Kabbalah is a theosophical, mystical doctrine which took shape in the medieval ages at the core of Jewish faiths, which roots reach as early as the second century C.E. It is a way of interpreting the Torah, Jewish scriptures and understanding God. Kabbalah means "that which is received". Their teachings comprise different aspects such as gematria, being a system that permits the assignment of a numerical value to a word or a phrase, which value corresponds to a predefined meaning and is symbolical. All Hebrew words which possess the same numerical value must also have equivalent meanings. For instance: "ACh D (unity) which equals A(1) + Ch(8) + D(4) or 13, is the same as AHBH (love) because A(1) + H(5) + B(2) + H(5) also equals 13; ergo, unity is love + love is unity." Put simply, theosophy is an ensemble of religious/metaphysical teachings that enable us to become privy to the nature of the immortal world and of the Higher Self, therefore God (Monad), through mystical understanding.

A mystic is one who adheres to the idea of an underlying connectedness or unity of all things, which seem separate, discordant and contradictory on the surface. Mystics believe in a universal Oneness, one that must elevate and return to the highest source. All the fallacies tied to the concept of the "self" are therefore annihilated, as the "self" will lose itself in the sea of divine energies, which is God. Mysticism is also defined as one being on the path of the heart; a path which is neither intellectual, calculated, reasoned or rationalized, but emotional: as love and charity. Mysticism is the opposite of Gnosis. Gnosis is a tool: knowledge and wisdom that enable us to equilibrate our mystical ascent. We must first be mystical in order to attain the mental plane where divinity dwells. The thing we must remember is that the moment we begin ascending mystically, we begin ascending astrally and therefore it is a rather easy thing to lead ourselves astray. Gnosis brings equilibrium and because of this, it is of the uppermost importance.

Kabbalah reached its apogee in the early fourteenth century when the Zohar appeared. Kabbalah can be characterized by three concepts: Ein Sof, Sefirot and Mitzvot. God, the One source in which everything dissolves and from which everything continuously emanates or emerges is called, in Hebrew, Ein Sof. Ein Sof literally means: the One without end. Ein Sof refers to an undefined and characterless boundlessness, or infinity. The substrate of all things, therefore, kabbalists believe creation is a continual, ever-present thing.

Sefirot (the sephirothal tree that is on the right) is an ensemble or a series of ten emanations which channel divine influences into and out of our world. It is the manifestation of this infinite Oneness which brings forth creation, the energies of which also flow back to him. The sefirot are a representation of all aspects of reality and are inseparable. Keter/Kether is the first, the highest and the sublimest of the sefirot in the Tree of Life, which literally means "crown". It is "the most hidden of all hidden things" and the depth of its glory is incomprehensible to mortal men. Keter is also known as Ehyeh, which means "I shall be" and Ayin, which means "nothingness", from which I see as the pre-beginning of all things, seemingly emerging from absence and inexistence. Hokhmah means "wisdom" and can be seen as the meta-universe before the big bang. However one should understand that all ten emanations do not happen sequentially, but happen simultaneously and eternally. Can one then infer the concept of the Dieu Noir and the collective reintegration happened all at once, but the latter has not yet manifested itself to this mid-way reality? (see parallel realities/universes in the quantum mechanics, cosmic fables, and æther/the akashic field article) Hokhmah is the potentiality of all truth and wisdom manifested in all creation. Its letter is Yod, the first letter of the tetragrammaton (YHVH/YHWH), which overly pious Jews do not utter out loud and replace with "Adonai", meaning "the Lord". Binah represents contemplation and understanding and is the womb which receives the seed of wisdom and births the lower seven sefirot. Hokhmah is the father while Binah is the mother. Hokhmah lights up Binah and Binah reflects its light. Binah's letter is Heh, which is also part of the tetragrammaton. Hesed means "love", "grace" or "compassion", the emotional aspect of a benevolent God, while Hesed's complement: Gevurah means "judgment", "might" or "power" representing the mind of God. Both aspects are needed in order to be and remain wise and can be aptly seen between the differences in God's character in the Old and New Testaments. Wisdom cannot exist when only one of the two is prevalent. Too much softness can lead to frailty, instability, contradiction and disorganization while too much power can lead to tyranny, cruelty and vengefulness (as with the Demiurge). The precise balance of Hesed and Gevurah produces Tif'eret, which means "beauty" or "glory". Tif'eret is the one aspect of God we try to emulate and imitate, as it unites all other nine sefirot. It especially seeks to unite with Shekhinah/Malkhut to give birth to the human soul. Tif'eret's letter is Vav, which is also in the tetragrammaton. Netzah/Netsah and Hod are the earthly principles to Hesed and Gevurah. Netzah represents "triumph" or "eternity". It represents prophetization and God's incessantly active grace in the physical world, which is where the urge to right all wrongs and implement improved social, cultural and religious-related morals, principles and constitutions stem from. If Netzah is the ceaseless questing after transcendence, its complementary sephira, Hod, which means "majesty" is the understanding and acceptance of our limits and the ability to work within them. Yesod is the synthesizing of Netzah and Hod and means "foundation". Yesod is the unification of two opposites and is often called Tzaddik: "the righteous one". Yesod is a conduit where the forces of the Sefirot pass into Shekhinah/Malkhut and thence to man. The last sephira is Shekhinah/Malkhut, which mean "that which dwells"/"kingdom" and is the female point where the One is made manifest in this world. She takes emanations from above and transmutes them into life below, as well as let spirits flow up through her all the way above. The "right" sefirot (Hokhmah, Hesed and Netzah) are masculine and merciful; the "left sefirot" (Binah, Gevurah and Hod) are feminine and just and powerful. The sefirot in the "middle" (Keter, Tif'ret, Yesod and Shekhinah) are the idealistic equilibrium between righteousness and compassion.

Lastly tikkun olam "repairing the world", is the idea that human beings influence the return of divine sparks (which are trapped in gross, corrupting matter) to the upper worlds. It is achieved through acts of kindness, worship, love, healing and selfless giving, therefore through mitzvot. These acts (or every single time a Jew obeys one of the commandments) reduce the powers of evil in the world. When all sparks will be raised, the obstructing evil will be utterly extirpated, therefore opening the way for the Messiah to arrive. When he arrives all souls that have dispersed due to Adam's fall during Genesis (because he carried all souls within him) will return and resume their place within Adam and the world will be as One again.

Naturally, this text only refers to a few facets of the Kabbalistic teachings. If you wish to know more, please see the references section where I included a list of books and resources I have used to create these articles. Or you can ask me!