Religion & Spirituality >
Judaism
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedWas Abraham the first to study Kabbalah?
Results so far:
| No | 69% | 124 votes | Total: 181 votes | |
| Yes | 31% | 57 votes |
No
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesThere are several problems with the assertion that Abraham studied Kabbalah. First, the materials grouped together under the heading Kabbalah are part of the Oral Torah, by tradition. This is learning that was handed down at Mount Sinai orally, in combination with the Written Torah which came with the Covenant of Ark. Moses received these instructions on Mount Sinai, and he comes along several generations after Abraham. Moses, by tradition, passed on the Written Torah to Am Yisrael (the People of Israel) as they entered into Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel).
At that time, Moses did two incredible things. He lined people up on two sets of hills. The Tribes of Israel entered on a path through the middle of the hills. The people on one side of the path hollered blessings, the people on the other side of the path hollered curses. Moses told Am Yisrael that it would be for them to choose, the blessing or the curse. This is an important instruction, acted out physically in space.
The other incredible thing was just before they went through the path of choosing blessings or curses. Moses said this to Am Yisrael, that he was giving them a good doctrine:
It is not in the heavens, that you should say, "Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?" Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?" No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
Deuteronomy 30:12-14
This Doctrine, by tradition, represents both the Written and Oral Torah.
Notice that in both cases, Moses emphasizes the inherent knowledge of humanity and the freedom of humanity to choose. It is not up to leaders, professors, academics, priests, rabbis, or others to determine either what is true or what path to take. The People Israel know the Doctrine, in their mouth and in their hearts. The People Israel choose between blessing and curse. It is useful to know here that Israel means "wrestles with G-d." So, the People who Wrestle with G-d know and choose.
Did Abraham study Kabbalah? How could he have if Kabbalah is part of what G-d revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai? One argument holds that Torah (Oral and Written) was revealed in two directionsthat it already existed always, so was revealed to the past and the future from the present. Even so, did Abraham study it?
I would argue that Abraham knew Torah, that he knew Kabbalah. First, he spoke directly with G-d and G-d to him. Second, as Moses said, the Doctrine is in the heart and mouth of the people. If this is so for people who were, at the time Moses spoke to them, a generation removed from Sinai, would it not also be so for Abraham, who spoke directly with G-d? Second, Abraham began Jewish Monotheism because he knew G-d. He already knew, already had experienced revelation as the Patriarch. Third, even if Torah was revealed in two directions to the past as well as the future, this does not mean it was studied before Sinai.
In fact, it likely wasn't studied in the sense we mean until after the fall of the Second Temple. Before that, it was memorized and recited. But the Study of Torah and Kabbalah comes during after the Rabbinic period, when first Rabbis studied, explained and interpreted the texts, and then others studied what the Rabbis wrote alongside the texts. The Oral Torah, which includes Kabbalah, was passed on and studied only by those who had completed this first phase of study, along with the study of Talmud (another portion of Oral Torah that was later written down).
Finally, the tradition is that the first and main texts of Kabbalah came from revelation given to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son during the Roman period. By the time of the Roman period, Abraham had long ago left the worldperhaps as much as four thousand years before. So what would he have studied? The Oral Torah and the Written Torah would have been completely known to him, and the Commentaries, Writings and Interpretations that make up what we call Kabbalah would not yet have existed.
So I vote, "No." Abraham did not study Kabbalah. He probably knew it, but he had no need to study it.
Learn more about this author, Michael Deqel.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Yes
As with any debate one must begin with a definition of the terms used. "Kabbalah" is a word meaning "receiving" or "that which has been received". If this debate were to ask "Did Abraham study the ten seferot and Ezekiel's Chariot, the answer would most probably been "NO". If it were to ask "Did Abraham drink Kabbalah water and e-mail Madonna, the answer would be a definite "NO". But the very foundations of the discipline we now call Kabbalah began at creation. At creation HaShem created Adam, the Adam Kadmon, the blueprint for all of creation. This Adam Kadmon was in the image of G-d, meaning, He was granted all the attributes of the ten seferot that reflected his creator. In this instance it would be safe to say that even Adam and Eve has some spark of the energy of Kabbalah that defined their existence.
Abraham was raised by a Pagan priest. According to Talmud his father was not only a priest but created idols of wood and clay to sell to the local pagan worshipers. As Abraham was working in his father's shop his "revelations" began growing, his understanding took hold and he "received" the concept that there is no gods that man can create who are truly gods. He could see that all of the world had a spirituality and an order. From this logic he deduced that there is ONE G-D, undefinable and uncontrollable, who created everything. This is Kabbalah. It is that spark of divine revelation that sets one apart from the ordinary and the common and helps us to receive the spiritual truths that create our world. As the story goes, Abraham broke all the statues except one. When his father came back he was appalled.
"Why have you destroyed all my income!" he screamed.
"oh father, it was not me. See this one large idol left, it destroyed all the others"
"You are lying. This idol is made of wood and stone. It can not move. It cannot destroy. It can do nothing". his father retorted.
"yes, father....and this is who you worship?"
We even have a parshat dedicated to Jethro. The only Torah portion named after a gentile. Because at this point Jethro, even, understood. He received the Truth that the G-d of creation is not made of stone or wood.
For hundreds of years the Kabbalah was only an oral tradition transmitted from one rabbi or torah scholar to another. One was not allowed to learn it by oneself. It was necessary to be at least 40 years old and have years in dedication to learning Torah before venturing into the study of the mystical aspects of Judaism. So what we see here is that Torah learning is the foundation of Kabbalah. That is precisely why Rav. Berg, and "Madonna Kabbalah" can never grasp the total truths of this mystical religion. I am not in opposition to the study of Kabbalah by those who are not torah observant, I am only opposed to their representing such a great pathway in such a trite way. And that is why I would like to include Abraham as a student in Kabbalah, He "received" the very foundations of Judaism and is an excellent representative of the paths of truth available to those who will "receive".
Learn more about this author, Ginger Betzer.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
