Why Was It Kept Secret?
The Wine of Torah
The Torah often refers to Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah, as “sod,” meaning the esoteric or secret dimension of Judaism. It is also referred to metaphorically as the “Wine of Torah.” Besides the fact that wine, like mysticism, brings joy to the one who imbibes, wine is used as a metaphor for Jewish mysticism because it is associated with secrets, as in the Talmudic aphorism, “When wine enters, secrets come out” (Eiruvin 65a). Indeed, as the Talmud notes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word for wine yayin - is 70, the same numerical value as the word for secret - sod. (In Hebrew every letter is also a number. When two words share a numerical value it indicates a shared theme.)
In many Kabbalistic writings the discipline of Kabbalah is known by the name CHAIN (grace), an acronym for “chochma nistara” - “the esoteric wisdom.”
It has also been noted that the English words “mystery” and “mystical” are very likely derivatives of the Hebrew/Aramaic word “mistorin” which, as its cognates “seter” and “hester,” means secret or concealed.
Besides pointing out the mystical quality of Kabbalah, the wine metaphor also indicates the dangers of Jewish mysticism. Wine can enhance one’s life, but it can also be the source of misfortune and destruction. According to the Talmud (Berachot 40a) the Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Eve partook of in committing the first sin was a grapevine.
Moreover, Midrash (Rabbah, Genesis 21:7) – states that had Adam waited another few hours, he would have been permitted to take the same grapes, make wine from them, and use the wine to make the Kiddush blessing to usher in the Sabbath. Adam’s problem was his timing. He sinned by revealing G-d’s mysteries - the “Tree of Knowledge” (a grapevine) - prematurely.
This error is repeated by Noah when he emerges in the new world after The Flood. The first thing he does is plant a grapevine, and then he becomes intoxicated. As a result he is exposed and degraded, with dire consequences for one of his sons. As Adam before him, Noah miscalculated by divulging the secret of Torah its wine - prematurely.
The metaphor of wine for Jewish mysticism suggests that it is a positive drink for some in moderation at the right time. But how do we determine when is the right time to imbibe? Since no one can be so presumptuous as to say that he is ready to study Kabbalah and will not be harmed, the rabbis have decreed that no one may study Kabbalah without proper authorization.
To become qualified to study Kabbalah, one must first spend years studying the legal part of Torah and demonstrate steadfast commitment to the practice of all of its precepts and an obsession with purity and holiness, among other conditions. Furthermore, this “license” involves being chosen by G-d, or by someone G-d had chosen, to learn, master and then teach these secrets to those who are deserving.
A time will come, however, when everybody will be able to imbibe, as we will discuss later. This determination has to be made by G-d Himself, or by an objective initiate who was himself chosen by G-d.
Divine Intimacy and Spiritual Voyeurism
There is yet a deeper reason as to why the mystical teachings of Judaism were kept secret from the masses. The more cherished the object, the more we conceal it from the public eye, not just to prevent it from being sullied or stolen, but as a way of expressing the extraordinary value of the object.
Experiences can also be precious. Precious experiences, like precious objects, lose their value if they are not kept discreet. Marriage is a case in point. Marital intimacy is one of the most beautiful and holy expressions of G- dliness. It is, according to Kabbalah, the union of two half-souls that were separated during birth. Every marital union has the potential to unleash the deepest soul powers of husband and wife, giving expression on all levels of their being, from the most spiritual to the most physical. This type of experience, by definition, should be private.
Likewise, the teachings of Kabbalah and the experiences they engender are expressions of the most profoundly intimate connections that exist between G-d and man. The sages, cited by Rashi in his commentary on the Biblical book, Shir Hashirim, explain that the verse “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” in the Song of Songs is a reference to the secrets of Torah that will be revealed in the Messianic Age. That the Torah alludes to Jewish mysticism with the metaphor of kisses - in the most intimate and romantic sense of the word illustrates the feelings of intimacy with G-d one experiences through the teachings of Kabbalah.
To wantonly and capriciously expose them to the masses is to strip them of their beauty, intimacy, exquisiteness and holiness.
