This is part 7 of 12 sections of a new course in Jewish Spirituality. If you have not read Parts 1through Parts 6 send us an email [click here] and we'll get them right out to you. The demand for spirituality has grown dramatically in recent years as a solution to the increasing dissatisfaction of pressure and tension from the modern social and economic environment. A new section will be added every month for one full year. Please be sure to come back to us again next month.


Chapter 7 – Getting Acquainted with Kabbalah
This chapter provides a basic course in Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. To get a clearer grasp this chapter, it would be better to tie in some of the teachings from the previous chapter on Jewish meditation. We wish to make it clear that Jewish mysticism is not a substitute for study of the Torah, which is essential for tying together the elements of Kabbalah.

Topics: (click on any link)
Jewish Mysticism Mania
A Kabbalah Primer
Jewish Mysticism Revisited
Making the  Ordinary, Extraordinary
Releasing Holy Sparks
The Ten Sephirot
Taking a deeper look into the Sephirot
Some practical applications of the sephirot
The Four Worlds

Jewish Mysticism Mania                       [back]
Kabbalah is "alive and well" says Moment magazine in their feature story from a few years back. The cover displays a stereotypically looking Jew garbed in tallit and tephillin seated in the traditional meditation pose; the issue featured three significant articles posted as "Kabbalah Comeback."

The article points to a growing dissatisfaction with what some people refer to as sterile synagogue services and lifeless home celebrations. There also seems to be certain disillusionment with the effects of science and technology on the quality of life, health, and emotional stability, so that a strong interest in Jewish esotericism is on the move. Kabbalah, many say, offers them a Judaism that is intense and engaging. It's no wonder that at this time the revival of Jewish mysticism is gaining ardent followers.

The word Kabbalah derives from the Hebrew root "to receive" and it implies receiving direct communication from God. The transmission is in the form of blessings or enhanced life energy available to those who are willing to open themselves to receive. The work of Kabbalah involves the tireless probing of the model of “The Ten Sephirot”, each of which describes an attribute of God's infinite being, the building blocks of the universe. Through its study and practice we can get in touch with our own inner, unexplored life as well as the inherent life of God. Kabbalah is not as abstract or inaccessible as you may have been led to believe. Modern teaching provides methods that make it approachable to all that are interested.

Lurking within Kabbalah lies a complete system of psycho-spiritual healing that is built right in to traditional Jewish practices coupled with a revival of Jewish meditation that was all but lost after the Holocaust. Followers of Jewish spirituality are reporting such benefits as diminished stress (a major cause of physical illness) in their lives, better relationships with friends and family, and a more positive outlook on life.

Traditionally, Kabbalah was reserved for a select few, men over forty years old, who had experienced a "belly full" of Torah. Today, however, things have changed; Kabbalah is accessible to all. Bookstores, both Jewish and secular, are well stocked with titles in English under the category of spirituality/Judaica/religion whereas nothing of the kind was available two decades ago, except for a few original Hebrew texts. Today one can find retreat and teaching centers located in major cities throughout the country considering that none existed as recently as ten years ago.

Kabbalah is not a single school of thought. There is Maaseh Merkervah, based on the strange account of the Divine presence in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter one. Creation mysticism was developed by Rabbi Issac Luria in sixteenth century Safed, and modern Hasidim was founded in the eighteenth century by the Baal Shem Tov and a number of others as well. Just as there are various schools, there is a multitude of teachers around presenting material in their own personal style.

A Kabbalah Primer                        [back] 
This is one of those historical times that Jewish mysticism is on the upswing. It's happened a number of times before. Whenever crisis occurred in our history and the Jews felt hopeless and downhearted, a movement towards mysticism appeared. It happened after the destruction of the Temple; it happened after the Sabbatean heresies, it happened after the Eastern European pogroms, and it's happening now. The reason is purely speculative at this time, but I suspect the crisis now could be post-holocaust grief, the rate of technological change or the spiritual emptiness our affluent society. More books and more teachers of Kabbalah are appearing on the scene than ever before and long forgotten practices like meditation and healing are being revived. How are we to internalize these new developments?

