DW;
God is also my Father, my teacher, my guide, and my Creator. And, in your journey,this is my prayer for you, "Tokahe' Wakan Isn'ala, he mani inip'ila un mahk jchi, c`in wajek'et'un" which is, "May the Creative Mystery of all that is, and is not, help you walk in peace and may all be well with you." Godspeed and Grace be with you in your "mani wakan", your sacred path, Mitakola. Hau'!...To`na Wanagi

Meditation


Knowing God

God is only unknown and unseen by those who have never come to God to be united with God. Any person coming to God and being united with God knows God as God reveals who and what God is. All who are adopted by God as His Sons know God as “Father.” These also know God as Creator of the mind and spirit within them.

The self works of mankind create the ego of mankind in which mankind attempts to take credit for anything good in life. These who are unaware of the reality of God, do not understand all matters that are good have originated from God and the principles of God. In other words, if a person wants to be good and do good works, they cannot unless and until they learn the principles of God from God. Until they learn and obey these principles they serve self and the ego of self.

Mankind has many needs and many of these he is unaware of. His needs are sometimes known but often unknown. For instance, the need for salvation by God; transformation by God; is unknown by many. And this due to lack of knowledge and understanding. Not knowing the entirety of life, in the physical and when passing on from the physical.

The greatest need the vast majority of mankind is unaware of is the need to be taught truth by God concerning life and how life may be lived. As a replacement for the teaching of God mankind has created for his self many “ways” of feeding his mind with teachings that are self formulated and have not come from God. This is a display of the works of the ego of man who has believed he is able to do what God alone is able to do; teach the truth concerning life.

Although mankind has created many substitutes for God, God remains as the Creator of all that is good and righteous. God remains the creator of the mind that contains His Spirit or Word. The mind that He has created that knows and understands His principles that structure life as the life God desires for mankind to possess and live. Many ways of religions taught by man leave God out of the process relying on old traditions passed down from generation to generation.

God is the God of the living; those possessing the life He gives. God is alive in this moment; God is able to fulfill His promise to teach mankind all truth concerning life and the principles used to structure this life. For this reason God is worshipped and praised and recognized and honored as Father and teacher of truth; as Creator of the mind and spirit in His creation of mankind.

Those not knowing God and not ever having come to God, to unite with God, believe God desires to remain a mystery which is erroneous belief. God desire to be known by all mankind; known as Father and teacher and creator and desires mankind understands how God is all of this to mankind as well as the way God communicates with mankind. It is not the will of God that matter pertaining to the reality of God be hidden or secret. It is the desire of God that all mankind know the truth concerning the matters of God and that all mankind know God.

For this reason God has established a way for any and all of mankind to come to God to be united with God in mind and spirit. To become “one with God.” Those who do come to God and are united with God in mind and spirit are taught truth by God thereby possessing the mind and spirit of Christ; the taught one of God. These, knowing the will of God, do not keep secret what God has taught them, but are commanded to give what they have received to all others so all others may also enter into oneness with God. For this is salvation by God and God desires salvation for all mankind. God alone is Savior. Not man nor the ways of man. But God saves by His ways, the way of salvation He has established.

The truth of God is pure and simple. It is easily understood. It is frank and forthright. It is not hidden in excessive superfluous words

It is because the truth of God is a simple truth so many struggle with belief in this Word. So many are conditioned to the many laws, rituals, and doctrines of the many religions. The custom of mankind to expand the simple truth which is the “leavening” Jesus of Nazareth spoke of and warned against. Mankind expands, inflates and bloats truth with many words of non-truth, thereby perverting the truth of God.

There is but one source of truth; God. God is the only one able to convey truth from His mind into the mind of the one receiving from God by His Spirit; the Spirit of truth; the Spirit that is truth. This way, God established as the way to know the truth. This way, Jesus of Nazareth and all other Sons of God taught. This way, some followed and later testified of their experiences in proving this way by declaring all they received from God as Jesus of Nazareth declared they would.

These in their testaments testified of witnessing the reality of God and the reality of God fulfilling this promise with mankind.

The needs of mankind are certainly known to God. And God is more than able to provide for and fulfill these needs. And God has established the way He dos this. It is His way; not any way devised by man. It is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth who himself followed this way and he himself received the fulfilling of the promise of God.

Mankind is offered many things by fellow man including many teachings concerning God. However, God also offers to mankind His truth so mankind may know for sure the truth concerning the matters of God.

Truth may be known concerning God and truth awaits all who do come to God to gain knowledge of this truth directly from God. It is the desire of God to be honored as both Father and teacher of this truth.

Let no person be deceived. God is God and man is man.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

DW;
I'm glad you're back!....Mani Wakan Inip'ila, Mitakola....To`na Wanagi

Hello To'na;

Thank you for the welcome.

Although I am interested in the religious beliefs of the many and how these beliefs have been formulated, and though I respect the rights of those choosing mere belief, I continue to encourage people to seek and discover the reality of God; the reality words may only portray. Belief formulated by mankind is founded on words not the reality of God. To know the reality of God requires knowing the truth, and this, from God. Truth portrays the reality of God but sure knowledge of God requires experiencing "oneness with God" or being united with God.

"Adam" was united with God. Jesus of Nazareth was united with God. All who followed the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth, having come to God in Spirit have been united with God. For as God is Spirit those uniting with God must unite with God in this same Spirit. This is called a "marriage." Where in metaphors God is seen as the "Groom" and mankind the "Bride." From this marriage, the Son of God is born in mankind and another marriage takes place. The marriage between the Son of God and "Jerusalem." These two become one and th same as one person. For Jerusalem is the substance from the mind of God, conveyed into the mind of the Son.

Man comes to God entering into oneness with God, then this same person enters into oneness with the substance and matter form the mind of God; the Holy Spirit God inspires n the mind. This, is the creation of God whom God calls "man" kind. Only those receiving this from God are "His" creations; His children; His Sons.

Mankind may believe whatever he desires to believe. However, mere belief does not guarantee a person "knows" the truth. Many non-truths are taught as truth. Many are deceived. It is for this reason God established His way of teaching manknd truth, so mankind may "know for sure" the truth pertaining to God and the matters of God.

It is and has been my hope, the many may conceive the reality of what I speak of and the difference between mere belief and sure knowledge.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

DW;
Which is the reason I'm glad you're back. Some want to continue on the breast milk forever, I want to eat steak(preferably Bison). lol! You provide us with food to chew on and consider as we walk our journey. Some of this recent posting is much less than that, and I choose not to engage in much of it. There are so many who ride the fence rail and stand on both sides "playing it safe" that, if they work both sides of the fence, they might be saved from themselves.

I look forward to posts from you and a few others as I can take those words and consider how it applies in my life. Introspection of the mind and spirit is confused with intellectual babblings that are irrelevant and possibly detrimental to our spiritual path. This is then accounted as "knowledge" and is useful only for the pride and ego of the poster. What you and a few others do is not full of boasting and arrogant pride and ego. It is aimed at helping others to find their direction and assist them in understanding the lessons and the messages. When the messenger becomes so full of self-importance, the message is lost or no longer being delivered. A minister ministers to his flock and his flock will hear him because they know his voice, they trust him, and they love him. My experiences in the world have taught me to be more than cautious, and I have adopted a position that says, "Trust no one and suspect everyone". It works for me and keeps me safe from falling prey to charlatans. And, as I said in an earlier post, "Books lie. And they have a reason to lie." The game of this world is to capture as many minds as possible, deceive them into believing a position, then take all they have in mind, body or spirit, and use it for more self-serving to satiate their own ego. I know you and a few others are honorable and have dedicated your lives to serving God, in whatever way that may be. It is, nevertheless, sincere and geared at doing that which is right. It is for these reasons I stay online and speak my position on some of the fallacies, inaccuracies, bigotries, and irrelevancies that are found here. My reasons are also honorable. I wish only to educate people out of their ignorance and prejudices so they may also see the Light, the same Light of which you and others write, is the same Light for me. More than once I have considered leaving this forum, but the spirit leads me back so that I can learn from the wisdom a few have to share. So, thank you, all of you of whom I speak...Pilamaya Mitakola, Wakan Tanka nici un yawaste'....To`na Wanagi

To'ga,

I have said before and will say again, you are a beautiful spiritual being.

I have two reasons for posting, one; my love for God and the righteousness of God; two, love for others of mankind and my desire they receive the promise of God from God. I take pride in what God does and has done. Of this, I am proud. Not of myself or anything of my own works in creating the mind and spirit but as always, give all honor and glory to God and the reality of His works. I give what I have been given for these two reasons. As you well know, it is seed to many, milk to some and meat to those who have "teeth." Who are past infancy and are advancing in growth in spirit.

When Jesus of Nazareth gave what is called the "Sermon on the Mount" the "Beatitudes;" he spoke of reality that mankind may experience. I have experienced the matters he spoke of, as others have. Knowing the principles of God and knowing I can only be righteous when in obedience to these, I give for those in need, what I am able to give. In this way, I remain with God and continue to grow as well.

I know many see my word and think it is as other religionists, self formulated or garnered from others of mankind. Few truly see and understand what I write. All I present in my word I have been taught by God, given by God in His Word and Spirit.

I attempt to convey the reality of what has happened to me in my word without sounding boastful, but simply explaining I do know the reality of God and the reality of receiving what God has promised. It is so important for others to conceive this reality and understand the reality of this transformation by the works of God and that this is what God desires for all mankind.

Every word I give turns the mind to God and His works of promise continually reminding others it is God alone who saves mankind; God alone who instills truth in the mind's of mankind. So many seek to "know" or gain knowledge but not the Word and truth coming directly from God. Yet this is the only way a person is able to possess sure knowledge of truth concerning the matters of God.

In existing reality is the ability to know God as God reveals who and what God is in His Word. For in this Word the mind of God is revealed and it is the mind and spirit of a person when known that allows a person to truly know that person. In this same way, the Son of God is known in regards to who and what the Son of God is. The true image is revealed by God as God teaches man how He creates man in the image of God. The creation of God and the Son of God being one and the same. A particular type and kind of person possessing the mind and spirit created by God; the mind and spirit of Christ, having been taught by God.

I cannot cause a person to know anything, only God is able to do this. I give a word that explains how God is able to cause a person to know for sure, the matters of God and the matters of life as God declares life to be. My mission is to turn th4e minds and hearts of mankind to God; back to God; th4 Living God; explaining the promise of God and the transformation of and by God.

Indeed if all people heard my word, followed the way I teach and would come to God and submit to God, the problems of mankind would be corrected. For I teach people to come to God in mind and spirit; in meditation; seeking God and His promise; and receiving His Word and Spirit from Him. It is this reality the many find so difficult to conceive, that God is actually able to perform these works promised by God. Because very few have been this way and have been through the transformation. And none of the heads of religion have been this way for if they had, they would be teaching the same word I teach which is the word taught by Jesus of Nazareth.

It is difficult for the many to realize what my word portrays, that yes, I am the Christ of God according to the declaration of God as to who and what this Christ is. And certainly not what mankind has created as the image of this type and kind of person. Isaiah spoke of how mankind had marred the image of this type and kind of person. And history tells us how this type and kind of person was rejected by mankind who has been taught and controlled by the religionists for centuries. For they look for the person fitting the image they have created for their selves; a physical Messiah or Savior; a person fitting the physical descriptions of their image. They do not know nor understand the Christ and Son of God is a spiritual being, the inner man or "mankind" that is of no gender as the physical has gender. As Jesus of Nazareth spoke of these of the rising again, the neither marry nor are they given in marriage to one another, but are married to God and the substance and matter from the mind of God. This being the oneness of uniting with God in one mind and one spirit and one truth.

It is difficult to explain how God dwells within the person who has received His Word. For God does dwell in His word, so also the person having received His Word "dwells" or "lives" in and by this Word. This Word, having created the Son of God in a person is why this Son also dwells in a person and explains the word of Jesus of Nazareth; "My Father and I will come and make our abode with you." And is also reason why Jesus of Nazareth declared; "It is the Father in me who does the works." He spoke of the works of promise in this creation of man in the image of God. He also declared the word he spoke was not his; not formulated by self; but was given to him by the Father.

It is this mankind must conceive and realize, that Jesus of Nazareth is the example of the works of God; the transformation of God; the creation of man in the image of God, for it is the substance and matter from the mind of God that is conveyed into the mind of man and is used to build or create the mind and spirit in the one of God.

A person is only able to see what these words portray when they meditate on these words, seeking to see and understand for only when in this, do they receive from God, the knowledge and understanding that allows them to see and understand. A person must seek understanding from God. When seeking in earnest and honest desire to know and understand because it is of God, and they desire to please God by submitting to God.

When a person has received the fullness of the Spirit from God, they know the mind of God fo5r from the mind of God this Spirit has come in His Word. This Word; this Spirit; this substance and matter, is what dwells in the mind of God. To possess the mind of Christ is to possess this Word and Spirit from the mind of God as God conveys this from His mind. Knowing this allows a person to know God. To know the mind of God. And in this knowing, is to know the will and desire of God for mankind.

The basic will and desire of God toward mankind is that all come into the knowledge of this truth He gives into mankind from His mind. In this way a person unites with God in this substance and matter residing in the mid of God and there is peace because all agrees in the mind of God and the one whose mind is created by God. There is no conflict of principle that structures life. As God lives, so also His creation lives, in and by these same principles. Only these principles structure the life described as peace, love, and joy. And this is the life God desires with mankind. And this, is oneness with God.

It is the will and desire of God that all mankind become this creation of God so all may possess and live this life.

It is extremely difficult for mankind to conceive a social order wherein all are this creation of God and all live this life with one another. And because so few understand the power and ability of God to bring this to be, they do not come to God to receive this from God; this life. They do not know the truth concerning Jesus of Nazareth, that he is our example of these works of God and this promise of God. He is the firstborn from the spiritually dead by receiving this Living Spirit from God. This raised him up from spiritual death to spiritual life. The resurrection by God is of the soul; the mind and spirit; from death into this life God gives in His Word. It was this Word that came into the man known as Jesus of Nazareth that did the works of resurrection from spiritual death to this life God gives. In this, the Word became flesh; came into the flesh or physical body of mankind. In this same way all are resurrected from death to life; in spirit. The rising again, is this resurrection by the works of God. This same work of God giving His Word and Spirit into all who come to receive.

Sadly, this word is confused with similar sounding words and phrases from the religions. But theirs is empty and they are the wells without water; no Living waters from God. Those of God, as is said; out of their belly shall flow rivers of Living waters. For these waters are from above; from God; and not fellow man. “Waters” being the speaking and sayings of a person; the many words hat collectively are a word and if from God, “the” Word.

This Word I have received from God and give in my word. Those who believe my word and follow this way, are those who are able to see what they were blind to before; able to hear what they were deaf to before. The waters of man are changed into wine; the fruit of the spiritual vine that is “pressed” out by obedience to the principles of God. It is the pressure to obey that is the pressing as many say; “I must attend to a pressing matter.” These, who enter into and follow this way, are raised from death to life having believed this word and way of Spirit from God. These are the works and the miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth. To walk on water is to have the “feet” or foundational teachings above the waters of man for they are the teachings from God who is above and His waters above the waters of mankind. The garden God has planted is the mind where He has planted His seed. In this garden where this seed is His Word a person walks with God, for it is the mind of a person where God plants His seed. This is the garden where Adam walked with God. But in the garden or mind of Adam, was the tree planted by the enemy of God whose fruit God forbid Adam to eat. During the transformation process, these trees remain in the minds of mankind until removed by God and all sin is washed away. There is always a temptation to rely on the old ways; eat the fruit of these trees of knowledge of evil. For the tree, is a vine, representing a “family tree” and the teachings passed down from generation to generation.

The axe was laid to the tree of evil by Jesus of Nazareth. A metaphor indicating he was cutting down and killing this family tree and planting the seed of his family tree, or vine. He was the planting of God and all coming after him, the branches of this family tree, coming to be by the same seed from God. He planted the seed that brought then to God; God planted the tree of truth and righteousness in all who came to him in this way.

“Eve” was those of mankind who dwelled in the darkness not having received the Light from God. It was “Eve” of this darkness, who was the stranger to God who tempted Adam; those of God; into eating the forbidden fruit. This fruit could never make man like God as the liar did lie, but was of evil causing mankind to fall away from God, and is how Adam dies a spiritual death. God did not send Adam away; Adam separated from the Holy Spirit from God thereby separating from God. Adam replaced the seed from God with the seed from the stranger, which is what is called “religion.” For religion is a creation of mankind, created as a replacement for God and His Word and seed.

Mankind has remained separated from God except for the few, Jesus of Nazareth and those who followed the way he taught. These returned to God and were resurrected from this spiritual death that came on all mankind through Adam. These and their teachings were killed off by the religionists, which killed off Christ in mankind. Killed by the word which was used as a sword to slay the spirit/word.

The rising again that has begun, is the coming again of this Word and Spirit from God into mankind and in this, the Christ and Son of God. These, as those two thousand years ago, being resurrected or raised up from the death of Adam; the believing of the lies of the stranger to God; him of the darkness; him who has never received the Light or truth from God. These are the “stars” that shed light on the reality of the great Light from God.

These teach the truth that “Eli Jah” must first come into a person, coming in His Word, to do the works of promise, that resurrects a person from death to life; raises a person up from spiritual death to spiritual life with God. Eli Jah must fist come into a person before the Son of God comes into a person. “Eli Jah” is two words; two Hebrew words. Not “Elijah” as man has perverted this word.

The Sons of God teach others how to receive God by receiving the Word from God and this is how Eli Jah comes into mankind. Then by the works of God, the Son of God comes to be; is conceived by this Word and seed from God.

This is the way of God; the way God has established for the salvation of mankind; the resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual life.

This is meat for those with teeth. Those taking milk cannot comprehend the reality of what this word represents. They cannot understand it for there is no understanding from God in them.

May you walk eternally in the garden with God, in the morning hours while the dew is on the roses. A metaphor you will know. But it is more beautiful that the garden you have planted by your hands and physically walk in.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

DW;
Thank you my friend. May I add, I am sure the seed of knowledge of good and evil is planted into the heart of every human on the planet when they are born. Unfortunately, as Jesus has stated, "To him whom much has been given, much will be expected." I say unfortunately because as you have stated before, mankind is unable, I prefer unwilling, to take up their cross and accept the responsibility of that seed. They prefer to hide behind the cross and label themselves as "christians". It is much easier to choose to live in ignorance and adopt the ways of mankind, thereby allowing one to feel superior over, and pass judgement on those they choose not to understand.. I say "choose" because it is a choice to do, or not to do. Just as Adam tried to hide his nakedness from God, just as Caine tried to hide his murderous heart from God, they knew what they had done and could not live with this guilt. But it will be forever that mankind attempts to hide from the responsibility God has entreated mankind to do, to "love one another". It is not that the world does not know, it is that the world is trying to avoid the responsibility. The fear of retribution from God for what mankind has done exceeds the promise of love and forgiveness, and therefore mankind spirals downward into the abyss of denial.....God's Peace and Grace to you....To`na Wanagi

To'na;

You are correct my friend. It is easy to shift responsibility onto another rather than take responsibility for one's own actions and deeds. The many hide behind the doctrines of their religions, even when hearing truth; it is God alone who saves mankind. Following the ways of religion is a way of avoiding God; of refusing to accept the reality of God and God's salvation.

It is one thing to talk about God another to talk with God. The wide road that leads to destruction is of course the "easier" road to follow. The narrow and difficult way established by God requires a lot of mental work; meditataion; and placing what God gives in its proper place with the understanding God gives.

The example of course is seen in the few who truly followed the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. His teachings were "hard" and the way appeared too hard for the many others to follow.
But when seeing the consequences, the end result, the way of God is well worth the required effort. To not receive the life God gives is to forfeit the inheritance God has promised to His heirs, the eternal life with the family of God.

It is lack of knowledge of truth that causes the many to cling to their beliefs and doctrines from fellow mankind. And their refusal to look into a word of truth to see what is portrayed by this word.

Stay warm and well wrapped in the love of God.

DW Suiter

Meditation


Only when looking into a word, thought or matter with deep and strong intensity and a desire to know and understand is it possible for a person to obtain truth of a matter. This, is meditation. Shallow thought and shallow thinking avails nothing. To open the mind and to allow another other than God to fill it is the way of man and not the way of God. In order for God to be Father of a person that person must be “fathered” by God. First brought into existence by God, secondly, to be raised up by God in the Word and teachings from God. In this way God is Father and the person the Son of God.

The mind of Christ is structured n this manner by God. The Son seeks to know and God provides the knowledge in His Living Word. With this knowledge comes also explanation that gives understanding of a matter. The “spirit” of Christ is the Holy Spirit received from God by the Son. In this manner the mind and spirit of Christ is created in the mind of the one coming to God and becoming the Son of God.

Whatever resided in the mind of this one coming to be the Son of God is removed by God and replaced with the Word from God which is truth. The mind of this one is “cleaned out” and rebuilt; destroyed and rebuilt. The mind being the inner man or person, is transformed into a new person by this creation of God being a new creation compared to what fellow man had created in the mind as knowledge and understanding in regards to the matters of God.

Just as a person labors in his work so also a person must labor using the mind in this work with God. The mind must be used; exercised; in deep meditation in order for this creation to take place for God provides the knowledge and understanding but it is the one receiving who must meditate on what he has received until he sees, understands and knows what God has said in the Word he has received. This Word and teaching must then be placed in the mind in its proper place; in the storehouse or memory to be remembered when occasion arises.

There is no easy way to become one of and with God. There is a sacrifice that is required, the sacrifice of the mind created by fellow man which is to sacrifice or kill of the inner person one has been created to be by the word and teachings of fellow man. This is the shedding of the blood required b God in order to receive life from God as His Son; His creation.

The man Jesus of Nazareth died to the sins of mankind in this manner, though once sinning by believing what fellow man taught him, he emptied himself of all words and teachings of mankind and allowed God to replace this with the Word and Holy Spirit from God, thereby creating in him, the mind and spirit of Christ. Whoever possesses the mind and spirit of Christ is Christ for it is this mind and spirit that defines Christ; the taught one of and by God.

This transformation process Jesus of Nazareth went through was not easy at all. It was very difficult for him to give up belief in all he had been taught by fellow man and the religious leaders and to place all faith and trust in God that God would fill his mind with His Holy Spirit which is the Word from God. In faith in the promise of God, Jesus of Nazareth followed this way established by god, remaining faithful and true to God alone, until he was “filled” with the Holy Spirit. He went through the perfecting process by God as all mankind are required to do if desiring this salvation of and by god for this salvation is to be saved from the mind and spirit created by mankind in mankind.

As a person must put forth the energy to make a journey by walking in the physical, so also a person must put forth the mental energy and follow the steps of this spiritual journey. The steps followed by Jesus of Nazareth all must follow who desire this salvation by God. What God predestined mankind to be, mankind must realize as a destination and this destination is arrived at only when making the journey.

In this way established by God, God alone is to be heard. The mind must be shut to all mankind teaches concerning God. Except to those who have been this way and teach this way to God and the fulfillment of the promise of God to give into mankind this mind and spirit, thereby creating man in the image of God.

These are the principles on which God established His way of saving mankind from the mind and spirit not created by the Word and Spirit from God. Only when God creates in a person this mind and spirit is this one a creation of God; a spiritual creation in the image of God who is Spirit.

The “steps” of this way established by God are the ages through which God raises up His Son to maturity. An infant is fed infant’s food. A toddler a toddler’s food; a youth a youth’s food; and an adult, an adult’s food. Until the growth is attained that is maturity or perfection of this creation of God; this mind and spirit.

If you desire this salvation by God; if you desire this life God gives in His Word; you must make the journey. The way is seen by the Light given by God, each step of the way. God explains what you shall be when His work is finished with you. You shall be His Son; His creation.

This, no man is able to do. Only if and when God does this is God “Father: to a person. This reality, a person must conceive in order to enter into this way established by God. It is the way established by God for all mankind for it is the will of God to save all mankind.

In the love of God,
DW Suiter

Meditation


Understanding the Messiah or Savior of God


The many teachings and beliefs of religions declare the Messiah or Savior of God is a “person” and more specifically an individual. Many images and descriptions have been created by mankind in regards to this “Messiah.” The testaments and/or scriptures have been misinterpreted and mistranslated.

The Messiah of God is neither a person nor an individual. It is what saves mankind and comes from God. Salvation by God is salvation from spiritual death. Not possessing the Holy Spirit from God and not living the life God gives in His Spirit which is His Word.

God saves mankind by inspiring His Spirit or Word in the minds of mankind. God, is the Savior of mankind and the “Messiah.” God alone “saves” mankind from spiritual death.

Mankind has been confused in regards to the Messiah not understanding what the Word from God does.

The Word from God is a body of spirit. It is the “new body” God promised to give mankind. A new spirit body. This body replaces the spirit body mankind already possesses in his mind; the word of mankind.

Jesus of Nazareth is the example of the person possessing this spirit body from God. It is the spirit of Christ for Christ is the person who has received the Word from God that teaches truth. The “body of Christ” is also this spirit body residing in the mind having come in the Word from God. Directly from God.

This new body is a new person replacing the old person one was before receiving from God. This new person is the Son of God. Having come in the Word from God. Dwelling in the physical body or flesh. It is this Spirit from God that fills the mind making all things in the mind new and from God, that saves mankind. For only in and by the Word and truth from God is any person able to possess the life God gives for this life is taught by God. It is taught to be lived in accordance with the principles of God. And only God is the Teacher.

Jesus of Nazareth received this Word and Holy Spirit from God and in this received his life from God. He was resurrected from spiritual death as all mankind are in, to spiritual life as the Son of God; the creation of God in mind and spirit; the Christ.

In this word is the entirety of what the "secret” is in regards to the “Messiah” or “Savior” of God. It is the revealing of the secret of “Christ in you.” And is the secret of “God in you.”

Understanding this allows a person to ask and receive from God what God has promised; this new body; this new mind and spirit; all coming in His Word and this Word coming directly from Him.

“Jesus, the Christ” is any person having received this new body from God in the Word from God. For the Son of God is a type and kind of person who is created by God in the image of God and is not one individual sole person. It is any and all who are this type and kind of person created by God in mind and spirit.

The spirit body of this Son of God comes from God in His Word. This is what Jesus of Nazareth referred to in saying he came from the Father. And is what John referred to in saying the Word was with God and was God. And the Word “became” flesh. The Word came into the physical body or flesh of this man known as Jesus of Nazareth as he received this Holy Spirit from God. In saying; “I am the Word” he referred to the new person he had become by the works of God in transforming him into what he now was.

Jesus of Nazareth was not a “Jew.” The man who became the man known as Jesus of Nazareth was most likely a “Jew” having been taught Judaism before he asked and received from God, the promise of God.

God is of no religion. God is God and has no part with the religions of man that have been created by man. All things created by God are created by His Word; His Spirit.

God performs His works of promise Himself. His true ministers teach His way of salvation. These were the works of Jesus of Nazareth and the other Sons of God in that day; teaching the “good news” concerning how God saves mankind.

Unfortunately religionists have created a false image again of this Messiah and Savior of God in thinking and believing the physical man known as Jesus of Nazareth was this Messiah. He was not. However, within him, was the Messiah and Savior of God for this he had received from God. This new body; this new mind and spirit and he was; the one transformed by God into the Son of God; the creation of God in the image of God who is Spirit also.

The new spirit body is comprised of the Spirit of God. It is the same Spirit. However, the Son of God does not possess the great magnitude of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, the Father does. This a person acquires after passing on from the physical. Here in the physical a person is given a “portion” of what he receives totally. And all who become this Son of God are given equal portion. All Sons of God are co-heir with Jesus of Nazareth in all he received from God.

In summation, God alone saves. The savior of God is His Word and Spirit. This body of Holy Spirit a person is transformed into. And this person is a new creation by this Word and Spirit from God, the Son of God.

All who have followed the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth which is the way he followed, are taught these truths by God. Although my word is truth it is not the truth from God. In order to know for sure this word is truth it must be received from God in His Word. Only in this way is a person able to know for sure the truth of these matters.

This is the way of Christ; the way of being taught truth by God; the way of being taught the principles of God that give the life God has promised to mankind. All who receive the mind and spirit of Christ are the Christ of God and all are the brethren of Christ. Brothers, being of the same Father who is God. And these alone, are the saved of and by God.

The Son of God, Paul has been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and maligned by many. Yet he spoke truth as he was taught by God. He spoke truth is saying that any person not being this Son of God is a bastard, born out of “wedlock” with God and God is not the father of this one.

This is why mankind encounters all of his problems. He is not of God. He is of the evil one who brought spiritual death on all mankind that has been passed down from generation to generation because mankind refuses to believe he may come to God and receive this Word and Spirit from God that saves mankind. In the place of God, he has created his religions and the heads of his religions mankind honors instead of God. Placing faith in religious teachings and doctrines instead of the promise of God.

This is a simple truth concerning the salvation of God and His Messiah; His Savior. For again, it is God alone; only; who saves mankind. Jesus of Nazareth saved no person. He taught all persons the way of salvation. Those who followed this way were saved by God, the Father. He did not die “for” your sins; he died to the old man he was because of the sins of the old man; your sins; for you are this old man of perdition unless you have become the Son of God. The evil one coming to be by the seed of the evil one who caused the death of “Adam.” This seed and this death of Adam has been passed down through all generations of mankind to this very day. For it is in the word of mankind that is passed down through the generations, the same word that keeps mankind from believing God and coming to God to receive the promise from God. His salvation.

If you are not able to see and understand what this word portrays, then meditate on this word asking God to give understanding. But ask in sincerity with a clean mind, desiring to know the truth from God. If you cannot believe you are able to receive this from God you cannot receive this from God for the door of your mind is closed to God.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


Awareness


To be aware of a matter, is to acknowledge the existence of a matter. Unawareness, is lack of knowledge of the existence of a matter. This includes reference to matter from any source, including the word of mankind.

There are many matters of God, or concerning God, many are unaware of. Many religions, their heads and teachers, are unaware of many matters pertaining to God that exist in reality.

These matters may only be known by knowing God. Just as one may not know matters pertaining to a person until that person is known and matters pertaining to that person are revealed by that person. Often, others may have opinions in regards to that person, having heard others speak of that person; however, the opinions may vary according to what a person has heard. This is often referred to as “hearsay.’ The reality of hearing a word and saying this word to others. Because hearsay is not the same as knowledge, hearsay is not allowed as testimony in man’s courts of law. It is undependable in regards to ascertaining the facts of a matter.

It may be shocking to realize religious doctrines and teachings are all “hearsay.’ And because of this should never be received or accepted as fact. Religions are founded or created as “belief systems.” Belief in “hearsay.”

Although the scriptures as presented as testaments, those creating these testaments are not available to be questioned in regards to their testimonies. What they “meant” in their word, is not clear to others of mankind because they spoke of what they were aware of and knew. Others without this knowledge, cannot understand or “know” for sure what they portrayed in their word. Religions interpreted these scriptures according to what they “believed” was being portrayed in scriptures.

Mankind has used his “imagination” to imagine what was being portrayed in scriptures. However, those creating scriptures spoke of matters of God that mankind is unaware of and is not known by mankind.

Jesus of Nazareth attempted to teach mankind many matters pertaining to God, having himself been taught truth by God, but the unbelief of others prevented them from believing what he taught could possibly be truth. They relied on “hearsay” they had been taught in regards to matters of God. Even though Jesus of Nazareth taught mankind the way to “know the truth” the vast majority of those hearing him did not believe what he taught was possible. Again, because of the “hearsay” they had placed their faith in.

In this day there are many religions, denominations, and sects, each having their own hearsay they present as doctrine and often declare to be truth in regards to the matters of God. Yet these; all of these; are relying on “hearsay” which is what others of mankind have heard and said. “Hearsay.” And these all vary and differ on what they believe to be true in regards to God.

This way of learning about God has been used by mankind for many centuries. But it is learning what others say about God. It is not learning truth concerning God and the matters of God. There is but one way in and by which a person may know the truth concerning God. To be taught this truth directly by God and in this way, “know” God and the matters of God. It is the desire and will of God that all mankind come into this sure knowledge of truth concerning God and God has established a way for any of mankind to gain possession of this “sure knowledge.” It is His way, not any way devised by mankind. In this way God is the only teacher of truth. In this way, God gives His Word to the one coming to receive. His Word is truth. One truth, taught to all who come to be taught by God. All taught by God possess the one and same truth concerning the matters of God. This truth, residing in the mind of God is conveyed to mankind in His Word; inspired in the mind by His works of teaching and creating this mind, using this Spirit of truth. This Word of truth.

The vast majority of mankind are not aware of this reality; this fact; this truth; for the vast majority are content in their beliefs in hearsay. They have been told and have believed this is the way of God. They have been deceived. It is and has been a tradition of mankind to pass on and down this hearsay through the centuries.

By not knowing God a person is not able to know the truth concerning God and the matters of God. God reveals Himself in His Word. By His Word God reveals what is in His mind that makes God, God. Mainly the higher and superior principles that structure life, even the life God lives, for God lives.

It was and has been the will and intent of God to create a like mind in mankind, by conveying the substance and matter from His mind into the minds of mankind so they, could possess this life also. This, is what God predestined mankind to be. His creation in mind and the spirit of the mind. The spirit coming directly from God which is the Holy Spirit because it is from God and not mankind, and by inspiring this Spirit in the minds of mankind the mind is created as the creation of God; a spiritual creation of a spiritual man, created in the image of God who is manifest in this Spirit. It is said God dwells in His Word which means God lives in His word; in accordance to His Word; in obedience to His Word, knowing these high and superior principles of God structure the best life possible to live. Living this life gives a person the greatest joy and happiness. The greatest joys possible in living life. The greatest happiness a person may know.

This is what God wants to give mankind; each and every one of mankind. And when mankind becomes aware of this reality, and comes out of hearsay and comes to God to be taught truth; then and only then are they able to receive and possess this life. And this, is called “salvation by God.”
I have written posts under the heading “Sure knowledge Vs belief” in the forum suggestion area. In these posts expressing the difference between mere belief and sure knowledge of truth. The belief required of mankind is belief in the promise of God and belief in the way to receive this promise from God. Those who believe and follow this way are saved by God. Those who do not are the unbelievers scriptures speak of.

Mankind has been separated from God for many centuries except for the Sons of God of two thousand years ago. What they knew and taught has been lost from the minds of mankind. The way has been lost. And as foretold, mankind has fallen away as Adam fell away from God long ago.

But now the restoration is taking place. The restoring of the breach. The way of God is being taught again as was taught by Jesus of Nazareth and the other Sons of God. The way of Spirit. The way of God being Teacher. The way of the Spirit of truth. Many are entering into this way and are coming to God to receive the promise of God. The promise of God has never changed; the will of God has never changed; the ability of God to fulfill His promise has never changed.

As the true disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were raised up by God and transformed into His Sons, in this day others are being raised up in this same way and are being transformed by the same way which is by God.

Lean and understand the difference between belief in hearsay and gaining sure knowledge of truth. Learn the way to ask and received from God what God has promised. Learn the difference between God and the religions of mankind.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Hi DW and To na' Wanagi

This post might be better suited in the comparitive religions sections but I felt the need to post it here. To na' Wanagi I can only say that I hope I am not one of the fence setters that you were refering too. My walk may well be alittle different than others but I do look at things a little differently. I try very hard to keep two ways as one. I personally believe they are the same if one looks at them from at least my persective... I claim no special knowledge. The Wiwanyag Wocipi. "Sun Dance" is my best example. You see I have been a "Son Dancer" spelling difference intended. To me Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) is the very same Father God that we refer to in the Bible. Tunkasila (Grand Father) is the same as the word "Lord" as the Lakota people had no word for this like the English "Lord Essex" this is a term of respect as elders are given. To me Tunkasila is Jesus. To me Jesus is the ultimate "Sun Dancer".
In the sun dance the volunteers dance and are pierced and hang from the tree of life until their skin breaks so that the "Oyate" (the people) might live. This is a physical life we are refering to. That the people might live for another year. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sun dancer as he hung from the tree of life until he died...."So that the people might live FOREVER" this is the spiritual life. I sure hope and pray that this is not fence setting. For I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. I just find it more comforting to use these rituals rather than other rituals. They seem closer to my heart. I do however always make it clear that "Ate' Wakan Tanka" is God the father and "Tunkasila" is Lord Jesus.

Rick

Hello Rick;

Names and words really do not matter and are not important. What is important is the Spirit in the heart; everything all thoughts are centered on in the mind. Rituals are merely a physical way of expression. As long as the principles of God are not violated there is no harm in this. It is when rituals replace true worship, there is harm.

As "God" has been given many names by mankind so also the "Spirit" of God and the "way of Spirit." The Spirit of God knows no gender nor physical attributes of a person. Only the mind and this Spirit is important. The physical body will eventually be discarded and life continues in mind and spirit.

God reproduces in this way of Spirit. His Word which is this Spirit is the seed that causes the conception of the child of God that becomes the "Son" of God, in common terms, but is actually the "offspring." A new spiritual person "coming to be."

The ancient Hebrew word; "Elohim" speaks of God in the plural sense, and is correct. God is a species of living beings, being the "family" of God. Mankind has created many images of God by his imagination but God reveals His true self in His Word.Which is why Jesus of Nazareth spoke of life as being in possession of knowledge and understanding of who and what God is and who and what the Son of God is. As he also taught no person is able to "know" the Father except the Son and no person is able to know the Son except the Father. The word of both, accurately portrays the reality of the Father and the Son. This word, being "truth."

When scriptures refer to "sons and daughters" they do not refer to the physical body. They refer to the person and the mind of that person or "that" which one dwells in in mind and spirit. "Daughter" is "city" or more accurately, a "spiritual dwelling place."

The interpretation uses common physical terminology to describe spiritual matters. Such as "Father and Son." Yet, this terminlogy refers to the reality of reproduction of the species. For the "spiritual mother" is the mind where all things are conceived. Knowing this allows a person to understand what scriptures relate as a word of Jesus of Nazareth in response to those who told him his "mother" was there to see him. He explained who his true mother and family was in the reality of spirit. He was speaking of the spiritual being and not the physical being.

Good to hear from you. May you always walk in the Light.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Rick;
The tearing away of the flesh is a metaphor meaning that, only when we are right in the spirit can we be released from the incumbrances of the flesh, and it is the spirit that frees us. And no, it is not fence sitting. I expect you have figured out that I too follow the traditions of our people and also link them to the "Jesus Way". As to your reference to Tunkashila, in some tribes Tunkashila, or Sky Father, is the offspring that resulted from the connection between Earth Mother, Ina Maka, and Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka. Sound familiar? It is another example of a story of an immaculate conception between the physical world and the spirit world. And what DW teaches is in line with this way of thinking that we must be free of the corruption of flesh in order to be in communion with the spirit. Once free of that, we are free to communicate directly with God. This is impossible so long as our minds hold to superstitious tales and prejudices. The things of this world are a vexation to our spirit and the Sun Dance is intended only for those whose spiritual integrity is intact and free of obstructions, like the eagle whistle, a hollow bone. Sitting the fence is in reference to those who waffle back and forth and speak only what their peers at the moment approve of. It is an exercise in futility to follow a path that is not really any path. In that, there is no direction, one is a follower and not a leader. Being outspoken and following the direction received from God is not a popular position, but it is fulfilling. Following this path will subject one to criticism, sarcasm, persecution, censoring, and discrimination. But what did Jesus say of this? He told us we would be hated for His name's sake and for speaking His word.
So, when the flesh is torn away, forget about the physical pain and rejoice in the spiritual light you will receive. Sometimes Truth hurts and good medicine tastes bad....Tokahe' Wakan mani wakan inip'ila...To`na Wanagi

Thank You To na' Wanagi

I too feel this way and I concider this to be what Christ was talking about when he told us to pick up our cross and follow him....It ain't supposed to be easy as we say here in Texas.

Mitakuye Oyasin To no' Wanagi
Wo Cakaluta Ogamani

Rick

To' na Wanagi

[quote]Following this path will subject one to criticism, sarcasm, persecution, censoring, and discrimination. But what did Jesus say of this? He told us we would be hated for His name's sake and for speaking His word.

I wanted to respond to you I have set out to teach of Jesus as a Jew. I will also post this on the Judaism a day in the live of Christ post.
I have been beaten up told I don't have the right to or the knowledge, because of some minor technical wrongs or mispellings.

When I read this part of your post I just felt lead to respond, I usualy don't do anything that I don't feel lead to do. I did want to say to you and other's I was and am really hurt over being told, I need to further my education in order to teach someone about Jesus and Judaism.

The one thing I will say is that in order for me to have even considered such an undertaking and follow the Lord's will for me, it required me to let go of my own ego, There have been times that I do let my ego get in the way, and I get angry, at those times I sit back and let the Spirit guide me to a response.

To teach someone about Jewish Culture is like you a N/A teaching a non N/A person. On the other hand if you are Jewish and do believe in Jesus as the Messiah, then it is that much harder to teach a Christian when all they want to truly know of Christ is that he takes away their sin. They do not want to understand that there is more to it than that. I teach only those who are truly seeking to know the true ways of Christ.

In His Service
Rabbi Brian

Hello Rabbi Brian;

In reading your post I fell I should respond.

First, there is a great misunderstanding as to who and what the Christ is and secondly, many false teachings are taught as a result of this misunderstanding.

Perhaps you should delve more into the true "Christian" teachings and in particular, the transformation process by God. In this process, all is removed from the mind in regards to God and the truth is establisehd by God in its place.

The "Christ" is taught truth by God and is not a religionist or a follower of religious teachings. Although religious teachings and scriptures are reffered to in order to make a point, the mind and spirit of Christ is the creation of God and His Word.

The error of many is in believing Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, was a follower of Judaism. He was not. The man he was before his transformation by God was most probably taught the judaic teachings.

This matter of transformation by God is not held in knowledge and understanding by many persons. Yet it is the core of the salvation by God, to transform a person into a new creation of mind and the spirit or word of the mind. God honors no religion. God only honors those who come to be taught truth; to be transformed by God into His creation.

The name of the man later known as Jesus of Nazareth is never mentioned in scriptures. Because the scriptures always referred to the spirit of the man and not the physical body.

Perhaps this will help in your understanding of "Christ."

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Hi DW...

I believe it is important to remember that Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of the Judaic prophecies
concerning the coming of the messiah. He did not come to answer the prophets of Baal of any oracle at Delphi or any other so called prophet. He was placed where he was placed By God the Father for that reason. He was raised with his Judaic belief's and taught in the synagogues and at the temple and even took part in rebinical arguments witht he rebbi's at the temple in his 12th year. I agree with John that he was the living Word...the Word Incarnate. He was with God before Moses was even conceived and in my humble opinion needed no transformation. ("before Moses I am") the Holy Spirit did assend upon him in the form of a Dove, however i do believe that this was a sign for the people who were there to see of his future importancce. Remember when Christ was telling his deciples that he would soon be with them no longer, He made the promise that he would "SEND" the comforter. Who I believe was "the Holy Spirit". However there is a Transfiguration..as apposed to a Transformation. I respect very much your opinions and certainly do not wish to deminish in any way your belief's, and only post this to give you My take on this issue. With no intention whatsoever to say mine is better than yours...just a little different.


Rick

Hello Rick;

I understand your beliefs. They have been formulated by religionists and have been around as traditional teachings for a long time. However they are incorrect.

The only way you or any person is able to know the truth concerning these matters of God is to come to God and be taught truth by God. This truth from God sets a person free from all the false teachings of religionists.

Religions are creations of mankind as a replacement for God and religious teachings are a replacement for the Word and truth from God.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation

Knowing the truth


The entirety of the message and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth was centered on and based on knowing the truth. Transformation, salvation, being born again, the way of Spirit, was all based on the need of mankind to know the truth.

His mission was to teach people the reality of God and the reality of obtaining truth from God. The reality of the way of Spirit and this Spirit of truth that comes to mankind from God.

This way of receiving truth from God exists in reality and may be followed. This, is what he taught. This way some of his disciples followed and wrote of their experiences.

The followers of Moses refused to come to God and go to the mountain with Moses.

Today, the many refuse to follow the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. Either because of unbelief created by false teachings or because of fear, also planted as seed by false teachings. In reality a person chooses who they will honor as speaker of truth; Jesus of Nazareth or fellow mankind.

Few ever enter into and follow the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. For the reasons listed above.

“Truth” is any word accurately portraying and defining existing reality. Although some of mankind may know and speak truth concerning God, the vast majority do not. Most are content with their beliefs in the teachings of mankind concerning God. And these are many and varied as seen in the many different religions, denominations and sect, each believing they “know” the truth when in reality all they possess is mere belief in what others of mankind have said and taught.

Jesus of Nazareth did not teach his disciples to remain in belief of what he said. He taught then to enter into and follow the way he taught, “then” they would know the truth for it is God alone who sends His Word into the minds of mankind and His Word is this truth. Untouched and not perverted by mankind.

This is how Jesus of Nazareth gained knowledge of this truth, from God. All he spoke he was taught by his Father, who is God.

Mankind lives each day in belief. Believing everything he does is right and correct. Included in his acts are the many atrocities man commits on fellow mankind. Because of their belief this is the right thing to do.

Consequently the life mankind lives is not the life God gives. No person is able to possess this life from God unless and until they receive the Word of truth from God that teaches mankind the necessary principles to know and obey that structure this life. Without this life from God, mankind remains in spiritual death.

Why doesn’t mankind come to God to receive this truth from God? Because of traditional teachings that teach against this way; this way of Christ; this way of being taught truth directly by God. For centuries, mankind has taught against this way teaching instead that religions are the way to God.

But religions have proved this to be a lie. Simply because of the different teachings and doctrines of the many religions.

Mankind who now lives in the physical is missing the great opportunity to receive life from God in His Word. It is by His Word, God saves mankind. There is no other way in and by which a person may be saved other than this way established by God. Mankind cannot save fellow mankind. Religions of mankind cannot save mankind. For “that” which saves comes from the mind of God conveyed to mankind in His Word which is the Holy Spirit from God. It is this Word and Spirit God inspires in the minds of those who come to God to receive this promise of God.

The minds of mankind have been conditioned to view all words relating to God with the teachings inspired in their minds by the religions and the traditional teachings concerning God. Because of this conditioning, few ever look into a word in order to see what is being portrayed. It is shallowly scanned and correlated with the substance already residing in the mind. It is screened and judged by the substance residing in the mind and by this accepted or rejected. Which is why only a few believed what Jesus of Nazareth taught could be possible; to actually be taught truth by God. Because his teachings were in great conflict with the religious teachings n his day.

In this day and hour, these religious teachings have replaced the teachings of the way as taught by Jesus of Nazareth. Even those proclaiming to be “Christians” refuse to believe they may come to God and be taught truth by God.

What is it they fear? Why do they reject this way taught by Jesus of Nazareth? Because of what has already been inspired in their minds by fellow mankind. It is this that causes the unbelief in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in regards to this way of “knowing the truth.”

This is the “stronghold” the enemy of God has on the minds of mankind. The enemy of God being any person teaching a matter to be truth of God when it is a lie. It does not matter if the lie is given knowingly or unknowingly, it works against God and is the enemy of God. Any lie is an enemy of God.

Those who have testified of following this way taught by Jesus of Nazareth testified of receiving the truth from God. For truth comes in the Holy Spirit from God inspired in the minds of mankind by God and this Spirit is His Word. It is His Word that is truth.

It is such a simple way, this salvation of mankind by God. All that is necessary is for mankind to come to God in spirit; submit the mind to God; and allow God to reshape and reform the mind, transforming the mind from non-truth into truth. A very simple way established by God.

But the stronghold of the enemy holds mankind in fear and unbelief in this truth. Preventing mankind from coming to God.

Truth is a simple matter. Truth accurately portrays existing reality of which God is; of which His way of salvation is. It is a simple matter of allowing God to be Teacher and Creator of the mind. A very simple matter. God is more than able to be Teacher and Creator of the mind in mankind.

But mankind is content to talk about God instead of coming to God to receive from God.

I have been this way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. I have been taught truth by God. I decided long ago to follow this way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. I was never afraid because of knowing the love and good will of God and that God is more than able to provide a safe way for mankind to receive the promise from God He has promised; to give into mankind a new mind and a new spirit; to transform mankind in this manner into a new creation; His creation in mind and spirit.

Yet this word I give is not seen for what it truly is. It is truth. I am not merely speaking about God but speaking of the reality of God and speaking of the reality of being taught truth by God. This matter should be the matter every person should be dwelling on and meditating on; “Is it possible to be taught truth directly by God?” If a person believes not, then ask why this unbelief exists in light of all the testaments of those who have been taught truth by God including myself. What stops a person from believing in the promise of God? What stops a person from believing in the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth and followed by his disciples?

Look inside your mind for the enemy of God. Look for “that” that keeps you from coming to God to receive the promise of God. Identify this enemy. You will find it is a teaching from fellow mankind. Decide then who you will honor as a speaker of truth.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Hey DW....I am truley confused. I at the outset of my speaking in these forums I set out tht I was raised in the Baptist Church. I then stated that later I began a learning quest from other sources. I am indeed still a member of a Church that is broadcast around the World. Prestonwood Baptist in Plano, TX
27000 members. My Son and Daughter-n-Law sing on the praise team there. However as you can clearly see by some of my post's I do not subscribe to the Baptist doctrine to the tee so to speak. No matter how we, (any of us) come to Christ there must be some background, or we wouldn't come to Christ at all as we simply would not have known...Some of your statements show an inclination for Gnosticism
and others I don't have a clue. From your last post I have to ask you, (and believe me i'm not being faceicous), am I to understand that you are saying that if we do not hear the Sound of the Voice of God himself in our ears we are not getting the truth? I will assure you that no matter what religion you partake in there is some truth in it, if in fact you are truley looking for Truth. Please enlighten me as to where you are getting Your information so that I might inquire of these readings to see where the truth lies in them. That is unless your claim is that God himself imparted this knowledge directly into your mind. If this is true please say so.

Mitakuye Oyasin
Rick

Rick;
No, you will not hear the voice of God in your ears. But... you will know his voice in your mind and heart! You will discern which of those parts of doctrines you question, and you will understand, by the knowledge given you by God and through the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, why you question them. Those things that haunt you and speak to you of injustice or oppression for example, will eat at your soul until you can no longer stand it. You will find yourself taking up a position on these issues that concern the children of God and you will advocate for change. And then you will be hated and persecuted for them. Remember, 99% truth and 1% untruth still makes it a lie. This is what DW has explained for months to me, and at first, I was less than kind to his proclamations. But today, I understand the "analogy" of his knowledge and how it applies to me in my life. I value the lessons I have learned from him and Bill and numerous others on this site. But sometimes you just have to take what you can use in the moment and leave the rest. The mind is only able to absorb that which it is open to. And as DW has taught, we have been programmed for centuries to ascribe to certain doctrines, theology, social norms and such that are erring much in what they proclaim. It will take a lot of "housecleaning" to get rid of the old trash that "mommy and daddy" gave us, and that requires an open mind. A rarity in these days.....God's Peace and Love, Mitakola....To`na Wanagi

To na' Wanigi

I know that you are correct here. If you have read all my posts you will see where I have said that even the little white lie you tell to keep from hurting someone elses feelings is still a lie. Also as you can see from my post about being raised Baptist...you know Im having to shed some....several layers of skin on this one. I do reject the doctrine of the Baptist church as well as all others and seek only to learn the truth from what ever the source, seek the heart of God through his Son Jesus and walk the walk so to speak not just talk the talk. I am honestly not attacking the Guy just trying to understand and find out where he received his knowledge....and really want to examine it for myself. This is how
I gain awareness of the Spirit as well. I am a patient man and do study all I can. At one time he says there is no truth in the scriptures, then he goes on to say that Jesus taught this way....to my knowledge the only documentation on what Jesus taught is in the scriptures, now i am including even the Gnostic texts for as well as the apocrypha as well as the Judaic psuedo epigripha, as scipture, though I do not personally accept them all. This is the cause of my confusion. How can one say there is not truth in it
and then quote it.

Mitakuye Oyasin
Rick

Dear Brother Rick and all siblings reading and posting!

There is truth in scripture! Much truth, indeed! Having been educated in the Roman church, I was taught theology right alongside philosophy; it was very troubling to discover, day by day, assignment by assignment, that the philosophy I learned showed the theology to be in error. 50 / 50 is the formula of this world; 50% of it is always illuminated by the Sun and 50% of it is always in the darkness. We rotate upon an axis that keeps us constantly being exposed to both. 50% of us all is good; illuminated by the light, striving for the good, and struggling against the darkness of evil. 50% of us ALL is evil; clouded by the darkness, lashing out against the light, and confusing our behavior toward both ourselves and others by walking a gray line in between what we see as good and what we see as evil. So it is, my dear brothers and sisters, with scripture; actually, with anything written in this swirling world. To accept scripture at it's face value and not to conceptualize, contextualize, and search out its 50 / 50 value is hard to do when our hearts are troubled. We want to grasp at straws, as it were, and discount that its context has anything to do with its value. The clearest way that I have found to allow the good in scripture to penetrate my heart, is to first recognize the evil in it; those things that are negative, those things that are harmful to either the body or the psyche, those things that are or could be harmful to others, to their understanding of good, to their confusion of good and evil; these things must be left in the darkness and not brought to light. The Bible is the same as everything else in this world; half good and half evil. To strive toward the good means to expose the evil for what it is: a corruption of the message of good. Woven in and among the words of every chapter of every book, evil attempts to distort the good; you must take the bad thread from the weave to more clearly see the silken thread of good, and God is good! Amen? Bless your journey; I spent much time, on and off, in my youth within a Baptist community, and always cringed when the negative was taught or preached. Of course, this is not confined to any religion or denomination; it happens everywhere. It cannot be stopped, but it can be left behind us. All love, Mike.

Coming from the Roman tradition myself, I often wondered and asked questions. I, in my heart, dont necessarily agree with the 50/50 of the Bible as you state, I tend to think 50/50 in use and practice of it, if that makes sense. In the Roman teachings, I often asked, "When did we stop being Christians and become Stoics?"

Hello Rick;

You said;



Perhaps you did not read what I have posted because you have asked this question? There are no readings involved in this way of "knowing the truth" only God as Teacher. I have stated many times, my knowledge and understanding concerning the matters of God have come directly from God.

For this reason I have posted concerning the way established by God for mankind to "know the truth" as taught by Jesus of Nazareth. Did his disciples rely on "readings" or "scriptures" as the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth? No. They followed the way of spirit as taught coming to God to receive His Holy Spirit which is His Word inspired in the mind by God. This is how God conveys the matter from His mind into the minds of mankind; by inspiration; by revelation. The word "to hear" means to "pay attention to."

If you would like to possess this same information I possess, then follow this same way; honor God alone as both teacher and creator of the mind; come to God in this way, to receive the promise of God which is to all mankind at all times.

"Gnosis" has been perverted into a form of religion just as truth has been perverted by many religions. "Gnosis" merely refers to "knowledge." There are those who throw this label on a person simply because they do not believe a person may be taught truth by God. They, making their selves judge of and over God, which is inanity. How many as recorded in history have been inspired by the Word from God? How many of the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth declared what they received from God including knowledge of truth as John spoke of? They were ordinary men such as mankind is in this day and hour. They were not special as some say and what they received from God, each and every person may receive from God. And they, were co-heirs with Jesus of Nazareth in all he received from God.

It is time for mankind to turn to God; look to God; honor God; worship God; in truth and in the Holy Spirit God gives in His Word. Only God saves mankind, not any man nor any religion of man. God saves those who come to Him for salvation. Salvation is by the promised works of God.

The Word of God is the Word that proceeds forth from God. In this Word is the substance of Spirit that comprises a "body of Spirit." It is the body of the Son of God into which a person is transformed by God, becoming His creation in mind and spirit. This one is the "Christ" being the taught one of God.

This way as taught by Jesus of Nazareth is the “new and living way” compared to the way of religions. It is the way of the Living God and His Living Word. It is the way of entering into oneness with God in mind and spirit.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


The Fruit of The Spirit

Fruit only comes from a mature tree. The fruit of the vine planted by God comes from the mature one of God. A metaphor of a grave vine and grapes as fruit has been used by mankind to describe the planting of God and the fruit from this planting. In the metaphor, the grapes are harvested when ripe and mature. Those that are not wither on the vine and die.

What is the produce from the planting of God’s Seed? Another metaphor used to describe this way of is to see the Seed of God bring forth “trees.” Or flowers. Or good food. The garden of God is His planting of His Seed. His Seed is His Word and His Word is Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in the person who has been taught the principles of God by God. This one, has learned to obey the principles of God, knowing and understanding the life they bring to those who learn and obey these higher ways and principles of God.

The fruit is the expression or manifestation of this Holy Spirit from God in word and acts of a person. Especially in regards to how this person interrelates with others. In the words and actions of this person the attributes of God are manifest. Love and good will being the mainstay of this interrelationship with others of mankind.

Among mankind are many who believe they are able to use their own seed to bring forth the plants or produce that comes from the Seed of God alone. Throughout history, mankind has thought he is able to do what God does; create the mind and spirit of a person to be His creation by His Word. History reveals many have thought their selves to be as wise or wiser than God and have endeavored to “perfect” their selves into the equal of what God creates and perfects.

However it is this very mind and spirit God declares mankind must be saved from in order to be the creation of God. Without the Word from God that reveals the principles of God to mankind, mankind does not possess the knowledge nor the understanding of the ways of God and the ways of life as God declares life to be.

It was the liar and deceiver who convinced those of Adam to forsake the ways and the Spirit from God and to take into the mind other principles not of God as a way of life. In reality, this act of Adam brought Adam into spiritual death which is when any person does not possess the Holy Spirit from God that gives mankind the life God offers,

Whenever mankind ceases to honor God as the creator; as the giver of this life; and believes he is able by his own works to create this life for himself by self works, mankind has believed the lie that brings the spiritual death that always exists whenever a person or people refuse to come to God to receive their life from God; refuse to come to God to be taught truth by God.

For God has established a way; His way; for the transformation of mankind from this spiritual death into the life His gives in His Word; His Living Word that comes from Him, untouched by the hands of mankind therefore unaltered and pure. The Son of God Paul, spoke to the “Romans” in regards to this matter of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowing without honor for God.

What is the truth concerning God? It is the Word that comes directly from God that conveys this truth into the minds of mankind. No man is able to know the mind of God nor the contents therein unless and until God reveals the contents of His mind to one who has come to receive this from God.

Because of the ongoing rebellion against God for the many centuries, mankind is lacking this knowledge and understanding God gives in His Word. Mankind, by his inflated ego, has created other ways that are not of God and believed these ways when followed will bring the same results as is achieved when following the way God has established as His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

Mankind has created religions and doctrines and teachings, saying these are of God and represent the will of God and the knowledge of God. But they are of the works of man and not God for God has not desired nor created religions. God has created and established His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

“Spirit” is the substance inspired in the mind. In the mind of God is Spirit and because it is from God and not mankind it is named the “Holy” Spirit. Some do not realize God possesses a mind and thinks. Few understand what it is God dwells in and on in His thoughts. The thoughts of God are centered on the substance and matter residing in the mind of God. His knowledge, His understanding, His wisdom.

It is a great delusion for any of mankind to believe he possesses a mind equal to or comparable to the mind of God. Yet some of mankind do by creating their own ways and principles thinking and believing these bring the life as God gives life and transforms a person from spiritual death into this spiritual life. If this was possible, there would be no need for God. There would be no need for God to perform the works He has promised to perform. There would be no need for God to give to mankind for his needs.

And in this delusion, many of mankind have created their social orders, believing they possess the mind God has promised to create by His Word and Spirit. Many of these are religious orders.

Religion is described and defined in this manner by Wikipedia. The Kabbalah is also explained by Wikipedia.

What is obvious in religions and even in Kabbalah, are the different beliefs and conflicts of beliefs. Like shifting sands constantly being changed by waves of doctrines.

The Word from God never changes for this Word from God presents perfect knowledge and understanding of what is true. It is referred to as “rock” compared to the sand or dust.

“A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.
The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.
Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors. Definitions mostly include:
• a notion of the transcendent or numinous, often, but not always, in the form of theism
• a cultural or behavioural aspect of ritual, liturgy and organized worship, often involving a priesthood, and societal norms of morality (ethos) and virtue (arete)
• a set of myths or sacred truths held in reverence or believed by adherents
Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in "God" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, "a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[6] According to this definition, religion refers to one's primary worldview and how this dictates one's thoughts and actions.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that reduce religion to its component factors. Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a "feeling of absolute dependence."
Esotericism is often spiritual (thus religious) but can be non-religious/-spiritual, and it uses intellectual understanding and reasoning, intuition and inspiration (higher noetic and spiritual reasoning,) but not necessarily faith (except often as a virtue,) and it is philosophical in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation (esoteric cosmology). Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. All religions are probably somewhat exoteric, but most ones of ancient civilizations such as Yoga of India, and the mystery religions of ancient Egypt, Israel (Kabbalah,) and Greece are examples of ones that are also esoteric.
Humans have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and our place in it (cosmology). Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include science, philosophy, metaphysics, astrology, esotericism, mysticism, and forms of shamanism, such as the sacred consumption of ayahuasca among Peruvian Amazonia's Urarina. The Urarina have an elaborate animistic cosmological system[23], which informs their mythology, religious orientation and daily existence. In many cases, the distinction between these means are not clear. For example, Buddhism and Taoism have been regarded as schools of philosophies as well as religions.
Given the generalized discontents with modernity, consumerism, over-consumption, violence and anomie, many people in the so-called industrial or post-industrial West rely on a number of distinctive religious worldviews. This in turn has given rise to increased religious pluralism, as well as to what are commonly known in the academic literature as new religious movements, which are gaining ground across the globe.
The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in knowledge about other cultures and religions, and also the establishment of economic and social histories of progress. The "history of religions" school sought to account for this religious diversity by connecting it with the social and economic situation of a particular group.
Typically religions are divided into stages of progression from more simple to more complex societies, especially from polytheistic to monotheistic and from extempore to organised. (There are now claims "that religion evolved from polytheism to monotheism has now been discredited" p. 1763 Man, Myth and Magic 1995)
Thus, the starting point is the tribal band whose religion is animistic and involves shamans and totems. Since the group is tribal, there is no permanent sanctuary. Cultic rites centre on identification with wild animals and appeasing spirits, often of the hunted.
As society developed into chiefdoms and small kingdoms, religious rites began to serve different functions. Agriculture became important and so fertility gods were introduced (often female, as it is the woman who has the power to produce life). The status of the "big man" (or chief) was supported with mythic tales of heroes and demigods, from whom he may be descended.
When these small kingdoms merged into larger groups (often through conquest), different cults merged. The conquest of one group by another is therefore recorded in an epic tale of the conquest of the conquered group's god by the victor's (e.g. some Hinduism and the Babylonian Marduk). Another solution was to syncretise different religious traditions, for example, the Romans' identification of their Gods with the Greeks and the Greeks' adoption of Anatolian myths and characters.
Finally, the growth of the city state brought about progression to the most "civilised" level of religion, ethical monotheism. Students of the history of religions often learnt that this began in Egypt with Akhnaten and grew through 7th century BC Judaism, Persian Zoroastrianism and Greek Philosophy to endow Western society with the most progressive form of religion. The historical basis of this — that religion moved from polytheism to ethical monotheism — is now doubted.
Nevertheless, it is still widely held that ethical monotheism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism) was encouraged by the growth of city states. This was partly due to the role of a hierarchical society with a god-like absolute ruler. A more powerful social force was the isolation of the individual as he moved from the clan to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Questions of justice and value that had been previously answered by the family and small tribe were now to be pursued independently. The relative anonymity of the city afforded the opportunity for not only "sin" but also loneliness. Ethical monotheism answered society's need for a moral guide and motivation, whilst a unique personal God who was sovereign over all areas of life answered people's feelings of isolation and powerlessness.
Good examples of this are the prophetic literature of the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), especially Isaiah, and the wisdom literature of the ancient near east dealing with apparently unjustified suffering. This includes Job, in the Judaeo-Christian Bible, and "The Dialogue of Pessimism", a Babylonian text.
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎), which literally means "receiving", is the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.


