Cabbala
Who’s on First? Cabbala and the Church
Nearly seventy-five years ago, Abraham Heschel wrote an essay on Jewish mysticism.[1] Originally published in 1949 in a collected volume of essays by many authors, it’s likely that you never heard of it and more likely that you haven’t read it. Republished in 2017 as a short book, this essay outlines the basic tenets of Cabbala. For those interested in Jewish mysticism, Heschel’s clarity and insight are intriguing. But I want to explore another possibility. It’s possible—perhaps—that Jewish mysticism owes its origins to Platonic/Christian thought, not to the Hebrew Bible. In other words, what I am suggesting is that the men who originated the ideas of Cabbala did so within the context of established Greek-Christian theological ethos. It was the Church that pushed Jews in the direction of a developed mysticism.
In order to establish this possible connection, we must first notice some of the salient features of Cabbala. Heschel’s comments and citations will facilitate that. We will do this under various headings to help facilitate an organized picture.
The Drive of Cabbala
“To the cabbalists God is as real as life, and as nobody would be satisfied with mere knowing or reading about life, so they are not content to suppose or to prove logically that there is a God; they want to feel and to enjoy Him; not only to obey, but to approach Him. They want to taste the whole wheat of spirit before it is ground by the millstones of reason. They would rather be overwhelmed by the symbols of the inconceivable than wield the definitions of the superficial.”[2]
“Stirred by a yearning after the unattainable, they want to make the distant near, the abstract concrete, to transform the soul into a vessel for the transcendent, to grasp with the senses what is hidden from the mind, to express in symbols what the tongue cannot speak, what the reason cannot conceive, to experience as a reality what vaguely dawns in intuitions.”[3]
The Cabbalist View of the Universe
“Nothing here is final. The worldly is subservient to the otherworldly. . . this world is the reality of the spirit in a state of trance.”[4]
“ . . . the spiritual is not an idea to which one can relate his will, but a realm which can even be affected by our deeds.”[5]
“When we pray we turn toward the upper soul as though we were to abandon the body and join our source.”[6]
“Man is not detached from the realm of the unseen. He is wholly involved in it. Whether he is conscious of it or not, his actions are vital to all worlds, and affect the course of transcendent events.”[7]
Cabbalist Epistemology: How We Know What We Know
“Mystic intuition occurs at an outpost of the mind, dangerously detached from the main substance of the intellect. Operating as it were in no-mind’s land, its place is hard to name, its communication with critical thinking often difficult and uncertain and the accounts of its discoveries not easy to decode.”[8]
“The product of this manifestation is not only the visible universe but an endless number of spiritual worlds which exist beyond the physical universe in which we live. These worlds, the hidden cosmos, constitute a most complex structure, divided into various grades and forms which can only be described in symbols.”[9]
“The concepts of cabbala cannot always be clearly defined and consistently interrelated. As the name of Jewish mysticism, ‘cabbala’ (lit. ‘received lore’), indicates, it is a tradition of wisdom, supposed to be revealed to elect Sages in ancient times and preserved throughout the generations by an initiated few. The cabbalists accept at the outset the ideas on authority, not on the basis of analytical understanding.”[10]
“ . . . received wisdom directly from the Beyond.”[11]
“ . . . the quest for immediate cognition . . . secrets of creation and man’s destiny . . .”[12]
“ . . . there have always been Sages and saints upon whom the Holy Spirit rested, to whom wisdom was communicated from heaven by a Voice, through the appearance of the spirit of Elijah or in dreams.”[13]
“ . . . and finally on the absorption of them all into that most high firmament.”[14]
Cabbalistic Dualism
“The transition from Divine latency to activity take place in Keter, the ‘supreme crown’ of God. This stage is inconceivable, absolute unity and beyond description.”[15]
“Man who was to exist in pure spiritual form as light in constant communication with the Divine was sunk into his present inferior state.”[16]
“The lower things are apparent, the higher things remain unrevealed.”[17]
The Role of Israel in Cabbala
“ . . . the Community of Israel, that is, the bride of God, . .”[18]
The Torah in Cabbala
“. . . The Torah itself is conceived as a living source of inspiration, not as a fixed book.”[19]
