Dr. Mark Weisstuch
Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
November 3, 10, 17, December 1, 8, 15
OFFERED IN-PERSON
The Basic Concepts of Kabbalah
Kabbalah, Judaism’s central mystical tradition, was called by Israeli scholar Gershom Scholem “one of the most powerful forces ever to affect the inner development of Judaism.” In everything from prayer — Kabbalat Shabbat and Lecha Dodi — to our efforts at social justice when we talk about Tikkun Olam, Kabbalah is part of modern Jewish thinking.
For many Jews today, Kabbalah serves as a vital path to spiritual fulfillment as it expresses different dimensions of traditional Judaism with regard to knowing God and the individual’s relationship to the divine; the study and exegesis of the Bible; and the role of humankind in urgent efforts to heal a broken world.
Although Kabbalah’s arcane and esoteric development and its fluid, multivalent symbolic vocabulary can be dauntingly difficult to penetrate, in this class, we will unravel basic concepts and principles of Kabbalistic study and practice, including its understanding of Creation and the role of the Sefirot, the existence of evil, the soul, the Shekhinah (the feminine aspect of God) and the operation of Hebrew language in Creation.
Hortense Jordan Chair in Ethics
212.507.9580 | EmanuelStreickerNYC.org