The Pageless Book

I’ve been reading Aryeh Kaplan’s translation of The Bahir, one of the firsts texts on Qabalah or Jewish Mysticism, and I’ve realized that I am yet to write about Qabalah in any substantial way here on my blog. When I talk about Qabalah on this website, I have this annoying habit of just assuming that my readership knows what I am talking about. Pretty arrogant of me, if I do say so myself. The problem, however, is that I’m not quite sure that my definition can do it justice.

Qabalah is at once very complicated, simple, obscure, clear, self-contradictory, and internally consistent. It has often been called the Zen Buddhism of Western Culture, and, like Zen Buddhism, is a peculiar mixture of pretentious bovine manure and profound truth. Both lie and truth may or may not lead an adherent to enlightenment. The driving force behind Qabalah and Zen Buddhism is to get the adherent to think and break beyond their preconceived notions. I am not entirely sure I am qualified to speak about either, to be honest. I don’t pretend to be any more enlightened than the average angst filled teenager - my poetry certainly isn’t any better.

Yet, I am always willing to try humbly. Being forewarned of my ineptitude, I can only ask my readers to keep an open, if discerning, mind as I move forward.

The word “Qabalah” means to receive. In Jewish folklore, the teachings of Qabalah were said to have been received by Adam in the Garden of Eden, and later again by Moses on Mount Sinai. The word itself has been subject to a variety of English spellings (Kabbalah, Cabala…) all of which refer to the same body of practices, although may at times be used to differentiate one school of Qabalah from another. Currently, there are four major branches of Qabalah: Jewish Qabalah, Christian Qabalah, Hermetic Qabalah, and Red String Qabalah.

Jewish Qabalah, or Orthodox Qabalah, is what I want to focus on today. However, I want to touch base on the other three as well. Christian Qabalah is, predictably, the application of the practices of Qabalah to Christian teachings. Understandably, Orthodox Qabalists see Christian Qabalah as a perversion of the truth behind Jewish Qabalah. Hermetic Qabalah is the adaptation of Qabalah as a system of symbolism by Occult Qabalists. This is the Qabalah that I know best - The Qabalah of The Golden Dawn. Both Jewish and Christian Qabalists view Hermetic Qabalah as an abomination. “Red String” Qabalah, or pop-culture Qabalah, is the Qabalah that Madonna practices, and which you are most likely to find along side copies of the “Celestine Prophecy” in New Age shops. If you guessed that Jewish, Christian, and Hermetic Qabalists all disdain Red String Qabalah with a vitriol rivaling the toxicity of battery acid, give yourself a pat on the back.

Inter-religious politics aside, Qabalah is a means of extrapolating meaning from holy texts. Every method of squeezing further meaning from a sentence, word, or letter is used. To quote The Bahir:

Why does the Torah begin with the letter Bet? In order that it begin with a blessing (Berachah). How do we know that the Torah is called a blessing? Because it is written (Deuteronomy 33:23) “The filling is God’s blessing possessing the Sea and the South” The sea is nothing other than the Torah, as it is written (Job 11:9) “It is wider than the sea.” What is the meaning of the verse “The filling is God’s blessing?” This means wherever we find the letter Bet it indicates a blessing. It is thus written (Genesis 1:1), “In the beginning (Bereshit)…”

The reasoning behind Qabalah seems simple enough; the books of the Hebrew Prophets as they are originally written is the word of God, as such every letter of those books contains nuance of meaning that can only be understood through the methods of Qabalah. From the outside it seems a bit silly to think that just because two words begin with the same letter, or have the same letters, or are the same numerical value that the meaning behind those words are related. However, Qabalah is more of a means to an end. Assuming meaningful connections between words and ideas creates verbal puzzles seated in the text and context of the Hebrew Bible. These puzzles serve to break down the presumptions, much like Zen Koans.

Unlike Zen Koans, the extrapolated knowledge serves as a basis for an even more complicated system of symbols - The Tree of Life - from which ever more complicated riddles emerge. Each successive level of complexity is declared to deliver within it some aspect of the Truth, and indeed adherents find truth in this complexity. I hesitate to call it the Seinfeld of religions, but seeing as so many people find that show funny even though it’s not funny, this works as an excellent metaphor. When they realize that this found truth is in spite of, rather than because of, that complexity, do those who plumb the depths of Qabalah begin to shake free from the habit of literal interpretation and the belief in an absolute Truth. This is where the real work towards enlightenment begins… and consequently, where I have so little experience.

Now, you might question as to why someone would want to practice Qabalah, as it seems to be little more than mental gymnastics. But it is these same mental gymnastics that allows the adherents of Qabalah to ascribe more meaning to the world around them, and see the interconnection between all things. Qabalah pushes each adherent to question the world around them, their assumptions about that world and how it works. I admit that it isn’t the only path to enlightenment, but I love it because of it’s eccentricities; it’s more like a hobby than it is a religion, which is how I like my religion.

For More About Qabalah

• http://www.kabbalah.info/
• http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/faq.htm
• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kabbalah.html
• http://www.webofqabalah.com/

Photo Credits From Top: