jewish thought
Kabbalah: The Inside Story Berel Bell
E
ven a cursory reading of the Five Books of Moses is likely to leave a person full of questions. The central figures often behave in questionable ways, and sometimes seem to be questionable role models. In addition, G‑d's motives are frequently enigmatic. He seems to want one thing, and then structure events so that everything becomes unnecessarily complicated. We are often unable to understand what His goals are and why He chooses such convoluted paths to reach them. The Oral Tradition passed down from Mount Sinai and recorded in the words of our Sages helps elucidate the text. The classic biblical commentaries engage in unraveling these stories, and one can find numerous explanations to many of these puzzles. However, their answers are sometimes difficult to reconcile with the text; they sometimes fit the text but stretch the imagination; they sometimes contradict each other; they sometimes solve one enigma - only to raise others which might be even more numerous and more difficult to solve; and most importantly, these explanations sometimes help only to resolve the difficulty of one particular episode. We are often left wondering how the details fit into the broader picture; and even regarding the story itself - couldn't things have been done in some easier, more straightforward way? Finite humans are obviously unable to fathom the Ways of the Infinite. On the other hand, the Torah is given to us to study and understand. From it we are supposed to draw inspiration and guidance, even down to the details of our daily lives. How can we do so when the message is so obscured by questions? The obstacle becomes more acute when we consider the difference between this generation and previous ones. Years ago, virtually everyone in the Western world was somewhat familiar with the content of the Bible, and accepted its veracity. Today, many are unaware of even the most basic ideas, and are skeptical of its authority. Their questions are worse than just unsolved intellectual puzzles. They often represent the first - and seemingly insurmountable - barrier to seriously considering anything having to
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do with faith or "religion." But the thirst and curiosity is there. This thirst is evident throughout the world in the explosive interest in Kabbalah, Bible codes and the like. This dimension of the Torah has a very special relationship with other levels of Torah interpretation. The Torah conveys its messages simultaneously on different levels of meaning. In general there are four levels, referred to by the Hebrew acronym "PaRDeS": the simple level (Peshat), the allusion (Remez), homiletic (Drush), and the secret (Sod). There is, furthermore, another dimension which transcends all these four levels. The final two are normally referred to as the mystical dimension, that of Kabbalah and Chassidic thought.
The "inner dimension," or the "soul" of Torah, explicated in Kabbalah and Chassidic thought, takes the perspective of the underlying spiritual reality from which everything in the universe is derived. Understanding these forces and their effects helps us perceive the essential unity within Creation, and to use this knowledge to guide us in all aspects of our lives. The essential truths are conveyed to us in the Torah. Understanding its inner dimension helps unravel its mysteries. Then, the traditional explanations take on greater depth and become an integral part of the path leading us to the deeper truth. The revelation of this inner dimension of Torah indicates that the universe is ready to reach its culmination with the Messianic era. It
Iyyar 5781
