What is Kabbalah?
Judaism in Five Minutes - Sarah Imhoff
Brian Hillman [+]
Towson University
Brian Hillman is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Towson University in Towson, MD. His research focuses on modern Jewish thought, Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), and religion and popular culture. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the Journal of Jewish Identities, Jewish Studies Quarterly, Religious Studies Review, and the Jewish Book Council. He also serves as the managing editor for the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy.
Description
This chapter provides an overview of the major ideas, texts, and figures in the history of Kabbalah. Kabbalah is often characterized as a Jewish form of mysticism. It emerged in a mature form around the thirteenth century in Western Europe with the creation of the Zohar, a sprawling work of Kabbalistic narrative. The Zohar uses the central system of Kabbalistic symbols called the sefirot. The Sefirot are presented as representing the inner workings of divinity or the divine attributes. Subsequently, Kabbalah developed in North Africa, Eastern Europe, Israel, and the United States.