosmology and may be understood as a kind of prelude to the major phase of Kabbalah.
In Kabbalah, “dimensions” can refer to the ten sefirot (divine emanations) that form reality, the four spiritual worlds (Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Assiah), or the five levels of the soul (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chayah, Yehidah). They can also be understood through a physical lens, such as the six directions of space (length, width, height) linked to the spiritual qualities of the world of Yetzirah, as well as the four dimensions of space-time, which are sometimes mirrored in mystical concepts.
Dimensions based on divine emanations
- The ten sefirot: These are ten divine powers or attributes through which God creates and sustains the universe. Each sefirah has both an external, functional role in creation and an internal, motivational force.
- The six directions: In a physical sense, there are six spatial directions: above, below, right, left, front, and back. In Kabbalah, these are seen as corresponding to the six attributes (middot) or sefirot revealed in the spiritual world of Yetzirah.
Dimensions based on spiritual realms and the soul
- The four spiritual worlds: These are four realms through which divine light descends into creation: Atzilut (Emanation), Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation), and Assiah (Action). They are not physical but are different levels of spiritual reality.
- The five levels of the soul: According to Kabbalah, the soul has five levels:
- Nefesh: The level most connected to the physical body.
- Ruach: Associated with emotions and speech.
- Neshama: A higher level of awareness connected to character.
- Chayah: A subtle level connected to altered states of consciousness.
- Yehidah: The highest level, representing unity with God.
Interconnected dimensions
- These different “dimensions” are not separate but are deeply interconnected. For example, the sefirot are seen as the building blocks of all levels of creation, including the four worlds and the five levels of the soul.
- The three aspects of the soul (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama) can also be mapped onto the spiritual worlds of Assiah, Yetzirah, and Beriah, respectively, with Chayah and Yehidah being higher levels within Atzilut.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380322/jewish/Forming-Time-and-Space.htm
[2] https://inner.org/string/string.htm
[3] https://jewishaction.com/science-technology/kabbalah-science-creation-universe/
[4] https://www.scribd.com/document/414344212/5-dimensions-of-the-soul