According to the Zohar, generally considered the foremost Kabbalistic text, Torah study is divided into four levels:[2]
• Peshat, the simple meaning of the text;
• Remez, literally "hint[s]"—biblical allusion and allegory;
• Derash, i.e. midrash, Rabbinic scriptural exegesis;
• Sod, which is the kabbalah, the secret inner meaning of the Torah.
Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah -- the study of Torah (the Law of God) being an inherent duty of observant Jews.[3] Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism.
The origins of the actual term Kabbalah are unknown and disputed to belong either to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021 - 1058) or else to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. While other terms have been used in many religious documents from the 2nd century CE up to the present day, the term Kabbalah has become the main descriptive of Jewish esoteric knowledge and practices. The Kabbalistic literature, which served as the basis for most of the development of Kabbalistic thought, divides between early works such as Heichalot and Sefer Yetzirah (believed to be dated 1st or 2nd Century CE) and later works dated to the 13th century CE, of which the main book is the Zohar representing the main source for the Contemplative Kabbalah ("Kabbalah Iyunit").
According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel,[4] although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis.
Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.[5] The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד‎) for two and a half millennia.
It is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within Kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with very different outlooks, however all are accepted as correct.[6] Modern Halakhic authorities have tried to narrow the scope and diversity within Kabbalah, by restricting study to certain texts, notably Zohar and the teachings of the Isaac Luria as passed down through Haim Vital.[7] However even this qualification does little to limit the scope of understanding and expression, as included in those works are commentaries on Abulafian writings, Sepher Yetzirah, Albotonian writings, and Brit Menuhah.[8] It is therefore important to bear in mind when discussing things such as the Sephirot and their interactions that one is dealing with highly abstract concepts that at best can only be understood intuitively.[9]
Claims for authority
Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority (see, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in his Circle of the Unique Cherub). As a result, virtually all works pseudepigraphically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam by the angel Raziel after he was evicted from Eden.
Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4). In Islam, the angels 'Harut' and 'Marut' were sent to teach magic only as a test to mankind (see Qur'an, Ch. 2: 102).
Perception of non-Jews
Another aspect of Kabbalah that Jewish critics object to is its metaphysics of the human soul.[citation needed] Since the Zohar was written, most Kabbalistic works[citation needed] assume that Jewish and non-Jewish souls are fundamentally different. While all human souls emanate from God, the Zohar posits that at least part of the Gentile soul emanates from the "left side" of the Sefirotic structure and that non-Jews therefore have a dark or demonic aspect to them that is absent in Jews.
Later Kabbalistic works build and elaborate on this idea. The Hasidic work, the Tanya, fuses this idea with Judah ha-Levi's medieval philosophical argument for the uniqueness of the Jewish soul,[citation needed] in order to argue that Jews have an additional level of soul that other humans do not possess.
Theologically framed hostility may be a response to the demonization of Jews which developed in Western and Christian society and thought, starting with the Patristic writings.
The Kabbalistic view concerning non-Jews can be compared with the Christian doctrine that baptized Christians form part of the Body of Christ while (at least according to Augustine of Hippo) all others remain in the massa perditionis.
David Halperin[23]theorizes that the collapse of Kabbalah's influence among Western European Jews over the course of the 17th and 18th Century was a result of the cognitive dissonance they experienced between Kabbalah's very negative perception of gentiles and their own dealings with non-Jews, which were rapidly expanding and improving during this period due to the influence of the Enlightenment.
For a different perspective, see Wolfson.[24] He provides extensive documentation to illustrate the prevalence of the distinction between the souls of Jews and non-Jews in kabbalistic literature. He provides numerous examples from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, which would challenge the view of Halperin cited above as well as the notion that "modern Judaism" has rejected or dismissed this "outdated aspect" of the kabbalah. There are still kabbalists today, and many influenced by them, who harbor this view. It is accurate to say that many Jews do and would find this distinction offensive, but it is inaccurate to say that the idea has been totally rejected. As Wolfson has argued, it is an ethical demand on the part of scholars to be vigilant with regard this matter and in this way the tradition can be refined from within.
[edit] Orthodox Judaism
The idea that there are ten divine sefirot could evolve over time into the idea that "God is One being, yet in that One being there are Ten" which opens up a debate about what the "correct beliefs" in God should be, according to Judaism.
Rabbi Saadia Gaon teaches in his book Emunot v'Deot that Jews who believe in reincarnation have adopted a non-Jewish belief.
Nachmanides (12th Century) provides background to many Kabbalistic ideas. His works, especially those in the Five books of Moses (Pentateuch) offer in-depth of various concepts.
Maimonides (12th Century) did not consider many of the texts of the Hekalot, particularly in the work Shiur Komah with its starkly anthropomorphic vision of God.
Rabbi Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon, in the spirit of his father Maimonides, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, and other predecessors, explains at length in his book Milhhamot HaShem that the Almighty is in no way literally within time or space nor physically outside time or space, since time and space simply do not apply to His Being whatsoever. This is in contrast to certain popular understandings of modern Kabbalah which teach a form of panentheism, that His 'essence' is within everything.
Around the 1230s, Rabbi Meir ben Simon of Narbonne wrote an epistle (included in his Milhhemet Mitzvah) against his contemporaries, the early Kabbalists, characterizing them as blasphemers who even approach heresy. He particularly singled out the Sefer Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and describing some of its content as truly heretical.
Rabbi Yitzchak ben Sheshet Perfet, (The Rivash), 1326-1408. Although as is evident from his responsa on the topic (157) the Rivash was skeptical of certain interpretations of Kabbalah popular in his time, it is equally evident that overall he did accept Kabbalah as received Jewish wisdom, and attempted to defend it from attackers. To this end he cited and rejected a certain philosopher who claimed that Kabbalah was "worse than Christianity", as it made God into 10, not just into three. Most followers of Kabbalah have never followed this interpretation of Kabbalah, on the grounds that the concept of the Christian Trinity posits that there are three persons existing within the Godhead, one of whom became a human being.[citation needed] In contrast, the mainstream understanding of the Kabbalistic Sefirot holds that they have no mind or intelligence; further, they are not addressed in prayer and they cannot become a human being. They are conduits for interaction, not persons or beings. Nonetheless, many important poskim, such as Maimonidies in his work Mishneh Torah, prohibit any use of mediators between oneself and the Creator as a form of idolatry.
Rabbi Leone di Modena, a 17th century Venetian critic of Kabbalah, wrote that if we were to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism, as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot. This critique was in response to the knowledge that some European Jews of the period addressed individual Sefirot in some of their prayers, although the practise was apparently uncommon. Apologists explain that Jews may have been praying for and not necessarily to the aspects of Godliness represented by the Sefirot.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden, 1697-1776, wrote the book Mitpahhath Sfarim (Veil of the Books), a detailed critique of the Zohar in which he concludes that certain parts of the Zohar contain heretical teaching and therefore could not have been written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Opponents of his work claim[citation needed] that he wrote the book in a drunken stupor. Emden's rationalistic approach to this work, however, makes neither intoxication nor stupor seem plausible.
Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, an early 20th century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhhamoth HaShem, (Wars of the L-RD) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's view of Kabbalah into modern times.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903-1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria's, the Arizal's kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, Maimonides,[citation needed] completely reject Arizal's kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'resheyt mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.
[edit] Conservative and Reform Judaism
Since all forms of reform or liberal Judaism are rooted in the Enlightenment and tied to the assumptions of European modernity, Kabbalah tended to be rejected by most Jews in the Conservative and Reform movements, though its influences were not completely eliminated. While it was generally not studied as a discipline, the Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat service remained part of liberal liturgy, as did the Yedid Nefesh prayer. Nevertheless, in the 1960s, Rabbi Saul Lieberman of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is reputed to have introduced a lecture by Scholem on Kabbalah with a statement that Kabbalah itself was "nonsense", but the academic study of Kabbalah was "scholarship". This view became popular among many Jews, who viewed the subject as worthy of study, but who did not accept Kabbalah as teaching literal truths.
According to Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean of the Conservative Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in the American Jewish University), "many western Jews insisted that their future and their freedom required shedding what they perceived as parochial orientalism. They fashioned a Judaism that was decorous and strictly rational (according to 19th-century European standards), denigrating Kabbalah as backward, superstitious, and marginal."[citation needed]
However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries there has been a revival in interest in Kabbalah in all branches of liberal Judaism. The Kabbalistic 12th century prayer Ani'im Zemirot was restored to the new Conservative Sim Shalom siddur, as was the B'rikh Shmeh passage from the Zohar, and the mystical Ushpizin service welcoming to the Sukkah the spirits of Jewish forbearers. Ani'im Zemirot and the 16th Century mystical poem Lekhah Dodi reappeared in the Reform Siddur Gates of Prayer in 1975. All Rabbinical seminaries now teach several courses in Kabbalah, and both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles have fulltime instructors in Kabbalah and Hasidut, Eitan Fishbane and Pinchas Geller, respectively. Reform Rabbis like Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner have renewed interest in Kabbalah among Reform Jews.
According to Artson "Ours is an age hungry for meaning, for a sense of belonging, for holiness. In that search, we have returned to the very Kabbalah our predecessors scorned. The stone that the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)... Kabbalah was the last universal theology adopted by the entire Jewish people, hence faithfulness to our commitment to positive-historical Judaism mandates a reverent receptivity to Kabbalah".[25]
[edit] History
[edit] Origins of Judaic mysticism
According to the traditional understanding, Kabbalah dates from Eden.[26] It came down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. Talmudic Judaism records its view of the proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2.
Contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and cultural milieu of that historical period. Answers to questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary greatly and cannot be easily summarized.
[edit] Origins of terms
Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also, Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam.
When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice - meditation Hitbonenut (Hebrew: התבוננות‎),[27] Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's Hitbodedut (Hebrew: התבודדות‎), translated as “being alone” or “isolating oneself”, or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice - prophecy (“NeVu’a” Hebrew: נבואה‎).
During the 5th century BCE, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls (“MeGilot”), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה‎)[28] and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית‎),[29] respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית‎) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah.
[edit] Mystic elements of the Torah
According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash[citation needed] God created the universe through the ten sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.[25]
The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision - Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.
The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul.
[edit] Mystical doctrines in the Talmudic era
In early rabbinic Judaism (the early centuries of the first millennium AD), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4-28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom).
Talmudic doctrine forbade the public teaching of esoteric doctrines and warned of their dangers. In the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1), rabbis were warned to teach the mystical creation doctrines only to one student at a time.[30] To highlight the danger, in one Jewish aggadic ("legendary") anecdote, four prominent rabbis of the Mishnaic period (first century CE) are said to have visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise, pardes, Hebrew: פרדס lit., orchard):
Four men entered pardes — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah),[31] and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba entered in peace and departed in peace.[32]
In notable readings of this legend, only Rabbi Akiba was fit to handle the study of mystical doctrines. The Tosafot, medieval commentaries on the Talmud, say that the four sages "did not go up literally, but it appeared to them as if they went up."[33] On the other hand, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, writes in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) that the journey to paradise "is to be taken literally and not allegorically". [34] (For further analysis, see The Four Who Entered Paradise.)
Eminent rabbinic teachers in the Land of Israel held the doctrine of the preexistence of matter (Midrash Genesis Rabbah i. 5; iv. 6), in spite of the protest of Gamaliel II. (ib. i. 9).
In dwelling upon the nature of God and the universe, the mystics of the Talmudic period asserted, in contrast to the transcendentalism evident in some parts of the Bible, that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom (המקום "the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). This type of theology, in modern terms, is known as either pantheism or panentheism. Whether a text is truly pantheistic or panentheistic is often hard to understand; mainstream Judaism generally rejects pantheistic interpretations of Kabbalah, and instead accepts panentheistic interpretations.
Even in very early times in the Land of Israel, Jewish, as well as Jewish Alexandrian theology recognized the two attributes of God, middat hadin, the attribute of justice, and middat ha-rahamim, the attribute of mercy (see: Midrash Sifre, Deuteronomy 27); and so is the contrast between justice and mercy became a fundamental doctrine of the Kabbalah. Other hypostasizations are represented by the ten "agencies", (the Sephiroth) through which God created the world, namely: wisdom, insight, cognition, strength, power, inexorableness, justice, right, love, and mercy.
While the Sefirot are based on these ten creative "potentialities", it is especially the personification of wisdom which, in Philo, represents the totality of these primal ideas; and the Targ. Jerusalem Talmud i., agreeing with him, translates the first verse of the Bible as follows: "By wisdom God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis Rabbah equates "Wisdom" with "Torah."
So, also, the figure of the Sar Metatron passed into mystical texts from the Talmud. In the Heichalot literature Metatron sometimes approximates the role of the demiurgos (see Gnosticism), being expressly mentioned as a "lesser" God. One text, however, identifies Metatron as Enoch transubstantiated (see: Enoch, III). Mention may also be made of other pre-existent states enumerated in an old baraita (an extra-mishnaic teaching); namely, the Torah, repentance, paradise and hell, the throne of God, the Heavenly Temple, and the name of the Messiah (Talmud Pesahim 54a). Although the origin of this doctrine must be sought probably in certain mythological ideas, the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence has modified the older, simpler conception, and the pre-existence of the seven must therefore be understood as an "ideal" pre-existence, a conception that was later more fully developed in the Kabbalah.
The attempts of the mystics to bridge the gulf between God and the world are evident in the doctrine of the preexistence of the soul, and of its close relation to God before it enters the human body — a doctrine taught by the Hellenistic sages (Wisdom viii. 19) as well as by the Palestinian rabbis. The mystics also employ the phrase from (Isaiah 6:3), as expounded by the Rabbinic Sages, "The whole world is filled with His glory," to justify a panentheistic understanding of the universe.
[edit] Middle Ages


The tree of life.
From the 8th-11th Century Sefer Yetzirah and Hekalot texts made their way into European Jewish circles. Modern scholars have identified several mystical brotherhoods that functioned in Europe starting in the 12th Century. Some, such as the "Iyyun Circle" and the "Unique Cherub Circle," were truly esoteric, remaining largely anonymous.
One well-known group was the "Hasidei Ashkenaz," (חסידי אשכנז) or German Pietists. This 13th Century movement arose mostly among a single scholarly family, the Kalonymus family of the French and German Rhineland.
There were certain rishonim ("Elder Sages") of exoteric Judaism who are known to have been experts in Kabbalah. One of the best known is Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194-1270) whose commentary on the Torah is considered to be based on Kabbalistic knowledge. Bahya ben Asher (the Rabbeinu Behaye) (d. 1340) also combined Torah commentary and Kabbalah. Another was Isaac the Blind (1160-1235), the teacher of Nahmanides, who is widely argued to have written the first work of classic Kabbalah, the Bahir.
Sefer Bahir and another work, the "Treatise of the Left Emanation", probably composed in Spain by Isaac ben Isaac ha-Kohen, laid the groundwork for the composition of Sefer Zohar, written by Moses de Leon and his mystical circle at the end of the 13th Century, but credited to the Talmudic sage Shimon bar Yochai, cf. Zohar. The Zohar proved to be the first truly "popular" work of Kabbalah, and the most influential. From the thirteenth century onward, Kabbalah began to be widely disseminated and it branched out into an extensive literature. Historians in the nineteenth century, for example, Heinrich Greatz, argued that the emergence into public view of Jewish esotericism at this time coincides with, and represents a response to, the rising influence of the rationalist philosophy of Maimonides and his followers. Gershom Scholem sought to undermine this view as part of his resistance to seeing kabbalah as merely a response to medieval Jewish rationalism. Arguing for a gnostic influence has to be seen as part of this strategy. More recently, Moshe Idel and Elliot Wolfson have independently argued that the impact of Maimonides can be seen in the change from orality to writing in the thirteenth century. That is, kabbalists committed to writing many of their oral traditions in part as a response to the attempt of Maimonides to explain the older esoteric subjects philosophically.
Most Orthodox Jews reject the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development or change such as has been proposed above. After the composition known as the Zohar was presented to the public in the 13th century, the term "Kabbalah" began to refer more specifically to teachings derived from, or related, to the Zohar. At an even later time, the term began to generally be applied to Zoharic teachings as elaborated upon by Isaac Luria Arizal. Historians generally date the start of Kabbalah as a major influence in Jewish thought and practice with the publication of the Zohar and climaxing with the spread of the Arizal's teachings. The majority of Haredi Jews accept the Zohar as the representative of the Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'reshit that are referred to in Talmudic texts.[35]
[edit] Early Modern era: Lurianic Kabbalah
Following the upheavals and dislocations in the Jewish world as a result of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the trauma of Anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, Jews began to search for signs of when the long-awaited Jewish Messiah would come to comfort them in their painful exiles. Moses Cordovero and his immediate circle popularized the teachings of the Zohar which had until then been only a modestly influential work. The author of the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law"), Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), was also a great scholar of Kabbalah and spread its teachings during this era.
As part of that "search for meaning" in their lives, Kabbalah received its biggest boost in the Jewish world with the explication of the Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) by his disciples Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Israel Sarug, both of whom published Luria's teachings (in variant forms) gaining them wide-spread popularity. Luria's teachings came to rival the influence of the Zohar and Luria stands, alongside Moses de Leon, as the most influential mystic in Jewish history.
[edit] Ban against studying Kabbalah
The ban against studying Kabbalah was lifted by the efforts of the sixteenth century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulai (1570-1643).
I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the Wisdom of Truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E). From then on after is called the "Last Generation", and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M'hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit King Mashiach will come in the future – and not in any other merit – it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah]. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai)[36]
[edit] Sefardi and Mizrahi
The Kabbalah of the Sefardi (Portuguese or Spanish) and Mizrahi (African/Asian) Torah scholars has a long history. Kabbalah in various forms was widely studied, commented upon, and expanded by North African, Turkish, Yemenite, and Asian scholars from the 16th Century onward. It flourished among Sefardic Jews in Tzfat (Safed), Israel even before the arrival of Isaac Luria, its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous hymn Lekhah Dodi, taught there.
His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu De Vidas authored the classic work, Reishit Chochma, combining kabbalistic and mussar (moral) teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one authorized to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings.
[edit] Maharal
One of the most important teachers of Kabbalah recognized as an authority by all serious scholars up until the present time, was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609) known as the Maharal of Prague. Many of his written works survive and are studied for their deep Kabbalistic insights. The Maharal is, perhaps, most famous outside of Jewish mysticism for the legends of the golem of Prague, which he reportedly created. During the twentieth century, Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) continued to spread the Maharal's teachings indirectly through his own teachings and scholarly publications within the modern yeshiva world.
[edit] Failure of Sabbatian Mysticism
The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage.
His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Many of his followers, known as Sabbateans, continued to worship him in secret, explaining his conversion not as an effort to save his life but to recover the sparks of the holy in each religion, and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Donmeh movement in modern Turkey is a surviving remnant of the Sabbatian schism.
Due to the chaos caused in the Jewish world, the Rabbinic prohibition against studying Kabbalah was well intact again, and established itself firmly within the Jewish religion. One of the conditions allowing a man to study and engage himself in the Kabbalah, was to be of age forty. This age requirement came about during this period and is not Talmudic in origin. Many Jews are familiar with this ruling, but are not aware of its origins. Moreover, the prohibition is not halakhic in nature. According to Moses Cordovero, halakhically, one must be of age twenty to engage in the Kabbalah. Many famous Kabbalists, including the ARI, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, were younger than twenty when they began.
[edit] Frankists
Main article: Jacob Frank
The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by apparently converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership.
[edit] 1700s
The eighteenth century saw an explosion of new efforts in the writing and spread of Kabbalah by four well known rabbis working in different areas of Europe:
• Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) in the area of Ukraine spread teachings based on Rabbi Isaac Luria's foundations, simplifying the Kabbalah for the common man. From him sprang the vast ongoing schools of Hasidic Judaism, with each successive rebbe viewed by his "Hasidim" as continuing the role of dispenser of mystical divine blessings and guidance.
• Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 - 1810), the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revitalized and further expanded the latter's teachings, amassing a following of thousands in Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania and Poland. In a unique amalgam of Hasidic and Mitnagid approaches, Rebbe Nachman emphasized study of both Kabbalah and serious Torah scholarship to his disciples. His teachings also differed from the way other Hasidic groups were developing, as he rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself—and within himself.
• Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (Vilna Gaon) (1720-1797), based in Lithuania, had his teachings encoded and publicized by his disciples such as by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who published the mystical-ethical work Nefesh HaChaim. However, he was staunchly opposed to the new Hasidic movement and warned against their public displays of religious fervour inspired by the mystical teachings of their rabbis.Although the Vilna Gaon was not in favor of the Hasidic movement, he did not prohibit the study and engagement in the Kabbalah. This is evident from his writings in the Even Shlema."He that is able to understand secrets of the Torah and does not try to understand them will be judged harshly, may God have mercy". (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 8:24). "The Redemption will only come about through learning Torah, and the essence of the Redemption depends upon learning Kabbalah" (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 11:3).
• Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), based in Italy, was a precocious Talmudic scholar who arrived at the startling conclusion that there was a need for the public teaching and study of Kabbalah. He established a yeshiva for Kabbalah study and actively recruited outstanding students and, in addition, wrote copious manuscripts in an appealing clear Hebrew style, all of which gained the attention of both admirers and rabbinical critics who feared another "Zevi (false messiah) in the making".He was forced to close his school by his rabbinical opponents, hand over and destroy many of his most precious unpublished kabbalistic writings, and go into exile in the Netherlands. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Some of his most important works such as Derekh Hashem survive and are used as a gateway to the world of Jewish mysticism.
[edit] Modern era
One of the most influential sources spreading Kabbalistic teachings have come from the massive growth and spread of Hasidic Judaism, a movement begun by Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), but continued in many branches and streams until today. These groups differ greatly in size, but all emphasize the study of mystical Hasidic texts, which now consists of a vast literature devoted to elaborating upon the long chain of Kabbalistic thought and methodology. No group emphasizes in-depth kabbalistic study, though, to the extent of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, whose Rebbes delivered tens of thousands of discourses, and whose students study these texts for three hours daily.
Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn of Lubavitch urged the study of kabbala as prerequisite for one's humanity:
A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.[37]
The writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864-1935) also stress Kabbalistic themes:
Due to the alienation from the "secret of God" [i.e. Kabbalah], the higher qualities of the depths of Godly life are reduced to trivia that do not penetrate the depth of the soul. When this happens, the most mighty force is missing from the soul of nation and individual, and Exile finds favor essentially... We should not negate any conception based on rectitude and awe of Heaven of any form - only the aspect of such an approach that desires to negate the mysteries and their great influence on the spirit of the nation. This is a tragedy that we must combat with counsel and understanding, with holiness and courage. (Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Orot 2 )
Another influential and important Kabbalah character is Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag 1884-1954 (also known as the Baal HaSulam — a title that he was given after the completion of one of his masterworks, The Sulam). Ashlag is considered by many to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.
He developed a study method that he considered most fitting for the future generations of Kabbalists. He is also notable for his other masterwork Talmud Eser HaSfirot — The Study of the Ten Emanations — a commentary on all the writings of the ARI. Some today consider this work as the core of the entire teaching of Kabbalah. Baal Hasulam's goal was to make the study of Kabbalah understandable and accessible to every human being with the desire to know the meaning of life. There are several organizations that are actualizing his ideas today.
Renewed interest in Kabbalah has appeared among non-traditional Jews, and even among non-Jews. Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal have been the most influential groups in this trend.
[edit] Personalities in Kabbalah
See also: Category:Kabbalists
Historical
• Nathan Adler
• Abraham Abulafia
• Baruch Ashlag
• Yehuda Ashlag
• Abraham Azulai
• Samuel Ben-Or Avital
• Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
• Israel ben Eliezer
• Solomon ibn Gabirol
• Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla
• Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai
• Yitzchak Kaduri
• Yosef Karo
• Moses de Leon
• Isaac Luria
• Elijah ben Solomon
• Baba Sali
• Chaim Vital
• Simeon bar Yohai
Contemporary
• Aryeh Kaplan
• Zalman Schachter


Throughout time mankind has attempted to explain God and the workings of God from his perspective and this mind that is self created. The differing beliefs, the conflicts, and the ever changing of beliefs, indicate the ongoing attempts of mankind to perfect his own mind by his own works.

Jesus of Nazareth taught man must come to God to be transformed and changed in mind and spirit by the works of God who creates a new mind and spirit in mankind by His works. In this way, it is never self works but the works of God that transform a person in mind and spirit; that raise a person up from spiritual death to spiritual life. In this way, all faith and trust is placed in God and the promise of God to perform these works.

For many years mankind has refused to come to God to receive this mind and spirit from God and has continued in his pursuit of perfection by his self works. The works of creating his own mind by the word or seed from fellow man. This is the reality of man receiving the seed of man or making his “seed bed with fellow man; an abomination to God. From this way comes the “abomination of the desolate” who are those void of the Spirit from God yet say they represent God and teach truth pertaining to God and life. These who set their selves up in the place of God as God to the people; true representatives of God to the people; are those Jesus of Nazareth warned mankind of.

It has been the practice of many of mankind to replace God with self created religious orders creating doctrines and teachings from their self imagined beliefs. Many are the deluded who believe they are able to attain the life gives by their own works of creating their own minds by picking and choosing from what others of mankind have said in regards to God.

This way created by mankind is a substitute for the way established by God. This way of mankind cannot bring to be what only God brings to be by His creation. His creation by His Word.

It is a wonder mankind has chosen the word of fellow man and has refused the Word from God that provides mankind with truth; with knowledge and understanding of the matters of God and the matters of the life God gives. But mankind has followed this traditional way for many centuries, the many different nations and people each developing their own religions.

Most religions are teachings about God formulated by the imagination of mankind. They are not teachings that have come from God in the Word from God. In contrast to this way is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth who himself declared the word he spoke and taught was not his but was given to him by God. Indicating by this, his word was not self formulated by choosing from the words of others of mankind, but was the Word he had received directly by God. He taught others to follow this way, promising those who did would also receive this same Word and Spirit from God and also be transformed into the creation of God; the Son of God.

This way of knowing the reality of God and God’s truth coming in His Word which is conveyed from the mind of God thereby revealing God to the one receiving, was eventually dismissed and replaced with the religious teachings of mankind, including the religion called “Christianity.”

An important principle given to mankind by God is the way of “proving.” Every way taught by mankind presented as a way to become the creation of God and to know the truth from God must be proved in order to “know for sure” whether this way is of God or not; whether this way is the way established b God or not. The way taught by Jesus of Nazareth may be easily proved for he declared what a person would receive from God when following this way. The reality of receiving what he declared a person would receive from God proves his word and teaching of this way is the way established by God. This same way of proving must be applied to all ways taught by mankind in order to “know the truth” as to whether this way is of God or not. For many are misled by false teachers who do not lead people to God; who do not teach people to honor God alone as creator and as father and teacher of truth.

There are many religions and denominations of religions and teachings and doctrines offered to mankind to believe. And many are content to enter into and remain in mere belief. However the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth is the way to “know” the truth concerning the matters of God and the promise of God to mankind.

Knowing the truth is far superior to mere belief. Knowing the truth prevents a person from believing a lie and from being misled along a way not of God. For this reason God established this way; His way; for man to follow so he would not believe a lie and would not be misled.

In this way a person must recognize and honor God alone as creator; as teacher of truth; as the giver of life; as the Savior of mankind from spiritual death. A person must place all faith and trust in God and the promise of God and the way of asking and receiving from God what God has promised.

These matters were explained to Abraham and Abraham was told to choose for himself which way he would go. He chose the way of God. The “seed” of Abraham is not the physical but is the Seed from God he received. This is also the Seed of Christ for it is the Seed from God; His Word; His Spirit. All who are the true Seed of Abraham are recipients of this Seed from God, which is the seed of Christ; the Seed from God the Christ receives, Christ being the one taught by God, His truth, coming in His Word which is this Seed from God.

Every person must choose who and what they will believe and what way they will follow or “go” through this physical life. It is a choice of life or death of spirit and ongoing life or death. It is paramount for a person to understand and follow the way of proving instead of remaining in blind belief.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


The Fruit of The Spirit

Fruit only comes from a mature tree. The fruit of the vine planted by God comes from the mature one of God. A metaphor of a grave vine and grapes as fruit has been used by mankind to describe the planting of God and the fruit from this planting. In the metaphor, the grapes are harvested when ripe and mature. Those that are not wither on the vine and die.

What is the produce from the planting of God’s Seed? Another metaphor used to describe this way of is to see the Seed of God bring forth “trees.” Or flowers. Or good food. The garden of God is His planting of His Seed. His Seed is His Word and His Word is Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in the person who has been taught the principles of God by God. This one, has learned to obey the principles of God, knowing and understanding the life they bring to those who learn and obey these higher ways and principles of God.

The fruit is the expression or manifestation of this Holy Spirit from God in word and acts of a person. Especially in regards to how this person interrelates with others. In the words and actions of this person the attributes of God are manifest. Love and good will being the mainstay of this interrelationship with others of mankind.

Among mankind are many who believe they are able to use their own seed to bring forth the plants or produce that comes from the Seed of God alone. Throughout history, mankind has thought he is able to do what God does; create the mind and spirit of a person to be His creation by His Word. History reveals many have thought their selves to be as wise or wiser than God and have endeavored to “perfect” their selves into the equal of what God creates and perfects.

However it is this very mind and spirit God declares mankind must be saved from in order to be the creation of God. Without the Word from God that reveals the principles of God to mankind, mankind does not possess the knowledge nor the understanding of the ways of God and the ways of life as God declares life to be.

It was the liar and deceiver who convinced those of Adam to forsake the ways and the Spirit from God and to take into the mind other principles not of God as a way of life. In reality, this act of Adam brought Adam into spiritual death which is when any person does not possess the Holy Spirit from God that gives mankind the life God offers,

Whenever mankind ceases to honor God as the creator; as the giver of this life; and believes he is able by his own works to create this life for himself by self works, mankind has believed the lie that brings the spiritual death that always exists whenever a person or people refuse to come to God to receive their life from God; refuse to come to God to be taught truth by God.

For God has established a way; His way; for the transformation of mankind from this spiritual death into the life His gives in His Word; His Living Word that comes from Him, untouched by the hands of mankind therefore unaltered and pure. The Son of God Paul, spoke to the “Romans” in regards to this matter of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowing without honor for God.

What is the truth concerning God? It is the Word that comes directly from God that conveys this truth into the minds of mankind. No man is able to know the mind of God nor the contents therein unless and until God reveals the contents of His mind to one who has come to receive this from God.

Because of the ongoing rebellion against God for the many centuries, mankind is lacking this knowledge and understanding God gives in His Word. Mankind, by his inflated ego, has created other ways that are not of God and believed these ways when followed will bring the same results as is achieved when following the way God has established as His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

Mankind has created religions and doctrines and teachings, saying these are of God and represent the will of God and the knowledge of God. But they are of the works of man and not God for God has not desired nor created religions. God has created and established His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

“Spirit” is the substance inspired in the mind. In the mind of God is Spirit and because it is from God and not mankind it is named the “Holy” Spirit. Some do not realize God possesses a mind and thinks. Few understand what it is God dwells in and on in His thoughts. The thoughts of God are centered on the substance and matter residing in the mind of God. His knowledge, His understanding, His wisdom.

It is a great delusion for any of mankind to believe he possesses a mind equal to or comparable to the mind of God. Yet some of mankind do by creating their own ways and principles thinking and believing these bring the life as God gives life and transforms a person from spiritual death into this spiritual life. If this was possible, there would be no need for God. There would be no need for God to perform the works He has promised to perform. There would be no need for God to give to mankind for his needs.

And in this delusion, many of mankind have created their social orders, believing they possess the mind God has promised to create by His Word and Spirit. Many of these are religious orders.

Religion is described and defined in this manner by Wikipedia. The Kabbalah is also explained by Wikipedia.

What is obvious in religions and even in Kabbalah, are the different beliefs and conflicts of beliefs. Like shifting sands constantly being changed by waves of doctrines.

The Word from God never changes for this Word from God presents perfect knowledge and understanding of what is true. It is referred to as “rock” compared to the sand or dust.

“A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.
The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.
Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors. Definitions mostly include:
• a notion of the transcendent or numinous, often, but not always, in the form of theism
• a cultural or behavioural aspect of ritual, liturgy and organized worship, often involving a priesthood, and societal norms of morality (ethos) and virtue (arete)
• a set of myths or sacred truths held in reverence or believed by adherents
Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in "God" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, "a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[6] According to this definition, religion refers to one's primary worldview and how this dictates one's thoughts and actions.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that reduce religion to its component factors. Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a "feeling of absolute dependence."
Esotericism is often spiritual (thus religious) but can be non-religious/-spiritual, and it uses intellectual understanding and reasoning, intuition and inspiration (higher noetic and spiritual reasoning,) but not necessarily faith (except often as a virtue,) and it is philosophical in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation (esoteric cosmology). Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. All religions are probably somewhat exoteric, but most ones of ancient civilizations such as Yoga of India, and the mystery religions of ancient Egypt, Israel (Kabbalah,) and Greece are examples of ones that are also esoteric.
Humans have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and our place in it (cosmology). Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include science, philosophy, metaphysics, astrology, esotericism, mysticism, and forms of shamanism, such as the sacred consumption of ayahuasca among Peruvian Amazonia's Urarina. The Urarina have an elaborate animistic cosmological system[23], which informs their mythology, religious orientation and daily existence. In many cases, the distinction between these means are not clear. For example, Buddhism and Taoism have been regarded as schools of philosophies as well as religions.
Given the generalized discontents with modernity, consumerism, over-consumption, violence and anomie, many people in the so-called industrial or post-industrial West rely on a number of distinctive religious worldviews. This in turn has given rise to increased religious pluralism, as well as to what are commonly known in the academic literature as new religious movements, which are gaining ground across the globe.
The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in knowledge about other cultures and religions, and also the establishment of economic and social histories of progress. The "history of religions" school sought to account for this religious diversity by connecting it with the social and economic situation of a particular group.
Typically religions are divided into stages of progression from more simple to more complex societies, especially from polytheistic to monotheistic and from extempore to organised. (There are now claims "that religion evolved from polytheism to monotheism has now been discredited" p. 1763 Man, Myth and Magic 1995)
Thus, the starting point is the tribal band whose religion is animistic and involves shamans and totems. Since the group is tribal, there is no permanent sanctuary. Cultic rites centre on identification with wild animals and appeasing spirits, often of the hunted.
As society developed into chiefdoms and small kingdoms, religious rites began to serve different functions. Agriculture became important and so fertility gods were introduced (often female, as it is the woman who has the power to produce life). The status of the "big man" (or chief) was supported with mythic tales of heroes and demigods, from whom he may be descended.
When these small kingdoms merged into larger groups (often through conquest), different cults merged. The conquest of one group by another is therefore recorded in an epic tale of the conquest of the conquered group's god by the victor's (e.g. some Hinduism and the Babylonian Marduk). Another solution was to syncretise different religious traditions, for example, the Romans' identification of their Gods with the Greeks and the Greeks' adoption of Anatolian myths and characters.
Finally, the growth of the city state brought about progression to the most "civilised" level of religion, ethical monotheism. Students of the history of religions often learnt that this began in Egypt with Akhnaten and grew through 7th century BC Judaism, Persian Zoroastrianism and Greek Philosophy to endow Western society with the most progressive form of religion. The historical basis of this — that religion moved from polytheism to ethical monotheism — is now doubted.
Nevertheless, it is still widely held that ethical monotheism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism) was encouraged by the growth of city states. This was partly due to the role of a hierarchical society with a god-like absolute ruler. A more powerful social force was the isolation of the individual as he moved from the clan to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Questions of justice and value that had been previously answered by the family and small tribe were now to be pursued independently. The relative anonymity of the city afforded the opportunity for not only "sin" but also loneliness. Ethical monotheism answered society's need for a moral guide and motivation, whilst a unique personal God who was sovereign over all areas of life answered people's feelings of isolation and powerlessness.
Good examples of this are the prophetic literature of the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), especially Isaiah, and the wisdom literature of the ancient near east dealing with apparently unjustified suffering. This includes Job, in the Judaeo-Christian Bible, and "The Dialogue of Pessimism", a Babylonian text.
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎), which literally means "receiving", is the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.


