The Wisdom of the Kabbalah

  Explore the third of the great literatures in Judaism   While many readers may have heard of Kabbalah in recent years, how many understand the origins and unique perspective of this collection of Jewish mystical beliefs? Handed down in the oral tradition for thousands of years and transcribed in fourteenth-century Spain, the Kabbalah is the classical expression of Jewish mysticism. This collection draws from the main work of Kabbalah— Sepher ha-Zohar, or The Book of Splendor—and offers insight into the great body of Hebrew literature that sprang up and grew parallel to the traditional writings of rabbinical literature. Written in the dialectic style as a commentary to the Torah, the Kabbalah examines man's mystical union with God in thoughts of wisdom and deeds of kindness through a symbol-laden examination of the God before creation. A mix of ethics and mysticism, Kabbalah's wisdom is frequently imparted through gematria, or a symbolic language based in numbers that correspond with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.   This ebook features a new introduction, image gallery, and index of the Hebrew alphabet.