Kabbalah is not a homogeneous body of knowledge that some may be led to think. There are several schools of thought as well as wide variances among practicing mystics. All of these schools profess nothing more than mythologies (metaphorical representations) of the way the universe, on all levels including the spiritual, operates. The most widespread brand of Kabbalah today is a distilled version of the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed in the Sixteenth Century. He advanced the doctrine of The Ten Sephirot (the diagram of the flow of Divine light throughout the universe) to innovative, new levels of understanding with his theory of Shevirat HaKelim, the breaking of the vessels. The Ari, as Rabbi Luria was affectionately called, postulated that the Sephirot were improperly constructed before Creation and shattered; the shards of light manifested as imperfection in the world we live in. Our responsibility is to restore the broken pieces to their rightful place as God originally intended. A pretty picture, but nothing more then a theoretical generalization. Real knowledge of Kabbalah has to be deduced or intuited from the theoretical writings, a result of deep meditation on the concepts.

For those seeking Jewish spirituality, I offer this word of caution. Don't accept any Kabbalah that you ever read or learned, unless you discover it through your own experience, with the guidance of a competent teacher. It took a long time for me to reach that conclusion; perhaps I can help you circumvent the effort. For over twenty years now, I've dabbled in Jewish mystical texts, both original versions and watered-down commentaries, hoping to learn something about this compelling subject. I've also had the good fortune to connect with several outstanding teachers who filled my head with abstractions, doctrines, and opinions, but it took a certain "whack on the head" to realize what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, "that all is vanity".

This epiphany came to me after several years of meditating and studying Kabbalistic texts with a group of devoted and avid seekers. We sat for half an hour at each session meditating with open eyes gazing at a partner in a dimly lit living room. This meditation is obscurely described in the Zohar, parshat Pinchas.  It's purpose is to see the light, the aura radiating from the soul of your partner. The evenings were coupled with the study of writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a sixteenth century Jewish mystic and disciple of the Ari, the founder of Luriannic Kabbalah. I think the meditations "opened my eyes", and one evening it struck me that beyond a certain point words cease to have meaning, but the teaching continues on in the silence, in the abyss.
Sometime later, I found these words in the introduction of The Secret Garden, an anthology of writing from the Kabbalah, edited by the poet David Meltzer. Who else but a poet could express such thoughts so aptly and succinctly. "The Kabbalah, as much as poetry", he writes, "is the study of and submission to the mysteries of the word. The language used by Kabbalists is so inextricably dimensional that it is almost impossible to fully convey the simultaneous layers of meaning revealed in the simplest of words. Much of what is of utmost significance in the Kabbalistic tradition never approaches the page. Its deepest secrets can only be set free beyond the page."

There is a legend that one has to be over forty years old and steeped in Torah to learn Kabbalah. That's not entirely true. But one does need to integrate Kabbalah together with a grounding in Torah to fully grasp its inner spiritual significance. There is a trend to substitute the new meditative practices for traditional Judaism. So intertwined are Kabbalah and Torah with one another that in the current mysticism passion, I fear a decline of Jewish practice in favor of short-cuts to salvation, and an invasion of foreign religions into Judaism.  It took me years to realize that the traditional Jewish practices--Torah, mitzvot and prayer--are indeed the spiritual practices of Judaism. Let's get back to basics!


Jewish Mysticism Revisited                        [back]  
What’s behind this current drift towards Jewish mysticism? Is there a belief that the answers to our most pressing problems lie buried in the esoteric texts of the Jewish mystics? Why are there so many books, classes and workshops available on mysticism these days? Are Jews now demanding spirituality as a remedy for the problems of society? Does all this represent a fundamental dissatisfaction with traditional Jewish sources, which avoids addressing personal issues? These are some questions that ask to be addressed.

I did a little survey recently of the kinds of books stocked in bookstores and libraries on the subject of Jewish mysticism. I was able to classify my findings into four main categories: the history of Kabbalah; the theory of Kabbalah; interviews with contemporary Kabbalists; and teachings in Jewish meditation, based mostly on non-Jewish sources. I have to ask myself: What does anyone learn about his or her own spirituality from all of this? I answered myself: Probably nothing. In response to my conclusion, I thought I’d offer at least something of practical value.

Originally, the Zohar, the most influential text on Jewish mysticism, outlined a diagram of Ten Sephirot (spheres of Divine energy) symbolic of the flow of God’s blessings, which emanate from the heavenly realm filtering its way down to us, here on earth. It’s a pretty universal concept. Most students are familiar with this configuration either in the shape of a tree (The Tree of Life) or that of the human form; the system works well in other formats also. Each sphere, which functions like a step-down transformer of the original energy, is given a Hebrew name that at first glance lacks specific meaning and I think this was done intentionally.