“The Torah is the main source from which man can draw the secret wisdom and power of insight into the essence of things. ‘It is called Torah (lit.: showing) because it shows and reveals that which is hidden and unknown; and all life from above in comprised in it and issues from it.’”[20]
“ . . . comprehensible only to the wise who are familiar with the ways of the Torah.”[21]
“ . . . the Torah that created them [angels], that created all the worlds and is the means by which these are sustained. Thus had the Torah not clothed herself in garments of this world the world could not endure it. The stories of the Torah are thus only her outer garments, and whoever looks upon that garment as being Torah itself, woe to that man—such a one will have no portion in the next world.”[22]
“How assiduously should one ponder over each word of the Torah, for there is not a single word in it which does not contain allusions to the Supernal Holy Name, not a word which does not contain many mysteries, many aspects, many roots, many branches![23]
The Task of Cabbala
“Their [the cabbalists] intention was to integrate their thoughts in redeeming the light that was concealed. Though working with fragile tools for a mighty end, they were sure of bringing about at the end the salvation of the universe and of this tormented world.”[24]
“Not only Israel but the whole universe, even the Shekinah, ‘lies in dust’ and is in exile. Man’s task is to bring about the restitution of the original state of the universe and the reunion of the Shekinah and the En Sof. This is the meaning of Messianic salvation, the goal of all efforts.”[25]
The Noble Aim of Cabbala
“This is the pattern of Jewish mysticism: to have an open heart for the inner life of God. It is based on two assumptions: that there is an inner life in God and that the existence of man ought to revolve in a spiritual dynamic course around the life of God.”[26]
Now we need some history about Cabbala. The brief account from Wikipedia will do:
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. The first documented historical emergence of Theosophical Kabbalistic doctrine occurred among Jewish Sages of Provence and Languedoc in southern France in the latter 1100s, with the appearance or consolidation of the mysterious work the Bahir (Book of “Brightness”), a midrash describing God’s sephirot attributes as a dynamic interacting hypostatic drama in the Divine realm, and the school of Isaac the Blind (1160–1235) among critics of the rationalist influence of Maimonides. From there Kabbalah spread to Catalonia in north-east Spain around the central Rabbinic figure of Nahmanides (the Ramban) (1194–1270) in the early 1200s, with a Neoplatonic orientation focused on the upper sephirot. Subsequently Kabbalistic doctrine reached its fullest classic expression among Castilian Kabbalists from the latter 1200s, with the Zohar (Book of “Splendor”) literature, concerned with cosmic healing of gnostic dualities between the lower, revealed male and female attributes of God.[27]
Several key terms should be obvious to you. Notice that Cabbala had a philosophical foundation in Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism. That means it embraces an “upper,” spiritual realm of true reality and a “lower,” physical realm which, although it is real, is of less value, corrupt, and in need of restoration. We find the same idea in Plato and, if we look, in Christian doctrine when it embraces ideas like the fallen nature of Man and the world.
Second, notice the reaction to Maimonides. Maimonides was a philosophical Aristotelian. A great biblical exegete, he nevertheless embraced the logic of analogy, found in Christian circles in the theology of Thomas Aquinas. This rationalism rejected the hard separation of Platonic dualism. Nahmanides returned to Platonic thought, incorporating it into Cabbalistic ideas. Of course, Christian doctrine also embraced Plato’s ideas in some doctrines, but Aquinas, the most influential theologian who ever lived, brought Aristotle to the foreground. Aquinas and Nahmanides were contemporaries. Perhaps their theologies simply countered each other.
Finally, we need to pay attention to some of the details, particularly with regard to sexuality and noetic ideas.
Cabbala incorporates the idea of a divine female element. “ . . . the supernal Mother will crown Him in a fitting manner.”[28] Torah is often referred to as female, the counterpart of the male YHVH. One must wonder if the Church’s conception of the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven wasn’t influential here since the doctrine of a holy Mary preceded Nahmanides by 500 years while the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was first proposed during the same time period as Nahmanides construction of Cabbala.