According to the Zohar, generally considered the foremost Kabbalistic text, Torah study is divided into four levels:[2]
• Peshat, the simple meaning of the text;
• Remez, literally "hint[s]"—biblical allusion and allegory;
• Derash, i.e. midrash, Rabbinic scriptural exegesis;
• Sod, which is the kabbalah, the secret inner meaning of the Torah.
Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah -- the study of Torah (the Law of God) being an inherent duty of observant Jews.[3] Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism.
The origins of the actual term Kabbalah are unknown and disputed to belong either to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021 - 1058) or else to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. While other terms have been used in many religious documents from the 2nd century CE up to the present day, the term Kabbalah has become the main descriptive of Jewish esoteric knowledge and practices. The Kabbalistic literature, which served as the basis for most of the development of Kabbalistic thought, divides between early works such as Heichalot and Sefer Yetzirah (believed to be dated 1st or 2nd Century CE) and later works dated to the 13th century CE, of which the main book is the Zohar representing the main source for the Contemplative Kabbalah ("Kabbalah Iyunit").
According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel,[4] although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis.
Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.[5] The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד‎) for two and a half millennia.
It is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within Kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with very different outlooks, however all are accepted as correct.[6] Modern Halakhic authorities have tried to narrow the scope and diversity within Kabbalah, by restricting study to certain texts, notably Zohar and the teachings of the Isaac Luria as passed down through Haim Vital.[7] However even this qualification does little to limit the scope of understanding and expression, as included in those works are commentaries on Abulafian writings, Sepher Yetzirah, Albotonian writings, and Brit Menuhah.[8] It is therefore important to bear in mind when discussing things such as the Sephirot and their interactions that one is dealing with highly abstract concepts that at best can only be understood intuitively.[9]
Claims for authority
Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority (see, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in his Circle of the Unique Cherub). As a result, virtually all works pseudepigraphically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam by the angel Raziel after he was evicted from Eden.
Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4). In Islam, the angels 'Harut' and 'Marut' were sent to teach magic only as a test to mankind (see Qur'an, Ch. 2: 102).
Perception of non-Jews
Another aspect of Kabbalah that Jewish critics object to is its metaphysics of the human soul.[citation needed] Since the Zohar was written, most Kabbalistic works[citation needed] assume that Jewish and non-Jewish souls are fundamentally different. While all human souls emanate from God, the Zohar posits that at least part of the Gentile soul emanates from the "left side" of the Sefirotic structure and that non-Jews therefore have a dark or demonic aspect to them that is absent in Jews.
Later Kabbalistic works build and elaborate on this idea. The Hasidic work, the Tanya, fuses this idea with Judah ha-Levi's medieval philosophical argument for the uniqueness of the Jewish soul,[citation needed] in order to argue that Jews have an additional level of soul that other humans do not possess.
Theologically framed hostility may be a response to the demonization of Jews which developed in Western and Christian society and thought, starting with the Patristic writings.
The Kabbalistic view concerning non-Jews can be compared with the Christian doctrine that baptized Christians form part of the Body of Christ while (at least according to Augustine of Hippo) all others remain in the massa perditionis.
David Halperin[23]theorizes that the collapse of Kabbalah's influence among Western European Jews over the course of the 17th and 18th Century was a result of the cognitive dissonance they experienced between Kabbalah's very negative perception of gentiles and their own dealings with non-Jews, which were rapidly expanding and improving during this period due to the influence of the Enlightenment.
For a different perspective, see Wolfson.[24] He provides extensive documentation to illustrate the prevalence of the distinction between the souls of Jews and non-Jews in kabbalistic literature. He provides numerous examples from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, which would challenge the view of Halperin cited above as well as the notion that "modern Judaism" has rejected or dismissed this "outdated aspect" of the kabbalah. There are still kabbalists today, and many influenced by them, who harbor this view. It is accurate to say that many Jews do and would find this distinction offensive, but it is inaccurate to say that the idea has been totally rejected. As Wolfson has argued, it is an ethical demand on the part of scholars to be vigilant with regard this matter and in this way the tradition can be refined from within.
[edit] Orthodox Judaism
The idea that there are ten divine sefirot could evolve over time into the idea that "God is One being, yet in that One being there are Ten" which opens up a debate about what the "correct beliefs" in God should be, according to Judaism.
Rabbi Saadia Gaon teaches in his book Emunot v'Deot that Jews who believe in reincarnation have adopted a non-Jewish belief.
Nachmanides (12th Century) provides background to many Kabbalistic ideas. His works, especially those in the Five books of Moses (Pentateuch) offer in-depth of various concepts.
Maimonides (12th Century) did not consider many of the texts of the Hekalot, particularly in the work Shiur Komah with its starkly anthropomorphic vision of God.
Rabbi Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon, in the spirit of his father Maimonides, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, and other predecessors, explains at length in his book Milhhamot HaShem that the Almighty is in no way literally within time or space nor physically outside time or space, since time and space simply do not apply to His Being whatsoever. This is in contrast to certain popular understandings of modern Kabbalah which teach a form of panentheism, that His 'essence' is within everything.
Around the 1230s, Rabbi Meir ben Simon of Narbonne wrote an epistle (included in his Milhhemet Mitzvah) against his contemporaries, the early Kabbalists, characterizing them as blasphemers who even approach heresy. He particularly singled out the Sefer Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and describing some of its content as truly heretical.
Rabbi Yitzchak ben Sheshet Perfet, (The Rivash), 1326-1408. Although as is evident from his responsa on the topic (157) the Rivash was skeptical of certain interpretations of Kabbalah popular in his time, it is equally evident that overall he did accept Kabbalah as received Jewish wisdom, and attempted to defend it from attackers. To this end he cited and rejected a certain philosopher who claimed that Kabbalah was "worse than Christianity", as it made God into 10, not just into three. Most followers of Kabbalah have never followed this interpretation of Kabbalah, on the grounds that the concept of the Christian Trinity posits that there are three persons existing within the Godhead, one of whom became a human being.[citation needed] In contrast, the mainstream understanding of the Kabbalistic Sefirot holds that they have no mind or intelligence; further, they are not addressed in prayer and they cannot become a human being. They are conduits for interaction, not persons or beings. Nonetheless, many important poskim, such as Maimonidies in his work Mishneh Torah, prohibit any use of mediators between oneself and the Creator as a form of idolatry.
Rabbi Leone di Modena, a 17th century Venetian critic of Kabbalah, wrote that if we were to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism, as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot. This critique was in response to the knowledge that some European Jews of the period addressed individual Sefirot in some of their prayers, although the practise was apparently uncommon. Apologists explain that Jews may have been praying for and not necessarily to the aspects of Godliness represented by the Sefirot.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden, 1697-1776, wrote the book Mitpahhath Sfarim (Veil of the Books), a detailed critique of the Zohar in which he concludes that certain parts of the Zohar contain heretical teaching and therefore could not have been written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Opponents of his work claim[citation needed] that he wrote the book in a drunken stupor. Emden's rationalistic approach to this work, however, makes neither intoxication nor stupor seem plausible.
Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, an early 20th century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhhamoth HaShem, (Wars of the L-RD) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's view of Kabbalah into modern times.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903-1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria's, the Arizal's kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, Maimonides,[citation needed] completely reject Arizal's kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'resheyt mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.
[edit] Conservative and Reform Judaism
Since all forms of reform or liberal Judaism are rooted in the Enlightenment and tied to the assumptions of European modernity, Kabbalah tended to be rejected by most Jews in the Conservative and Reform movements, though its influences were not completely eliminated. While it was generally not studied as a discipline, the Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat service remained part of liberal liturgy, as did the Yedid Nefesh prayer. Nevertheless, in the 1960s, Rabbi Saul Lieberman of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is reputed to have introduced a lecture by Scholem on Kabbalah with a statement that Kabbalah itself was "nonsense", but the academic study of Kabbalah was "scholarship". This view became popular among many Jews, who viewed the subject as worthy of study, but who did not accept Kabbalah as teaching literal truths.
According to Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean of the Conservative Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in the American Jewish University), "many western Jews insisted that their future and their freedom required shedding what they perceived as parochial orientalism. They fashioned a Judaism that was decorous and strictly rational (according to 19th-century European standards), denigrating Kabbalah as backward, superstitious, and marginal."[citation needed]
However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries there has been a revival in interest in Kabbalah in all branches of liberal Judaism. The Kabbalistic 12th century prayer Ani'im Zemirot was restored to the new Conservative Sim Shalom siddur, as was the B'rikh Shmeh passage from the Zohar, and the mystical Ushpizin service welcoming to the Sukkah the spirits of Jewish forbearers. Ani'im Zemirot and the 16th Century mystical poem Lekhah Dodi reappeared in the Reform Siddur Gates of Prayer in 1975. All Rabbinical seminaries now teach several courses in Kabbalah, and both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles have fulltime instructors in Kabbalah and Hasidut, Eitan Fishbane and Pinchas Geller, respectively. Reform Rabbis like Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner have renewed interest in Kabbalah among Reform Jews.
According to Artson "Ours is an age hungry for meaning, for a sense of belonging, for holiness. In that search, we have returned to the very Kabbalah our predecessors scorned. The stone that the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)... Kabbalah was the last universal theology adopted by the entire Jewish people, hence faithfulness to our commitment to positive-historical Judaism mandates a reverent receptivity to Kabbalah".[25]
[edit] History
[edit] Origins of Judaic mysticism
According to the traditional understanding, Kabbalah dates from Eden.[26] It came down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. Talmudic Judaism records its view of the proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2.
Contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and cultural milieu of that historical period. Answers to questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary greatly and cannot be easily summarized.
[edit] Origins of terms
Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also, Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam.
When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice - meditation Hitbonenut (Hebrew: התבוננות‎),[27] Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's Hitbodedut (Hebrew: התבודדות‎), translated as “being alone” or “isolating oneself”, or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice - prophecy (“NeVu’a” Hebrew: נבואה‎).
During the 5th century BCE, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls (“MeGilot”), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה‎)[28] and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית‎),[29] respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית‎) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah.
[edit] Mystic elements of the Torah
According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash[citation needed] God created the universe through the ten sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.[25]
The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision - Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.
The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul.
[edit] Mystical doctrines in the Talmudic era
In early rabbinic Judaism (the early centuries of the first millennium AD), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4-28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom).
Talmudic doctrine forbade the public teaching of esoteric doctrines and warned of their dangers. In the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1), rabbis were warned to teach the mystical creation doctrines only to one student at a time.[30] To highlight the danger, in one Jewish aggadic ("legendary") anecdote, four prominent rabbis of the Mishnaic period (first century CE) are said to have visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise, pardes, Hebrew: פרדס lit., orchard):
Four men entered pardes — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah),[31] and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba entered in peace and departed in peace.[32]
In notable readings of this legend, only Rabbi Akiba was fit to handle the study of mystical doctrines. The Tosafot, medieval commentaries on the Talmud, say that the four sages "did not go up literally, but it appeared to them as if they went up."[33] On the other hand, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, writes in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) that the journey to paradise "is to be taken literally and not allegorically". [34] (For further analysis, see The Four Who Entered Paradise.)
Eminent rabbinic teachers in the Land of Israel held the doctrine of the preexistence of matter (Midrash Genesis Rabbah i. 5; iv. 6), in spite of the protest of Gamaliel II. (ib. i. 9).
In dwelling upon the nature of God and the universe, the mystics of the Talmudic period asserted, in contrast to the transcendentalism evident in some parts of the Bible, that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom (המקום "the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). This type of theology, in modern terms, is known as either pantheism or panentheism. Whether a text is truly pantheistic or panentheistic is often hard to understand; mainstream Judaism generally rejects pantheistic interpretations of Kabbalah, and instead accepts panentheistic interpretations.
Even in very early times in the Land of Israel, Jewish, as well as Jewish Alexandrian theology recognized the two attributes of God, middat hadin, the attribute of justice, and middat ha-rahamim, the attribute of mercy (see: Midrash Sifre, Deuteronomy 27); and so is the contrast between justice and mercy became a fundamental doctrine of the Kabbalah. Other hypostasizations are represented by the ten "agencies", (the Sephiroth) through which God created the world, namely: wisdom, insight, cognition, strength, power, inexorableness, justice, right, love, and mercy.
While the Sefirot are based on these ten creative "potentialities", it is especially the personification of wisdom which, in Philo, represents the totality of these primal ideas; and the Targ. Jerusalem Talmud i., agreeing with him, translates the first verse of the Bible as follows: "By wisdom God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis Rabbah equates "Wisdom" with "Torah."
So, also, the figure of the Sar Metatron passed into mystical texts from the Talmud. In the Heichalot literature Metatron sometimes approximates the role of the demiurgos (see Gnosticism), being expressly mentioned as a "lesser" God. One text, however, identifies Metatron as Enoch transubstantiated (see: Enoch, III). Mention may also be made of other pre-existent states enumerated in an old baraita (an extra-mishnaic teaching); namely, the Torah, repentance, paradise and hell, the throne of God, the Heavenly Temple, and the name of the Messiah (Talmud Pesahim 54a). Although the origin of this doctrine must be sought probably in certain mythological ideas, the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence has modified the older, simpler conception, and the pre-existence of the seven must therefore be understood as an "ideal" pre-existence, a conception that was later more fully developed in the Kabbalah.
The attempts of the mystics to bridge the gulf between God and the world are evident in the doctrine of the preexistence of the soul, and of its close relation to God before it enters the human body — a doctrine taught by the Hellenistic sages (Wisdom viii. 19) as well as by the Palestinian rabbis. The mystics also employ the phrase from (Isaiah 6:3), as expounded by the Rabbinic Sages, "The whole world is filled with His glory," to justify a panentheistic understanding of the universe.
[edit] Middle Ages


The tree of life.
From the 8th-11th Century Sefer Yetzirah and Hekalot texts made their way into European Jewish circles. Modern scholars have identified several mystical brotherhoods that functioned in Europe starting in the 12th Century. Some, such as the "Iyyun Circle" and the "Unique Cherub Circle," were truly esoteric, remaining largely anonymous.
One well-known group was the "Hasidei Ashkenaz," (חסידי אשכנז) or German Pietists. This 13th Century movement arose mostly among a single scholarly family, the Kalonymus family of the French and German Rhineland.
There were certain rishonim ("Elder Sages") of exoteric Judaism who are known to have been experts in Kabbalah. One of the best known is Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194-1270) whose commentary on the Torah is considered to be based on Kabbalistic knowledge. Bahya ben Asher (the Rabbeinu Behaye) (d. 1340) also combined Torah commentary and Kabbalah. Another was Isaac the Blind (1160-1235), the teacher of Nahmanides, who is widely argued to have written the first work of classic Kabbalah, the Bahir.
Sefer Bahir and another work, the "Treatise of the Left Emanation", probably composed in Spain by Isaac ben Isaac ha-Kohen, laid the groundwork for the composition of Sefer Zohar, written by Moses de Leon and his mystical circle at the end of the 13th Century, but credited to the Talmudic sage Shimon bar Yochai, cf. Zohar. The Zohar proved to be the first truly "popular" work of Kabbalah, and the most influential. From the thirteenth century onward, Kabbalah began to be widely disseminated and it branched out into an extensive literature. Historians in the nineteenth century, for example, Heinrich Greatz, argued that the emergence into public view of Jewish esotericism at this time coincides with, and represents a response to, the rising influence of the rationalist philosophy of Maimonides and his followers. Gershom Scholem sought to undermine this view as part of his resistance to seeing kabbalah as merely a response to medieval Jewish rationalism. Arguing for a gnostic influence has to be seen as part of this strategy. More recently, Moshe Idel and Elliot Wolfson have independently argued that the impact of Maimonides can be seen in the change from orality to writing in the thirteenth century. That is, kabbalists committed to writing many of their oral traditions in part as a response to the attempt of Maimonides to explain the older esoteric subjects philosophically.
Most Orthodox Jews reject the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development or change such as has been proposed above. After the composition known as the Zohar was presented to the public in the 13th century, the term "Kabbalah" began to refer more specifically to teachings derived from, or related, to the Zohar. At an even later time, the term began to generally be applied to Zoharic teachings as elaborated upon by Isaac Luria Arizal. Historians generally date the start of Kabbalah as a major influence in Jewish thought and practice with the publication of the Zohar and climaxing with the spread of the Arizal's teachings. The majority of Haredi Jews accept the Zohar as the representative of the Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'reshit that are referred to in Talmudic texts.[35]
[edit] Early Modern era: Lurianic Kabbalah
Following the upheavals and dislocations in the Jewish world as a result of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the trauma of Anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, Jews began to search for signs of when the long-awaited Jewish Messiah would come to comfort them in their painful exiles. Moses Cordovero and his immediate circle popularized the teachings of the Zohar which had until then been only a modestly influential work. The author of the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law"), Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), was also a great scholar of Kabbalah and spread its teachings during this era.
As part of that "search for meaning" in their lives, Kabbalah received its biggest boost in the Jewish world with the explication of the Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) by his disciples Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Israel Sarug, both of whom published Luria's teachings (in variant forms) gaining them wide-spread popularity. Luria's teachings came to rival the influence of the Zohar and Luria stands, alongside Moses de Leon, as the most influential mystic in Jewish history.
[edit] Ban against studying Kabbalah
The ban against studying Kabbalah was lifted by the efforts of the sixteenth century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulai (1570-1643).
I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the Wisdom of Truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E). From then on after is called the "Last Generation", and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M'hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit King Mashiach will come in the future – and not in any other merit – it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah]. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai)[36]
[edit] Sefardi and Mizrahi
The Kabbalah of the Sefardi (Portuguese or Spanish) and Mizrahi (African/Asian) Torah scholars has a long history. Kabbalah in various forms was widely studied, commented upon, and expanded by North African, Turkish, Yemenite, and Asian scholars from the 16th Century onward. It flourished among Sefardic Jews in Tzfat (Safed), Israel even before the arrival of Isaac Luria, its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous hymn Lekhah Dodi, taught there.
His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu De Vidas authored the classic work, Reishit Chochma, combining kabbalistic and mussar (moral) teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one authorized to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings.
[edit] Maharal
One of the most important teachers of Kabbalah recognized as an authority by all serious scholars up until the present time, was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609) known as the Maharal of Prague. Many of his written works survive and are studied for their deep Kabbalistic insights. The Maharal is, perhaps, most famous outside of Jewish mysticism for the legends of the golem of Prague, which he reportedly created. During the twentieth century, Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) continued to spread the Maharal's teachings indirectly through his own teachings and scholarly publications within the modern yeshiva world.
[edit] Failure of Sabbatian Mysticism
The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage.
His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Many of his followers, known as Sabbateans, continued to worship him in secret, explaining his conversion not as an effort to save his life but to recover the sparks of the holy in each religion, and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Donmeh movement in modern Turkey is a surviving remnant of the Sabbatian schism.
Due to the chaos caused in the Jewish world, the Rabbinic prohibition against studying Kabbalah was well intact again, and established itself firmly within the Jewish religion. One of the conditions allowing a man to study and engage himself in the Kabbalah, was to be of age forty. This age requirement came about during this period and is not Talmudic in origin. Many Jews are familiar with this ruling, but are not aware of its origins. Moreover, the prohibition is not halakhic in nature. According to Moses Cordovero, halakhically, one must be of age twenty to engage in the Kabbalah. Many famous Kabbalists, including the ARI, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, were younger than twenty when they began.
[edit] Frankists
Main article: Jacob Frank
The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by apparently converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership.
[edit] 1700s
The eighteenth century saw an explosion of new efforts in the writing and spread of Kabbalah by four well known rabbis working in different areas of Europe:
• Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) in the area of Ukraine spread teachings based on Rabbi Isaac Luria's foundations, simplifying the Kabbalah for the common man. From him sprang the vast ongoing schools of Hasidic Judaism, with each successive rebbe viewed by his "Hasidim" as continuing the role of dispenser of mystical divine blessings and guidance.
• Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 - 1810), the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revitalized and further expanded the latter's teachings, amassing a following of thousands in Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania and Poland. In a unique amalgam of Hasidic and Mitnagid approaches, Rebbe Nachman emphasized study of both Kabbalah and serious Torah scholarship to his disciples. His teachings also differed from the way other Hasidic groups were developing, as he rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself—and within himself.
• Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (Vilna Gaon) (1720-1797), based in Lithuania, had his teachings encoded and publicized by his disciples such as by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who published the mystical-ethical work Nefesh HaChaim. However, he was staunchly opposed to the new Hasidic movement and warned against their public displays of religious fervour inspired by the mystical teachings of their rabbis.Although the Vilna Gaon was not in favor of the Hasidic movement, he did not prohibit the study and engagement in the Kabbalah. This is evident from his writings in the Even Shlema."He that is able to understand secrets of the Torah and does not try to understand them will be judged harshly, may God have mercy". (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 8:24). "The Redemption will only come about through learning Torah, and the essence of the Redemption depends upon learning Kabbalah" (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 11:3).
• Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), based in Italy, was a precocious Talmudic scholar who arrived at the startling conclusion that there was a need for the public teaching and study of Kabbalah. He established a yeshiva for Kabbalah study and actively recruited outstanding students and, in addition, wrote copious manuscripts in an appealing clear Hebrew style, all of which gained the attention of both admirers and rabbinical critics who feared another "Zevi (false messiah) in the making".He was forced to close his school by his rabbinical opponents, hand over and destroy many of his most precious unpublished kabbalistic writings, and go into exile in the Netherlands. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Some of his most important works such as Derekh Hashem survive and are used as a gateway to the world of Jewish mysticism.
[edit] Modern era
One of the most influential sources spreading Kabbalistic teachings have come from the massive growth and spread of Hasidic Judaism, a movement begun by Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), but continued in many branches and streams until today. These groups differ greatly in size, but all emphasize the study of mystical Hasidic texts, which now consists of a vast literature devoted to elaborating upon the long chain of Kabbalistic thought and methodology. No group emphasizes in-depth kabbalistic study, though, to the extent of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, whose Rebbes delivered tens of thousands of discourses, and whose students study these texts for three hours daily.
Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn of Lubavitch urged the study of kabbala as prerequisite for one's humanity:
A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.[37]
The writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864-1935) also stress Kabbalistic themes:
Due to the alienation from the "secret of God" [i.e. Kabbalah], the higher qualities of the depths of Godly life are reduced to trivia that do not penetrate the depth of the soul. When this happens, the most mighty force is missing from the soul of nation and individual, and Exile finds favor essentially... We should not negate any conception based on rectitude and awe of Heaven of any form - only the aspect of such an approach that desires to negate the mysteries and their great influence on the spirit of the nation. This is a tragedy that we must combat with counsel and understanding, with holiness and courage. (Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Orot 2 )
Another influential and important Kabbalah character is Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag 1884-1954 (also known as the Baal HaSulam — a title that he was given after the completion of one of his masterworks, The Sulam). Ashlag is considered by many to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.
He developed a study method that he considered most fitting for the future generations of Kabbalists. He is also notable for his other masterwork Talmud Eser HaSfirot — The Study of the Ten Emanations — a commentary on all the writings of the ARI. Some today consider this work as the core of the entire teaching of Kabbalah. Baal Hasulam's goal was to make the study of Kabbalah understandable and accessible to every human being with the desire to know the meaning of life. There are several organizations that are actualizing his ideas today.
Renewed interest in Kabbalah has appeared among non-traditional Jews, and even among non-Jews. Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal have been the most influential groups in this trend.
[edit] Personalities in Kabbalah
See also: Category:Kabbalists
Historical
• Nathan Adler
• Abraham Abulafia
• Baruch Ashlag
• Yehuda Ashlag
• Abraham Azulai
• Samuel Ben-Or Avital
• Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
• Israel ben Eliezer
• Solomon ibn Gabirol
• Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla
• Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai
• Yitzchak Kaduri
• Yosef Karo
• Moses de Leon
• Isaac Luria
• Elijah ben Solomon
• Baba Sali
• Chaim Vital
• Simeon bar Yohai
Contemporary
• Aryeh Kaplan
• Zalman Schachter


Throughout time mankind has attempted to explain God and the workings of God from his perspective and this mind that is self created. The differing beliefs, the conflicts, and the ever changing of beliefs, indicate the ongoing attempts of mankind to perfect his own mind by his own works.

Jesus of Nazareth taught man must come to God to be transformed and changed in mind and spirit by the works of God who creates a new mind and spirit in mankind by His works. In this way, it is never self works but the works of God that transform a person in mind and spirit; that raise a person up from spiritual death to spiritual life. In this way, all faith and trust is placed in God and the promise of God to perform these works.

For many years mankind has refused to come to God to receive this mind and spirit from God and has continued in his pursuit of perfection by his self works. The works of creating his own mind by the word or seed from fellow man. This is the reality of man receiving the seed of man or making his “seed bed with fellow man; an abomination to God. From this way comes the “abomination of the desolate” who are those void of the Spirit from God yet say they represent God and teach truth pertaining to God and life. These who set their selves up in the place of God as God to the people; true representatives of God to the people; are those Jesus of Nazareth warned mankind of.

It has been the practice of many of mankind to replace God with self created religious orders creating doctrines and teachings from their self imagined beliefs. Many are the deluded who believe they are able to attain the life gives by their own works of creating their own minds by picking and choosing from what others of mankind have said in regards to God.

This way created by mankind is a substitute for the way established by God. This way of mankind cannot bring to be what only God brings to be by His creation. His creation by His Word.

It is a wonder mankind has chosen the word of fellow man and has refused the Word from God that provides mankind with truth; with knowledge and understanding of the matters of God and the matters of the life God gives. But mankind has followed this traditional way for many centuries, the many different nations and people each developing their own religions.

Most religions are teachings about God formulated by the imagination of mankind. They are not teachings that have come from God in the Word from God. In contrast to this way is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth who himself declared the word he spoke and taught was not his but was given to him by God. Indicating by this, his word was not self formulated by choosing from the words of others of mankind, but was the Word he had received directly by God. He taught others to follow this way, promising those who did would also receive this same Word and Spirit from God and also be transformed into the creation of God; the Son of God.

This way of knowing the reality of God and God’s truth coming in His Word which is conveyed from the mind of God thereby revealing God to the one receiving, was eventually dismissed and replaced with the religious teachings of mankind, including the religion called “Christianity.”

An important principle given to mankind by God is the way of “proving.” Every way taught by mankind presented as a way to become the creation of God and to know the truth from God must be proved in order to “know for sure” whether this way is of God or not; whether this way is the way established b God or not. The way taught by Jesus of Nazareth may be easily proved for he declared what a person would receive from God when following this way. The reality of receiving what he declared a person would receive from God proves his word and teaching of this way is the way established by God. This same way of proving must be applied to all ways taught by mankind in order to “know the truth” as to whether this way is of God or not. For many are misled by false teachers who do not lead people to God; who do not teach people to honor God alone as creator and as father and teacher of truth.

There are many religions and denominations of religions and teachings and doctrines offered to mankind to believe. And many are content to enter into and remain in mere belief. However the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth is the way to “know” the truth concerning the matters of God and the promise of God to mankind.

Knowing the truth is far superior to mere belief. Knowing the truth prevents a person from believing a lie and from being misled along a way not of God. For this reason God established this way; His way; for man to follow so he would not believe a lie and would not be misled.

In this way a person must recognize and honor God alone as creator; as teacher of truth; as the giver of life; as the Savior of mankind from spiritual death. A person must place all faith and trust in God and the promise of God and the way of asking and receiving from God what God has promised.

These matters were explained to Abraham and Abraham was told to choose for himself which way he would go. He chose the way of God. The “seed” of Abraham is not the physical but is the Seed from God he received. This is also the Seed of Christ for it is the Seed from God; His Word; His Spirit. All who are the true Seed of Abraham are recipients of this Seed from God, which is the seed of Christ; the Seed from God the Christ receives, Christ being the one taught by God, His truth, coming in His Word which is this Seed from God.

Every person must choose who and what they will believe and what way they will follow or “go” through this physical life. It is a choice of life or death of spirit and ongoing life or death. It is paramount for a person to understand and follow the way of proving instead of remaining in blind belief.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


The Fruit of The Spirit

Fruit only comes from a mature tree. The fruit of the vine planted by God comes from the mature one of God. A metaphor of a grave vine and grapes as fruit has been used by mankind to describe the planting of God and the fruit from this planting. In the metaphor, the grapes are harvested when ripe and mature. Those that are not wither on the vine and die.

What is the produce from the planting of God’s Seed? Another metaphor used to describe this way of is to see the Seed of God bring forth “trees.” Or flowers. Or good food. The garden of God is His planting of His Seed. His Seed is His Word and His Word is Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in the person who has been taught the principles of God by God. This one, has learned to obey the principles of God, knowing and understanding the life they bring to those who learn and obey these higher ways and principles of God.

The fruit is the expression or manifestation of this Holy Spirit from God in word and acts of a person. Especially in regards to how this person interrelates with others. In the words and actions of this person the attributes of God are manifest. Love and good will being the mainstay of this interrelationship with others of mankind.

Among mankind are many who believe they are able to use their own seed to bring forth the plants or produce that comes from the Seed of God alone. Throughout history, mankind has thought he is able to do what God does; create the mind and spirit of a person to be His creation by His Word. History reveals many have thought their selves to be as wise or wiser than God and have endeavored to “perfect” their selves into the equal of what God creates and perfects.

However it is this very mind and spirit God declares mankind must be saved from in order to be the creation of God. Without the Word from God that reveals the principles of God to mankind, mankind does not possess the knowledge nor the understanding of the ways of God and the ways of life as God declares life to be.

It was the liar and deceiver who convinced those of Adam to forsake the ways and the Spirit from God and to take into the mind other principles not of God as a way of life. In reality, this act of Adam brought Adam into spiritual death which is when any person does not possess the Holy Spirit from God that gives mankind the life God offers,

Whenever mankind ceases to honor God as the creator; as the giver of this life; and believes he is able by his own works to create this life for himself by self works, mankind has believed the lie that brings the spiritual death that always exists whenever a person or people refuse to come to God to receive their life from God; refuse to come to God to be taught truth by God.

For God has established a way; His way; for the transformation of mankind from this spiritual death into the life His gives in His Word; His Living Word that comes from Him, untouched by the hands of mankind therefore unaltered and pure. The Son of God Paul, spoke to the “Romans” in regards to this matter of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowing without honor for God.

What is the truth concerning God? It is the Word that comes directly from God that conveys this truth into the minds of mankind. No man is able to know the mind of God nor the contents therein unless and until God reveals the contents of His mind to one who has come to receive this from God.

Because of the ongoing rebellion against God for the many centuries, mankind is lacking this knowledge and understanding God gives in His Word. Mankind, by his inflated ego, has created other ways that are not of God and believed these ways when followed will bring the same results as is achieved when following the way God has established as His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

Mankind has created religions and doctrines and teachings, saying these are of God and represent the will of God and the knowledge of God. But they are of the works of man and not God for God has not desired nor created religions. God has created and established His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

“Spirit” is the substance inspired in the mind. In the mind of God is Spirit and because it is from God and not mankind it is named the “Holy” Spirit. Some do not realize God possesses a mind and thinks. Few understand what it is God dwells in and on in His thoughts. The thoughts of God are centered on the substance and matter residing in the mind of God. His knowledge, His understanding, His wisdom.

It is a great delusion for any of mankind to believe he possesses a mind equal to or comparable to the mind of God. Yet some of mankind do by creating their own ways and principles thinking and believing these bring the life as God gives life and transforms a person from spiritual death into this spiritual life. If this was possible, there would be no need for God. There would be no need for God to perform the works He has promised to perform. There would be no need for God to give to mankind for his needs.

And in this delusion, many of mankind have created their social orders, believing they possess the mind God has promised to create by His Word and Spirit. Many of these are religious orders.

Religion is described and defined in this manner by Wikipedia. The Kabbalah is also explained by Wikipedia.

What is obvious in religions and even in Kabbalah, are the different beliefs and conflicts of beliefs. Like shifting sands constantly being changed by waves of doctrines.

The Word from God never changes for this Word from God presents perfect knowledge and understanding of what is true. It is referred to as “rock” compared to the sand or dust.

“A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.
The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.
Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors. Definitions mostly include:
• a notion of the transcendent or numinous, often, but not always, in the form of theism
• a cultural or behavioural aspect of ritual, liturgy and organized worship, often involving a priesthood, and societal norms of morality (ethos) and virtue (arete)
• a set of myths or sacred truths held in reverence or believed by adherents
Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in "God" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, "a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[6] According to this definition, religion refers to one's primary worldview and how this dictates one's thoughts and actions.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that reduce religion to its component factors. Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a "feeling of absolute dependence."
Esotericism is often spiritual (thus religious) but can be non-religious/-spiritual, and it uses intellectual understanding and reasoning, intuition and inspiration (higher noetic and spiritual reasoning,) but not necessarily faith (except often as a virtue,) and it is philosophical in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation (esoteric cosmology). Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. All religions are probably somewhat exoteric, but most ones of ancient civilizations such as Yoga of India, and the mystery religions of ancient Egypt, Israel (Kabbalah,) and Greece are examples of ones that are also esoteric.
Humans have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and our place in it (cosmology). Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include science, philosophy, metaphysics, astrology, esotericism, mysticism, and forms of shamanism, such as the sacred consumption of ayahuasca among Peruvian Amazonia's Urarina. The Urarina have an elaborate animistic cosmological system[23], which informs their mythology, religious orientation and daily existence. In many cases, the distinction between these means are not clear. For example, Buddhism and Taoism have been regarded as schools of philosophies as well as religions.
Given the generalized discontents with modernity, consumerism, over-consumption, violence and anomie, many people in the so-called industrial or post-industrial West rely on a number of distinctive religious worldviews. This in turn has given rise to increased religious pluralism, as well as to what are commonly known in the academic literature as new religious movements, which are gaining ground across the globe.
The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in knowledge about other cultures and religions, and also the establishment of economic and social histories of progress. The "history of religions" school sought to account for this religious diversity by connecting it with the social and economic situation of a particular group.
Typically religions are divided into stages of progression from more simple to more complex societies, especially from polytheistic to monotheistic and from extempore to organised. (There are now claims "that religion evolved from polytheism to monotheism has now been discredited" p. 1763 Man, Myth and Magic 1995)
Thus, the starting point is the tribal band whose religion is animistic and involves shamans and totems. Since the group is tribal, there is no permanent sanctuary. Cultic rites centre on identification with wild animals and appeasing spirits, often of the hunted.
As society developed into chiefdoms and small kingdoms, religious rites began to serve different functions. Agriculture became important and so fertility gods were introduced (often female, as it is the woman who has the power to produce life). The status of the "big man" (or chief) was supported with mythic tales of heroes and demigods, from whom he may be descended.
When these small kingdoms merged into larger groups (often through conquest), different cults merged. The conquest of one group by another is therefore recorded in an epic tale of the conquest of the conquered group's god by the victor's (e.g. some Hinduism and the Babylonian Marduk). Another solution was to syncretise different religious traditions, for example, the Romans' identification of their Gods with the Greeks and the Greeks' adoption of Anatolian myths and characters.
Finally, the growth of the city state brought about progression to the most "civilised" level of religion, ethical monotheism. Students of the history of religions often learnt that this began in Egypt with Akhnaten and grew through 7th century BC Judaism, Persian Zoroastrianism and Greek Philosophy to endow Western society with the most progressive form of religion. The historical basis of this — that religion moved from polytheism to ethical monotheism — is now doubted.
Nevertheless, it is still widely held that ethical monotheism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism) was encouraged by the growth of city states. This was partly due to the role of a hierarchical society with a god-like absolute ruler. A more powerful social force was the isolation of the individual as he moved from the clan to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Questions of justice and value that had been previously answered by the family and small tribe were now to be pursued independently. The relative anonymity of the city afforded the opportunity for not only "sin" but also loneliness. Ethical monotheism answered society's need for a moral guide and motivation, whilst a unique personal God who was sovereign over all areas of life answered people's feelings of isolation and powerlessness.
Good examples of this are the prophetic literature of the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), especially Isaiah, and the wisdom literature of the ancient near east dealing with apparently unjustified suffering. This includes Job, in the Judaeo-Christian Bible, and "The Dialogue of Pessimism", a Babylonian text.
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎), which literally means "receiving", is the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.