Let me give you an example. The two centermost spheres on the outside columns of the Tree of Life diagram are labeled Chesed (lovingkindness) and Gevurah (strength) respectively. If you can’t visualize the standard diagram, don’t worry; it’s not important at this time. Just below Chesed and Gevurah on the center column is one named Tiferet (beauty). What do these words mean in terms of understanding yourself or the universe?

For hundreds of years now, debates have persisted as to the meanings of those words and there still remains no consensus of opinion. These Hebrew equivalents start to take on some meaning when we realize that each cluster of three spheres exist on the different levels of consciousness: the emotional, the mental and the spiritual. It suggests that our consciousness is a recreated version of the original spiritual energy. The Sephirot channels high-powered Divine energy down to us in useful forms. The diagram is a map of how it gets here. Maybe that’s why the Torah tells us “But, He said, “you cannot see my face, for man may not see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20); it’s like high voltage electricity, too powerful.

The Sephirot exist in all of us. Kabbalah is an attempt to explain the unexplainable; not necessarily in words, but often through intuition. So, this map of energy transformation from the spiritual realm to the physical was intended as a tool for contemplation, a meditative device. “Lovingkindness”, on the emotional level, is somewhat clearer to understand than some others are; it’s closely related to the definition of unconditional love. But what about “strength” or “beauty”? Once you realize that these names exist in our emotions, then, through, meditative awareness, we can sense intuitively what the labels of the Sephirot mean and how they relate to our lives. These names have different meanings for different people. “Beauty”, in an emotional sense would mean something different for me than it would for you. By consistently meditating on the names of the spheres, their true meaning becomes apparent with suggestions as to what needs fixing, or repair.

Not everything we know comes from books; probably what we know intellectually is just the “tip of the iceberg”. The vast amount of knowledge available lies beyond our consciousness. The Jewish mystics knew that. They knew that the conventional interpretations of the Torah reached the limit of intellectual capacity and tools were needed to transcend the ability of the mind. They knew that the secrets of the universe lurked beyond human understanding, and meditation became their choice to explore the furthest reaches of inner space—our source of wisdom. Perhaps this short introduction can help you appreciate the intuitive nature of Kabbalah.

Perhaps modern-day mystics have grown to understand that traditional Jewish sources contain all the material necessary for living a happy, healthy, wholesome life. Perhaps in their quest for the Promised Land, they have discovered their unique purpose in life, their oneness with the universe, their true self and a vision of a peaceful world. Those who are presently making the journey will find new meaning in the words of Torah, not necessarily those mouthed by others but a clear conception of how to run your life as God intended it.

Making the  Ordinary, Extraordinary                        [back]
Everyday Jewish practices involve us with so many ritual actions that we forget to realize that it's possible to make the ordinary events of everyday life, holy. We sanctify Shabbat and festivals, we recite blessings over food, we bless G-d in every way possible, but yet how do we make everyday events special? Making the ordinary extraordinary is the work of Tikkun Olam, repair of the universe; it's what makes life sweeter too. We often look at the events of everyday life as ordinary, mediocre, dull, lifeless; some of us may be bored, indifferent, fatigued or even depressed, but yet Jewish tradition is committed to life filled with delight. Consider some of the ordinary: household chores, grocery shopping taking out the garbage, picking up kids, paying bills, walking the dog. What can we do about some of these to make them wondrous? The answer lies in the appreciation of our sensory perception, particularly the emotions, our sixth sense; what we hear, what we see, and what we feel. This is the embodiment of life as we live it each moment. This is how we experience life. This is the miracle of being alive.
The Kabbalah teaches that the emotion of joy is one aspect of spiritual connection. As we perceive joyous moments, we are in touch with that dimension. We need to realize that the World of Assiyah, the Kabbalistic world of action, of doing, offers the opportunity for all the pleasure we need. Can you appreciate that?
Feelings of joy arise each moment we experience pleasurable events: something delicious to eat, the sound of satisfying music, the sight of a remarkable sunset, or a hug from a loved one. A Jewish life is not meant to encounter occasional joy, but to live a life of joyful fervor daily. It may seem far fetched, but it's possible. In what ways can you realize the miracle of life each and every moment? Look around you and note the people, the sounds, the sights and  the  objects nearby. Can you appreciate the joy of being aware of all this? What does that feel like? What steps can you take to notice the joy more often? What activities would you include in your life to bring about joy? Consider ways in which you can remember to note the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Joy also arises from being conscious of gratitude. Contemplate the aspects of life that we need to be grateful for: starting a new day, a friendly smile, something new that you learned; the list goes on and on. How many more can you think of? Look into your Siddur (Jewish prayer book) and note all the items in the daily Amidah that we acknowledge having received from G-d: forgiveness, knowledge, abundance, healing, etc. Joyousness, a postive emotion, arises in the body as does all emotional feelings.  The body, not the mind or emotions, exists in the present moment; that's were we encounter G-d and all spiritual experiences, in the eternal now. Learn to stay focused in your body.

