I rely only on kosher, Orthodox Jewish sources. The fact that other religions make use of prayer and worship and use concepts that is superficially similar to that of the Jew is of no consequence and does not make true worship, prayer and meditation any less meaningful or unique, since it is all taken and misused from the proper Judaic context.

It is written, "And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But to the sons of the concubines, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country." (Genesis 25:5,6). the Zohar (1:99b) comments that the people of the east were great sages, who inherited this wisdom from Abraham, since he gave all of his physical possessions to Isaac, all he had to give was true wisdom, which was later perverted into idolatrous practices.

I am not a Kabalist nor do I presume to be an expert in Kabbalah. During my three years full time study in Orthodox Jewish Rabbinic collage(1985-1988), when I had time, I would go to the Kotel (Western Wall) and join the prayers Tikun Chatsot (Midnight Service) and Neits (Sunrise Service). I would learn some Torah from one of the Kabalist there, between the two prayer services. This was his introduction of Kabbalah to me:

What is called "Kabbalah," in our times, has very little to do with classic Kosher Kabbalah. True Kosher Kabbalah has nothing to do with "New Age" nonsense or Mystical "mumbo jumbo." Kosher Kabbalah is different then the "gurus in Jewish garb," or "mystics" teach.

Kosher Kabbalah is the study of how to become closer to G-d, and to emulate the Divine attributes of His mercy, patience, etc. If you sense that the bait of the person or institution which purports to teach Kabbalah is the promise of spiritual powers, that is the first sign that this source is not Kosher Kabbalah.

The purpose of Kabbalah is to become one as a partner with G-d in the creative process and especially in the purpose of creation, which is to make the world a dwelling place for G-d's Infinite Light and His Absolute Essence.

Clearly when one devotes himself to this study and wisdom, from day to day and hour to hour in his devoted study, he refines his personality and character traits, because he is drawing closer to G-d. As the Sages say, "Just as G-d is merciful, so must you be merciful." (Talmud, Shabat 151b) G-d has attributes which are
manifest and revealed in reality.

All of Kosher Kabbalah is the study of G-d, and is ultimately directed at the Divinity of G-d, so as to be able to emulate G-d in our lives. Clearly, the more that one studies Kosher Kabbalah properly, the closer that one comes to G-d, and the more that he refines his character. All his attributes and characteristics become G-dly and Divinely inspired. This means that a main prerequisite, is the true desire of the heart to come close to G-d. The beginning of Jewish consciousness is the desire to come close to G-d.

When the Jewish soul becomes one with this wisdom and comprehension, his whole life pattern is changed, from the consciousness of the mind, to the emotions of the heart, to his behavior.

The study of Kabbalah depends upon the devotion and true desire of the heart of the student of Kabbalah. This is a prerequisite, the true desire of the heart to come close to G-d. In addition, it depends upon a revelation from above. The beginning of Jewish consciousness is the desire to come close to G-d. In that merit, over the generations, more and more has been revealed from above. The ultimate revelation from above, which depends upon how truly we desire to become close and one with G-d, is the revelation of the Messiah, whom we are waiting for.

One must remember that Kabbalistic concepts are always metaphors, which cannot be taken literally. Just like one needs two legs to stand on, the Kabbalah has two essential requirements: understanding the Hebrew Bible in the original Hebrew and a solid knowledge of the Oral Torah. Without both requirements one cannot begin to understand Kosher Kabbalah. It is like a child with a very basic grasp of science wanting to learn quantum physics. It is a waste of time.

The less knowledge of the Hebrew Bible in the original Hebrew and Oral Torah, the less time one should devote to study of Kabbalah. Almost all of the so called Kabbalah in translation, is crank scholarship of those who do not have a "leg" to stand on.

The Talmud (Chagigah 13a) cites Ben Sirach's admonition:
"What is beyond you, do not seek and what is concealed from you, do not probe. Where you authorized, seek to understand. You have no concern with the mysteries."

Gardner101

If I had children I would tell them to leave it alone the same as I would tell them to not look over the neighbor's fence. I've read it and it feels like window peeking. I understand some things about quantum mechanics, light and dark and how things work, but getting into the kingdom is all about following the Lord and regarding things the way He says. When it is necessary to see other aspects of the truth , He has given us parables that make it all clear. It's part of being a family member, If you're not given to understand, you're not in. In the following quote, Hosea tells how people who did not understand made the wrong choices in his day. Hosea 4:14 I will not visit upon your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor upon your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery: for they offer with whores, and they sacrifice with [cult] prostitutes; therefore the people without understanding shall fall. I don't think it is given for us to pervert the genetics God made for this earth, like stem cell and genetic manipulation. I think that gets into His business. The same is true with the kaballah because it takes the reader behind the curtain to a place where we are not permitted to go. An example of people who have tried to follow the kaballah is the Free Masons. While they have done a lot of good in the world, it still ends in the very old trap of power mongering. And it will not be part of the new Kingdom.

Ron Cash
roncash326@gmail.com

I recently bought a book called "The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet" by Rabbi Michael L. Munk. I would like to know if anyone has read it or heard of it. I became a bit weary as there are a few things quoted with reference to Kaballah or by "Rabbis" with reference to it. As much as I want to study about the depths of the Hebrew language I do not want to fill my head with something that is not of God. I am a Born Again believer who has recently started enthusiastically studying my Jewish roots.
Be Blessed
Denise

I'm a longtime Christian (not Messianic) who'd never come across the Kaballah until I became friends with a Jewish man who not only spoke at length about it in his own life, but who sent me a book by Rav P.S. Berg of which I was only able to read the first few pages before having to literally bin it - everything in it screams Satan from its twisting of scripture, through to the way it removes God from His creation and states that He is to weak as to require man to "fix" the broken world for Him. It puts the whole emphasis on YOU and not on GOD and you can just hear Satan's "I will" statements running all the way through the Zohar.

I've given up trying to persuade Moshe of his error in this respect, as like Rabbi Crawford above, he can only see good things in it. My primary objection is that to say that the god of the Zohar and the god of the Torah are one and the same is to liken Allah to Jehovah!!! The 2 absolutely don't match up no matter how hard you try to make them. The God of the Torah is a personable God who is very much in interaction with His creation from Day 1, and at no point does He tell us that we have to dig deeper into the "letters" of His Word in order to figure out what He's telling us. He's made it totally plain - He says what He means and means what He says, and we don't require anything outside of scripture to teach us anything further about Him nor to bring us closer to Him.

It's sad to see how so many in traditional Judaism, particularly within Israel, are so heavily involved in its deception but then Satan always seeks to destroy the Jews first and foremost. :(

Romayne
Belfast N. I. UK
http://tikkiro.wordpress.com