The Encyclopedia of World Religions

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No one knows quite where it came from. It shares some characteristics with earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, but the way it talks about G OD is dis tinctive. Kabbalah began as an esoteric tradition. That is, it was a private, even secret subject that a student explored under the guidance of an experi enced master. The most important writing to come from Spanish kabbalah was a book named the Zohar, the “Book of Splendor.” When Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, kabbalistic activity shifted locations. No place became more important than Safed in Palestine. It was there that the great kabbalist Isaac Luria (1534–72) lived and taught. In talking about God, kabbalists identified a polarity between what they called the Ein Sof and the sef irot. Literally, Ein Sof means “endless, infinite.” This is God at the greatest distance from human beings: unnameable, unknowable. Sefirot literally means “numbers.” It refers to God’s vari ous powers or characteristics, usually 10 in num ber: kingdom, foundation, eternity, splendor, grandeur, mercy, stern judgment, wisdom, under standing, and thought. Kabbalists teach that these sefirot somehow proceed or emanate from God. Explanations of how they do so vary. In any case, kabbalah usually represents the sefirot as different parts of a cosmic man or tree. Isaac Luria added to kabbalah his own very distinctive and influential ideas. He taught that creation occurred when God withdrew or con tracted into himself ( tsimtsum ). When that hap pened, the universe arose in the space that was left. Light emanated from God and entered vessels that were finite in size, but it shattered them. That shattering created darkness and evil and resulted

Kaaba Arabic for “cube”; the central shrine of Islam, located in Mecca, toward which devout Muslims pray. The Kaaba is one focus of the annual PILGRIMAGE to Mecca in I SLAM ( see M ECCA , PILGRIMAGE TO ). The Kaaba is a cubical structure made of black granite, roughly 42 feet by 36 feet by 55 feet high. It has only a single door and no windows. Inside it are only gold and silver lamps. The Kaaba is gen erally covered by a black cloth embroidered with gold thread known as the kiswah. During pilgrim age time, the “skirts” of this cloth are raised, so that pilgrims can see the actual structure. The Kaaba is said to occupy the spot on Earth directly under God’s heavenly throne. According to legend, A BRAHAM and his son Ishmael built the Kaaba. At that time the ANGEL Gabriel brought a black rock down from HEAVEN and gave it to them. The rock is now encased in silver in one of the corners of the Kaaba. At the time of the prophet M UHAMMAD (570– 632 C . E .), the Kaaba was filled with idols. But in the year 630, Muhammad returned to Mecca after having fled for his life. He emptied the Kaaba of all images and established pilgrimage to Mecca as a major RITUAL of Islam. During pilgrimage Mus lims circle the Kaaba seven times in imitation of the angels, who continually circle G OD ’s heavenly throne. kabbalah From the Hebrew word for “tradi tion”; from the 12th century C . E . on, the main form of Jewish mysticism. Kabbalah arose in northern Spain and southern France in the 12th century.

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