Releasing Holy Sparks                       [back]
The concept of Tikkun Olam, repair of the universe, first introduced by Rabbi Isaac Luria of 16th century Safad, was the concluding doctrine of his comprehensive and complex system of Kabbalah. The conception is as valid today as it was four hundred years ago. Briefly, G-d initially created a universe composed of the Ten Sephirot, a structure through which G-d's energy can flow. Seven out of the Ten Sephirot could not withstand the intensity of the energy and thus shattered; this is known in the Kabbalah as Shevirim HaKelim, the shattering of the vessels. The shards (the sparks) of holy energy fell into this earth plane and embedded themselves into structures of solid material labeled "klippot", shells. This bit of metaphysical mythology describes the condition of life here on earth with all its pitfalls. All of existence including mankind contains these klippot which are the trappings of holiness, and G-d left the responsibility to man to release the sparks in order to return the universe to its original perfection. Rabbi Luria contended that this will take place as a result of mans actions particularly through good deeds and the performance of mitzvot. It is therefore our responsibility to carry on the work of Tikkun Olam, the repair of the Universe.

Klippot appear in many varieties and forms, among which are negative emotions, erroneous beliefs, dysfunctional relationships, and energetic blockages-the root cause of most physical illness. They may remain dormant for a while, but in time they rear their ugly head, often at a most inopportune moment. On the spiritual plane, Tehillim-healing prayers, mitzvot, meditation, and the study of Torah contribute to the repair. Changing erroneous beliefs results from deeply examining the areas in our lives that don't work and replacing those ideas with more viable alternatives thereby releasing holiness at the mental plane. The Zohar, a foremost document of the Kabbalah states that each individual is a universe unto himself so to the extent we repair ourselves, we repair the universe-Tikkun Olam.  The Hassidim, the descendents of the school of the Baal Shem Tov, believe that a person's responsibility in life is to work on himself.

The trapped sparks that cause emotional problems can be released by becoming aware of the negative energy and learning to face the fear--the root of all impulsive feelings. We might spend years in psychotherapy but in the end we learn one single lesson that life includes a share of pain and suffering. How well we learn to accept and tolerate that pain determines the success of life.  It is said that all healing is self-healing, so more can be achieved emotionally through prayer, mitzvot and Torah than we might believe.  Through the process of forgiveness we can also liberate emotional blockages and heal the conflicts between others and ourselves. Mitzvot under the heading of acts of kindness (the laws referred to as mishpatim) or acts that advocate justice are all means by which the shells of ignorance can be cracked open and the sparks released.

On the earth plane, Tikkun can be effected through reciting the proper blessings before meals which release the sealed holiness in the food we eat to provide the energy to carry out G-d's plan of repair. Bodywork such as massage and other techniques of healing touch release the klippot of the body. Energy conservation programs make sense to the extent that we realize how important it is to heal the earth. Rabbi Luria's imaginative metaphysics of Tikkun Olam is another way of portraying the work of  healing. It is the responsibility of all Jews to join G-d as co-creators of the world to restore it to its primordial unity, and to make it a better place for us all to live.