According to the Zohar, generally considered the foremost Kabbalistic text, Torah study is divided into four levels:[2]
• Peshat, the simple meaning of the text;
• Remez, literally "hint[s]"—biblical allusion and allegory;
• Derash, i.e. midrash, Rabbinic scriptural exegesis;
• Sod, which is the kabbalah, the secret inner meaning of the Torah.
Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah -- the study of Torah (the Law of God) being an inherent duty of observant Jews.[3] Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism.
The origins of the actual term Kabbalah are unknown and disputed to belong either to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021 - 1058) or else to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. While other terms have been used in many religious documents from the 2nd century CE up to the present day, the term Kabbalah has become the main descriptive of Jewish esoteric knowledge and practices. The Kabbalistic literature, which served as the basis for most of the development of Kabbalistic thought, divides between early works such as Heichalot and Sefer Yetzirah (believed to be dated 1st or 2nd Century CE) and later works dated to the 13th century CE, of which the main book is the Zohar representing the main source for the Contemplative Kabbalah ("Kabbalah Iyunit").
According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel,[4] although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis.
Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.[5] The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד‎) for two and a half millennia.
It is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within Kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with very different outlooks, however all are accepted as correct.[6] Modern Halakhic authorities have tried to narrow the scope and diversity within Kabbalah, by restricting study to certain texts, notably Zohar and the teachings of the Isaac Luria as passed down through Haim Vital.[7] However even this qualification does little to limit the scope of understanding and expression, as included in those works are commentaries on Abulafian writings, Sepher Yetzirah, Albotonian writings, and Brit Menuhah.[8] It is therefore important to bear in mind when discussing things such as the Sephirot and their interactions that one is dealing with highly abstract concepts that at best can only be understood intuitively.[9]
Claims for authority
Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority (see, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in his Circle of the Unique Cherub). As a result, virtually all works pseudepigraphically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam by the angel Raziel after he was evicted from Eden.
Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4). In Islam, the angels 'Harut' and 'Marut' were sent to teach magic only as a test to mankind (see Qur'an, Ch. 2: 102).
Perception of non-Jews
Another aspect of Kabbalah that Jewish critics object to is its metaphysics of the human soul.[citation needed] Since the Zohar was written, most Kabbalistic works[citation needed] assume that Jewish and non-Jewish souls are fundamentally different. While all human souls emanate from God, the Zohar posits that at least part of the Gentile soul emanates from the "left side" of the Sefirotic structure and that non-Jews therefore have a dark or demonic aspect to them that is absent in Jews.
Later Kabbalistic works build and elaborate on this idea. The Hasidic work, the Tanya, fuses this idea with Judah ha-Levi's medieval philosophical argument for the uniqueness of the Jewish soul,[citation needed] in order to argue that Jews have an additional level of soul that other humans do not possess.
Theologically framed hostility may be a response to the demonization of Jews which developed in Western and Christian society and thought, starting with the Patristic writings.
The Kabbalistic view concerning non-Jews can be compared with the Christian doctrine that baptized Christians form part of the Body of Christ while (at least according to Augustine of Hippo) all others remain in the massa perditionis.
David Halperin[23]theorizes that the collapse of Kabbalah's influence among Western European Jews over the course of the 17th and 18th Century was a result of the cognitive dissonance they experienced between Kabbalah's very negative perception of gentiles and their own dealings with non-Jews, which were rapidly expanding and improving during this period due to the influence of the Enlightenment.
For a different perspective, see Wolfson.[24] He provides extensive documentation to illustrate the prevalence of the distinction between the souls of Jews and non-Jews in kabbalistic literature. He provides numerous examples from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, which would challenge the view of Halperin cited above as well as the notion that "modern Judaism" has rejected or dismissed this "outdated aspect" of the kabbalah. There are still kabbalists today, and many influenced by them, who harbor this view. It is accurate to say that many Jews do and would find this distinction offensive, but it is inaccurate to say that the idea has been totally rejected. As Wolfson has argued, it is an ethical demand on the part of scholars to be vigilant with regard this matter and in this way the tradition can be refined from within.
[edit] Orthodox Judaism
The idea that there are ten divine sefirot could evolve over time into the idea that "God is One being, yet in that One being there are Ten" which opens up a debate about what the "correct beliefs" in God should be, according to Judaism.
Rabbi Saadia Gaon teaches in his book Emunot v'Deot that Jews who believe in reincarnation have adopted a non-Jewish belief.
Nachmanides (12th Century) provides background to many Kabbalistic ideas. His works, especially those in the Five books of Moses (Pentateuch) offer in-depth of various concepts.
Maimonides (12th Century) did not consider many of the texts of the Hekalot, particularly in the work Shiur Komah with its starkly anthropomorphic vision of God.
Rabbi Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon, in the spirit of his father Maimonides, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, and other predecessors, explains at length in his book Milhhamot HaShem that the Almighty is in no way literally within time or space nor physically outside time or space, since time and space simply do not apply to His Being whatsoever. This is in contrast to certain popular understandings of modern Kabbalah which teach a form of panentheism, that His 'essence' is within everything.
Around the 1230s, Rabbi Meir ben Simon of Narbonne wrote an epistle (included in his Milhhemet Mitzvah) against his contemporaries, the early Kabbalists, characterizing them as blasphemers who even approach heresy. He particularly singled out the Sefer Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and describing some of its content as truly heretical.
Rabbi Yitzchak ben Sheshet Perfet, (The Rivash), 1326-1408. Although as is evident from his responsa on the topic (157) the Rivash was skeptical of certain interpretations of Kabbalah popular in his time, it is equally evident that overall he did accept Kabbalah as received Jewish wisdom, and attempted to defend it from attackers. To this end he cited and rejected a certain philosopher who claimed that Kabbalah was "worse than Christianity", as it made God into 10, not just into three. Most followers of Kabbalah have never followed this interpretation of Kabbalah, on the grounds that the concept of the Christian Trinity posits that there are three persons existing within the Godhead, one of whom became a human being.[citation needed] In contrast, the mainstream understanding of the Kabbalistic Sefirot holds that they have no mind or intelligence; further, they are not addressed in prayer and they cannot become a human being. They are conduits for interaction, not persons or beings. Nonetheless, many important poskim, such as Maimonidies in his work Mishneh Torah, prohibit any use of mediators between oneself and the Creator as a form of idolatry.
Rabbi Leone di Modena, a 17th century Venetian critic of Kabbalah, wrote that if we were to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism, as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot. This critique was in response to the knowledge that some European Jews of the period addressed individual Sefirot in some of their prayers, although the practise was apparently uncommon. Apologists explain that Jews may have been praying for and not necessarily to the aspects of Godliness represented by the Sefirot.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden, 1697-1776, wrote the book Mitpahhath Sfarim (Veil of the Books), a detailed critique of the Zohar in which he concludes that certain parts of the Zohar contain heretical teaching and therefore could not have been written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Opponents of his work claim[citation needed] that he wrote the book in a drunken stupor. Emden's rationalistic approach to this work, however, makes neither intoxication nor stupor seem plausible.
Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, an early 20th century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhhamoth HaShem, (Wars of the L-RD) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's view of Kabbalah into modern times.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903-1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria's, the Arizal's kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, Maimonides,[citation needed] completely reject Arizal's kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'resheyt mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.
[edit] Conservative and Reform Judaism
Since all forms of reform or liberal Judaism are rooted in the Enlightenment and tied to the assumptions of European modernity, Kabbalah tended to be rejected by most Jews in the Conservative and Reform movements, though its influences were not completely eliminated. While it was generally not studied as a discipline, the Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat service remained part of liberal liturgy, as did the Yedid Nefesh prayer. Nevertheless, in the 1960s, Rabbi Saul Lieberman of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is reputed to have introduced a lecture by Scholem on Kabbalah with a statement that Kabbalah itself was "nonsense", but the academic study of Kabbalah was "scholarship". This view became popular among many Jews, who viewed the subject as worthy of study, but who did not accept Kabbalah as teaching literal truths.
According to Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean of the Conservative Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in the American Jewish University), "many western Jews insisted that their future and their freedom required shedding what they perceived as parochial orientalism. They fashioned a Judaism that was decorous and strictly rational (according to 19th-century European standards), denigrating Kabbalah as backward, superstitious, and marginal."[citation needed]
However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries there has been a revival in interest in Kabbalah in all branches of liberal Judaism. The Kabbalistic 12th century prayer Ani'im Zemirot was restored to the new Conservative Sim Shalom siddur, as was the B'rikh Shmeh passage from the Zohar, and the mystical Ushpizin service welcoming to the Sukkah the spirits of Jewish forbearers. Ani'im Zemirot and the 16th Century mystical poem Lekhah Dodi reappeared in the Reform Siddur Gates of Prayer in 1975. All Rabbinical seminaries now teach several courses in Kabbalah, and both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles have fulltime instructors in Kabbalah and Hasidut, Eitan Fishbane and Pinchas Geller, respectively. Reform Rabbis like Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner have renewed interest in Kabbalah among Reform Jews.
According to Artson "Ours is an age hungry for meaning, for a sense of belonging, for holiness. In that search, we have returned to the very Kabbalah our predecessors scorned. The stone that the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)... Kabbalah was the last universal theology adopted by the entire Jewish people, hence faithfulness to our commitment to positive-historical Judaism mandates a reverent receptivity to Kabbalah".[25]
[edit] History
[edit] Origins of Judaic mysticism
According to the traditional understanding, Kabbalah dates from Eden.[26] It came down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. Talmudic Judaism records its view of the proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2.
Contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and cultural milieu of that historical period. Answers to questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary greatly and cannot be easily summarized.
[edit] Origins of terms
Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also, Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam.
When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice - meditation Hitbonenut (Hebrew: התבוננות‎),[27] Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's Hitbodedut (Hebrew: התבודדות‎), translated as “being alone” or “isolating oneself”, or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice - prophecy (“NeVu’a” Hebrew: נבואה‎).
During the 5th century BCE, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls (“MeGilot”), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה‎)[28] and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית‎),[29] respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית‎) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah.
[edit] Mystic elements of the Torah
According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash[citation needed] God created the universe through the ten sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.[25]
The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision - Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.
The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul.
[edit] Mystical doctrines in the Talmudic era
In early rabbinic Judaism (the early centuries of the first millennium AD), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4-28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom).
Talmudic doctrine forbade the public teaching of esoteric doctrines and warned of their dangers. In the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1), rabbis were warned to teach the mystical creation doctrines only to one student at a time.[30] To highlight the danger, in one Jewish aggadic ("legendary") anecdote, four prominent rabbis of the Mishnaic period (first century CE) are said to have visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise, pardes, Hebrew: פרדס lit., orchard):
Four men entered pardes — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah),[31] and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba entered in peace and departed in peace.[32]
In notable readings of this legend, only Rabbi Akiba was fit to handle the study of mystical doctrines. The Tosafot, medieval commentaries on the Talmud, say that the four sages "did not go up literally, but it appeared to them as if they went up."[33] On the other hand, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, writes in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) that the journey to paradise "is to be taken literally and not allegorically". [34] (For further analysis, see The Four Who Entered Paradise.)
Eminent rabbinic teachers in the Land of Israel held the doctrine of the preexistence of matter (Midrash Genesis Rabbah i. 5; iv. 6), in spite of the protest of Gamaliel II. (ib. i. 9).
In dwelling upon the nature of God and the universe, the mystics of the Talmudic period asserted, in contrast to the transcendentalism evident in some parts of the Bible, that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom (המקום "the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). This type of theology, in modern terms, is known as either pantheism or panentheism. Whether a text is truly pantheistic or panentheistic is often hard to understand; mainstream Judaism generally rejects pantheistic interpretations of Kabbalah, and instead accepts panentheistic interpretations.
Even in very early times in the Land of Israel, Jewish, as well as Jewish Alexandrian theology recognized the two attributes of God, middat hadin, the attribute of justice, and middat ha-rahamim, the attribute of mercy (see: Midrash Sifre, Deuteronomy 27); and so is the contrast between justice and mercy became a fundamental doctrine of the Kabbalah. Other hypostasizations are represented by the ten "agencies", (the Sephiroth) through which God created the world, namely: wisdom, insight, cognition, strength, power, inexorableness, justice, right, love, and mercy.
While the Sefirot are based on these ten creative "potentialities", it is especially the personification of wisdom which, in Philo, represents the totality of these primal ideas; and the Targ. Jerusalem Talmud i., agreeing with him, translates the first verse of the Bible as follows: "By wisdom God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis Rabbah equates "Wisdom" with "Torah."
So, also, the figure of the Sar Metatron passed into mystical texts from the Talmud. In the Heichalot literature Metatron sometimes approximates the role of the demiurgos (see Gnosticism), being expressly mentioned as a "lesser" God. One text, however, identifies Metatron as Enoch transubstantiated (see: Enoch, III). Mention may also be made of other pre-existent states enumerated in an old baraita (an extra-mishnaic teaching); namely, the Torah, repentance, paradise and hell, the throne of God, the Heavenly Temple, and the name of the Messiah (Talmud Pesahim 54a). Although the origin of this doctrine must be sought probably in certain mythological ideas, the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence has modified the older, simpler conception, and the pre-existence of the seven must therefore be understood as an "ideal" pre-existence, a conception that was later more fully developed in the Kabbalah.
The attempts of the mystics to bridge the gulf between God and the world are evident in the doctrine of the preexistence of the soul, and of its close relation to God before it enters the human body — a doctrine taught by the Hellenistic sages (Wisdom viii. 19) as well as by the Palestinian rabbis. The mystics also employ the phrase from (Isaiah 6:3), as expounded by the Rabbinic Sages, "The whole world is filled with His glory," to justify a panentheistic understanding of the universe.
[edit] Middle Ages


The tree of life.
From the 8th-11th Century Sefer Yetzirah and Hekalot texts made their way into European Jewish circles. Modern scholars have identified several mystical brotherhoods that functioned in Europe starting in the 12th Century. Some, such as the "Iyyun Circle" and the "Unique Cherub Circle," were truly esoteric, remaining largely anonymous.
One well-known group was the "Hasidei Ashkenaz," (חסידי אשכנז) or German Pietists. This 13th Century movement arose mostly among a single scholarly family, the Kalonymus family of the French and German Rhineland.
There were certain rishonim ("Elder Sages") of exoteric Judaism who are known to have been experts in Kabbalah. One of the best known is Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194-1270) whose commentary on the Torah is considered to be based on Kabbalistic knowledge. Bahya ben Asher (the Rabbeinu Behaye) (d. 1340) also combined Torah commentary and Kabbalah. Another was Isaac the Blind (1160-1235), the teacher of Nahmanides, who is widely argued to have written the first work of classic Kabbalah, the Bahir.
Sefer Bahir and another work, the "Treatise of the Left Emanation", probably composed in Spain by Isaac ben Isaac ha-Kohen, laid the groundwork for the composition of Sefer Zohar, written by Moses de Leon and his mystical circle at the end of the 13th Century, but credited to the Talmudic sage Shimon bar Yochai, cf. Zohar. The Zohar proved to be the first truly "popular" work of Kabbalah, and the most influential. From the thirteenth century onward, Kabbalah began to be widely disseminated and it branched out into an extensive literature. Historians in the nineteenth century, for example, Heinrich Greatz, argued that the emergence into public view of Jewish esotericism at this time coincides with, and represents a response to, the rising influence of the rationalist philosophy of Maimonides and his followers. Gershom Scholem sought to undermine this view as part of his resistance to seeing kabbalah as merely a response to medieval Jewish rationalism. Arguing for a gnostic influence has to be seen as part of this strategy. More recently, Moshe Idel and Elliot Wolfson have independently argued that the impact of Maimonides can be seen in the change from orality to writing in the thirteenth century. That is, kabbalists committed to writing many of their oral traditions in part as a response to the attempt of Maimonides to explain the older esoteric subjects philosophically.
Most Orthodox Jews reject the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development or change such as has been proposed above. After the composition known as the Zohar was presented to the public in the 13th century, the term "Kabbalah" began to refer more specifically to teachings derived from, or related, to the Zohar. At an even later time, the term began to generally be applied to Zoharic teachings as elaborated upon by Isaac Luria Arizal. Historians generally date the start of Kabbalah as a major influence in Jewish thought and practice with the publication of the Zohar and climaxing with the spread of the Arizal's teachings. The majority of Haredi Jews accept the Zohar as the representative of the Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'reshit that are referred to in Talmudic texts.[35]
[edit] Early Modern era: Lurianic Kabbalah
Following the upheavals and dislocations in the Jewish world as a result of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the trauma of Anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, Jews began to search for signs of when the long-awaited Jewish Messiah would come to comfort them in their painful exiles. Moses Cordovero and his immediate circle popularized the teachings of the Zohar which had until then been only a modestly influential work. The author of the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law"), Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), was also a great scholar of Kabbalah and spread its teachings during this era.
As part of that "search for meaning" in their lives, Kabbalah received its biggest boost in the Jewish world with the explication of the Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) by his disciples Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Israel Sarug, both of whom published Luria's teachings (in variant forms) gaining them wide-spread popularity. Luria's teachings came to rival the influence of the Zohar and Luria stands, alongside Moses de Leon, as the most influential mystic in Jewish history.
[edit] Ban against studying Kabbalah
The ban against studying Kabbalah was lifted by the efforts of the sixteenth century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulai (1570-1643).
I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the Wisdom of Truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E). From then on after is called the "Last Generation", and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M'hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit King Mashiach will come in the future – and not in any other merit – it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah]. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai)[36]
[edit] Sefardi and Mizrahi
The Kabbalah of the Sefardi (Portuguese or Spanish) and Mizrahi (African/Asian) Torah scholars has a long history. Kabbalah in various forms was widely studied, commented upon, and expanded by North African, Turkish, Yemenite, and Asian scholars from the 16th Century onward. It flourished among Sefardic Jews in Tzfat (Safed), Israel even before the arrival of Isaac Luria, its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous hymn Lekhah Dodi, taught there.
His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu De Vidas authored the classic work, Reishit Chochma, combining kabbalistic and mussar (moral) teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one authorized to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings.
[edit] Maharal
One of the most important teachers of Kabbalah recognized as an authority by all serious scholars up until the present time, was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609) known as the Maharal of Prague. Many of his written works survive and are studied for their deep Kabbalistic insights. The Maharal is, perhaps, most famous outside of Jewish mysticism for the legends of the golem of Prague, which he reportedly created. During the twentieth century, Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) continued to spread the Maharal's teachings indirectly through his own teachings and scholarly publications within the modern yeshiva world.
[edit] Failure of Sabbatian Mysticism
The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage.
His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Many of his followers, known as Sabbateans, continued to worship him in secret, explaining his conversion not as an effort to save his life but to recover the sparks of the holy in each religion, and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Donmeh movement in modern Turkey is a surviving remnant of the Sabbatian schism.
Due to the chaos caused in the Jewish world, the Rabbinic prohibition against studying Kabbalah was well intact again, and established itself firmly within the Jewish religion. One of the conditions allowing a man to study and engage himself in the Kabbalah, was to be of age forty. This age requirement came about during this period and is not Talmudic in origin. Many Jews are familiar with this ruling, but are not aware of its origins. Moreover, the prohibition is not halakhic in nature. According to Moses Cordovero, halakhically, one must be of age twenty to engage in the Kabbalah. Many famous Kabbalists, including the ARI, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, were younger than twenty when they began.
[edit] Frankists
Main article: Jacob Frank
The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by apparently converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership.
[edit] 1700s
The eighteenth century saw an explosion of new efforts in the writing and spread of Kabbalah by four well known rabbis working in different areas of Europe:
• Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) in the area of Ukraine spread teachings based on Rabbi Isaac Luria's foundations, simplifying the Kabbalah for the common man. From him sprang the vast ongoing schools of Hasidic Judaism, with each successive rebbe viewed by his "Hasidim" as continuing the role of dispenser of mystical divine blessings and guidance.
• Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 - 1810), the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revitalized and further expanded the latter's teachings, amassing a following of thousands in Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania and Poland. In a unique amalgam of Hasidic and Mitnagid approaches, Rebbe Nachman emphasized study of both Kabbalah and serious Torah scholarship to his disciples. His teachings also differed from the way other Hasidic groups were developing, as he rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself—and within himself.
• Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (Vilna Gaon) (1720-1797), based in Lithuania, had his teachings encoded and publicized by his disciples such as by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who published the mystical-ethical work Nefesh HaChaim. However, he was staunchly opposed to the new Hasidic movement and warned against their public displays of religious fervour inspired by the mystical teachings of their rabbis.Although the Vilna Gaon was not in favor of the Hasidic movement, he did not prohibit the study and engagement in the Kabbalah. This is evident from his writings in the Even Shlema."He that is able to understand secrets of the Torah and does not try to understand them will be judged harshly, may God have mercy". (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 8:24). "The Redemption will only come about through learning Torah, and the essence of the Redemption depends upon learning Kabbalah" (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 11:3).
• Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), based in Italy, was a precocious Talmudic scholar who arrived at the startling conclusion that there was a need for the public teaching and study of Kabbalah. He established a yeshiva for Kabbalah study and actively recruited outstanding students and, in addition, wrote copious manuscripts in an appealing clear Hebrew style, all of which gained the attention of both admirers and rabbinical critics who feared another "Zevi (false messiah) in the making".He was forced to close his school by his rabbinical opponents, hand over and destroy many of his most precious unpublished kabbalistic writings, and go into exile in the Netherlands. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Some of his most important works such as Derekh Hashem survive and are used as a gateway to the world of Jewish mysticism.
[edit] Modern era
One of the most influential sources spreading Kabbalistic teachings have come from the massive growth and spread of Hasidic Judaism, a movement begun by Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), but continued in many branches and streams until today. These groups differ greatly in size, but all emphasize the study of mystical Hasidic texts, which now consists of a vast literature devoted to elaborating upon the long chain of Kabbalistic thought and methodology. No group emphasizes in-depth kabbalistic study, though, to the extent of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, whose Rebbes delivered tens of thousands of discourses, and whose students study these texts for three hours daily.
Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn of Lubavitch urged the study of kabbala as prerequisite for one's humanity:
A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.[37]
The writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864-1935) also stress Kabbalistic themes:
Due to the alienation from the "secret of God" [i.e. Kabbalah], the higher qualities of the depths of Godly life are reduced to trivia that do not penetrate the depth of the soul. When this happens, the most mighty force is missing from the soul of nation and individual, and Exile finds favor essentially... We should not negate any conception based on rectitude and awe of Heaven of any form - only the aspect of such an approach that desires to negate the mysteries and their great influence on the spirit of the nation. This is a tragedy that we must combat with counsel and understanding, with holiness and courage. (Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Orot 2 )
Another influential and important Kabbalah character is Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag 1884-1954 (also known as the Baal HaSulam — a title that he was given after the completion of one of his masterworks, The Sulam). Ashlag is considered by many to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.
He developed a study method that he considered most fitting for the future generations of Kabbalists. He is also notable for his other masterwork Talmud Eser HaSfirot — The Study of the Ten Emanations — a commentary on all the writings of the ARI. Some today consider this work as the core of the entire teaching of Kabbalah. Baal Hasulam's goal was to make the study of Kabbalah understandable and accessible to every human being with the desire to know the meaning of life. There are several organizations that are actualizing his ideas today.
Renewed interest in Kabbalah has appeared among non-traditional Jews, and even among non-Jews. Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal have been the most influential groups in this trend.
[edit] Personalities in Kabbalah
See also: Category:Kabbalists
Historical
• Nathan Adler
• Abraham Abulafia
• Baruch Ashlag
• Yehuda Ashlag
• Abraham Azulai
• Samuel Ben-Or Avital
• Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
• Israel ben Eliezer
• Solomon ibn Gabirol
• Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla
• Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai
• Yitzchak Kaduri
• Yosef Karo
• Moses de Leon
• Isaac Luria
• Elijah ben Solomon
• Baba Sali
• Chaim Vital
• Simeon bar Yohai
Contemporary
• Aryeh Kaplan
• Zalman Schachter


Throughout time mankind has attempted to explain God and the workings of God from his perspective and this mind that is self created. The differing beliefs, the conflicts, and the ever changing of beliefs, indicate the ongoing attempts of mankind to perfect his own mind by his own works.

Jesus of Nazareth taught man must come to God to be transformed and changed in mind and spirit by the works of God who creates a new mind and spirit in mankind by His works. In this way, it is never self works but the works of God that transform a person in mind and spirit; that raise a person up from spiritual death to spiritual life. In this way, all faith and trust is placed in God and the promise of God to perform these works.

For many years mankind has refused to come to God to receive this mind and spirit from God and has continued in his pursuit of perfection by his self works. The works of creating his own mind by the word or seed from fellow man. This is the reality of man receiving the seed of man or making his “seed bed with fellow man; an abomination to God. From this way comes the “abomination of the desolate” who are those void of the Spirit from God yet say they represent God and teach truth pertaining to God and life. These who set their selves up in the place of God as God to the people; true representatives of God to the people; are those Jesus of Nazareth warned mankind of.

It has been the practice of many of mankind to replace God with self created religious orders creating doctrines and teachings from their self imagined beliefs. Many are the deluded who believe they are able to attain the life gives by their own works of creating their own minds by picking and choosing from what others of mankind have said in regards to God.

This way created by mankind is a substitute for the way established by God. This way of mankind cannot bring to be what only God brings to be by His creation. His creation by His Word.

It is a wonder mankind has chosen the word of fellow man and has refused the Word from God that provides mankind with truth; with knowledge and understanding of the matters of God and the matters of the life God gives. But mankind has followed this traditional way for many centuries, the many different nations and people each developing their own religions.

Most religions are teachings about God formulated by the imagination of mankind. They are not teachings that have come from God in the Word from God. In contrast to this way is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth who himself declared the word he spoke and taught was not his but was given to him by God. Indicating by this, his word was not self formulated by choosing from the words of others of mankind, but was the Word he had received directly by God. He taught others to follow this way, promising those who did would also receive this same Word and Spirit from God and also be transformed into the creation of God; the Son of God.

This way of knowing the reality of God and God’s truth coming in His Word which is conveyed from the mind of God thereby revealing God to the one receiving, was eventually dismissed and replaced with the religious teachings of mankind, including the religion called “Christianity.”

An important principle given to mankind by God is the way of “proving.” Every way taught by mankind presented as a way to become the creation of God and to know the truth from God must be proved in order to “know for sure” whether this way is of God or not; whether this way is the way established b God or not. The way taught by Jesus of Nazareth may be easily proved for he declared what a person would receive from God when following this way. The reality of receiving what he declared a person would receive from God proves his word and teaching of this way is the way established by God. This same way of proving must be applied to all ways taught by mankind in order to “know the truth” as to whether this way is of God or not. For many are misled by false teachers who do not lead people to God; who do not teach people to honor God alone as creator and as father and teacher of truth.

There are many religions and denominations of religions and teachings and doctrines offered to mankind to believe. And many are content to enter into and remain in mere belief. However the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth is the way to “know” the truth concerning the matters of God and the promise of God to mankind.

Knowing the truth is far superior to mere belief. Knowing the truth prevents a person from believing a lie and from being misled along a way not of God. For this reason God established this way; His way; for man to follow so he would not believe a lie and would not be misled.

In this way a person must recognize and honor God alone as creator; as teacher of truth; as the giver of life; as the Savior of mankind from spiritual death. A person must place all faith and trust in God and the promise of God and the way of asking and receiving from God what God has promised.

These matters were explained to Abraham and Abraham was told to choose for himself which way he would go. He chose the way of God. The “seed” of Abraham is not the physical but is the Seed from God he received. This is also the Seed of Christ for it is the Seed from God; His Word; His Spirit. All who are the true Seed of Abraham are recipients of this Seed from God, which is the seed of Christ; the Seed from God the Christ receives, Christ being the one taught by God, His truth, coming in His Word which is this Seed from God.

Every person must choose who and what they will believe and what way they will follow or “go” through this physical life. It is a choice of life or death of spirit and ongoing life or death. It is paramount for a person to understand and follow the way of proving instead of remaining in blind belief.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


The Fruit of The Spirit

Fruit only comes from a mature tree. The fruit of the vine planted by God comes from the mature one of God. A metaphor of a grave vine and grapes as fruit has been used by mankind to describe the planting of God and the fruit from this planting. In the metaphor, the grapes are harvested when ripe and mature. Those that are not wither on the vine and die.

What is the produce from the planting of God’s Seed? Another metaphor used to describe this way of is to see the Seed of God bring forth “trees.” Or flowers. Or good food. The garden of God is His planting of His Seed. His Seed is His Word and His Word is Spirit.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in the person who has been taught the principles of God by God. This one, has learned to obey the principles of God, knowing and understanding the life they bring to those who learn and obey these higher ways and principles of God.

The fruit is the expression or manifestation of this Holy Spirit from God in word and acts of a person. Especially in regards to how this person interrelates with others. In the words and actions of this person the attributes of God are manifest. Love and good will being the mainstay of this interrelationship with others of mankind.

Among mankind are many who believe they are able to use their own seed to bring forth the plants or produce that comes from the Seed of God alone. Throughout history, mankind has thought he is able to do what God does; create the mind and spirit of a person to be His creation by His Word. History reveals many have thought their selves to be as wise or wiser than God and have endeavored to “perfect” their selves into the equal of what God creates and perfects.

However it is this very mind and spirit God declares mankind must be saved from in order to be the creation of God. Without the Word from God that reveals the principles of God to mankind, mankind does not possess the knowledge nor the understanding of the ways of God and the ways of life as God declares life to be.

It was the liar and deceiver who convinced those of Adam to forsake the ways and the Spirit from God and to take into the mind other principles not of God as a way of life. In reality, this act of Adam brought Adam into spiritual death which is when any person does not possess the Holy Spirit from God that gives mankind the life God offers,

Whenever mankind ceases to honor God as the creator; as the giver of this life; and believes he is able by his own works to create this life for himself by self works, mankind has believed the lie that brings the spiritual death that always exists whenever a person or people refuse to come to God to receive their life from God; refuse to come to God to be taught truth by God.

For God has established a way; His way; for the transformation of mankind from this spiritual death into the life His gives in His Word; His Living Word that comes from Him, untouched by the hands of mankind therefore unaltered and pure. The Son of God Paul, spoke to the “Romans” in regards to this matter of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowing without honor for God.

What is the truth concerning God? It is the Word that comes directly from God that conveys this truth into the minds of mankind. No man is able to know the mind of God nor the contents therein unless and until God reveals the contents of His mind to one who has come to receive this from God.

Because of the ongoing rebellion against God for the many centuries, mankind is lacking this knowledge and understanding God gives in His Word. Mankind, by his inflated ego, has created other ways that are not of God and believed these ways when followed will bring the same results as is achieved when following the way God has established as His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

Mankind has created religions and doctrines and teachings, saying these are of God and represent the will of God and the knowledge of God. But they are of the works of man and not God for God has not desired nor created religions. God has created and established His way of saving mankind from spiritual death.

“Spirit” is the substance inspired in the mind. In the mind of God is Spirit and because it is from God and not mankind it is named the “Holy” Spirit. Some do not realize God possesses a mind and thinks. Few understand what it is God dwells in and on in His thoughts. The thoughts of God are centered on the substance and matter residing in the mind of God. His knowledge, His understanding, His wisdom.

It is a great delusion for any of mankind to believe he possesses a mind equal to or comparable to the mind of God. Yet some of mankind do by creating their own ways and principles thinking and believing these bring the life as God gives life and transforms a person from spiritual death into this spiritual life. If this was possible, there would be no need for God. There would be no need for God to perform the works He has promised to perform. There would be no need for God to give to mankind for his needs.

And in this delusion, many of mankind have created their social orders, believing they possess the mind God has promised to create by His Word and Spirit. Many of these are religious orders.

Religion is described and defined in this manner by Wikipedia. The Kabbalah is also explained by Wikipedia.

What is obvious in religions and even in Kabbalah, are the different beliefs and conflicts of beliefs. Like shifting sands constantly being changed by waves of doctrines.

The Word from God never changes for this Word from God presents perfect knowledge and understanding of what is true. It is referred to as “rock” compared to the sand or dust.