Platonic thought is found in Cabbalistic ideas of prayer. “When we pray we turn toward the upper soul as though we were to abandon the body and join our source.”[29] The distinction between the superior “soul” and lower, corruptible “body” is gnostic, something the apostles fought against and something not found in the Tanakh. This Platonic dualism of Cabbala means that this world is not finally the real world. “Nothing here is final. The worldly is subservient to the otherworldly. . . this world is the reality of the spirit in a state of trance.”[30] “Man who was to exist in pure spiritual form as light in constant communication with the Divine was sunk into his present inferior state.”[31]
Most perplexing is the Cabbalist’s claim about how we know Cabbalist ideas. “The transition from Divine latency to activity take place in Keter, the ‘supreme crown’ of God. This stage is inconceivable, absolute unity and beyond description.”[32] If this is true, then isn’t the claim that these ideas are “inconceivable” inconceivable? Doesn’t this make the following claim impossible?: “The Torah is the main source from which man can draw the secret wisdom and power of insight into the essence of things. ‘It is called Torah (lit.: showing) because it shows and reveal that which is hidden and unknown; and all life from above in comprised in it and issues from it.’”[33]
As true mystics, Cabbalists claim direct and immediate cognition, but as mystics, this means that what they experience cannot actually be spoken since the secret knowledge that has been imparted to them is beyond human comprehension. This is why Heschel writes that “the concepts of cabbala cannot always be clearly defined and consistently interrelated.” Cabbala is supra-rational, not subject to human analysis.
For this reason, Cabbala’s doctrines must be accepted on authority alone. “The cabbalists accept at the outset the ideas on authority, not on the basis of analytical understanding.”[34] In the religious world of the Middle Ages, doesn’t this idea of authority sound like the demand of the Catholic Church? Cabbala’s tradition stands opposed to typical Jewish rabbinic thought which shows lively debate on virtually every claim, but it resonates with the Catholic Church’s claim of papal authority and dogma. Furthermore, Cabbalists assert “woe to that man—such a one will have no portion in the next world,”[35] if he does not accept the mystical view of the Torah. Do you suppose that Christianity’s dogma didn’t have any influence on Jewish mysticism when both religions embraced a philosophy originating in Plato and both contended that adherents must agree or be excluded from the world to come?
It seems to me that the similarities are too great to be ignored.
Cabbala and Mideaval Christianity grew from the same Greek philosophical soil.
Cabbala and Catholic theology both embraced a divine female.
Cabbala and the Catholic idea of the neotic effects of the Fall treat men in this world as essential flawed.
Cabbala and the Church both adopted an approach based on strict authority with the threat of eternal excommunication if not obeyed.
Cabbala and the Church both proclaimed the ultimate incomprehensibility of a totally transcendent God.
In the end, I believe we must acknowledge that the intellectual climate of the Middle Ages birthed both Christian and Cabbalistic ideas. Perhaps the suppression of Judaism by the Church actually contributed to the rise of Jewish mysticism, insulated from rational criticism. Despite the fact that Cabbala’s practical side produced such standarized rituals like those of ‘erev Shabbat, its philosophical and theological roots lie in an approach to Scripture that it is just as anti-Jewish as the dogmas of the Church. Heschel’s essay opens our eyes to the claims of Cabbala; our understaning of Christian dogma shows a remarkable resemblance.
[1] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017)
[2] Ibid., p. 3.
[3] Ibid., p. 4.
[4] Ibid., p. 5.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., p. 10
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid., p. 15.
[9] Ibid., p. 17.
[10] Ibid., p. 28.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid., p. 29.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid., p. 27.
[15] Ibid., p. 16.
[16] Ibid., p. 21.
[17] Ibid., p. 43.
[18] Ibid., p. 27
[19] Ibid., p. 30.
[20] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017), p. 33, citing Zohar, III, 53b.
[21] Zohar, II 95a.
[22] Zohar, III 152a.
[23] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017), p. 35.
[24] Ibid., p. 39.
[25] Ibid., p. 22.
[26] Ibid., p. 50.
[27] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
[28] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017), p. 22
[29] Ibid., p. 10
[30] Ibid., p. 5.
[31] Ibid., p. 21.
[32] Ibid., p. 16.
[33] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017), p. 33, citing Zohar, III, 53b.
[34] Abraham Heschel, The Mystical Element in Judaism (Varda Books, 2017), p. 28.
[35] Zohar, III 152a.