The Ten Sephirot                        [back] 
Mystical systems find themselves forced to draw diagrams of how they intuitively perceive the universe—physical and metaphysical—to appear. Most every system I ever inquired into describes their visions in terms of diagrams. When I began to study Polarity Therapy I was introduced early on to the Ayurvedic four-element system, later on I learned that the Chinese system consisted of five elements. Once you’re introduced to the Kabbalistic system you learn of the Ten Sephirot, the universal energy system as conceived by the Jewish mystics,then you might wonder why the Vedic (Hindu) system consists of seven energy Chakras. One system is not more accurate than the other; it’s just the difference between how each culture’s mystics viewed the universe. I think its important not to value any one over the other. It is the result of each culture’s worldview based on their geography, history, and sociology.

Among the more notable aspects of the Tree of Life is the nature of its perfect state of balance. It’s almost as if it could stand perfectly still, counterbalanced by its own weight. The notion of balance is common in everything throughout the natural world. For example, ecosystems (deserts, forests, lakes, etc.) depend upon the perfect balance of all its species (wildlife, vegetation, insects, and fish) in the system; if but one variety of creature is diminished, the effect on the whole can be devastating. In a similar manner, health, both physical and mental, can be defined as the perfect balance of all our internal systems and their components.

Upon further observation, it becomes clear that the diagram is perfectly symmetrical, from right to left and from top to bottom. The Tree is composed of three columns: a right, a left and a central column. The right column represents male energy: aggressive, positive and generating. The left column represents female energy: nurturing, passive and negative. Negative in this sense or anywhere else throughout Jewish tradition should not be construed as undesirable or of lesser value, but merely as the polar opposite of positive. The center is the neutral column that represents balanced, spiritual energy at all of the Tree’s levels.

  Fig. 1

Energy always emanates from the neutral source and proceeds towards positive. Positive is always attracted by negative and then the flow returns to the source at a lower level of the Tree. This is how energy gets transformed from the more spiritual, subtle levels to the earthly, denser energy. This can be seen in Fig. 1, which illustrates the flow of energy in what in known as the “lightening flash”. We can also view the diagram in terms of three triads, symbolizing the Kabbalistic worlds of thought, emotion and action, our personal world-Fig. 2. The concept of the Four Worlds will be dealt with in greater detail later on in this unit.

Fig.2

Taking a deeper look into the Sephirot                       [back]
The Hebrew terms assigned to each of the sephira are not to be construed as an absolute definition. The diagram of the Tree is talking about energy, which is experienced differently by each person, so it is important to think of these definitions in a very general (non-literal) way. Many of the Jewish healing techniques, which will follow in later units, will be based on the knowledge of the energies of the sephirot. It is useful for anyone using the system of sephirot to commit the following definitions and meanings to memory, so that they may call upon them at will- Fig. 3 The reading list at the end of this chapter could provide you with further insights into the sephirot, in order to keep in mind that our subject is energy and not intellectual analysis.

  Fig. 3

Keter, the Hebrew expression for “crown”, is the first sephira on the Tree of Life to receive the pure, undifferentiated energy from the Divine source. Its immense power must be stepped down before it can serve any useful purpose in our material world. Such energy is categorized in the stage of  “the ability to give and not receive”, and it then flows by natural law towards the second sephira on the Tree of Chochma, loosely defined as intuitive knowledge. This is the entrance into the world of Divine mind. Chochma is not yet available to humans, except for those with matured spiritual understanding. Here the faintest of mental impulses begin to emerge in more intuitive people. Chochma is the source of all creative expression where inchoate mental impulses begin to appear. Some attribute “understanding” to Bina, suggesting that the first glimpses of comprehension stems from this source.  Chochma and Bina balance each other in the quasi-sephira of Daas (knowledge). I believe that this sephira is necessary for the blending of Chochma and Bina, but since it is counted as the eleventh sephira, it’s considered a pseudo sephira; it’s there, yet it’s not there. Intuitive knowledge is attributed to Daas.

The energy now moves toward the emotional triad, consisting of Chesed (lovingkindness), Gevurah (restraint) and Tiferet (beauty or balance). Chesed represents the pure lovingkindness that enables us to abstain from judgmental behavior and to give compassion to others. It is the energy of selfless giving.
In contrast to that we find Gevurah on the other side of the triad which brings out the restrictive nature in all of us. It tempers the selflessness of Chesed, and can be compared to the role of the loving parent or teacher who has to say “no” one in a while. Chesed and Gevurah converge into state of balance in Tiferet (beauty). Tiferet also relates to the heart center in each person. Tiferet is the gateway to spirit. Here is where our energy intercedes between our known world and the world of spirit.  It is the state of absolute balance (all of the other sephirot are balanced in Tiferet), the destination to which our clients and we must arrive at in order to activate healing.

