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The Kabbalah and the Jewish Faith

by Bob Butler  
2/08/2010 / Education

The Jewish mystical doctrine known as "Kabbalah" (Tradition) is distinguished by its theory of ten creative forces that intervene between the infinite, unknowable God and our created world. "When God passed down the written tradition, or the Torah, to Moses, the story of Kabbalah says that He also passed down an oral tradition. By the time it was passed down from generation to generation it had accepted parts of Babylonian religion, astrology, myth and magic, Gnosticism, and religious and philosophical speculations from all over the Hellenistic world of thousands of years ago, became the Kabbalah. And while the Torah served as a means of studying God's laws, Kabbalah became a set of practical techniques or rituals used to approach God. Of the proponents of those pagan beliefs, who had a hand in shaping the Kabbalah was Solomon bin Gabirol that influenced the development of the Cabala more than any other philosophic system.

Kabbalah was held to be the practice of magic, and was a problem arising during the Babylonian capture. In both Judaic and Hermetic Kabbalah, the main symbol for transcendence and understanding of God is the Tree of Life. There appears to be a relationship between the Kabbalah Tree of Life and tarot cards, which as we know is divination, which is strictly forbidden in the Old Testament. The Jewish Encyclopedia, page 469, tells us of courageous Rabbis who stood up and tried to resist the spreading Kabbalah plague, but who met fierce opposition from the Kabbalists, including Kabalistic Rabbis who had been swept up in the movement. Other rabbis perhaps were less brave, and seeing the Kabbalah becoming entrenched in Jewish life and it being considered Jewish by many, and seeing it becoming popular, opted to keep silent, and not step on anybody's toes. While to some the worst and most detrimental of the dangerous influences of the Kabbalah is its twisting of religion, the damage it does to biblical doctrine. The downfall is that Kabbalism has led countless Jews and non-Jews alike, into the belief in and practice of magic.

The rise of the Kaballah blurred the lines between pagan pantheism and the biblical revelation of God as transcendent Creator. There is no compatibility between the heresies of the Kabbalah and the truth of God as He has revealed Himself, and what the Holy Scriptures teach about Him. Therefore, the redemption of the people of Israel is inexpressible linked to the remedying of turning away from God returning to traditional Jewish Messianic eschatology.

The fact is that the Kabbalah arose from sources that was neither Jewish nor Christian. It was direct disobedience to God for the Jewish people to meddle in and pick up these religious influences. It states that some of the Jews later attempted to justify that adherence to the pagan religious myth, and make it more Jewish. All the attempts through the centuries to make it look and sound and feel Jewish have done nothing but make this pagan religion a successful enough counterfeit that it can be passed off on the Jews as something Jewish. Many today who want to get away with disobeying Torah and The Prophets and The Writings, that is, disobeying Judaism, yet lay claim to being "as Jewish as the next guy," push and promote this mystical. And whoever begins to elevate either Talmud or Kabbalah or the opinions of rabbis to anything even near the authority of The Scriptures is endangering The Jewish Faith and introducing religious confusion. And tragically, some of Gods Chosen People, the Jews, instead of being satisfied with pure Judaism derived from Abraham, Moses, the written Torah and the Prophets (in other words The Hebrew Scriptures), became infatuated with Hellenistic (heathen) elements, and enticed by them, and allowed those elements to creep into and blend with Jewish spiritual speculations.

I am a laymen with an advanced degree in Biblical Lit. I use the internet to speak of those things that touch my heart. You can freely use this article if my name and web site appears on document. www.letters4thelastdays.com.

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