Kabbalah: Difference between revisions

Toras HaChassidus, revealed by [[the Baal Shem Tov]], includes many foundations from Kabbalah, and many sections in Chassidic maamarim explain Kabbalistic concepts. However, the Chassidic leaders did not encourage systematic study of Kabbalah for the masses, but rather explained that through learning Chassidus one also fulfills the obligation to study Kabbalah, and moreover, this study ensures the learner won't err in understanding Kabbalistic concepts.

Throughout the generations, Kabbalah was transmitted, as its name implies, through receiving from person to person. Many Jewish leaders knew it, though we don't know about all of them, since engagement in these matters was kept secret. The first known book in Kabbalah is Sefer Yetzirah, attributed to Avraham Avinu (though it may have been written down in later generations). Among the prophets, there are prophecies describing Hashem's glory that belong to the secret part of Torah, in the books of Yeshayahu and Yechezkel, called Maaseh Merkavah. Chazal placed severe restrictions on engaging with these secrets, and even among the Tannaim and Amoraim, not all engaged with them.

There were several Tannaim known for engaging in Toras HaSod. Among them were Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah, to whom several works in Toras HaSod are attributed: Sefer Hakanah, Sefer HaBahir, Sefer HaPliah, and Sefer HaTemunah; as well as Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva, to whom Pirkei Heichalos and others are attributed. The central figure among the Tannaim who engaged in Toras HaSod was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who together with his son Rabbi Elazar and other Tannaim from his group composed the Zohar. This book was hidden for over a thousand years (though some Geonim and Rishonim may have known it), and was revealed in the first century of the sixth millennium by the Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe de Leon. Since its publication, the book became a foundational text of Kabbalah, and many Kabbalistic writings are based on it.