The Divine energy now shifts over to the right side of the Tree and is transformed into Netzach, loosely translated as “victory”. Netzach is masculine energy that is responsible for survival and reproduction. When we think of the ways we survive like being aggressive at the work environment, creating more efficient methods of doing things, adapting to the environment, we’re operating from Netzach. Hod, on the other hand, calms the aggressive nature through surrender, submission and restraint. Netzach is the male initiating sexual activity while Hod is the receptive partner.  These two forces ultimately neutralize each other under the sephira of Yesod (foundation). This triad represent the energies of will or stepping out into the world. Whereas, in the emotional triad we dealt in issues relating to ourselves, now we confront our relations to others. In Yesod we enter the threshold of the world of action, which truly functions as the foundation for every activity we do in the physical plane. Yesod is the final, densest sephira among the three triads that are included in the Tree of Life. The Tree culminates in Malchut, which literally means “kingdom” and represents the combined energies that motivate every action in God’s earthly world. It is important to note that the sephirot are not responsible for actions taken in the corporeal world, but it’s the energy that shapes our behavior.

Some practical applications of the Sephirot                        [back]
1. A pictorial interpretation of the energetic universe and how energy is stepped down from spiritual to physical.
2. The study of Kabbalah teaches the values of balance.  How do you align yourself with the balanced energy of the sephirot and the Torah? The diagram is actually a pictorial view of how energy flows in the Torah.
3. The sephirot illustrate giving and receiving. We leaned how the Tree of Life shattered as a result of the ability to receive without the ability to give. Life depends upon such sharing.
4. The sephirot illustrate vessel and light. An entire school of Kabbalah is devoted to vessels and light. Vessels are containers that hold light, an analogy of spiritual energy. We will expand of this subject in future units.
5. Caches (pigeon holes) to categorize the variety of your energetic experiences. We need ways to classify and verbally describe the various qualities of energy that we encounter each day.
6. A gazing device to appreciate God’s universe. Many people use the diagram as a mandala and gaze upon the wonders of creation
7.The sephirot can be a guide to climbing spiritual heights. Enter into a state of meditation focusing first on Malchut then observe what’s interfering with your next step upwards.
8. An appreciation of the Sephirot in relation to the impulses that we receive from the Divine realm can add to the better understanding of our own inner lives. We live in our bodies which are the instruments that receives the energetic impulses. 

The Four Worlds                       [back]   
Out of the enigmatic prose of the Zohar, the unrivaled achievement of Kabbalah, the concept of Arba Olamot (The Four Worlds) arose. The early Jewish mystics envisioned God’s universe consisting of four worlds which corresponded to how they perceived life itself. Somehow the theory found its way through the ages and actually landed in the lap of such notables as Carl Jung, the psychologist whose theories dug deep into metaphysical inquiry. Other traditions around the world also viewed their experience in much the same light.
Especially in keeping with today’s concerns regarding mind/body and spiritual healing the doctrine of The Four Worlds finds its way as a useful tool, functioning as a scale of reference, particularly for healing purposes.
The Four Worlds were seen by ancient civilizations as corresponding to the four elements of the nature—earth, water, fire and air—in that order, spanning the reaches between heaven and earth. The world analogous to earth was named the world of Assiyah (action). It is associated with the earthy, physical aspects of our existence.
The water element is associated with our emotional life and was aptly termed the world of Yetzirah (formation). As we step up another rung, we encounter the world of Beriah (creation) which was assigned to our mental capacity, reminiscent of the fire element. The world of Atzilut (nearness) refers to the spiritual domain and its element is air, descriptive of the ethereal quality of both air and spirit.

As we contemplate the quality of each of the four elements, we can perceive the relative density of each, as they progress from earth to heaven (not to suggest sky, but spiritual existence). We can also get a feel for how these four elements relate to the unfolding of the Ten Sephirot.


 Suggestions for further study:
Inner Spaces     -Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
The Gift of Kabbalah   -Tamar Frankiel
Kabbalah: The Way of the Jewish Mystic      -Perele Besserman
Honey from the Rock   -Rabbi Lawrence Kushner