The Three Types of the Kabbalah: Sephirotic, Ecstatic and Lurianic

Since last time I wrote about the Christian Kabbalah, I thought I’d briefly talk about the Jewish Kabbalah as well, with the caveat that I’m not an expert in this. My conclusions here come from reading mainly books and articles by the best scholars in Kabbalah – Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel.

Based on my reading, I would generally divide the Kabbalah into three main categories: Sephirotic, Ecstatic and Lurianic. I will explain each of them in some detail below.

The Sephirotic, or Zoharic Kabbalah is that which is best known to modernity. It has been described as ‘theosophical-theurgical’ in the sense that it involves a complex cosmology and metaphysics, and it also involves a human effort of uniting the lower world to the upper one. The Sephirotic Kabbalah is almost exclusively the product of the Jewish diaspora (the Sephardic Jews) in the Spanish Middle Ages. Their supreme accomplishment is the Zohar, the Book of Splendor, written sometimes in the 13th century, presumably by the Kabbalist Moses de Leon.

According to the Zohar, and other writings, God is the Ein-Soph, the indefinable, indescribable divinity. Out of this infinity, He projects himself into three initial emanations, the first three Sephirot: Kether (Crown), Hochmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding). These, in turn, produce the lower seven: Daat (Knowledge), Hesed (Mercy or Kindness), Gevurah (Strength or Power), Tipheret (Beauty), Netzach (Victory), Hod (Glory), Yesod (Foundation) and Malkuth (Kingdom or Monarchy). The emanations are dynamic and create a complex relationship amongst them – it is often said that the links are more important than the actual emanations.

While the Sephirotic Kabbalah has been the most influential form, it was not the only one. At the same time as the Sephirotic speculation was on the rise in Spain, a new type of Kabbalah was developed, the ecstatic one, also called the Kabbalah of the Divine Names (ha-Shemot). This ecstatic Kabbalah was popularized by one man: Abraham Abulafia, a fascinating figure that lived at the end of the 13th century. Abulafia was a daring and controversial person who in one incident tried to break in the Pope’s palace to preach and convert him to Judaism. He also starkly opposed the Sephirotic Kabbalah which he saw as being polytheistic in essence. Instead of this, he proposed a complex method of achieving ecstasy through meditation and manipulation of the Divine Names of God. Abulafia’s Kabbalah focused on letter combinations and such techniques as gematria, notarikon and temurah (which I have briefly introduced in my previous article on Pico). The result was internal transformation and the acquisition of prophetic power. It was in fact this version of Kabbalah which had a major impact on the early Christian Kabbalists, particularly Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin.

Finally, I will briefly talk about the Lurianic Kabbalah, an important and fascinating movement within 16th century Kabbalah. The Lurianic version is seen as the result of a historical crisis within the Jewish culture, caused by the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492. The upheaval implied a re-valuation of traditional Kabbalistic knowledge, and resulted in the synthesis of Isaac Luria, a Rabbi from Safed in Palestine. Luria himself did not write anything, but his teachings were spread into the entire Jewish world by such disciples as Hayyim Vital. Lurianic Kabbalah is characterized by an emphasis on cosmology and the story of divine creation. According to it, God created the world by a contraction rather than an expansion (as we usually see it). From the remnants of light was formed the Primordial Man, Adam Kadmon, who further emanated light unto the Sephirot as ‘recipient vessels’. Unfortunately, the harmonious process was interrupted by a catastrophe called ‘the breaking of the vessels’ – the Sephirot failed to contain the light and shattered. The event marked the entry of evil into creation and the entrapment of light sparkles – human souls - into matter.

Despite such elaborated, mythological vision, Lurianic Kabbalah was firmly focused on the individual. Each person had the duty of participating in the work of restoration (tikkun) of the world into its original state. However, until obtaining their own salvation, the un-saved were condemned to a cycle of reincarnation. Lurianic Kabbalah was strongly ritualistic and oriented toward prayer, all of which were seen to serve the purpose of tikkun.

The Lurianic Kabbalah had a great influence on Jewish culture and it remains the most important branch of modern Jewish mysticism. However, it was the Sephirotic-Zoharic Kabbalah that became the best known due to outstanding academic research done by one man, Gershom Scholem. Before him, scholars avoided the study of the Kabbalah as being an irrational and antiquated belief; yet through Scholem’s efforts, the academia turned its attention to its study. Today, Kabbalah scholars like Moshe Idel and Joseph Dan are continuing the tradition set forth by Scholem and bringing new perspectives to its study.

Scholem, G. (1995). Zohar, the Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah. New York: Schocken Books. Find it on Amazon
Scholem, G. (1978). Kabbalah. New York: Penguin Books.
Idel, M. (1988). Kabbalah: New Perspectives. New Haven: Yale University Press. Find it on Amazon
Idel, M. (1988). The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

From:

http://www.esotericoffeehouse.com/kabbalah/types-kabbalah-sephirotic-ecstatic-lurianic/#more-53