And just as an outsider has no business intruding on the intimacy of two married people, those who are not initiates in the esoteric wisdom have no right to practice spiritual voyeurism. Voyeurism is a crime not only because it is an invasion of privacy, but also because it destroys the exquisiteness of a private experience.
The Cosmic Balance and Divine Deception
Kabbalah itself provides yet another explanation as to why its teachings had to remain concealed. When G-d created the world He introduced two modes of energy: one positive and holy; the other negative and unholy.
The purpose of creating a dual system is to enable us, the created beings, to make our own choices and use our own talents to tip the balance of the universe in favor of goodness and holiness. Whenever we perform a Mitzvah especially if its performance was difficult and required much energy and willpower to overcome obstacles - we alter the composition of the world. When the created beings push the balance from bad to good, the forces of evil G-d created cannot complain that the balance was altered, because it was changed fairly and squarely, in accordance with the Divine “rules of engagement.”
There are, however, other ways in which the balance of power can be shifted in favor of the forces of holiness and goodness. Whenever a new spiritual revelation is introduced into the world, the balance of power is dramatically altered.
The Revelation at Mount Sinai, for example, constituted the introduction of a major, unprecedented influence of Divinity into the world. And throughout history there have always been smaller but nonetheless powerful surges of spiritual energy into the world.
These explosions of divine energy, however, pose a problem: if these dual forces of good and evil were designed by their Creator to be equally balanced, how do we “get around” the system? Wouldn’t the forces of evil “demand” that they too be given more power? And wouldn’t the spontaneous spurt of good energy dictate that there be a concomitant introduction of evil?
To deal with this potential threat to any major spiritual change in the world, the Creator employs a system of “subterfuge.” The new surge of spiritual energy is camouflaged and thereby “smuggled” into the world.
We find several examples of this “stealth” phenomenon in biblical history.
When Isaac wanted to bless his son Esau before his passing, Rebecca asked her son Jacob to disguise himself as if he were Esau. Jacob, the progenitor of the Jewish people, received the most powerful blessings from his father Isaac by way of deception.
Many commentators have grappled to understand why such holy people would use such unholy means to obtain these blessings. Even if we try to justify Jacob’s use of deception to get the blessings - for example, by explaining that Esau was guilty of deception because he failed to notify his father that he had sold his birthright and was not interested in Isaac’s spiritual legacy - it is difficult to comprehend why G-d would allow the transferal of the blessings through such unorthodox means.
Kabbalah provides the answer. These blessings were not just the wishful thoughts of a loving parent expressed to his children before his death. If that were the case, why did Isaac choose to bless only Esau? Why would he not also bless Jacob?
The Jewish mystical tradition teaches us that these blessings were the channeling of some of the most powerful spiritual energies in Isaac’s possession. It was Isaac’s contention that these spiritual energies were needed to help refine the world. In Isaac’s mind, Esau, the earthy hunter, was the proper conduit through which these energies would reach the world. Jacob, he thought, was too “other-worldly.” Isaac reasoned that had the blessings been given to Jacob, they would never reach the lowest levels of existence. Isaac did not fully appreciate that Esau, due to his coarseness, would not be able to internalize these energies. In the hands of Esau, instead of these spiritual blessings changing the world, they would be lost and gone to waste.
In truth, Jacob was better equipped to retain these blessings, internalize them and transmit them to the rest of the world.
However, if Jacob would have been endowed with such unusual spiritual powers in an open way, the forces of evil would have cried foul, and countervailing negative energies would have had to be introduced into the world to retain the balance between good and evil. To preclude this G-d orchestrated the introduction of these blessings into the world through deceptive means. The forces of evil never suspected that the ultimate positive energies would enter the world through the ultimate subterfuge.
Another example of the most powerful spiritual forces coming into the world through camouflage is the soul of Moshiach, the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, based on the Bible, Talmud and other classical Jewish writings, Moshiach is the person G-d has chosen to bring the world to its ultimate state of perfection, when evil will cease to exist. The forces of evil, of course, would never accept the entrance of a soul so powerful that they would be put out of business. So to introduce this soul to the world, say the sages, G-d used subterfuge.
The Messiah is a descendant of King David. Yet when one analyzes the genealogy of King David, one would hardly think that he would be chosen to be the progenitor of the most spiritually sublime Jewish leader. King David was a descendant of Ruth, the Moabite princess, who, in turn, was a descendant of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and therefore she was the progeny of the incestuous relations he had with his younger daughter, as told in the Book of Genesis.
Ruth’s husband Boaz was a descendant of Judah - the son of Jacob - and Tamar. Tamar disguised herself as a harlot and seduced Judah, her father-in-law. The offspring of their union was Peretz, the ancestor of Boaz.
The marriage of Ruth, a Moabite convert, to Boaz was also dubious. Some of the greatest rabbis of the time criticized this marriage and regarded it as an illegitimate union because of the Torah injunction against a Moabite entering the Jewish community through marriage. Boaz’s defense was that the prohibition did not apply to a female Moabite. Ultimately, the legal authorities upheld this argument, but this did not prevent King David’s critics, several generations later, from questioning David’s legitimacy as a Jew.
To make things even worse, there is a tradition that David’s mother was suspected of committing adultery and that King David was the product of that illicit union. When we add to this very questionable ancestral record King David’s relationship with Batsheba, from whom Solomon - who carried on the Messianic lineage - was born, the plot thickens.
Why would such illustrious Jewish leaders, the progenitors of the Davidic dynasty leading to Moshiach, be the offspring of such unrefined unions? Certainly G-d could have found some candidates with purer pedigrees to be the leaders of Israel. But because the ultimate fruit of these leaders - the soul of Moshiach - was destined to upset the balance of good and evil in the world, they had to come into the world through camouflage. No one would ever suspect that these special souls would be the products of such unsavory relationships, and so the forces of evil did not rail against their selection as leaders. They anticipated no major upheavals from such souls, so there was no reason for them to panic.
Just as Jacob’s blessing and the soul of Moshiach had to be introduced into the world through stealth so that the forces of evil would not notice, the powerful teaching of Kabbalah required a secret entrance.
Kabbalah’s secrecy was maintained not only by keeping it from the masses, but also by the way it was transmitted - by metaphorical imagery, often sexual. No one would suspect that the deepest mysteries of creation would be conveyed by way of erotic imagery. No wonder so many novices erred in their understanding of Kabbalah. But because it could be introduced this way into the world without much resistance from the negative forces, it had the desired impact. Little by little, the light of Kabbalah would prepare the world for a time when it would become accessible to all.
A Mystery that Cannot be Mastered
Take a book and cover it. It is now invisible to the naked eye. Think a thought and don’t tell it to anyone. In both situations something is hidden: the book or the thought. The difference is that you hid the book, while the thought is, by definition, a hidden entity. But even a thought can be revealed. There are certain ideas that are beyond explanation.
Kabbalah, unlike other abstruse and abstract levels of knowledge, is not hidden from us because we are too simple to comprehend its wisdom; rather, this knowledge cannot possibly be fathomed. There is a natural barrier between us and Kabbalah.
To the modern American mindset, this is hard to understand. How can there be knowledge that is beyond our ability to comprehend? Scientists and philosophers once believed that the human mind would ultimately conquer all.
They believed there was no secret of creation that would not eventually be uncovered. Their attitude was the longer we do research, the more we will know and fewer will be the mysteries that elude us.
Those were, however, 19th century scientists and philosophers, who thought that the human mind had no limits. Twentieth century science reversed that confidence and optimism. With the uncertainty principle of quantum physics, DNA research and other scientific breakthroughs, it became evident that there are aspects of nature that utterly transcend our comprehension. The more we discover, the more we realize that there is a dimension of existence that can never be accessed by the human mind that defies comprehension, quantification and categorization.
Kabbalah deals with precisely that realm of knowledge. It is secret not simply because we have good reason not to divulge its mysteries, but because it is by definition a discipline that cannot be fathomed and revealed.
The Bible tells us something seemingly superfluous about King Solomon: he was able to convey 3,000 parables. This information would be impressive - if Solomon was known as the greatest storyteller rather than the wisest man of all. What the Bible is saying about King Solomon’s wisdom is that it was so abstruse that it took 3,000 parables to bring any one of his ideas down to the level of the common man.