“A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.
The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.
Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors. Definitions mostly include:
• a notion of the transcendent or numinous, often, but not always, in the form of theism
• a cultural or behavioural aspect of ritual, liturgy and organized worship, often involving a priesthood, and societal norms of morality (ethos) and virtue (arete)
• a set of myths or sacred truths held in reverence or believed by adherents
Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in "God" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, "a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[6] According to this definition, religion refers to one's primary worldview and how this dictates one's thoughts and actions.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that reduce religion to its component factors. Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a "feeling of absolute dependence."
Esotericism is often spiritual (thus religious) but can be non-religious/-spiritual, and it uses intellectual understanding and reasoning, intuition and inspiration (higher noetic and spiritual reasoning,) but not necessarily faith (except often as a virtue,) and it is philosophical in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation (esoteric cosmology). Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. All religions are probably somewhat exoteric, but most ones of ancient civilizations such as Yoga of India, and the mystery religions of ancient Egypt, Israel (Kabbalah,) and Greece are examples of ones that are also esoteric.
Humans have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and our place in it (cosmology). Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include science, philosophy, metaphysics, astrology, esotericism, mysticism, and forms of shamanism, such as the sacred consumption of ayahuasca among Peruvian Amazonia's Urarina. The Urarina have an elaborate animistic cosmological system[23], which informs their mythology, religious orientation and daily existence. In many cases, the distinction between these means are not clear. For example, Buddhism and Taoism have been regarded as schools of philosophies as well as religions.
Given the generalized discontents with modernity, consumerism, over-consumption, violence and anomie, many people in the so-called industrial or post-industrial West rely on a number of distinctive religious worldviews. This in turn has given rise to increased religious pluralism, as well as to what are commonly known in the academic literature as new religious movements, which are gaining ground across the globe.
The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in knowledge about other cultures and religions, and also the establishment of economic and social histories of progress. The "history of religions" school sought to account for this religious diversity by connecting it with the social and economic situation of a particular group.
Typically religions are divided into stages of progression from more simple to more complex societies, especially from polytheistic to monotheistic and from extempore to organised. (There are now claims "that religion evolved from polytheism to monotheism has now been discredited" p. 1763 Man, Myth and Magic 1995)
Thus, the starting point is the tribal band whose religion is animistic and involves shamans and totems. Since the group is tribal, there is no permanent sanctuary. Cultic rites centre on identification with wild animals and appeasing spirits, often of the hunted.
As society developed into chiefdoms and small kingdoms, religious rites began to serve different functions. Agriculture became important and so fertility gods were introduced (often female, as it is the woman who has the power to produce life). The status of the "big man" (or chief) was supported with mythic tales of heroes and demigods, from whom he may be descended.
When these small kingdoms merged into larger groups (often through conquest), different cults merged. The conquest of one group by another is therefore recorded in an epic tale of the conquest of the conquered group's god by the victor's (e.g. some Hinduism and the Babylonian Marduk). Another solution was to syncretise different religious traditions, for example, the Romans' identification of their Gods with the Greeks and the Greeks' adoption of Anatolian myths and characters.
Finally, the growth of the city state brought about progression to the most "civilised" level of religion, ethical monotheism. Students of the history of religions often learnt that this began in Egypt with Akhnaten and grew through 7th century BC Judaism, Persian Zoroastrianism and Greek Philosophy to endow Western society with the most progressive form of religion. The historical basis of this — that religion moved from polytheism to ethical monotheism — is now doubted.
Nevertheless, it is still widely held that ethical monotheism (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism) was encouraged by the growth of city states. This was partly due to the role of a hierarchical society with a god-like absolute ruler. A more powerful social force was the isolation of the individual as he moved from the clan to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Questions of justice and value that had been previously answered by the family and small tribe were now to be pursued independently. The relative anonymity of the city afforded the opportunity for not only "sin" but also loneliness. Ethical monotheism answered society's need for a moral guide and motivation, whilst a unique personal God who was sovereign over all areas of life answered people's feelings of isolation and powerlessness.
Good examples of this are the prophetic literature of the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament), especially Isaiah, and the wisdom literature of the ancient near east dealing with apparently unjustified suffering. This includes Job, in the Judaeo-Christian Bible, and "The Dialogue of Pessimism", a Babylonian text.
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎), which literally means "receiving", is the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.

Throughout time mankind has attempted to explain God and the workings of God from his perspective and this mind that is self created. The differing beliefs, the conflicts, and the ever changing of beliefs, indicate the ongoing attempts of mankind to perfect his own mind by his own works.

Jesus of Nazareth taught man must come to God to be transformed and changed in mind and spirit by the works of God who creates a new mind and spirit in mankind by His works. In this way, it is never self works but the works of God that transform a person in mind and spirit; that raise a person up from spiritual death to spiritual life. In this way, all faith and trust is placed in God and the promise of God to perform these works.

For many years mankind has refused to come to God to receive this mind and spirit from God and has continued in his pursuit of perfection by his self works. The works of creating his own mind by the word or seed from fellow man. This is the reality of man receiving the seed of man or making his “seed bed with fellow man; an abomination to God. From this way comes the “abomination of the desolate” who are those void of the Spirit from God yet say they represent God and teach truth pertaining to God and life. These who set their selves up in the place of God as God to the people; true representatives of God to the people; are those Jesus of Nazareth warned mankind of.

It has been the practice of many of mankind to replace God with self created religious orders creating doctrines and teachings from their self imagined beliefs. Many are the deluded who believe they are able to attain the life gives by their own works of creating their own minds by picking and choosing from what others of mankind have said in regards to God.

This way created by mankind is a substitute for the way established by God. This way of mankind cannot bring to be what only God brings to be by His creation. His creation by His Word.

It is a wonder mankind has chosen the word of fellow man and has refused the Word from God that provides mankind with truth; with knowledge and understanding of the matters of God and the matters of the life God gives. But mankind has followed this traditional way for many centuries, the many different nations and people each developing their own religions.

Most religions are teachings about God formulated by the imagination of mankind. They are not teachings that have come from God in the Word from God. In contrast to this way is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth who himself declared the word he spoke and taught was not his but was given to him by God. Indicating by this, his word was not self formulated by choosing from the words of others of mankind, but was the Word he had received directly by God. He taught others to follow this way, promising those who did would also receive this same Word and Spirit from God and also be transformed into the creation of God; the Son of God.

This way of knowing the reality of God and God’s truth coming in His Word which is conveyed from the mind of God thereby revealing God to the one receiving, was eventually dismissed and replaced with the religious teachings of mankind, including the religion called “Christianity.”

An important principle given to mankind by God is the way of “proving.” Every way taught by mankind presented as a way to become the creation of God and to know the truth from God must be proved in order to “know for sure” whether this way is of God or not; whether this way is the way established b God or not. The way taught by Jesus of Nazareth may be easily proved for he declared what a person would receive from God when following this way. The reality of receiving what he declared a person would receive from God proves his word and teaching of this way is the way established by God. This same way of proving must be applied to all ways taught by mankind in order to “know the truth” as to whether this way is of God or not. For many are misled by false teachers who do not lead people to God; who do not teach people to honor God alone as creator and as father and teacher of truth.

There are many religions and denominations of religions and teachings and doctrines offered to mankind to believe. And many are content to enter into and remain in mere belief. However the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth is the way to “know” the truth concerning the matters of God and the promise of God to mankind.

Knowing the truth is far superior to mere belief. Knowing the truth prevents a person from believing a lie and from being misled along a way not of God. For this reason God established this way; His way; for man to follow so he would not believe a lie and would not be misled.

In this way a person must recognize and honor God alone as creator; as teacher of truth; as the giver of life; as the Savior of mankind from spiritual death. A person must place all faith and trust in God and the promise of God and the way of asking and receiving from God what God has promised.

These matters were explained to Abraham and Abraham was told to choose for himself which way he would go. He chose the way of God. The “seed” of Abraham is not the physical but is the Seed from God he received. This is also the Seed of Christ for it is the Seed from God; His Word; His Spirit. All who are the true Seed of Abraham are recipients of this Seed from God, which is the seed of Christ; the Seed from God the Christ receives, Christ being the one taught by God, His truth, coming in His Word which is this Seed from God.

Every person must choose who and what they will believe and what way they will follow or “go” through this physical life. It is a choice of life or death of spirit and ongoing life or death. It is paramount for a person to understand and follow the way of proving instead of remaining in blind belief.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Kabbalah as presented by Wikipedia;

Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎), which literally means "receiving", is the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional Rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.


According to the Zohar, generally considered the foremost Kabbalistic text, Torah study is divided into four levels:[2]
• Peshat, the simple meaning of the text;
• Remez, literally "hint[s]"—biblical allusion and allegory;
• Derash, i.e. midrash, Rabbinic scriptural exegesis;
• Sod, which is the kabbalah, the secret inner meaning of the Torah.
Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah -- the study of Torah (the Law of God) being an inherent duty of observant Jews.[3] Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism.
The origins of the actual term Kabbalah are unknown and disputed to belong either to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021 - 1058) or else to the 13th century CE Spanish Kabbalist Bahya ben Asher. While other terms have been used in many religious documents from the 2nd century CE up to the present day, the term Kabbalah has become the main descriptive of Jewish esoteric knowledge and practices. The Kabbalistic literature, which served as the basis for most of the development of Kabbalistic thought, divides between early works such as Heichalot and Sefer Yetzirah (believed to be dated 1st or 2nd Century CE) and later works dated to the 13th century CE, of which the main book is the Zohar representing the main source for the Contemplative Kabbalah ("Kabbalah Iyunit").
According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel,[4] although there is little objective historical evidence to support this thesis.
Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.[5] The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism (“Torat Ha’Sod” Hebrew: תורת הסוד‎) for two and a half millennia.
It is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within Kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with very different outlooks, however all are accepted as correct.[6] Modern Halakhic authorities have tried to narrow the scope and diversity within Kabbalah, by restricting study to certain texts, notably Zohar and the teachings of the Isaac Luria as passed down through Haim Vital.[7] However even this qualification does little to limit the scope of understanding and expression, as included in those works are commentaries on Abulafian writings, Sepher Yetzirah, Albotonian writings, and Brit Menuhah.[8] It is therefore important to bear in mind when discussing things such as the Sephirot and their interactions that one is dealing with highly abstract concepts that at best can only be understood intuitively.[9]
Claims for authority
Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority (see, e.g., Joseph Dan's discussion in his Circle of the Unique Cherub). As a result, virtually all works pseudepigraphically claim, or are ascribed, ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam by the angel Raziel after he was evicted from Eden.
Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4). In Islam, the angels 'Harut' and 'Marut' were sent to teach magic only as a test to mankind (see Qur'an, Ch. 2: 102).
Perception of non-Jews
Another aspect of Kabbalah that Jewish critics object to is its metaphysics of the human soul.[citation needed] Since the Zohar was written, most Kabbalistic works[citation needed] assume that Jewish and non-Jewish souls are fundamentally different. While all human souls emanate from God, the Zohar posits that at least part of the Gentile soul emanates from the "left side" of the Sefirotic structure and that non-Jews therefore have a dark or demonic aspect to them that is absent in Jews.
Later Kabbalistic works build and elaborate on this idea. The Hasidic work, the Tanya, fuses this idea with Judah ha-Levi's medieval philosophical argument for the uniqueness of the Jewish soul,[citation needed] in order to argue that Jews have an additional level of soul that other humans do not possess.
Theologically framed hostility may be a response to the demonization of Jews which developed in Western and Christian society and thought, starting with the Patristic writings.
The Kabbalistic view concerning non-Jews can be compared with the Christian doctrine that baptized Christians form part of the Body of Christ while (at least according to Augustine of Hippo) all others remain in the massa perditionis.
David Halperin[23]theorizes that the collapse of Kabbalah's influence among Western European Jews over the course of the 17th and 18th Century was a result of the cognitive dissonance they experienced between Kabbalah's very negative perception of gentiles and their own dealings with non-Jews, which were rapidly expanding and improving during this period due to the influence of the Enlightenment.
For a different perspective, see Wolfson.[24] He provides extensive documentation to illustrate the prevalence of the distinction between the souls of Jews and non-Jews in kabbalistic literature. He provides numerous examples from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, which would challenge the view of Halperin cited above as well as the notion that "modern Judaism" has rejected or dismissed this "outdated aspect" of the kabbalah. There are still kabbalists today, and many influenced by them, who harbor this view. It is accurate to say that many Jews do and would find this distinction offensive, but it is inaccurate to say that the idea has been totally rejected. As Wolfson has argued, it is an ethical demand on the part of scholars to be vigilant with regard this matter and in this way the tradition can be refined from within.
[edit] Orthodox Judaism
The idea that there are ten divine sefirot could evolve over time into the idea that "God is One being, yet in that One being there are Ten" which opens up a debate about what the "correct beliefs" in God should be, according to Judaism.
Rabbi Saadia Gaon teaches in his book Emunot v'Deot that Jews who believe in reincarnation have adopted a non-Jewish belief.
Nachmanides (12th Century) provides background to many Kabbalistic ideas. His works, especially those in the Five books of Moses (Pentateuch) offer in-depth of various concepts.
Maimonides (12th Century) did not consider many of the texts of the Hekalot, particularly in the work Shiur Komah with its starkly anthropomorphic vision of God.
Rabbi Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon, in the spirit of his father Maimonides, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, and other predecessors, explains at length in his book Milhhamot HaShem that the Almighty is in no way literally within time or space nor physically outside time or space, since time and space simply do not apply to His Being whatsoever. This is in contrast to certain popular understandings of modern Kabbalah which teach a form of panentheism, that His 'essence' is within everything.
Around the 1230s, Rabbi Meir ben Simon of Narbonne wrote an epistle (included in his Milhhemet Mitzvah) against his contemporaries, the early Kabbalists, characterizing them as blasphemers who even approach heresy. He particularly singled out the Sefer Bahir, rejecting the attribution of its authorship to the tanna R. Nehhunya ben ha-Kanah and describing some of its content as truly heretical.
Rabbi Yitzchak ben Sheshet Perfet, (The Rivash), 1326-1408. Although as is evident from his responsa on the topic (157) the Rivash was skeptical of certain interpretations of Kabbalah popular in his time, it is equally evident that overall he did accept Kabbalah as received Jewish wisdom, and attempted to defend it from attackers. To this end he cited and rejected a certain philosopher who claimed that Kabbalah was "worse than Christianity", as it made God into 10, not just into three. Most followers of Kabbalah have never followed this interpretation of Kabbalah, on the grounds that the concept of the Christian Trinity posits that there are three persons existing within the Godhead, one of whom became a human being.[citation needed] In contrast, the mainstream understanding of the Kabbalistic Sefirot holds that they have no mind or intelligence; further, they are not addressed in prayer and they cannot become a human being. They are conduits for interaction, not persons or beings. Nonetheless, many important poskim, such as Maimonidies in his work Mishneh Torah, prohibit any use of mediators between oneself and the Creator as a form of idolatry.
Rabbi Leone di Modena, a 17th century Venetian critic of Kabbalah, wrote that if we were to accept the Kabbalah, then the Christian trinity would indeed be compatible with Judaism, as the Trinity closely resembles the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot. This critique was in response to the knowledge that some European Jews of the period addressed individual Sefirot in some of their prayers, although the practise was apparently uncommon. Apologists explain that Jews may have been praying for and not necessarily to the aspects of Godliness represented by the Sefirot.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden, 1697-1776, wrote the book Mitpahhath Sfarim (Veil of the Books), a detailed critique of the Zohar in which he concludes that certain parts of the Zohar contain heretical teaching and therefore could not have been written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Opponents of his work claim[citation needed] that he wrote the book in a drunken stupor. Emden's rationalistic approach to this work, however, makes neither intoxication nor stupor seem plausible.
Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, an early 20th century Yemenite Jewish leader and grandfather of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, also wrote a book entitled Milhhamoth HaShem, (Wars of the L-RD) against what he perceived as the false teachings of the Zohar and the false kabbalah of Isaac Luria. He is credited with spearheading the Dor Daim who continue in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's view of Kabbalah into modern times.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz 1903-1994, brother of Nechama Leibowitz, though Modern Orthodox in his world view, publicly shared the views expressed in R. Yihhyah Qafahh's book Milhhamoth HaShem and elaborated upon these views in his many writings.
There is dispute among modern Haredim as to the status of Isaac Luria's, the Arizal's kabbalistic teachings. While a portion of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, Dor Daim and many students of the Rambam, Maimonides,[citation needed] completely reject Arizal's kabbalistic teachings, as well as deny that the Zohar is authoritative, or from Shimon bar Yohai, all three of these groups completely accept the existence Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'resheyt mysticism. Their only disagreement concerns whether the Kabbalistic teachings promulgated today are accurate representations of those esoteric teachings to which the Talmud refers. Within the Haredi Jewish community one can find both rabbis who sympathize with such a view,[citation needed] while not necessarily agreeing with it, as well as rabbis who consider such a view absolute heresy.
[edit] Conservative and Reform Judaism
Since all forms of reform or liberal Judaism are rooted in the Enlightenment and tied to the assumptions of European modernity, Kabbalah tended to be rejected by most Jews in the Conservative and Reform movements, though its influences were not completely eliminated. While it was generally not studied as a discipline, the Kabbalistic Kabbalat Shabbat service remained part of liberal liturgy, as did the Yedid Nefesh prayer. Nevertheless, in the 1960s, Rabbi Saul Lieberman of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is reputed to have introduced a lecture by Scholem on Kabbalah with a statement that Kabbalah itself was "nonsense", but the academic study of Kabbalah was "scholarship". This view became popular among many Jews, who viewed the subject as worthy of study, but who did not accept Kabbalah as teaching literal truths.
According to Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (Dean of the Conservative Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in the American Jewish University), "many western Jews insisted that their future and their freedom required shedding what they perceived as parochial orientalism. They fashioned a Judaism that was decorous and strictly rational (according to 19th-century European standards), denigrating Kabbalah as backward, superstitious, and marginal."[citation needed]
However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries there has been a revival in interest in Kabbalah in all branches of liberal Judaism. The Kabbalistic 12th century prayer Ani'im Zemirot was restored to the new Conservative Sim Shalom siddur, as was the B'rikh Shmeh passage from the Zohar, and the mystical Ushpizin service welcoming to the Sukkah the spirits of Jewish forbearers. Ani'im Zemirot and the 16th Century mystical poem Lekhah Dodi reappeared in the Reform Siddur Gates of Prayer in 1975. All Rabbinical seminaries now teach several courses in Kabbalah, and both the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles have fulltime instructors in Kabbalah and Hasidut, Eitan Fishbane and Pinchas Geller, respectively. Reform Rabbis like Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner have renewed interest in Kabbalah among Reform Jews.
According to Artson "Ours is an age hungry for meaning, for a sense of belonging, for holiness. In that search, we have returned to the very Kabbalah our predecessors scorned. The stone that the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)... Kabbalah was the last universal theology adopted by the entire Jewish people, hence faithfulness to our commitment to positive-historical Judaism mandates a reverent receptivity to Kabbalah".[25]
[edit] History
[edit] Origins of Judaic mysticism
According to the traditional understanding, Kabbalah dates from Eden.[26] It came down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few. Talmudic Judaism records its view of the proper protocol for teaching this wisdom, as well as many of its concepts, in the Talmud, Tractate Hagigah, Ch.2.
Contemporary scholarship suggests that various schools of Jewish esotericism arose at different periods of Jewish history, each reflecting not only prior forms of mysticism, but also the intellectual and cultural milieu of that historical period. Answers to questions of transmission, lineage, influence, and innovation vary greatly and cannot be easily summarized.
[edit] Origins of terms
Originally, Kabbalistic knowledge was believed to be an integral part of the Judaism's oral law (see also, Aggadah), given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai around 13th century BCE, though there is a view that Kabbalah began with Adam.
When the Israelites arrived at their destination and settled in Canaan, for a few centuries the esoteric knowledge was referred to by its aspect practice - meditation Hitbonenut (Hebrew: התבוננות‎),[27] Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's Hitbodedut (Hebrew: התבודדות‎), translated as “being alone” or “isolating oneself”, or by a different term describing the actual, desired goal of the practice - prophecy (“NeVu’a” Hebrew: נבואה‎).
During the 5th century BCE, when the works of the Tanakh were edited and canonized and the secret knowledge encrypted within the various writings and scrolls (“MeGilot”), the knowledge was referred to as Ma'aseh Merkavah (Hebrew: מעשה מרכבה‎)[28] and Ma'aseh B'reshit (Hebrew: מעשה בראשית‎),[29] respectively "the act of the Chariot" and "the act of Creation". Merkavah mysticism alluded to the encrypted knowledge within the book of the prophet Ezekiel describing his vision of the "Divine Chariot". B'reshit mysticism referred to the first chapter of Genesis (Hebrew: בראשית‎) in the Torah that is believed to contain secrets of the creation of the universe and forces of nature. These terms are also mentioned in the second chapter of the Talmudic tractate Haggigah.
[edit] Mystic elements of the Torah
According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. According to a rabbinic midrash[citation needed] God created the universe through the ten sefirot. When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.[25]
The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel's visions in particular attracted much mystical speculation, as did Isaiah's Temple vision - Isaiah, Ch.6. Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven provided another example of esoteric experience. Moses' encounters with the Burning bush and God on Mount Sinai are evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh that form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.
The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted, allowing the Hebrews to escape their approaching attackers. The miracle of the Exodus, which led to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Orthodox view of the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, preceded the creation of the first Jewish nation approximately three hundred years before King Saul.
[edit] Mystical doctrines in the Talmudic era
In early rabbinic Judaism (the early centuries of the first millennium AD), the terms Ma'aseh Bereshit ("Works of Creation") and Ma'aseh Merkabah ("Works of the Divine Throne/Chariot") clearly indicate the Midrashic nature of these speculations; they are really based upon Genesis 1 and Book of Ezekiel 1:4-28; while the names Sitrei Torah (Hidden aspects of the Torah) (Talmud Hag. 13a) and Razei Torah (Torah secrets) (Ab. vi. 1) indicate their character as secret lore. An additional term also expanded Jewish esoteric knowledge, namely Chochmah Nistara (Hidden wisdom).
Talmudic doctrine forbade the public teaching of esoteric doctrines and warned of their dangers. In the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1), rabbis were warned to teach the mystical creation doctrines only to one student at a time.[30] To highlight the danger, in one Jewish aggadic ("legendary") anecdote, four prominent rabbis of the Mishnaic period (first century CE) are said to have visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise, pardes, Hebrew: פרדס lit., orchard):
Four men entered pardes — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (Elisha ben Abuyah),[31] and Akiba. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiba entered in peace and departed in peace.[32]
In notable readings of this legend, only Rabbi Akiba was fit to handle the study of mystical doctrines. The Tosafot, medieval commentaries on the Talmud, say that the four sages "did not go up literally, but it appeared to them as if they went up."[33] On the other hand, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, writes in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) that the journey to paradise "is to be taken literally and not allegorically". [34] (For further analysis, see The Four Who Entered Paradise.)
Eminent rabbinic teachers in the Land of Israel held the doctrine of the preexistence of matter (Midrash Genesis Rabbah i. 5; iv. 6), in spite of the protest of Gamaliel II. (ib. i. 9).
In dwelling upon the nature of God and the universe, the mystics of the Talmudic period asserted, in contrast to the transcendentalism evident in some parts of the Bible, that "God is the dwelling-place of the universe; but the universe is not the dwelling-place of God". Possibly the designation ("place") for God, so frequently found in Talmudic-Midrashic literature, is due to this conception, just as Philo, in commenting on Genesis 28:11 says, "God is called ha makom (המקום "the place") because God encloses the universe, but is Himself not enclosed by anything" (De Somniis, i. 11). This type of theology, in modern terms, is known as either pantheism or panentheism. Whether a text is truly pantheistic or panentheistic is often hard to understand; mainstream Judaism generally rejects pantheistic interpretations of Kabbalah, and instead accepts panentheistic interpretations.
Even in very early times in the Land of Israel, Jewish, as well as Jewish Alexandrian theology recognized the two attributes of God, middat hadin, the attribute of justice, and middat ha-rahamim, the attribute of mercy (see: Midrash Sifre, Deuteronomy 27); and so is the contrast between justice and mercy became a fundamental doctrine of the Kabbalah. Other hypostasizations are represented by the ten "agencies", (the Sephiroth) through which God created the world, namely: wisdom, insight, cognition, strength, power, inexorableness, justice, right, love, and mercy.
While the Sefirot are based on these ten creative "potentialities", it is especially the personification of wisdom which, in Philo, represents the totality of these primal ideas; and the Targ. Jerusalem Talmud i., agreeing with him, translates the first verse of the Bible as follows: "By wisdom God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis Rabbah equates "Wisdom" with "Torah."
So, also, the figure of the Sar Metatron passed into mystical texts from the Talmud. In the Heichalot literature Metatron sometimes approximates the role of the demiurgos (see Gnosticism), being expressly mentioned as a "lesser" God. One text, however, identifies Metatron as Enoch transubstantiated (see: Enoch, III). Mention may also be made of other pre-existent states enumerated in an old baraita (an extra-mishnaic teaching); namely, the Torah, repentance, paradise and hell, the throne of God, the Heavenly Temple, and the name of the Messiah (Talmud Pesahim 54a). Although the origin of this doctrine must be sought probably in certain mythological ideas, the Platonic doctrine of pre-existence has modified the older, simpler conception, and the pre-existence of the seven must therefore be understood as an "ideal" pre-existence, a conception that was later more fully developed in the Kabbalah.
The attempts of the mystics to bridge the gulf between God and the world are evident in the doctrine of the preexistence of the soul, and of its close relation to God before it enters the human body — a doctrine taught by the Hellenistic sages (Wisdom viii. 19) as well as by the Palestinian rabbis. The mystics also employ the phrase from (Isaiah 6:3), as expounded by the Rabbinic Sages, "The whole world is filled with His glory," to justify a panentheistic understanding of the universe.
[edit] Middle Ages


The tree of life.
From the 8th-11th Century Sefer Yetzirah and Hekalot texts made their way into European Jewish circles. Modern scholars have identified several mystical brotherhoods that functioned in Europe starting in the 12th Century. Some, such as the "Iyyun Circle" and the "Unique Cherub Circle," were truly esoteric, remaining largely anonymous.
One well-known group was the "Hasidei Ashkenaz," (חסידי אשכנז) or German Pietists. This 13th Century movement arose mostly among a single scholarly family, the Kalonymus family of the French and German Rhineland.
There were certain rishonim ("Elder Sages") of exoteric Judaism who are known to have been experts in Kabbalah. One of the best known is Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194-1270) whose commentary on the Torah is considered to be based on Kabbalistic knowledge. Bahya ben Asher (the Rabbeinu Behaye) (d. 1340) also combined Torah commentary and Kabbalah. Another was Isaac the Blind (1160-1235), the teacher of Nahmanides, who is widely argued to have written the first work of classic Kabbalah, the Bahir.
Sefer Bahir and another work, the "Treatise of the Left Emanation", probably composed in Spain by Isaac ben Isaac ha-Kohen, laid the groundwork for the composition of Sefer Zohar, written by Moses de Leon and his mystical circle at the end of the 13th Century, but credited to the Talmudic sage Shimon bar Yochai, cf. Zohar. The Zohar proved to be the first truly "popular" work of Kabbalah, and the most influential. From the thirteenth century onward, Kabbalah began to be widely disseminated and it branched out into an extensive literature. Historians in the nineteenth century, for example, Heinrich Greatz, argued that the emergence into public view of Jewish esotericism at this time coincides with, and represents a response to, the rising influence of the rationalist philosophy of Maimonides and his followers. Gershom Scholem sought to undermine this view as part of his resistance to seeing kabbalah as merely a response to medieval Jewish rationalism. Arguing for a gnostic influence has to be seen as part of this strategy. More recently, Moshe Idel and Elliot Wolfson have independently argued that the impact of Maimonides can be seen in the change from orality to writing in the thirteenth century. That is, kabbalists committed to writing many of their oral traditions in part as a response to the attempt of Maimonides to explain the older esoteric subjects philosophically.
Most Orthodox Jews reject the idea that Kabbalah underwent significant historical development or change such as has been proposed above. After the composition known as the Zohar was presented to the public in the 13th century, the term "Kabbalah" began to refer more specifically to teachings derived from, or related, to the Zohar. At an even later time, the term began to generally be applied to Zoharic teachings as elaborated upon by Isaac Luria Arizal. Historians generally date the start of Kabbalah as a major influence in Jewish thought and practice with the publication of the Zohar and climaxing with the spread of the Arizal's teachings. The majority of Haredi Jews accept the Zohar as the representative of the Ma'aseh Merkavah and Ma'aseh B'reshit that are referred to in Talmudic texts.[35]
[edit] Early Modern era: Lurianic Kabbalah
Following the upheavals and dislocations in the Jewish world as a result of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the trauma of Anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages, Jews began to search for signs of when the long-awaited Jewish Messiah would come to comfort them in their painful exiles. Moses Cordovero and his immediate circle popularized the teachings of the Zohar which had until then been only a modestly influential work. The author of the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law"), Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), was also a great scholar of Kabbalah and spread its teachings during this era.
As part of that "search for meaning" in their lives, Kabbalah received its biggest boost in the Jewish world with the explication of the Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) by his disciples Rabbi Hayim Vital and Rabbi Israel Sarug, both of whom published Luria's teachings (in variant forms) gaining them wide-spread popularity. Luria's teachings came to rival the influence of the Zohar and Luria stands, alongside Moses de Leon, as the most influential mystic in Jewish history.
[edit] Ban against studying Kabbalah
The ban against studying Kabbalah was lifted by the efforts of the sixteenth century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulai (1570-1643).
I have found it written that all that has been decreed Above forbidding open involvement in the Wisdom of Truth [Kabbalah] was [only meant for] the limited time period until the year 5,250 (1490 C.E). From then on after is called the "Last Generation", and what was forbidden is [now] allowed. And permission is granted to occupy ourselves in the [study of] Zohar. And from the year 5,300 (1540 C.E.) it is most desirable that the masses both those great and small [in Torah], should occupy themselves [in the study of Kabbalah], as it says in the Raya M'hemna [a section of the Zohar]. And because in this merit King Mashiach will come in the future – and not in any other merit – it is not proper to be discouraged [from the study of Kabbalah]. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai)[36]
[edit] Sefardi and Mizrahi
The Kabbalah of the Sefardi (Portuguese or Spanish) and Mizrahi (African/Asian) Torah scholars has a long history. Kabbalah in various forms was widely studied, commented upon, and expanded by North African, Turkish, Yemenite, and Asian scholars from the 16th Century onward. It flourished among Sefardic Jews in Tzfat (Safed), Israel even before the arrival of Isaac Luria, its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous hymn Lekhah Dodi, taught there.
His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu De Vidas authored the classic work, Reishit Chochma, combining kabbalistic and mussar (moral) teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one authorized to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings.
[edit] Maharal
One of the most important teachers of Kabbalah recognized as an authority by all serious scholars up until the present time, was Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525-1609) known as the Maharal of Prague. Many of his written works survive and are studied for their deep Kabbalistic insights. The Maharal is, perhaps, most famous outside of Jewish mysticism for the legends of the golem of Prague, which he reportedly created. During the twentieth century, Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) continued to spread the Maharal's teachings indirectly through his own teachings and scholarly publications within the modern yeshiva world.
[edit] Failure of Sabbatian Mysticism
The spiritual and mystical yearnings of many Jews remained frustrated after the death of Rabbi Isaac Luria and his disciples and colleagues. No hope was in sight for many following the devastation and mass killings of the pogroms that followed in the wake the Chmielnicki Uprising (1648-1654), and it was at this time that a controversial scholar of the Kabbalah by the name of Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) captured the hearts and minds of the Jewish masses of that time with the promise of a newly-minted "Messianic" Millennialism in the form of his own personage.
His charisma, mystical teachings that included repeated pronunciations of the holy Tetragrammaton in public, tied to an unstable personality, and with the help of his own "prophet" Nathan of Gaza, convinced the Jewish masses that the "Jewish Messiah" had finally come. It seemed that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah had found their "champion" and had triumphed, but this era of Jewish history unravelled when Zevi became an apostate to Judaism by converting to Islam after he was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan and threatened with execution for attempting a plan to conquer the world and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Many of his followers, known as Sabbateans, continued to worship him in secret, explaining his conversion not as an effort to save his life but to recover the sparks of the holy in each religion, and most leading rabbis were always on guard to root them out. The Donmeh movement in modern Turkey is a surviving remnant of the Sabbatian schism.
Due to the chaos caused in the Jewish world, the Rabbinic prohibition against studying Kabbalah was well intact again, and established itself firmly within the Jewish religion. One of the conditions allowing a man to study and engage himself in the Kabbalah, was to be of age forty. This age requirement came about during this period and is not Talmudic in origin. Many Jews are familiar with this ruling, but are not aware of its origins. Moreover, the prohibition is not halakhic in nature. According to Moses Cordovero, halakhically, one must be of age twenty to engage in the Kabbalah. Many famous Kabbalists, including the ARI, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, were younger than twenty when they began.
[edit] Frankists
Main article: Jacob Frank
The Sabbatian movement was followed by that of the "Frankists" who were disciples of another pseudo-mystic Jacob Frank (1726-1791) who eventually became an apostate to Judaism by apparently converting to Catholicism. This era of disappointment did not stem the Jewish masses' yearnings for "mystical" leadership.
[edit] 1700s
The eighteenth century saw an explosion of new efforts in the writing and spread of Kabbalah by four well known rabbis working in different areas of Europe:
• Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) in the area of Ukraine spread teachings based on Rabbi Isaac Luria's foundations, simplifying the Kabbalah for the common man. From him sprang the vast ongoing schools of Hasidic Judaism, with each successive rebbe viewed by his "Hasidim" as continuing the role of dispenser of mystical divine blessings and guidance.
• Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 - 1810), the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, revitalized and further expanded the latter's teachings, amassing a following of thousands in Ukraine, White Russia, Lithuania and Poland. In a unique amalgam of Hasidic and Mitnagid approaches, Rebbe Nachman emphasized study of both Kabbalah and serious Torah scholarship to his disciples. His teachings also differed from the way other Hasidic groups were developing, as he rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself—and within himself.
• Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (Vilna Gaon) (1720-1797), based in Lithuania, had his teachings encoded and publicized by his disciples such as by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who published the mystical-ethical work Nefesh HaChaim. However, he was staunchly opposed to the new Hasidic movement and warned against their public displays of religious fervour inspired by the mystical teachings of their rabbis.Although the Vilna Gaon was not in favor of the Hasidic movement, he did not prohibit the study and engagement in the Kabbalah. This is evident from his writings in the Even Shlema."He that is able to understand secrets of the Torah and does not try to understand them will be judged harshly, may God have mercy". (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 8:24). "The Redemption will only come about through learning Torah, and the essence of the Redemption depends upon learning Kabbalah" (The Vilna Gaon, Even Shlema, 11:3).
• Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), based in Italy, was a precocious Talmudic scholar who arrived at the startling conclusion that there was a need for the public teaching and study of Kabbalah. He established a yeshiva for Kabbalah study and actively recruited outstanding students and, in addition, wrote copious manuscripts in an appealing clear Hebrew style, all of which gained the attention of both admirers and rabbinical critics who feared another "Zevi (false messiah) in the making".He was forced to close his school by his rabbinical opponents, hand over and destroy many of his most precious unpublished kabbalistic writings, and go into exile in the Netherlands. He eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Some of his most important works such as Derekh Hashem survive and are used as a gateway to the world of Jewish mysticism.
[edit] Modern era
One of the most influential sources spreading Kabbalistic teachings have come from the massive growth and spread of Hasidic Judaism, a movement begun by Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), but continued in many branches and streams until today. These groups differ greatly in size, but all emphasize the study of mystical Hasidic texts, which now consists of a vast literature devoted to elaborating upon the long chain of Kabbalistic thought and methodology. No group emphasizes in-depth kabbalistic study, though, to the extent of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, whose Rebbes delivered tens of thousands of discourses, and whose students study these texts for three hours daily.
Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn of Lubavitch urged the study of kabbala as prerequisite for one's humanity:
A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.[37]
The writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864-1935) also stress Kabbalistic themes:
Due to the alienation from the "secret of God" [i.e. Kabbalah], the higher qualities of the depths of Godly life are reduced to trivia that do not penetrate the depth of the soul. When this happens, the most mighty force is missing from the soul of nation and individual, and Exile finds favor essentially... We should not negate any conception based on rectitude and awe of Heaven of any form - only the aspect of such an approach that desires to negate the mysteries and their great influence on the spirit of the nation. This is a tragedy that we must combat with counsel and understanding, with holiness and courage. (Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook Orot 2 )
Another influential and important Kabbalah character is Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag 1884-1954 (also known as the Baal HaSulam — a title that he was given after the completion of one of his masterworks, The Sulam). Ashlag is considered by many to be one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time.
He developed a study method that he considered most fitting for the future generations of Kabbalists. He is also notable for his other masterwork Talmud Eser HaSfirot — The Study of the Ten Emanations — a commentary on all the writings of the ARI. Some today consider this work as the core of the entire teaching of Kabbalah. Baal Hasulam's goal was to make the study of Kabbalah understandable and accessible to every human being with the desire to know the meaning of life. There are several organizations that are actualizing his ideas today.
Renewed interest in Kabbalah has appeared among non-traditional Jews, and even among non-Jews. Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal have been the most influential groups in this trend.
[edit] Personalities in Kabbalah
See also: Category:Kabbalists
Historical
• Nathan Adler
• Abraham Abulafia
• Baruch Ashlag
• Yehuda Ashlag
• Abraham Azulai
• Samuel Ben-Or Avital
• Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
• Israel ben Eliezer
• Solomon ibn Gabirol
• Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla
• Meir ben Ezekiel ibn Gabbai
• Yitzchak Kaduri
• Yosef Karo
• Moses de Leon
• Isaac Luria
• Elijah ben Solomon
• Baba Sali
• Chaim Vital
• Simeon bar Yohai
Contemporary
• Aryeh Kaplan
• Zalman Schachter

Now that's what I like about DW....LOL

When ya ask him a question......He gives ya an answer.





