Kabbalah For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Conventions Used in This Book
	What You’re Not to Read
	Foolish Assumptions
	How This Book Is Organized
		Part 1: So, What’s the Big Secret? Unmasking Kabbalah
		Part 2: Cutting to the Core of Kabbalah
		Part 3: Living the Life of a Kabbalist
		Part 4: Fine-tuning the Essential Skills of the Kabbalist
		Part 5: The Part of Tens
		Part 6: Appendixes
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 So, What’s the Big Secret? Unmasking Kabbalah
	Chapter 1 What Is Kabbalah?
		Getting to Know Kabbalah, “The Received Tradition”
			Kabbalah is Jewish theology
				Asking life’s ultimate questions
				Taking on the spiritual level of existence
			Studying Kabbalah: First, do it; then, understand it
			Correct Posture: Opening Oneself
		Hey, What Are the Big Ideas?
			Why did God create the world?
			The point of life is getting to know God, even if it’s impossible
			It’s all about receiving
			Preparing to know God
			A few more key Kabbalah concepts
		A Constant Search for God
			Missing the forest for the trees
			God is in the details
		Who Can Study Kabbalah?
			Do you have to be Jewish?
			Can an atheist be a Kabbalist?
		Different Approaches to the Study of Kabbalah
		Picking a Kabbalah that Works for You
			Hasidism
			Orthodox (non-Hasidic) Judaism
			Jewish Renewal
			University and general study
			The Kabbalah of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
	Chapter 2 Magic, Mishegas, and Other Things that Kabbalah Isn’t
		Setting the Record Straight
			What Kabbalah isn’t
			What Kabbalah is
		Trying to Figure Out Who’s Legit and Who’s Not
	Chapter 3 Looking Back: A Brief History of Kabbalah
		Kabbalists in the Bible
			Adam: First man, first Kabbalist
			Appreciating Abraham and his Kabbalistic contributions
				What did Abraham do for Kabbalah?
				Abraham’s reputation and ongoing importance
			Moses: The greatest teacher who ever lived
				Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai
				Gifts from Moses
		Kabbalah in the Rabbinic Period
			Rabbi Akiva: A spiritual teacher to the last moment
			Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai writes the Zohar
		Thriving in Spain in the 13th Century
		Coming of Age in the Mystical City of Tzfat
			A gathering of great minds
			Important principles taught and revealed by the Ari
				Some teachings of the Ari
				The creation of the world
				The need to repair the world
		The Bigger You Are, The Harder You Fall: The Shabbatai Tzvi Affair
		The Great Revival: Hasidism
			The rise of the Baal Shem Tov
			A movement is born
		Kabbalah Today
			Kabbalah and Hasidism
			Kabbalah and Jewish Renewal
			Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism
Part 2 Cutting to the Core of Kabbalah
	Chapter 4 The Link Between Heaven and Earth: Kabbalah’s Own Top-Ten Countdown
		Seeing Below the World’s Surface
			The world is filled with God
			God is constantly creating and sustaining the world
			A new Creation every moment
		Kelipot: It Sounds Like Nuts to Me
		The Ten Fundamental Forces that Sustain the World
			The crown
			Wisdom: The intuitive mind
			Understanding: The analytical mind
			Da’at: The crystallization of awareness
			Expansion: The impulse to give
			Contraction: The impulse to receive
			Harmony: The desire for balance
			Victory: The urge to get things done
			Glory: The way of persistence
			Yesod: The bridge-builder
			Sovereignty: The ultimate receptacle
		Ways to Look at the Tree of Life
			Placement
			Vertical lines
			Horizontal lines
			Triads
			Sefirot within sefirot
		Pulling the Strings of Existence: The Work of the Kabbalist
		Transforming the Spiritual into Physical Action
	Chapter 5 Everything (Even a Traffic Jam) Is for the Best
		How Can Everything Possibly Be for the Best?
		Getting the Words Right: Gam Zu L’Tovah
		An Important Rule about Saying, “Everything Is for the Best”
		Don’t Confuse Acceptance with Passivity
		Training Oneself to See Like a Kabbalist
			Having faith
			Being certain that God is perfect
			Attaching yourself to God (and never letting go)
			Knowing that you’re under God’s supervision
			Hoping for the best
			Understanding that things happen for a reason
		Picking Up the Pieces: In the Beginning, a Vessel Was Shattered
		Figuring Out Individual Divine Assignments
		What Do You Do Best?
	Chapter 6 Our Bodies Don’t Have Souls; Our Souls Have Bodies
		A Spark of God in Everyone
		Getting to the Soul of the Matter
			The soul? It’s beyond me
			We’re all unique, though, too
		Descent for the Sake of Ascension — That’s Life
			No pain, no gain
			Leaving God only to come back again
		Introducing the Four Worlds of Kabbalah
			The progression of the four worlds
			Considering the four realms of human existence
			Who inhabits each world?
		Going Up? The Soul’s Journey of Five Levels
	Chapter 7 Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Reincarnation in Kabbalah
		Truth Is Truth
		What Is Reincarnation?
			Life with a purpose
			The soul’s tasks: To repair the world and itself
		Birth and Death (Also Known as Homecoming and Graduation)
			Welcome back, baby!
			When death comes a-knockin’: A Kabbalist’s graduation day
				Reciting a death blessing
				Realizing death is not death, and suffering is not suffering
		Understanding the Significance of Reincarnation to Kabbalah
			Tending God’s garden
			Viewing life as a classroom
			Using reincarnation as a guide for living
	Chapter 8 Instant Karma’s Gonna Get You
		Everything Has Meaning — Everything
		Angels: The Kabbalistic Key to Karma
			An angel isn’t a blonde girl with wings
			How angels are made
			Making corrections with the help of angels
				Turning with teshuvah
				Transforming angels
		Suffering Hurts but Isn’t Random: The Kabbalistic View
			What goes around comes around
			This is a test; this is only a test
			Taking solace from trials in life
			Handling the pain
Part 3 Living the Life of a Kabbalist
	Chapter 9 Living One Day at a Time
		Three Daily Tasks of the Kabbalist
			Prayer: You can (and should) pray just about anywhere and anytime
				Creating individualized prayers
				Getting help and guidance from a prayer book
			Study: Kabbalists do it every day, even if just for five minutes
				Choosing texts for study
				Finding the right study partner
			Acts of lovingkindness: In principle, Kabbalists do as many as possible
				Figuring out how to love
				Feeling good about yourself and accepting praise for acts of kindness
		Waking Up
			Intending to be intentional
			Cultivating gratitude at the first moment of consciousness
		Getting Washed and Dressed
			Washing your hands when you awake
			Putting on your shoes with purpose
			Dressing with modesty
		Offering Prayers and Meditation
			Reciting the standard morning blessings
			Morning prayers
			Focusing on the oneness of the universe: A daily Kabbalistic meditation
		Grabbing a Bite
			Blessings to say before eating
			Blessings to say after eating
		Repairing the World
		Bed Sheets and Balance Sheets: Ending the Day
			Making a nightly accounting
			Meditating on the oneness of the universe before falling asleep
	Chapter 10 Living One Week at a Time
		The End of the Week Is Also the Beginning
		Keeping Your Eye on the Sabbath
		Preparing to Receive the Gift of the Sabbath
			Getting in the right frame of mind
			Dipping in a ritual bath
			Checking off Sabbath essentials
		Greeting the Sabbath the Kabbalistic Way
			Lighting the Sabbath candles
			Singing special songs
		Transforming the Shabbat Dinner Table into a Holy Altar
			Blessing the children
			Singing a Kabbalistic love song to your partner
			Reciting the 23rd Psalm
			Getting wet up to the wrists
			Knowing the choreography of the Sabbath evening meal
		Observing and Enjoying the Sabbath
			Being busy doing nothing
				The primary directive: The Sabbath is grounded in stillness
				39 different ways not to work on the Sabbath
			Reading from the Holy Scrolls
			Making sure you experience delight
		Saying Goodbye to the Sabbath: A Fond and Fragrant Farewell
		Gearing Up for the Sabbath All Over Again
			The rhythm of the week
			The Sabbath: The ultimate receptacle
	Chapter 11 A Year in the Life of a Kabbalist
		Ringing in the New Year without a Noisemaker
			Teshuvah in the New Year
			Important books to check out
		Ten Days in the Early Fall for Introspection and Turning
		The Day of “At-One-Ment”
		Acknowledging with Joy That Life Is Temporary
		Meditating on Light for Eight Days
		Seeing God in Everything
			Celebrating the book of Esther
			Including God in everything — without mentioning God at all
		Liberating Oneself from Narrowness
		A 49-Day Kabbalistic Meditation on the Ascent to God
		Receiving God’s Teachings Constantly
		Mourning the Loss of Wholeness
		Celebrating Birthdays Kabbalisticly
	Chapter 12 A Kabbalist’s Lifecycle
		Beginning with a Bang: Birth
			Greeting the newborn
			Naming the baby — it’s no minor feat
				The importance of listening to intuition
				Renaming a sick baby
		Coming of Age Kabbalistically
			Puberty: More than hormones and acne
			Marking the beginning of the battle of good and evil
			Good and evil: A matter of timing and dosage
		Kabbalistic Marriage
			Joining two halves to make a whole
			Bringing the Divine presence (or presents, if you register)
			Gettin’ busy the Kabbalistic way
			What about divorce?
		Death and Dying in Kabbalah
			Deathbed customs
			When death arrives
			Following the steps of mourning
				The first day
				Burial
				The first week after death
				The first month
				The first year
				Observing the death annually
Part 4 Fine-tuning the Essential Skills of the Kabbalist
	Chapter 13 Discovering the Kabbalistic Books that Really Matter
		The Essential Kabbalah Library
			Tanakh
				The Torah, the Five Books of Moses
				Nevi’im, the Prophets
				Ketuvim, the Writings
			Classic Rabbinic literature
				The Mishnah
				The Talmud
			Midrashic literature: Classical compilations
			The Zohar: The all-time Kabbalistic classic
			Sepharia.org
		Other Classic Books Worth Adding to Your Collection
			Sefer Bahir (The Book of Illumination)
			Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)
			Etz Chayim (The Tree of Life)
			The Shulchan Aruch (The Prepared Table)
			Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Deborah)
			The works of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
			The Torah commentary of Nachmanides
			The Thirteen Petalled Rose
		The Tanya
			Nefesh HaTzimztum: Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin’s Nefesh HaChaim with Translation and Commentary by Avinoam Fraenkel
			The Artscroll Prayer Book
			Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s discourses
		Build Your Kabbalah Library
	Chapter 14 Hitting the Books — and Kissing Them: Studying Like a Kabbalist
		When Kabbalists Hit the Books, They Really Hit Them!
		Understanding the Importance of Study in Kabbalah
			Receiving an ongoing benefit
			Fighting the tendency to forget
			Using study to talk to God
		Where and When Do I Begin?
			Studying the Torah in one year
			Studying the Mishnah in one year
			Studying the Talmud in 7½ years
			Studying Kabbalah: Where and when do you begin?
		Can I Study Kabbalah in English? (You Already Are!)