This means that when he conceived of an idea he had to garb it in a parable to make it intelligible. But even then it was still far beyond the reach of most people, necessitating a second parable to bring it down one more level. It took Solomon three thousands parables, or steps, to bring his wisdom down to the level of the common person. In other words, King Solomon’s wisdom was 3,000 levels above the level of wisdom possessed by the average person.
Now even King Solomon’s wisdom had its limits. According to the Torah, he could not fathom the reason for the purification process described in the Bible in which a person who had become impure through contact with a corpse is sprinkled with the ashes of a completely red heifer, a ritual that made the sprinkler impure. Moses, on the other hand, was told by G-d its reason. This means that Moses’ intellect transcended even Solomon’s.
Now we would have expected Moses to understand all of G-d’s ways. Yet the Talmud (Menachot) describes how this was not so. G-d showed Moses the future leaders of the Jewish people. When he saw Roman-era sage, Rabbi Akiva, Moses was greatly impressed. When G-d then showed him the tortuous way in which the Romans killed Rabbi Akiva by flaying his body with sharp iron combs, Moses protested: “Is this Torah and its reward?!” G-d responded by saying: “Be silent. This is what has arisen in My thoughts.”
Even Moses, whose intelligence transcended Solomon’s, which was 3,000 levels beyond that of an average person, hit a ceiling. There was something that he could not possibly comprehend because it utterly transcended logic. In a similar vein the teaching of Kabbalah is so sublime that it is beyond the level of human comprehension. No amount of parables can bring it down to us, because it is utterly outside the pale of human comprehension.
Intellectual Access Denied
This premise, that Kabbalah is beyond the realm of logic, begs an obvious question: if Kabbalah is so supra-rational, how did even the spiritual elite, who had access to it, comprehend this knowledge? How did the great Kabbalists write books about it and teach it to their disciples? Moreover, there is an attempt being made today to popularize Kabbalah. How can one popularize what is essentially beyond human comprehension?
The answer lies in a better understanding of the human psyche. We are accustomed to thinking that the human psyche consists of our intellect, emotions and five senses. Accordingly, if something cannot be accessed by any of these “instruments,” it cannot be incorporated into our system.
In truth, there are other levels of consciousness that lie outside the parameters of our recognized senses and faculties. These levels are accessible only to the soul. One such matter is faith. When a person expresses belief in G-d, for example, it is not just an expression of “blind” faith - you believe because someone (your parent or teacher) told you to believe - but a supra-rational expression of the soul.
Faith, in other words, is a faculty of the soul that is manifest within the person, most often when the intellect does not cloud it. Just as one’s intellect can be clouded by emotion, so too can faith be clouded by intellect. Certain spiritual levels of awareness and knowledge cannot be penetrated by the normal range of faculties and senses. Only the soul has the means to draw from them. And to the extent that one’s soul is dominant in one’s life, the soul will be capable of apprehending this knowledge. A person who is “in touch” with his soul will obviously have an easier time connecting with his faith as well as other soul-experiences.
Just as being “in touch” with one’s soul makes it easier to tap into faith and the other spheres beyond intellect, distancing oneself from the soul by fixating on the body’s interests makes it more difficult to have faith. Ultimately, one must allow for the total domination of soul over body to prevent the body from posing a barrier to the soul’s means of expression.
Limited Asceticism
This explains why, notwithstanding the aversion of Judaism and Jewish mysticism to withdrawing from the world and denying the body and physical existence, there was nevertheless, a school of thought within the community of Kabbalists that promoted ascetic practices. The aim of this school was to remove the impediments to the soul and its ability to reach into areas the human mind could not reach.
This self-denial was not, however, a repudiation of the crucial role the body plays in making the world into a G-dly place. It was just a means to gain supremacy over the base bodily obsessions, thereby allowing the soul to fully express itself to the point that the mystical knowledge would “enter” into and be “processed” within their conscious minds. (You need to either drop the quote marks and/or explain why it didn’t really enter, etc.) Once that would occur, they were in a better position to refine the body and make the physical world holy.
Owing to the myriad of personalities, there were some Kabbalists whose main focus was revealing their souls’ potential by withdrawing somewhat from the physical realm, while others focused primarily on expressing in the physical realm the G-dly energy they accessed. They were not at odds with one another, rather their roles were complementary.
Besides having to overcome the obstructive nature of the body, the mystic had to be endowed with a soul attuned to mystical knowledge. Not all souls are created equal. Some souls are designed by their Creator to be receptive to Divinity; other souls are designed with a more limited capacity.
Kabbalistic knowledge was limited to an exclusive group, not as a matter of exclusion or discrimination against the less spiritual, but simply on the basis of ability. One who was not spiritual enough - either because of his inherent limitations or because of lack of personal refinement - would never be able to access Kabbalah. Not only would his study of Kabbalah be a waste of time, it would actually prove deleterious to his spiritual and physical wellbeing. Though thinking he was receiving revelations and the highest wisdom, in reality he would be having imaginary experiences and thinking distorted thoughts would not be fit to receive the wisdom of Kabbalah. One can read all the writings of Kabbalah and have absolutely no real understanding of them, because his soul is not suited for accessing this information.
Granted, within the vast literature of Kabbalah there are certain bits and pieces of information that are clear and understandable, on some level. But the bulk of the material cannot possibly be fathomed even by the greatest intellect, unless his soul is on fire.
The modern-day “experts” of Kabbalah, even if they committed to memory all the Kabbalistic writings, are no closer to mastering Kabbalah than someone who never heard about it is. These “scholars,” who employ logic and scholarly techniques to dissect the Zohar, for example, can be likened to someone who tries to cut water with a knife.
In light of Kabbalah’s intrinsically concealed nature, two very urgent questions can and have been raised concerning the efforts by some of Judaism’s greatest teachers to popularize the teachings of Kabbalah in the last few centuries: 1) Why would they jeopardize the well-being of the masses by revealing this sensitive knowledge? 2) How could they reveal something that is inherently beyond revelation?
Holy Receptors
Five main factors determine the nature of one’s spiritual receptivity: the nature of one’s G-dly soul; the nature of the intellectual soul; the nature of the animal soul; the nature of the body; and one’s behavior.
Some people were born naturally holy. Either they possessed very lofty and sensitive souls, or their souls were very close to the surface of their consciousness.
What makes a soul close to our consciousness?
Chassidic thought reveals to us the existence of three distinct souls within each of us. The G-dly soul and the Animal soul are antithetical to each other; indeed, they speak a different language. What is intelligible to one is unintelligible to the other.
Yet, for us to express our G-dly nature within our physical existence which is driven by the Animal soul, we must have a referee. This referee is the third soul, known as the intellectual soul. Its function is to introduce the G-dly soul to its animal counterpart. In other words, it finds ways of using rational thought to convince the Animal soul that G-d and G-dly experiences are positive and beneficial even to the Animal soul.
Now, the intellectual soul itself comes in different colors and hues. The more the intellectual soul is refined it allows the G-dly soul to connect to the animal soul and express itself.
In addition some people, whatever their soul’s nature may happen to be like, are more spiritual than others because their animal souls and bodies were created in a manner such that they do not obstruct very much.
Another variable - the most important perhaps - is the way one lives. When one does not allow his baser instincts to take over, notwithstanding the spiritual status of his soul, he will be more receptive to spiritual influences.
Torah is G-dly wisdom cloaked in rational thought, and can therefore be understood by the average person. Even a totally non-spiritual person can understand the other dimensions of Torah.
Conversely, the mystical dimension of Torah is G-dly wisdom without a cloak of reason and is accessible only to the elite few, whose trans- rational soul powers can access the divine dimension of Torah.
This leaves us with two questions:
First, how then could these esoteric and elusive teachings become accessible to the human mind?
Second, if there is a way to accomplish that feat, why was it not revealed from the outset?
We will tackle these two issues in the next few chapters.
From the book Safe Kabbalah, Part One: Opening the Gates by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