Thanks DW
Mitakuye Oyasin
Rick

Hello Rick;

The posts were lengthy but necessary for people to understand more in regards to religion and the way of Kabbalah. I have referred to religion many times in my posts but I was not familiar with Kabbalah teachings. Because many others are not famuiliar with the teachings of Kabbalah, it is good they are presented with information from a commonly trusted source such as Wikipedia. It appears from the research Babblah has gone through many changes and revisions and in this day there are divisions as to what true "Kabbalah" teachings are. There are many "authors" of the Kabbalah with different views and beliefs and there are as many self proclaimed experts who have voiced their opinions in historical data.

Having researched this matter I have found it does not agree with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. This way, taught by Jesus of Nazareth, I have followed and proved to be the way established by God. Of course I cannot pove this to any other person but I am able to state the proof awaits any and all who enter into and follow this very same way for it is God who provides the proof in the fulfilling of the promise He has made to all mankind.

The way established by God is a simple way taught in a simple truth. In this way, any person may understand what they must do in order to receive the promise of God from God. And to clear up another matter some have "misstated" I have never said the "scriptures" are not truth. I have said in their current form they have been misinterpreted and mistranslated. And most importantly, the source of truth is God; not the writings of mankind.

In the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth, a person is taught truth by God. Which is why it is written he has declared; "Honor no man as father and teacher except Him above." Specifically declaring it is God who "fathers" His children and it is God who "teaches" truth to His children.

In the eyes and judgment of God, all mankind are equally dead in sin and spiritual death until receiving life from God. And those who receive from God are given equal portion, thereby establishing equality among all mankind that are the creation of God.

Having belief in God and His promise and having faith in God that God shall fulfill His promise is paramount in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As they are in my teachings. "Without this faith in the Word and promise of God, it is impossible to please God." For this rejection of God in this manner is displeasing to God for it is the will of God that all mankind come into the knowledge of truth and thereby be saved by God."

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Now, talking about seeking enlightment and receiving it! I am so glad when I'm able to be refreshed by the wisdom offered on this forum. Thank you. I will have read this several more times so it will flow into the cracks of my mind like honey!


Peace...
RevTye.

Hello RevTye;

The forum is a good place for people to share their experiences. My enlightenment has come from God; His Light; and I advise others to seek and receive this Light; His Word and truth, directly from Him.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Meditation


God Must Be Busy


Today I heard a song with the title; “God must be busy.” The song speaks of all that is wrong in this world and social order created by mankind and by this title, infers God is too busy to do something about the problems mankind faces each day.

This way of thinking dominates the thoughts and beliefs of too many people, people who want God to do something; people who pray to God and beg God to do something for them; to help them with their problems.

God has done what He declared He shall do. God does not interfere with nor direct the affairs of mankind. Mankind does by his thoughts, beliefs, acts, and actions. For the mind of man is not the mind created by God. Man has gone his own way, choosing ways not of God and has brought on himself all of his problems.

Every problem mankind faces, God has an answer for; a solution for. But, mankind must come to God to learn how to correct his problems by learning the ways of God. And because mankind does not come to God in the way established by God, mankind continues to experience his problems he has created for himself.

Through Jesus of Nazareth, came the Word of God, declaring what mankind must do in order to be set free from his problems. Because it is the mind of mankind that creates the problems, the mind of mankind must be changed. The erroneous beliefs in ways not of God must be removed and the ways of God learned from God. If, If, mankind truly wants to be free from these problems.

In the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, God gave His Word and His promise of what He shall do. If; If, mankind comes to God in the way He has established. Asking God for help; begging God for help; is an insult to God who has promised to give all that mankind needs for his problems. It is mankind who refuses to come to God to receive what God has already offered and promised. Promised. Promised and promised.

But in the covenant God has offered to enter into with mankind, mankind must do his part as God does His part. Mankind must come to God and submit to God, the mind, for the transformation; the changing. The replacement of erroneous beliefs in ways not of God with the truth from God that teaches the ways and principles of God.

Until mankind does this, God cannot give what God has promised to give. Mankind must come to God in order to receive this directly from God.

The next time you pray to God or ask something of God, ask yourself if you have done what God has asked you to do. Have you done your part? Have you come to God and submitted your mind to Him for the creation of His mind and spirit in you? Have you come to God daily to receive what God gives daily in His Word; His teachings? Have you asked God to teach you His truth? To give you the knowledge and understanding He has promised to give to all who come in this way?

A covenant is a two part agreement. Each party must honor their commitment to do their part in order for the covenant to be in force. No, God is not too busy to help mankind. Mankind is too busy to come to God to receive help.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

DW;
Amen!
"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do." (from the Big Book of AA)

This axiom implies it is not God who has forsaken us but, through our laziness, complacency, always seeking the easy way, and never owning our own baggage, we have forsaken Him. There is a sying I learned from a friend many years ago, "God does not usually change things, although He could. He prefers the heart of man to change, so that man can change these things." It is God recognizing and reminding us that He has given us the power to do these things, if only we would empower ourselves to do so.

Thank you for your post and call to action....God's Grace and Love....To`na Wanagi

Thank you To’na for your comments.

The whole concept of prayer is misunderstood by many people. Many do not know how to pray or ask, and what to pray or ask for. The many do not know what God has promised to give to those who ask. They do not know or understand what God has promised. And, many ask God to interfere with matters of mankind that God will never interfere with because they have been created by mankind who refuses to come to God to be taught truth in regards to correcting the many problems.

It is not that difficult to understand that God is able to provide for all the needs of mankind especially the need to know and understand how to correct the problems and social ills of mankind. But then, there are so many who have not been taught truth; that they may come to God and ask and receive what God has promised. Paul explained the greater gifts from God being knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Paul didn’t lie and neither did Jesus of Nazareth when he declared as scriptures relate; “Ask, and you shall receive.”

Even the scriptures in their current form relate the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth to ask and receive from God. The disciples who gave their testaments, testified of what they received by following this way. The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth were to all mankind, not just those few disciples. As scriptures relate he often prefaced his word with “Whosever.” It is not really that difficult to understand he spoke of existing reality in teaching this way to ask and receive form God. And, what a person receives from God was testified to by those in their testaments.

It is indeed a very simple truth and not difficult to understand. God is God and is able to provide for the needs of mankind including the need of mankind to know, understand, and willingly obey the higher principles of God. And these God willingly gives to each and every one who comes to receive. Such is the love and good will of God. Towards all mankind, each and every one.

Take care my friend and may you always rest in the love of God.

DW Suiter

Meditation


Prayer

Eli Jah must come first. A person must open the mind to God and allow God in. Only in this way is God able to create a new heaven and a new earth in a person. The new heaven and new earth is the new mind and spirit God creates in a person. God comes in His Word which is His Spirit. In this way God makes His abode with a person. And, the new creation of and by God within a person is the Son of God who also makes his abode within a person.

God is not limited by a physical body. The Spirit of God when allowed in, does the works God has promised to perform. Jesus of Nazareth declared it was the father in him who did these works.

As God creates the new mind in a person it is His Spirit that is conveyed into the mind, creating the mind and spirit of Christ; creating a “new creation” and this new creation is the Son of God. It is here, in what God has planted; in this garden; a person walks with God. It is here a person communicates with God. And this is also the new heaven God is creating; the heaved up matters in the mind. The new earth is the new mind, or house, that houses this Spirit from God, the Holy Spirit.

Before the Son is able to come into a person God must come into a person first for it is God who creates this Son in a person and then transforms a person into this Son by transforming the contents of the mind from spirit of man into Spirit of God. This new mind, a person is ruler of, is the Kingdom of God. The person is the ruler of this mind or in the King James language, the King. Being a King of the Kings of God.

When a person comes to God, that person must allow God in. In this way, God comes to meet the person in Spirit. When asking of God a person must ask to be taken in or adopted by God and ask God to be Father and teacher. In faith and trust in God a person allows God entry into the mind where the Spirit resides. Once inside, God begins His works of promise. The new creation within you; the Son of God you conceive by the Seed or Word from God; is your intermediary between you and God. You must be in this mind of this Son; be in this Spirit and this truth; in order to worship God; to communicate with God; to ask and receive from God for you must ask in the same name given Jesus of Nazareth which is “Son.” This is the name coming from God in the white stone that no man knows except him receiving it from God for no person is able to know the Son of God unless the Father reveals him and this is how this one is revealed; in this pure truth or white stone from God.

In this Spirit and in this truth; this new mind of this Son; a person asks of God and is given all for his spiritual growth. God already knows your needs but you must ask God showing honor and recognition for God as well as faith and trust. This is a normal and natural process between Father and Son just as with mankind’s father and son. The son is raised up through the ages to maturity in the teachings of the father. This is how the son’s mind is created, shaped and formed.

In every Son of God, God is. God is not far away or “way up there somewhere.” Distance in the spiritual is not the same as in the physical. Distance in the spiritual refers to how far apart the contents of the minds are in knowledge and understanding. And this is why the one coming to God, and God, come together to unite in oneness. Being of the same mind and Spirit and truth.

The “ancient ones” are those who were Sons of God in Adam or mankind, long ago. They are also the “fallen angels” scriptures refer to who took for their selves “wives” of fallen mankind, which refers to what a person is united with in the mind; the “spirit.” These became the trees of knowledge of good and evil. “Angel” is a word properly defined that is either “messenger” or “minister” of God. “Lucifer” is this type and kind of “fallen angel.” And with him were the others. Being ministers of God but falling away from the grace of God; the Spirit of God.

These made their “seed bed” with fallen mankind from the previous generation before Adam was enlightened by God. “Mankind” has lived in the physical body for millions of years and during these years have been many generations by God of His creation. The Hebrew history only refers to those on the generation of God approximately six thousand years ago. This generation was the enlightenment of “Adam” or “mankind” and the becoming the Son of God by mankind. These are those scriptures refer to in speaking of the Sons of God in Genesis.

Jesus of Nazareth was the beginning of another Generation or another time when God raised up His Sons from the spiritually dead. The fallen ones of mankind. In this day, God is beginning a new generation and is raising up His Sons again as was foretold by many in scriptures and is the “rising again” Paul spoke of and is the “coming again” of the Son of God and the Christ as a type and kind of person; the “man” who is the creation of God in mind and spirit.

It is wisdom then to come to God and ask to be taken in and transformed into this creation; this Son; and allow God in to do the works of promise; the transformation into His creation in mind and spirit. This is the first prayer a person without God must pray or ask of God.

All mankind have committed whoredom by receiving the many seeds from many of mankind. This one must be made clean as a virgin in order to receive the Seed from God that causes the conception of His Son. God does not plant His Seed where another has already planted. The word and teachings of the Sons of God makes a person clean if that person receives their word and allows this word to be stored as truth. This is the reality of “washing one’s feet” for it is the cleansing of what a person’s foundational knowledge is concerning God. This is what a person “stands” on. The principles he knows. The word of the Son of God is the “Living Waters” that he has received from God. This is what is used to wash away the sin, or the belief in false teachings concerning God. This is the Seed the Son of God sows in the mind of those able to receive it. Those who have a prepared place for this Seed.

In order to receive this Seed, the “ground” or “earth” must be cleared and tilled, removing all that has grown up there in regards to the matters of God. All that has come to be by the seed of fallen mankind. It is also the reality of “cleaning house.” Or “clearing out the temple.”

It would be wise to meditate on these matters until you understand them.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Please note that Wikipedia is not an accurate source of information. One has only to read the number of citations needed to fully comprehend this. The attached is a more accurate summary with arguments for and against Kabbalah (Jewish spelling)




Kabbalah

Introduction

It is a sign of our times that men and women are trying to fulfil a deeply felt need for spiritual things. There is a serious quest by many people for deeper meaning in life and it is significant that many are found among the rich and famous. Someone once said that the only difference between the poor man and the rich man is that the rich man does not have the illusion that money solves all problems. You would expect therefore that among those who have discovered the emptiness of fame and fortune there will be many who search for something else. Many alternative spiritual experiences promise freedom and excitement but then when tried the promise is proved false. Some are turning to older and established things which are more rooted in history and one of these is called Kabbalah.

We find, on careful consideration of the literature available currently in print and online, that the popularised version being marketed by Rav Philip Berg, his wife Karen and his sons Michael and Yehuda from The Kabbalah Centre in the United States and Israel is different in its presentation from the historic version. The ethos of the historic movement through the ages has been esoteric, obscure and almost impossible to understand as the reader will see from this review, but this popularised version is more accessible and is the one to which the show business personalities of today have been drawn.

It is probably most helpful to outline first what we know of the historic version and then show some of the differences to be seen in the more recent version. For the purpose of this review we will call the ancient version historic Kabbalah and the more recent movement, Berg Kabbalah because it seems to be almost exclusively connected to the Berg family.

Historic Kabbalah is far too complex a movement to be explained in a few short sentences, but this article seeks to give answers to some specific basic questions.

What is "Kabbalah"

Because it is a Jewish word there are a number of ways to spell it and alternative spellings are Cabala, Qaballah, Qabala, Kaballah. It should be noted that where a group uses a specific spelling it can mean a different perspective, for instance the Cabala spelling has come to represent the so called Christian perspective. Most modern Hebrew phrase books and dictionaries use the K variant to represent the letter Kuf, so the Kabbalah spelling has been maintained here. This also appears to represent the mainstream and Jewish perspective.

The word is derived from the Hebrew root "to receive, to accept", but it is a word which has many applications.

Historic Kabbalah has developed from the centre of Judaism. Judaism has two main authorities for faith and doctrine, the Torah and Kabbalah. Torah is specifically the first five books of the Old Testament but has the more general meaning of the Jewish written tradition including the Talmud and Mishna rabbinic interpretations. Kabbalah is the oral tradition which is believed to have been given to Moses at the same time as the ten commandments, and has been passed down verbally through the centuries through the rabbi's and holy men of the Jewish faith. However it's meaning has broadened over the years to represent an esoteric and mystical theosophy and it has been embraced by people outside of Judaism also.

What is the History of Kabbalah?

Professor Gershom Scholem (1897 - 1982) who was an important figure in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was something of a bridge between the ancient expression of historic Kabbalah and its modern expression. Professor Scholem says in his book "Origins of the Kabbalah" that research into the history of Kabbalah is almost impossible (Scholem 1990), but here is as concise a thumbnail as can be gleaned from available literature.

During the Roman occupation of Israel, a rabbi called Shimon bar Yochai a disciple of a rebel leader was discovered by the authorities teaching the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) in direct contravention of a Roman edict banning the practice of Judaism. The rabbi was sentenced to death, but he managed to escape with his son El'azar, and they lived for thirteen years in a cave.
Shimon is cited by Moses de Leon (1238-1305), a Spanish Jew, as the author of a book called The Zohar, The Book of Splendour, which after the Torah, is probably the most famous of the writings in Kabbalah. There are modern day kabbalists who contest this and attribute the Zohar to Moses de Leon himself and this is a cause of some controversy.The Zohar is also very highly regarded in traditional Jewish circles. The other book which is significant is The Bahir the book of Brightness.

A man called Isaac the Blind (c. 1160-1236) a rabbi whose father was a respected figure in Jewish mysticism is probably the originator of contemporary historic Kabbalah. Although little is known about him he lived in Provence in France, where he formed a circle of thinkers which is the beginning of modern day historic Kabbalah. A wide variety of terms has been used over the years for those who studied the Kabbalah tradition: "masters of mystery", "men of belief", "masters of knowledge", "those who know", "those who know grace", "children of faith", "children of the king's palace", "those who know wisdom", "those who reap the field", "those who have entered and left".

In 1542 at the age of twenty an Israeli Rabbi Moshe Cordovero 1522 - 1570 in Safed in Galilee claimed he heard a heavenly voice telling him to study Kabbalah and he turned his attention to the Zohar. He mastered the text quickly and because he found it rather a rambling book, wrote a commentary on it called "The Precious Light". Cordovero became known as the Ramak and he went on to systematise and advance the teachings of the Zohar and the Kabbalist interpretations of the Torah. Cordovero wrote other books such as The Palm Tree of Deborah which have become in themselves part of the sacred literature of Kabbalah. Safed became a major centre of Kabbalah and in 1550 an academy was formed there which Cordovero led until his death at which time one of his students Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the ARI) took over.

During the 17th and 18th centuries Judaism was very much influenced by Kabbalah and this influence was set in decline by two things. The first was a mass defection of mystical Jews to a Turkish self-styled kabbalist messiah Shabbatai Tzevi (1626-1676). The Tzevi phenomenon was said by Prof. Scholem to be
"the largest and most momentous messianic movement in Jewish history subsequent to the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Kokhba Revolt."

Naturally Tzevi's connection to Kabbalah brought a distancing between Jewish thinkers and Kabbalah.
The second was the rise of Hassidism in Eastern Europe which was a movement within Judaism which emphasised the miraculous and mystical elements of the Jewish religion but which degenerated into superstition and magic. It was about this time that Giovanni Pico, Count of Mirandola began the so called Christian Kabbalah movement which became a mish mash of strange beliefs such as Gnosticism sorcery and magic this is thought to have been the root of the Knights Templar, the Rosy Cross and Rosicrucian's.

In recent years Kabbalah has been growing in popularity and there are a number of strands coming out of Israel and Poland. There are some charismatic figures such as Rav Philip Berg who together with his second wife Karen started the Kabbalah Centres in the USA.,Israel, UK and other countries.


What does Kabbalah teach about man's purpose?

God created man to develop from a receiver to a bestower. God has no selfish (the wish to receive) motives at all and man begins without any desire to bestow at all. The process of Kabbalah is to make man into a bestower without any will to receive. This is salvation and oneness with the Creator.
What does Kabbalah teach about God?

God is the Ein Sof (That Which Is Without Limit). The Ein Sof is inaccessible and unknowable to man. What we can discover about Him is contained in the sephirot. The idea of the sephirot is central to Kabbalah so we will look carefully at it at this point.

Because He is unknowable God presented ten of His attributes as vessels into which He poured light and because of their construction there was a breaking.

1. Kether / Crown - the overall source

2. Chochma / Wisdom - pure thought (active)

3. Binah / Understanding - thought in context (receptive)

4. Chesed / Mercy - abundant giving

5. Gevurah / Judgement - complete withholding

6. Tiphareth / Beauty - perfect balance

7. Netzach / Victory - dominance

8. Hod / Glory - submission

9. Yesod / Foundation - the transition to physicality

10. Malkuth / Kingdom - the physical world.

The pieces of the vessels fell to earth and some of the light which the vessels held still clings to the pieces. The goal and salvation of each follower of Kabbalah is to find the pieces and develop the light which still clings and which is the light of the creator and so recreate the vessel, in the process leaving behind the natural state of man which is a "taker" and becoming like God a "bestower". This is done by reading the Torah and Kabbalistic books such as the Bahir and the Zophar and being discipled by a more experienced kabbalist and long years of meditation occult involvement and spiritual discipline

Most of the sefirot are regarded as legitimate objects for human meditation; they represent a way in which human beings can have some contact with God. Through contemplation and virtuous deeds, human beings can also bring down the divine light to this world. By patiently studying Kabbalah and practising its teachings each person can ultimately merge with the Ein Soph.

What does Kabbalah teach about The Scriptures?

All exponents of Kabbalah agree that the basis of all scriptural authority is the Torah the first five books of the Old Testament and most ascribe personality to it. According to Jewish tradition, the Torah was created prior to the world and advised God on such weighty matters as the creation of human kind. When Moses received the written law from God, tradition has it that he also received "Kabbalah" - the oral tradition, which was not written down, but passed from generation to generation. The Torah was (and is) believed to be divine, and in the same way as the Torah was accompanied by an oral tradition, so there grew up a secret oral tradition which claimed to possess an initiated understanding of the Torah, its hidden meanings, and the divine power concealed within it. This is a principle root of the Kabbalistic tradition, a belief in the divinity of the Torah, and a belief that by studying this text one can unlock the secrets of the creation. The remainder of the Old Testament has also much value for the kabbalist but only when interpreted according to the PARDES system of hermeneutics. To understand the Torah, Kabbalah uses a Jewish range of hermeneutic interpretation known by the acronym PARDES which is not dissimilar from the Christian range. The four levels of interpretation are:

Peshat = Contextual literal meaning

Remez = Allegorical meaning

Derash = Moral or homiletic meaning

Sod = Mystical or anagogic meaning

In practice the first three follow the Jewish traditional interpretations and the last has found a special place in kabbalistic interpretation. Marc Gerstein says:

"One of the important underlying assumptions of kabbalah is that the Hebrew alphabet is a mystical one and that each letter has its own set of properties that can aid in mystical work. And there are several techniques used by Jewish mystics to work with these letters and connect words and phrases that may, to the casual observer, seem to be completely unrelated.

The text can be codified numerically or in some other way to mean something quite different from the common sense meaning. An illustration of that is the Bible code which is the focus of Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code". The Torah is therefore manipulated in many different ways by Kabbalah to arrive at doctrinal meaning. Gerstein lists 6 totally different ways of interpreting the Hebrew alphabet.

There are other books in the Kabbalah library which are highly esteemed but they are not given any status other than that of teaching and they are difficult to read and obscure in their expression. The two main ones are the Bahir (Brightness) and the Zohar (Splendour)

What does Kabbalah teach about Angels

Angels are created beings, created before the earth and man according to the Zohar were instrumental in the creation of man. There are various ranks and they are all messengers. The ranks are not clearly defined although mentioned are angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim. The names of as many as eight or nine archangels are mentioned but the most frequently referred to are Michael, Auriel (who is identified with Lucifer) Raphael and Gabriel. Negative angels are the fallen angels who were banished from heaven with Satan (Rev. 12:9) The kabbalist doesn't see fallen angels as unacceptable or totally evil in the Christian sense they are simply negative messengers (Zohar Vol.1:Sect..

The Zohar talks of a vast system of angels which are a communication network through which positive and negative influences travel. This network acts as an interface between the physical world and the upper worlds. Absolutely everything in the physical world is governed by angels. Some angels appear in human form while others remain as unseen spiritual entities but their function is to aid man in his quest. Due to our severely limited spiritual powers we are not able to see angel activity but the influence of positive and negative angels constantly experienced. Everything positive which happens is a result of positive angels and everything negative, blocks, confusion, difficulties and distress are the result of the activity of negative angels. (Zohar Vol.1:Sec.18)

Our own behaviour determines which angelic influences are aroused in the world. We are given access to the metaphysical network of angels and we gain the ability to remove negative angels and to bring positive angels into or lives by prescribed spiritual exercises. (Zohar Vol.1 :Sect.42)

What does Kabbalah teach about Reincarnation.

Metempsychosis or reincarnation (kabbalists also use another term: correction of generations) is an integral part of Kabbalah and it is believed to be secretly interwoven through all the stories of the Torah. It has been taught by a few mystical Jewish rabbis since antiquity although it is not the teaching of mainstream Judaism. The teaching appears to begin in Kabbalah with the Bahir.

Rabbi Michael Laitman in Online Lessons teaches

"none of us are new souls; we all have accumulated experiences from previous lives in other incarnations"
He teaches that there is a pyramid of souls, the lower layers are made up of those with the desires of the vast majority which are for food, sex, sleep, comfort etc. In the next layers there are fewer souls and their desires are for wealth. The next layer are those who will do anything to control others and then there is a layer which is much more sparse where the desire is for knowledge. These are the scientists and academics and the apex of the pyramid is made up of those who desire to attain to the spiritual world. Reincarnation is about progressing through these layers, and each incarnation has a corrective action, to the spiritual apex which is the last stage before oneness with Ein Soph. There is a negative possibility also in this pyramid and like snakes in snakes and ladders it is possible to regress back down so the help of an experienced kabbalist is essential.

The Zohar (Zohar Vol.1:Sect.28) teaches that Moses is the reincarnation of Abel and Jethro is the reincarnation of Cain, and (Zohar Vol.47:Sect.3) that Moses is reincarnated into every generation without revealing himself. Kabbalah also teaches that many of the crises which confront us in life are a result of misdeeds in previous incarnations. Corrections not achieved in one life are carried over into the next. This process is called 'tikune' which means correction, and it is possible to connect to our previous incarnations and make corrections by meditating with that intention. The use of an occult practice called "The lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram is used for this kind of meditation" (Online Kabbalah FAQ)

What does Kabbalah teach about magic and the occult?

It is not easy to find anything but an occasional reference to these things in the literature and the more reputable online sources of information, but as occult is hidden by definition, you would expect that. However it is clear that initiates are taught such things, this is a quotation from the Jewish Encyclopaedia.

"The Testament of Solomon recently brought to light the whole system (in theurgic Cabala) of conjuration of angels and demons, by which the evil spirits were exorcised; even the magic sign or seal of King Solomon, known to the medieval Jew as the Magen Dawid, has been resurrected" (see Conybeare, in Jewish Quarterly Review XI. 1-45) The Jewish Encyclopaedia (1901 - 1906) Vol. III.

This quotation from Online Kabbalah FAQ:

"(Kabbalah) consists also of meditative, devotional, mystical and magical practices which were taught only to a select few and for this reason Kabbalah is regarded as an esoteric offshoot of Judaism".

This one also from the same source.

"Jewish writers on the subject tend to downplay aspects of Kabbalah which conflict with orthodox rabbinical Judaism, so that we do not see the heretic Nathan of Gaza classed as an important kabbalist, despite the fact that he was very influential for almost two hundred years. We hear little about the non-rabbinic "Baal Shem" or "Masters of the name" who used Kabbalah for healing and other practical purposes. There is ample evidence that many magical practices currently associated with Hermetic Kabbalah were widely used and well understood by some of the most famous rabbinic kabbalists".

What is the Christian response to Kabbalah?

Although Kabbalah has uniquely Jewish roots as has been discussed above, it is not compatible with the traditional evangelical Christian faith (or the mainstream Jewish one either)

The most important Christian objection to Kabbalah is that it is a version of Gnosticism (see Reachout article) which reduces salvation to having an inner knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of the magical occult formulas which go with it (Sound familiar to readers of some of the writings on this forum?) BUT REMEMBER THIS IS NOT A UNIQUELY CHRISTIAN FORUM AS IT EMBRACES MANY FAITHS. The Bible teaches that no special or occult knowledge is required for salvation, only repentance from sin (Acts 3:19) and to receive Jesus as Lord (Jn.1:12)

Kabbalah is essentially pantheistic (see Reachout article) because it teaches that Ein Soph created everything out of himself and man retains divinity all through the incarnations until he returns again to oneness with the creator. The teaching is that as man improves through many incarnations his divinity increases until he fuses with the Ein Soph. This is no doubt a very attractive prospect for the very ambitious high flying celebrities who embrace Kabbalah. The Bible teaches that God created us out of nothing, not out of Himself. Genesis 1:1 uses the word BARA for create which literally means create out of nothing. Only God is divine and man can only be adopted as a son (Gal.4:5).

The supreme being of Kabbalah, Ein Soph, is not the Christian God. Ein Soph has made himself unknowable to man, but the Christian God reveals himself to men through His Son Jesus (2 Cor.5:19) "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself"
.
The Bible says that Jesus is God's revelation of Himself. (Col.1:15) "Jesus is the image of the invisible God"

(Heb.1:2) "God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."

(Jn. 1:18) "No-one has seen God …the only begotten Son….He has declared Him".

The Christian God actively seeks men (Ezek.34:11) "For thus says the Lord God 'Indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out'"

And through Jesus He reaches out to reconcile us to himself. (Jn.3:16) "God so loved the world that He gave His Son"

See also Matt.9:13, Heb.9:26.

Because Kabbalah is committed to a part of our Bible, in practice to most of the Old Testament, we could conclude that we can appeal to the truth which is found there. Unfortunately this is not so. Because of the system of interpretation which is called "Sod" (see above) a kabbalist can make almost anything out of the text, and will not be impressed by our literal use of it.. It Is also true of course that any piece of literature can be used, applying "sod", to produce any mumbo jumbo. An illustration of this is the Bible Code of Dan Brown mentioned above.

Kabbalah is cultish in that it sees itself as the only way to Salvation as these quotations show

There is no other way for the general population to achieve spiritual elevation and redemption except by means of the learning of Kabbalah" (Y. Ashlag - "The preface to the ten sephirot", Sect 36)

The redemption and the coming of the Mashiach depends only on the learning of Kabbalah". (The Vilna Gaon.- "Even Schlema" 11,13).

But Paul says clearly that, "The gospel of Christ…is the power of God to Salvation" (Rom.1:16)

The uniqueness of each life is everywhere in scripture taken for granted and reincarnation is therefore impossible to defend. The writer to the Hebrew says in Chapter 9 verses 27&28, as man only dies once Christ was only offered once.

Because of these various strands it is necessary for anyone who approaches a follower of Kabbalah to be particularly humble and not to pretend he knows more than he in fact does. We would not recommend witnessing to a follower of Kabbalah or to anyone with occult connections, without having spent time in prayerful preparation. Listening carefully is probably the best way of proceeding because as Kabbalah is many stranded it is necessary to know first where a contact is coming from. We must first establish at what stage the enquirer is. There are people who call themselves followers of Kabbalah who have little or no knowledge of what it means and there are people who are adepts and are therefore to be treated with care. Having established how well versed the enquirer is in Kabbalah the next stage is to make sure we do not get into an intellectual argument but that we use scripture to deal with specific issues. It will almost certainly be necessary with an advanced student of Kabbalah to ask for time to prepare an answer, but this is probably the best way of proceeding at each step, allowing more time for prayer which is more important in winning men that even scriptural argument.

The simplicity of the Biblical message is wonderful. Our God is one who seeks men and women and longs for them to have fellowship with Him [Ezek.34:11ff]. Where no special knowledge is required, and where even the most unformed of minds can understand; where the certainty of eternal salvation can be found by simply taking at face value the truth of the Bible that God's love was expressed in the death of Jesus on the cross [Jn 3:16]; and we can be at one with Him by a simple act of trust, obedience and acceptance [Eph.2:14ff; Col.1:19ff].

References

Moses Cordovero, 1960 The Palm Tree of Deborah, trans. Louis Jacobs, New York Sepher-Hermon Press,

Scholem, G. G. 1990, Origins of the Kabbalah trans Allan Arkush, Princeton University Press

This has already been posted in another thread but has not either been understaood or has been skimmed over because of the verbiage of the passage, (A not uncommon thing on this forum LOL) Hopefully this might catch the attention of readers.

Hello Rev Clifford;

Is your post verbatim from the references you cited? In other words is what you presented copied word for word from your references or are they merely “based” on these references? Whose word is presented in your post?

What we would like to have is truth. Wikipedia is usually considered reliable as a source of truth. Would you mind indicating what if anything Wikipedia has wrong in regards to Kabbalah? If their information is incorrect, someone should advise them of this matter and make the proper changes.

It would help if you would explain how the Kabbalah differs from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth from your point of view, as I have done. The salvation of and by God is a serious matter and any false teaching that misleads people away from God is a work against God.

The Kabbalah, a Jewish teaching, does not accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of God and does not adhere to his teachings. The Kabbalah, as I understand it, is a way of self works of self perfection into what some believe a person should be as a type and kind of person. Is this a fair statement? If this is correct how does God fit in with the Kabbalah teachings; what part does God play in this way taught by Kabbalah?

There are many Jews who denounce and reject the Kabbalah; why is this?

Who has attained perfection in this way of Kabbalah?

How does this way of self creation compare to the way of creation by God?

In what way do the followers of Kabbalah honor God?

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

DW
Clifford is back in hospital with another heart attack and I am too busy sorting out a bad situation and visiting the guy concerned in prison. Sorry.
Looks like verbatim quotes to me and I agree about Wikipedia, as it is not considered reliable in many circles. Sorry just haven't the time but thought I'd better let you know.

Rev Fr Richard.