			Translations to consider
			Don’t rule out learning Hebrew
		When the Student is Ready: Finding a Good Teacher
		Pairing with a Study Buddy
		Studying Ancient Scripture: The Torah
			There must be 70 ways to understand the Torah
			Finding one’s private gate in the Torah
			The four levels of Torah study
		Discussing Life’s Issues with the Sages: The Talmud
	Chapter 15 Praying Like a Kabbalist
		An Overview of Prayer in the Life of a Kabbalist
			Following roads to effective prayer
			Four kinds of prayer
		How to Imagine an Unimaginable God While Praying
			God works in every department
			Knowing before whom you stand
			Shedding conceptions of God
		Addressing God Directly
			Breaking down basic blessings
			Exploring another common phrase in Kabbalistic prayer
		Speaking Most Public Prayer in the Plural
		Inner Attitude Is What Counts
			Praying with kavanah
			Movin’ on up: Levels of kavanah
				Level 1: Simple understanding
				Level 2: Identification with the prayers
				Level 3: Mystical levels
			Kavanah: Easier said than done
				No conversations
				No young children in the sanctuary
				Inner effort
				Use effective melodies
				Let your troubles go
				Avoid visual distractions
				Pray with the right people
		The Kabbalist’s Prayer Book
		A Kabbalist’s Daily Prayer Routine
			Conducting three prayer sessions a day
				Saying 100 blessings each day (Yes, you read that right)
				The daily morning blessings
				Reflecting on the Binding of Isaac
				Singing songs of praise
				Proclaiming the Lord is One
				Saying “The Prayer”
			Saying a blessing for (practically) everything
	Chapter 16 Knowing the Unknowable God
		Understanding that You Can’t Understand is the First Step Toward Understanding
			God is beyond all possible understanding
			God is beyond time
			God is beyond matter
			God is beyond the spirit
			God is beyond infinity
			So what’s the point?
		What Kabbalists Know about God, Even Though They Know Nothing about God
		Developing a Personal Relationship with an Unfathomable God (Yes, It Can Be Done)
			We can’t find God, but God always finds us
			Becoming a master of return (and I’m not talking tennis)
			Talking to God
			Why God matters more than you may think
			Six ways a Kabbalist relates to God
				Emunah: Faith
				Bitachon: Trust
				Deveikut: Clinging
				Kavanah: Inner intention
				Teshuva: Repentance
				Tefillah: Prayer
		Calling God by Name (Even Though God’s Nameless)
			Writing the names of God
			Why does God have so many names?
Part 5 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 17 (Almost) Ten Myths about Studying Kabbalah
		You Have to Be a Man
		You Have to Be Married
		You Have to Be an Orthodox Jew
		You Have to at Least Be Jewish
		You Have to Be Over 40
		You Have to Buy Expensive Books in Hebrew
		You Have to Follow a Dress Code
		You Have to Know Hebrew
	Chapter 18 Ten Great Kabbalists in History
		Adam
			The ultimate soul
			The first being
		Abraham
		Rabbi Akiva
		Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
		Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Holy Ari
		The Shelah HaKodesh, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz
		Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
		The Vilna Gaon
		Rabbi Adin Steinstaltz
		What? How Could You Have Left Out . . .
	Chapter 19 Ten Kabbalah Teachers on YouTube
		Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
		Dr. Daniel Matt
		Rabbi David Aaron
		Abraham Abulofia
		Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
		Rabbi Yitzchok Ginsburgh
		Sara Yehudit Schneider
		Rabbi Manis Friedman
		Rabbi Simon Jacobson
		Rabbi DovBer Pinson
	Chapter 20 Ten Ideas from Kabbalah I Made Sure to Teach My Children
		A Body Does Not Have a Soul; A Soul Has a Body
		If You Think You’ve Arrived, You’re Lost
		A Descent for the Sake of Ascension
		God Is Not the CEO of the Universe
		The Filtrum
		Timing and Dosage
		Infinity and the Old Man in the Sky
		Everything is For Good
		The Rhythm of Holiness
		The Voice of God
Part 6 Appendixes
Appendix A Books and Authors You’ll Thank Me for Recommending
	The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
	The Books of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
	The Way of Splendor: Jewish Mysticism and Modern Psychology by Edward Hoffman
	The Books of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
	Souls on Fire by Elie Wiesel
	9½ Mystics: The Kabbala Today by Rabbi Herbert Weiner
	Kabbalah: Selections from Classic Kabbalistic Works by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel
	Mishneh Torah: Yesodei HaTorah by the Rambam
	The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism by Rabbi Leonard Glotzer
	Nefesh HaTzimztum by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin’s Nefesh HaChaim with Translation and Commentary by Avinoam Fraenkel
Appendix B Gematria: The Secret of Letters and Numbers
	Gematria Basics
	Kameya Amulet
	The Atbash Method
Appendix C A Glossary of Everything Kabbalah
Index
EULA