Introduction to Kabbalah

Lessons Program and Schedule

Lesson 1.Introduction: Kabbalah and its Academic study

The lesson will introduce you to Kabbalah and to its academic study. We will discuss the term "Kabbalah," and the varieties of forms and schools of Kabbalah throughout history.

Lesson 2.Sefirot: The Kabbalistic Theory of the Divine Structure

We will learn about one of the most central concepts of Kabbalah - the sefirot: a structureof tendivine powers. We will also explore the concept of God as En-Sof (the Infinite) and its relationship with the sefirot.

Lesson 3.The Inner Life of God: The Dynamics within the Sefirot

We will explore the interrelation of the different sefirot and the effect of their inner dynamics on the lower realms. We will also learn about Kabbalistic theories of the formation of evil and Kabbalistic demonology.

Lesson 4.Human Influence on the Divine

We will learn about the theories and practices of the kabbalists that relate to their belief in the ability of human beings to influence and repair the divine. We will introduce the theory of the rectification of the Divine -tikkun.

Lesson 5.Connecting with the Divine: Prophecy, Attachment, and Union

This lesson will be dedicated to encounters with the Divine in Kabbalah in different forms, such as ascents, visions, and automatic speech, the idea of "uniomystica", and the techniques Kabbalists used to connect and unite with the Divine.

Lesson 6.Kabbalistic Perceptions of the Human Body and Soul

We will explore Kabbalistic perceptions of the human body and the structure of the soul, and the structural resemblance between the human body and the structure of the sefirot. We will discuss different notions of reincarnation as well the idea of possession (dybuk) and exorcism, which is still practiced by Kabbalists today.

Lesson 7.Early Kabbalah and the Zohar

This lesson will be dedicated to the early Kabbalah and the authorship of the Zohar. We will also learn about the Kabbalistic schools of Spain and the ecstatic Kabbalah of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia.

Lesson 8.Lurianic Kabbalah

We will learn about the Kabbalist center in early-modern Safed and the school of Isaac Luria. We will also discuss the Christian Kabbala.

Lesson 9.Kabbalah and Modernity

We will explore Kabbalah and modernity in its main schools of Hasidism, Lithuanian Kabbalah, and the school of Shalom Sharaabi as well as the contemporary revival of Kabbalah.