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I remember when I still lived in my parent’s house in London, my father, who was a religious man, taught us that it was forbidden to learn Kabbalah. Because at that time the Kabbalah was still concealed from the general community. But now we can find Kabbalah everywhere. What has changed?
Rabbi Ashlag in his great introduction, the Panim Meirot uMasbirot, writes: The general opinion is that the four parts of the Torah known as the Pshat —the written Torah, the Remez — from which we derive the Halachot, the Drush — the Midrash, and the Sod — the Kabbalah, should be learned in that order.
However, the great Sage, the Gaon of Vilna, taught:
“The beginning of our attainment in Torah begins with the Sod, the Kabbalah, the innermost aspect of the Torah, and only when we have attained that part of the Torah which is the Sod, is it possible to attain the part which is the Drush, and subsequently the part which is the Remez. Only when we have merited to be complete in those three parts of the Torah then we may merit to attain the Pshat!”
The Gaon of Vilna uses the term השגה. This word means attainment in Torah. So he is not talking about pure intellectual understanding, but about a connection with God, about attainment of the light of Torah which shows us our own negative acts and thus can lead us to become closer with the Creator. As we can only correct what we can see. Thus this great light helps us to become closer to the Creator as we learn to desire to become more giving and less self-centered. Eventually, we can come to dvekut, unity with God through the practice of the Torah.
Since the Sod, the Kabbalah, is concerned entirely with the reason for the mitzvot, the intentions of our forefathers in their actions, and the intentions behind the Creator’s acts, we also learn how our intentions in our own actions matter and have great effect on outcomes.
Since this is the case, why was the Kabbalah concealed for so many generations? What does its revelation at this time tell us about our own generation and the times we live in?
The Sages of the Talmud wrote two thousand years ago:
“In the generation of the footsteps of the Messiah, the chutzpah will grow, the cost of living will greatly increase, the vine will give of its fruit but wine will be expensive, the government will be concerned with sexual matters, there will be nobody to reprove, even the house of the sages will be a house for whores. … The wisdom of the sages will stink, those who fear sin will be despised and truth will be lacking from life. Young men will shame the elderly, and the elderly will give respect to the young. A son will despise his father, a daughter will rise up against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The members of a person’s household will be his enemies, the face of the generation will be as the face of a dog. A son will not be ashamed before his father. On whom can we rely on? Only on our Father who is in heaven.”
On the other hand, the Sages of the Zohar stated:
It is in the time of the footsteps of the Messiah, this wisdom will be revealed, even to the youngest.
How can we reconcile these two opposing statements? And how can the study of Kabbalah help us in these troubled times?
These are questions addressed in the accompanying podcast
Listen here:
This podcast is dedicated in loving memory and for the ilui Nishmat of Feigi Bat Rivka z”l and Aharon and Sara Kotler, May their memories be a blessing for us.
Much of the material for this podcast is taken from the new biography of Rabbi Ashlag just published on Nehora Press website. The Master of the Ladder: The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Lieb Ashlag by Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Gottlieb. Now available as a digital download or as a book.
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