Please give Rev. Clifford our love and prayers that God's will is done....Peace....To`na Wanagi

Hello Skypilot;

I am sorry to hear Clifford is back in the hospital. Hopefully thy can correct his problem. Please give him my love and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

In regards to Wkipedia, many perople use this site as a sopuce of information. If the information concerning Kabbalah is incorrect, the proper thing to do is a person who is able to provide correct information should edit the information on the site.

While looking into the matter I have found many diferent persons offering different opinions and beliefs concerning Kabbalah. The question arises; "Who possesses the truth in regards to Kabbalah?" And how is this word presented as truth, proved to be truth? What way does Kabbalah provide to prove the teachings?

It appears a way of self creation. By reason and logic, the different minds will perceive the teachings in many different ways as the religions now do. I find there are many different spellings of "Kabbalah, depending on what branch of Kabbalah a person adheres to and the teachings are all different.

Which form of Kabbalah possesses the truth, if any, and how is this proved?

These are the important questions all persons should ask instead of blindly following teachings as many religionists do. Salvation by God is a very important matter and only in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth have I found a way to "know the truth." This way, which I have followed, is the way of honoring God as teacher of the truth and the creator of His creation by His works. In this way, the way of proving is followed and may be followed by any person seeking to know the truth for God is not a liar as mankind is. God does not deceive nor mislead as mankind does.

Being the will of God that every one of mankind enter into the knowledge of truth, God is certaily wise enough and more than able to establish a way for his to occur. The way of salvation by God is a simple way which is between God and each person. The Word of and from God brings the truth to mankind and creats the mind with this Word which conveys the knowledge, understanding and wisdom from God that God desires every person to possess. The life God gives is received in this way.

According to my undersatnding of Kabbalah, the way is by self creation of the mind by the word of fellow mankind; the following of Kabbalh which was created by mankind as religions are creations of mankind.

God desires salvation for each and every one of mankind. Not just a few or those who believe they are special or the elite. The way of Kabbalah is to study the writings and teachings of one or many of mankind and to honor these as their teacher and creator of their minds.

It appears Kabbalah teaches a person to do what the many religions teach persons to do; try to be good and by self works become acceptable to God. This is attempts of salvation by self works and not the works of God.

The key difference between Kaballah and what Jesus of Nazareth taught is tis matter of honoring God alone as teacher and creator; coming to God in faith and honor for God that God will fulfill His promise with manind by His works. His way of transforming a person inmind and spirit.

This explains the conflicts between Jesus of Naazareth and the San Hedrin long ago. Teachings of the way of salvation by God.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Following are two newspaper articles I found while doing research. If what is reported is truth, it presents a very disturbing picture.





An article from the “Mirror” newspaper, United Kingdom.


The Crazy Truth About Kabbalah

Why do stars put their faith in Kabbalah?

The Mirror (UK)/May 17, 2004 |By Jane Simon
IT is the trendiest faith around, endorsed by superstars like Madonna, Demi Moore and Britney Spears. As I take my first lesson in Kabbalah, I begin to understand why.

"By the fourth class you will learn to see into the future," my teacher announces confidently.

I'm in a meeting room in a smart square off Oxford Street for an introductory session in the ancient branch of Jewish mysticism which is enjoying a star-struck resurgence.

From the offset it is easy to see why so many celebrities are attracted to Kabbalah, as I'm promised money, sexual energy, passion and beauty - all for £180.

Madonna is Kabbalah's most famous devotee; other celebrity students include Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Hall, Winona Ryder, Jeff Goldblum, Courtney Love and Roseanne Barr.

Now it looks as if Victoria Beckham has become a convert after being spotted wearing a red string knotted around her wrist - a Kabbalah amulet to ward off the "evil eye".

As well as being able to see the future, other perks of becoming a believer are "money, good relationships, love and happiness," claims my teacher, Rabbi Chaim Solomon.

As if more reasons were needed, Kabbalists say the "positive flow of energy" can stop the ageing process. More bizarrely, they believe negative energy can be absorbed by swinging a chicken above the head.

The 10-week course will, claims Rabbi Solomon, teach me to tune myself like a TV set to become a better receiver of "rays of light", the infinite joy for which we're all searching for and, by no coincidence, the name of Madonna's 1998 album.

Kabbalah, described as "a divine system of wisdom", is believed to have been passed by God to Abraham and to Moses.

Rabbi Solomon describes it as the spiritual laws of creation, "like the DNA of the cosmos", but there's nothing very mystical or esoteric about Rabbi Solomon's presentation on his flip-chart.

The word Kabbalah is Hebrew for "receive" and it's this "gimme gimme" aspect that he decides to focus on: "The creator wants you to have everything you want."

Later, browsing the Kabbalah Centre's online store, it's the same story. One book, The 72 Names Of God, promises that by meditating on the appropriate name, you'll be able to "bring more money into your life, ignite sexual energy and passion, meet your true soulmate and radiate beauty to all who see you."

Followers are encouraged to pamper themselves and pursue their own happiness - which may explain why it has attracted so many self-obsessed celebrities.

Even the understanding of the Zohar, the 12th-century manuscript on which modern Kabbalah teaching is based, is surprisingly user-friendly. Rabbis at the Kabbalah Centre insist the Zohar - said to be too complicated for the most eminent scholars - can be "read" merely by running your hands over the text.

Which probably explains why its "unfathomable complexities" have become fully accessible to the likes of Britney Spears, who has also been seen sporting a Kabbalistic red-string wrist band.

"It's a bigger picture even than the Bible," she explained. "It's so interesting to me because I've never read stuff like this before." At the London Kabbalah Centre you can buy a red string bracelet like Britney's for £27. Also on offer is a "blessed, restoring" face cream at £78.

For £2.80 you can buy a small bottle of Kabbalah water, personally blessed by the movement's leader, Phillip Berg, and said to possess "centuries of wisdom in every drop".

The spring water has supposedly been transformed by a process called Quantum Resonance Technology, making it a "spiritual tool". Madonna claims the water cured husband Guy's verrucas.

Also on sale is Madonna's book The English Roses (proceeds donated to the Kabbalah Centre's Spirituality For Kids Foundation). Her latest book, Mr Peabody, based on an ancient Kabbalah story, nestles alongside Kabbalah texts, videos and DVDs.

You might expect London's Jewish community to be thrilled that their ancient wisdom is now being marketed to the general public: Jews and non-Jews, pop stars and nobodies alike.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

Rabbi Barry Marcus, a member of the Chief Rabbi's cabinet and minister at the Central London Synagogue, says: "There's not a single Rabbinic authority on this planet who endorses what they're doing; the condemnation of them is universal."

He points out that the Zohar - on sale at the Kabbalah Centre for £289 - can be bought from any religious bookshop for around £35.

But Rabbi Marcus isn't surprised Kabbalah has so many celebrity followers. "If I'm being kind, I'll say that most of them have probably done well in their field and have everything that money can buy.

But they don't have the one thing money can't buy and that's inner peace, serenity and stability. So they go searching and they can afford to.

"But if I'm being unkind, I'd say that the celebrities I've come into contact with are the most insecure people I've ever met in my life."

And what of the spiritual properties of the Kabbalah Centre's magic red string?

Rabbi Marcus snorts. "I can get you the same string in John Lewis for 20p," he says.

Posh the Kabbalist

Madonna is known to Kabbalists as Esther. Posh might also adopt a biblical name - Rebecca, maybe?

Posh the Kabbalist

She would have to drink only Kabbalah water blessed by the movement's founder Phillip Berg: £2.80 a bottle.

Posh the Kabbalist

She would pay 10 per cent of her earnings to the religion - £100,000 a year, or £1m if she ropes David in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kabbalism is a system of Jewish mysticism and magic and is the foundational element in modern witchcraft. Virtually all of the great witches and sorcerers of this century were Kabbalists." -William J. Schnoebelen, The Dark Side of Freemasonry


Another newspaper account from Israel;


Kabbalah's Dark Secrets


Special report: The terrible price paid by innocent Kabbalah Center followers

Ynet News, Israel/November 9, 2005 | By Yifat Glick

Anat (not her real name) is currently staying at the closed ward of a psychiatric hospital in Israel. For more than a week she has been lying in bed, suffering from depression, and surviving by taking pills.

After six months at the Kabbalah Center, she had a mental breakdown.

"Anat is not feeling well these days," her mother says. "She apparently couldn't withstand their pressure anymore…we hope she recovers."

Leah, a family friend, says Anat is weaker than ever these days. At first she thought Kabbalah studies were good for her, but her parents quickly realized she was drawing large sums of money from her account to buy Kabbalah books.

Those interviewed for this story wanted to use their real names, tell their stories, and share their difficult feelings with the readers. They are particularly interested in seeing the Kabbalah Center close its doors. However, some of them still have family members at the center and are worried they would sever all ties if real names are used.

Those who were members of the Center and left are ashamed. During the interviews for this story, they revealed details they never shared before, even with their parents or best friends.

So how did it happen? How did the center for Jewish mysticism become such a global empire, with branches in the United States, Europe, and South America? How does this apparatus work, the one that makes people complete give themselves, both in body and soul – as well as financially – to the Kabbalah Center?



Savings are gone
The global Kabbalah Center prides itself on being the largest organization in the world for spreading Kabbalah studies. The organization has 50 branches worldwide, including five in Israel. About 3.5 million people across the globe attended courses at the Center in recent years.

A BBC investigative report earlier this year described the Center as a cult that has mastered the art of bilking its members.

Leah, a woman in her 50s, is closely familiar with the Kabbalah Center on 14 Ben Ami street in Tel Aviv. She herself attended several classes there and left years ago. Not a day goes by where she does not lament the moment her twin sons decided to join courses and were captivated by the mystical world opened to them. Indeed, not a day goes by where she does not pray for the worst nightmare of her life to end.

Leah says both her sons became "Kabbalah addicts". One of them requires close psychiatric care to this day as fears that he may harm himself persist.

"Everything started six years ago, when my twins turned 21," Leah says. "One of them decided to study at the Kabbalah Center. He took one course and then another one, and another one. At first he was filled with energy."

"Until this time he was largely isolated socially. He didn't have that many friends and was prone to depression…this was an outlet of hope for him, everyone loved him there," she says.

"Gradually he began spending Saturdays and holidays with his friends there, and had to pay for every meal, dozens of shekels," Leah says. "He detached himself from the family and didn't want to tell us what was going on with him, and his bank account was emptied out. He bought Kabbalah books for me, my husband, and his brothers for thousands of shekels. I saw with my own eyes the receipts with the irrational amounts and I couldn't believe it."

Leah's son eventually convinced his twin brother to join the Center as well, she says. The two grew beards and would wash dishes at the center the whole day, she adds.

"Their spiritual teachers convinced them to leave their jobs and invest the whole of themselves in this center," she says.



Eating leftovers off the floor
Yaron (not his real name,) the brother who first became drawn to Kabbalah-mania, received a tempting offer from his friends at the Center to join them. The "followers" live in small, crowded communes in the center of the country.

"Later, because he was good, and apparently he worked there for 24 hours without a break," said Leah, "they decided to send him to the major center in Los Angeles. He was there for a year. At this point he also stopped answering calls and cut off ties with the family. Suddenly, after months of no contact, I got a call from him. He said: 'Mom, I can't stay here anymore, I'm coming back.'"

"When he got off the plane, I saw a burned out person, depressive, with an unkempt beard in these rag-like clothes. He only had Kabbalah books in his suitcase. I asked him, 'where are your cloths'? And he said that he donated them. I didn't recognize him, he was so weak. I informed him that he was not returning to the Center and I took him home with me."

It was difficult for Yaron to adjust to conditions outside the commune. "He really went crazy. He would go out to the streets of Tel Aviv and sweep them, like a street sweeper. He would dress up in nice clothes and go out to the street to clean. Then there was a stage where he was filled with rage. He would have outbursts and he started to be violent at home. He hit us."

The path to psychiatric treatment was short. "Only afterwards I realized that in Los Angeles he cleaned the Kabbalah Center all day there, for 23 hours a day without stopping, until something was disrupted in his brain." Leah says. He had to do everything his older 'friends' told him. He could not refuse. At a certain stage he began to eat other people's leftovers off the floor."

"When he opened up to me, he told me one day that the councilors at the Center hit him frequently. Since then our lives have been wrecked. My second son is still in the Center, despite seeing what happened to his brother. I don't know how to get him out of there. It doesn't matter what I tell him, he is still trying to get as much money out as he can, and to waste his life."

Note: Story first appeared in Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth

More information from research. I would recommend any person wanting information do their own research.


Letter from Peter Goodgame to Henry Makow Ph.D.

Maddona is said to be a big fan of the Kabbalah but then, ambitious as she is, that may be because she aspires to be more than a mere pop star. Because, as the following letter to Henry Makow Ph.D. reveals, there is much more to the Kabbalah than mere fashion. Ed.

Thanks so much for linking to my report. The hits have been streaming in. I know you receive a great deal of email, but hopefully you have the time to read this brief update on the direction I am headed.

Perhaps you know that the Kabbalah is at the very heart of the Sabbatean movement that Barry Chamish has been exposing lately (see http://www.redmoonrising.com/chamish/Feb04.htm). You see, just prior to the year 1666 (perhaps in anticipation of the "666" of Revelation?) Kabbalistic scholar Nathan of Gaza was about 18 years old when the "angels" spoke to him and told him to preach that Sabatai Sevi was the Messiah of the Jews. The whole Sabbatean movement is pretty well documented, including the testimony that Nathan gave of his mystical experiences, and how his role was simply as a mouthpiece for the "angels" to direct Sevi's actions. It was all so believable that many of his followers were faithful and unfazed even when Sevi converted to Islam during his incarceration under the Turks.

After yet another failed Messianic movement instigated by the "angels" of the Kabbalah, the Kabbalah was again discredited within Judaism. However, it remained a powerful force in occultism within the "Gentile" world, basically acting as a false "Judeo-Christian" link to the angels that were actually the spiritual forces of paganism that survived within the Hermetic documents that were translated during the Renaissance.

And then as the Hermetic-Kabbalistic tradition evolved it eventually turned, first, into a viciously anti-Christian political force (Weishaupt's Illuminati was one of the first to actively plot against Christianity as a whole), and then also into an anti-Semitic political force (most notably with Helena Blavatsky's Theosophical movement that helped to inspire Hitler).

Lately I have been doing a lot of research into the Templars and its offshoot the Freemasons, and I have been studying how this vast body of research connects with EIR's historical material that exposes the insidious role of Venice from the Crusades to the Thirty Years War (approx.1200-1650). See http://members.tripod.com/~american_alm ... nicept.htm

I have come to realize how Venice was actually a bastion of paganism throughout its existence. It was continually a thorn in the side of the Catholic Church, and it was the architect of the Protestant Reformation, as well as the architect of the over-reactive Counter-Reformation that created the Inquisition.

Early on, Venice was instrumental in getting Henry VIII to break with Rome and Spain (1529), and by this time England was already infected with anti-Catholic sentiments through the ancestors of the Templar elite and through the Masonic lodges that had crept down from Scotland, which is where many of the Templars had fled in the early 1300s.

England became a Satanic power base through the combined effect of the Scottish Templar/Freemasons; the spread of the spirit-conjuring Hermetic-Kabbalist teachings of Cornelius Agrippa, the Venetian Franciscan monk Francisco Giorgi, Giordano Bruno, and John Dee; as well as through the Aristotelian materialistic teachings of atheistic Venetian scholar Paolo Sarpi that inspired (and were plagiarized by) Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, and later John Locke and Isaac Newton.

These three occult streams merged together in London, which became the new Venice, and once again evil was entrenched in an island fortress. From there the "spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:10-12) were able to continue their battle against humanity.

After the Church was deliberately torn apart by the successful schemes of these unholy beings, and after Europe was ravaged by seemingly never-ending religious warfare, the Rosicrucian movement came on the scene in the early 1600s. It began with documents that spoke of a secret movement that was working to establish a peaceful New World Order of love and religious tolerance. The Rosicrucian movement pretended to acknowledge Christianity as the true faith (or a true faith), but underneath it was infused with pagan hermetic and kabbalistic symbolism and imagery. Its roots were undoubtedly with the spirit-conjurers at the head of the Satanic heirarchy, with whom Francis Bacon was intimately involved (for instance his New Atlantis). Rosicrucianism was but one of many examples of a bogus solution being offered for a manufactured crisis.

As Venice faded from being the world's most powerful economic force London took its place. Under Cromwell (1600s) the Jewish financier element was invited in, coming from their previous bases in Venice, Amsterdam and Antwerp, and provided further anti-Christian fuel for the fire. They helped finance the British East India Company that reaped the profits of British Imperialism around the globe over the centuries.

The 1700s saw the rise of openly anti-Christian sentiment in the form of Bernard de Mandeville and Voltaire, both sheltered by London at times, and then the anti-Christian thinking of David Hume and Adam Smith (both Scottish, by the way). Then as Weishaupt's Illuminati was built up from Frankfurt, Germany (the home of the Rothschilds), Weishaupt ordered his operatives to leave English lodges alone. The Illuminati and the subsequent French Revolution were both run from London.

The 1800s saw England become fertile soil for Darwin, and London saw fit to shelter Karl Marx as he was fabricating his secular theory about the evolution of society and economics. London was also the sanctuary of the legendary Masonic revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini, who was allegedly the Grandmaster of the reconstituted Illuminati, as well as the friend of Albert Pike and Helena Blavatsky (both spirit-conjuring Kabbalah-based Luciferians.)

In 1854 London was also visited by a budding young occultist named Alphonse-Louis Constant (Eliphas Levi). His biographer Christopher McIntosh states that it was here that he was introduced to the "international network of occultists." However, the biography mentions only his meeting of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and the other connections he made remain unknown. However, McIntosh writes that Levi's "most important event" during this time was his "famous evocation of Apollonius of Tyana."

Apollonius of Tyana is, according to Blavatsky and Alice Bailey, a third century personality that Jesus of Nazareth was reincarnated into after his death. Levi writes that Apollonius correctly predicted the answers to two questions that he asked of him. The first answer was "death!" concerning a friend of a friend, and the second was "dead!" concerning his marriage.

After leaving London, Eliphas Levi's career as an occult scholar took off, and he pioneered the use of the Kabbalah with John Dee's Enochian angel magic to supposedly create a better system of spirit-conjuring. Levi became perhaps the most famous occultist of the 19th century, and his work was the foundation of the occultism of the Golden Dawn, and of Aleister Crowley, who firmly believed that he, himself, was Levi's reincarnation.

Again, let me stress that the foundation of the Kabbalah is its system of 70 or 72 names of God that are in turn connected with the angelic powers that lead the 70 nations of the world. The position of these angels was overturned at the Crucifixion, and they are now the fallen angels in league with Satan, but the Kabbalah does not acknowledge this fact and portrays them as Holy Angels. The Kabbalah is basically an occult system that offers at its heart a way to connect with these angels as mediators between "God" and man. And who is the god of the fallen angels? What god do you think they lead the open-minded and enthusiastic metaphysical adventurer to?

Aleister Crowley has the answer, which he found after climbing all the ladders, after jumping through all the hoops, and after passing through all the grades that occultism pretends to offer. His final task was to "Cross the Abyss" whereupon he came face to face with his "God." This quest of his is recorded in his autobiography, or in a shorter form in the article at http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/e ... cTrail.htm

The answer was the culmination of a ritual that Crowley undertook with Victor Neuburg in the desert of Algeria, thirty days journay away from the closest settlement. Here is Crowley's "God" who is also the "God" of the angels invoked by the Kabbalah (note the reference to "70"):

"For he is wisdom, and by wisdom hath he made the Worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements 70 by 4, that are the 4 eyes of the double-headed one; that are the 4 devils, Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, Belial, that are the great princes of the evil of the world.
And Satan is worshipped by men under the name of Jesus; and Lucifer is worshipped by men under the name of Brahma; and Leviathan is worshipped by men under the name of Allah; and Belial is worshipped by men under the name of Buddha."

The "double-headed one" refers to the supposed good/evil sides of Crowley's Most High God, whose four eyes are four aspects of evil that are also worshiped in their "positive form" by the major religions. Another name for this "God" is Choronzon, as Colin Lowe, the writer of the above article, explains, "The secret of Choronzon is that Choronzon and the "Most High" are the same. There isn’t a sheet of paper that one could insert between them. This is the origin of Bill Heidrick’s comment that there isn’t much point in preventing Choronzon from manifesting in the physical universe, because the universe is "in a sense" Choronzon. The "Most High" is as demonically poisonous and destructive as Choronzon, and declares, like Choronzon, that He is the only God. Every pulpit thumper is Choronzon, declaring the one truth; and the pulpit thumpers, thundering at the blasphemies and heresies and sacriligious untruths of other pulpit thumpers are the many faces of Choronzon. Every person who makes a world for other people to live in is the "Most High", setting down laws of right and wrong, good and evil, and in their demiurgic isolation they are also Choronzon. Every aspect of Chronozon, declaring "I am I" in brief isolation from the whole, is the Most High, but taken together (and there can only be one Most High) they constitute the raving dispersion of Choronzon.

Choronzon is the particular foe of magicians. Dee, for example, believed utterly in a Most High who had all knowledge. A common theme in the Enochian Keys is that the magician commands because he is a "true worshipper of the Highest". As a magician approaches the heirophantic position in Chesed, the last sephira before the Abyss, he is assumed to have all the answers. He is a pope in his own world, with faithful followers who demand mysteries with answers, who demand revelations just as Dee prayed for revelations. That is why Choronzon scorns Neuburg’s claim to know more than he - Choronzon has all the answers anyone could ever want. A problem with having all the answers is that all the other hierophants also have all the answers, and so the eleventh Aethyr is the Holy City with its mighty walls and towers and motionless legions guarding against the terrible powers of the Abyss, where everything is real, and nothing is true, and the mightiest of hierophants is nothing."

That is how the fallen angels lead men to believe that Satan is the only God, thus fulfilling Satan's ultimate wish, as expressed in Isaiah 14:13-14, "But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

Today Aleister Crowley is the world's most honored and celebrated occultist. He is beyond a doubt the posthumous "High Priest of the New Age." In Britain after Crowley's death the academic establishment took a great deal of interest in Crowley's legacy, but from a dry materialistic and clinical perspective, of course. They pinpointed the few occasions when Crowley would throw interviewers for a loop by saying that perhaps his experiences were but a figment of his imagination, or manifestations of his subconscious. However, under the surface, Britain's occult subculture devoured the instructions left by Crowley and followed the path that he left for initiates to achieve spiritual "enlightenment."

Until 1991 the world's foremost academic expert on the legacy of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley was Ellic Howe. He was inducted into the United Grand Lodge of England in 1970, and then in 1978 he progressed to the point that he was elected Grand Master of the Quator Coronati Lodge of London.

After Howe died in 1991, the number one expert on Golden Dawn/Crowley scholarship was Robert A. Gilbert. He also served for a time as Grand Master of the QC Lodge.

The QC Lodge is the world's most prestigious lodge dedicated entirely to masonic scholarship. This lodge was the driving force behind the late-20th century emergence of the vast body of literature dedicated to revealing Templar-Masonic connections, including the work of men like Michael Baigent, a QC member, who co-wrote the massive bestseller Holy Blood, Holy Grail in 1982. Baigent is presently the editor of Freemasonry Today.

The QC Lodge is thus the primary promoter of the commonly-accepted belief that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, that he had children and died, and that the only religion he espoused was a simple spirituality closer to the mystery religions of Egypt and Babylon than to Judaism, and that his teachings are nowhere more perfectly expressed than in the tenets of, you guessed it: FREEMASONRY!

Holy Blood, Holy Grail then led to a cottage industry of books based on historical sleuthing of Templars, Masons and secret societies that always humanized Jesus and demonized Christianity and especially the Catholic Church. Today it resurfaces in the work of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.

The QC Lodge is also at the heart of the masonic movement to rebuild Solomon's Temple. The Temple of Solomon is the foundation of masonic symbolism, and the imagery and parables of masonic ritual point initiates always to the East to Jerusalem where it is to be rebuilt. One of Crowley's "masterpieces" of occult instruction is entitled The Temple of Solomon the King, which, for him, is the initiate's metaphysical goal and destination. The current project of the masonic elite is to make the mystical goal of masonry a material place. See http://www.redmoonrising.com/tm.htm for further evidence of this project.

Critics who love to point the finger at Christian Fundamentalists and Jewish Zionists because of their misguided support for a rebuilt Temple should be informed that another force, one that is also spiritually-motivated, seeks the same goal for the Temple Mount. It has the same goal but perhaps it has more clout in the form of raw political power and virtually unlimited funding. The problem that faces them is that they must pull it off in a way that leaves them unnoticed and unmarked, with Jews and Christians remaining in the aftermath as the focus of the world's anger and disgust.

The British-based magazine Biblical Archaeological Review promotes two men as Temple Mount experts. One is Dr. Asher Kaufman, a member of the QC Lodge, and another is Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, who is employed by the Rothschild family. Ritmeyer's recent work, promoted by BAR, argues that Solomon's Temple stood exactly over the spot now occupied by Islam's Dome of the Rock.

Shake it all up together and what you have is a recipe that virtually guarantees the Apocalypse in our generation.

And then when things appear to be at their worst the "good" manifestation of Aleister Crowley's god will appear in his costume of "love and light," with a tantalizing and flattering offer to lead humanity into the New Age.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God... by this the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him... By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment." 1 John 4:7-17

Take care Henry,

Peter Goodgame
http://www.redmoonrising.com

Meditation


Many men; Many teachings.


Throughout time as history reveals, many of mankind have formulated many teachings concerning God. In this day, many teachings exist as has throughout many centuries. Most people are content in choosing one or more teachings to believe in. Thereby remaining in mere belief.

However mere belief allows a person to believe a lie. The way established by God is a way for mankind to know truth in sure knowledge. The only way this is possible to be taught truth by God and not fellow mankind. This is the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth. The way to “know the truth” by honoring only God as father, creator and teacher.

In this way, the way of spirit, a person comes to God to receive from God.

Every person has a choice to choose mere belief or to follow the way to “know the truth.”

Sure knowledge from God negates the possibility of believing a lie. God may be trusted to teach mankind truth.

There are many “False Christs” in this day and hour, saying they know and teach the truth. A true Christ is a person who has been taught truth directly by God and teaches others this way to be taught truth by God. These teach the way to come to God to ask and receive from God His Word which is truth. Only in this way is a person’s word proved to be truth or a lie for a true Christ explains what a person receives from God as promised by God. Only when this is received from God is the teacher of this way proved to be a teacher of truth.

The “New Testaments” are testaments of some who followed the way taught by Jesus of Nazareth and proved his word to be truth because they received from God what he declared they would receive. This way may be followed and proved by any one of mankind. I have followed and proved this way. Because of this, I reject all teachings that stand against this way taught by Jesus of Nazareth and established by God for the salvation of mankind. As is taught there is but one way established by God in and by which a person is saved by God.

Beware of teachings that do not honor God only as teacher of truth and Savior of mankind. As the wise Son of God Paul declared; “Prove all things.” Do not choose to remain in mere belief. Believing a lie is sin against God and refusal to honor God as teacher of truth.

Salvation by God is an individual process between a person and God. Others of mankind are not involved and neither is their word. The only word one should believe is this way of God being Savior of mankind; God being creator of the new mind and spirit in mankind with His Word; God being the teacher of His truth by giving this truth directly to the one who comes to receive from God.

God created “man” in the image of God, not fellow man. God continues to create His creation of His mankind by His works.

Again, a caution and warning to those who swallow hook line and sinker, any word that sounds good but is against the way of God. It is the will and desire of God that all mankind learn and follow the way He has established for the salvation of mankind. Prove this way for the prophet declared as a Word from God; “Prove me.”

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Choronzon is the particular foe of magicians. Dee, for example, believed utterly in a Most High who had all knowledge. A common theme in the Enochian Keys is that the magician commands because he is a "true worshipper of the Highest". As a magician approaches the heirophantic position in Chesed, the last sephira before the Abyss, he is assumed to have all the answers. He is a pope in his own world, with faithful followers who demand mysteries with answers, who demand revelations just as Dee prayed for revelations. That is why Choronzon scorns Neuburg’s claim to know more than he - Choronzon has all the answers anyone could ever want. A problem with having all the answers is that all the other hierophants also have all the answers, and so the eleventh Aethyr is the Holy City with its mighty walls and towers and motionless legions guarding against the terrible powers of the Abyss, where everything is real, and nothing is true, and the mightiest of hierophants is nothing."

That is how the fallen angels lead men to believe that Satan is the only God, thus fulfilling Satan's ultimate wish, as expressed in Isaiah 14:13-14, "But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."


Critics who love to point the finger at Christian Fundamentalists and Jewish Zionists because of their misguided support for a rebuilt Temple should be informed that another force, one that is also spiritually-motivated, seeks the same goal for the Temple Mount. It has the same goal but perhaps it has more clout in the form of raw political power and virtually unlimited funding. The problem that faces them is that they must pull it off in a way that leaves them unnoticed and unmarked, with Jews and Christians remaining in the aftermath as the focus of the world's anger and disgust.

The British-based magazine Biblical Archaeological Review promotes two men as Temple Mount experts. One is Dr. Asher Kaufman, a member of the QC Lodge, and another is Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, who is employed by the Rothschild family. Ritmeyer's recent work, promoted by BAR, argues that Solomon's Temple stood exactly over the spot now occupied by Islam's Dome of the Rock.

Shake it all up together and what you have is a recipe that virtually guarantees the Apocalypse in our generation.

And then when things appear to be at their worst the "good" manifestation of Aleister Crowley's god will appear in his costume of "love and light," with a tantalizing and flattering offer to lead humanity into the New Age.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God... by this the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him... By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment." 1 John 4:7-17


DW;
Thank you for this excellent and informative post.
It substantiates what I have known for years; that mankind seeks to find these things not to glorify God, but self. The temptations of Jesus in the wilderness were offerred by these spirits. He was offered bread but declined, recognizing there was more to this life than the physical body. He was offerred wealth and power, again He declined, knowing these things would not provide Him with His greatest need. And finally, He was offered the challenge to test God by throwing Himself to the rocks below. Theoretically it would question the strength of His knowledge of God's will for Him. It is analagous to the statement of Jesus that if one has faith, he can tell a mountain to move. But one has to ask, "Why would I do this other than to show off my own power and ego?" What purpose does it serve to move a mountain?
Those who are seeking after magic, or to gain some power over the elements of nature should question why they would even want to do this. What is the true motive for wanting this power over life? It is sufficient for me to ask God, "How can I best serve You?" It is enough to look at the lilies of the field and enough to know He cares for the sparrow. It is enough to know that, even when I was hungry and thirsty, He would somehow provide my needs. My needs are sufficiently met. My wants are selfish and many. My own insecurities may cause me to chase the wind and seek that which is given by intellectualism and theosophies, religious institutions, and cults. But in the end, I must ask myself, for what do I do these things? Does it Glorify That? That God which I profess to know so intimately and lovingly? Shall I prosper at the expense of others, or the world? Why do we seek these things if not for selfish gain, or promises of authority over other people, places or things?
Even to the end, Jesus was scoffed at and challenged, "If you are truly who you say you are, bring forth a company of Angels to take you from this cross." Though He could, He did not. He was obedient to the Will of God and He listened to no other power, principality, man, nor entity. I choose to remain in the love and knowledge that is given to me by God in my heart, my mind, my soul, and my spirit. He has never failed me and I have never found a need for power....save those moments I failed Him, and for which I have found forgiveness and have been forgiven. I prefer to follow the messages of those who followed the way of Jesus of Nazareth before me. ....Pilamaya Mitakola....To`na wanagi

Great post!

Hello To’na;

It is unfortunate the many who jump on the latest fad, or religion, or saying. And those who emulate their “stars” whether they be of Hollywood or the sports world or some other world, such as the financial and political world.

It is a shame the many do not use their own mind to think with but are content with being a “copycat.” Even mass murderers. And teenagers who copy what they see on TV or at the m o v i e s or what they hear in “music.”

This shows the lack of knowledge and understanding of people; that they should be finding and using the right principles in their lives instead of copying from another. These susceptible minds are easily swayed into doing wrong, even when believing they are doing right.

Those who crucified Jesus of Nazareth thought they were doing the right thing according to popular “belief.” They were obeying their religious law without questioning the law. In this day atrocities are committed by the same type minds that never question the religious law or principle they blindly follow.

Apart from religion are the many other social orders and social law that is blindly followed or obeyed. These with the susceptible minds are easily conned and deceived by smooth talkers and those who promise the world; those who know to say what these want to hear in order to get from them what they want, whether money or votes or blind followers.

Adam and Eve were covered with the “split leaves” from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You are aware of the saying of speaking with a “forked tongue” referring to the “snake” which is a type of person who speaks out of “both sides” of the mouth; the good spirit and the evil spirit. The old religious teaching to not eat the animal with the slit hoof means the same thing. The hoof or foot refers to the foundational teachings. If it is split or divided this refers to the evil and the good spirit. This old religious law referred to “eating” or digesting the word from a person of this type and kind.

The world is full of these type and kinds of people because this is how they are raised; in and by the principles mankind has used to structure his social orders. Those who deceive and those who are the deceived; the wolves who devour the sheep. Those who prey on the widows and orphans; those separated from God.

In saying to be as wise as the serpent is not saying be as the serpent. It is saying do not be fooled or deceived by those speaking with the forked tongue. Look at the principles a person follows and these tell you of what spirit one is. The principles are conveyed in the word of a person. “How” they do things or what they propose.

Children are extremely susceptible for they have no knowledge of truth, nor understanding nor wisdom to protect their minds. They trust as taught, their elders. A wrong teaching because it refers to the physical and not the spiritual elders by those erroneously teaching this. The same with “elders” of the church. This refers to those who are spiritually older in the ages of development.

It is very important to follow the way established by God wherein His Light illuminates the path so a person is not stumbled by the stumbling stones of false teachings. These make a person lame so they cannot continue the spiritual journey and they fall to the wayside; fall away from the path leading to God.

In God we trust, not fellow mankind for we know God and we know fellow mankind. God is not a liar and deceiver as mankind is.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter