From: 	 heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: 	 Tuesday, October 14, 1997 1:07 AM
To: 	 Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Should Christians study Kabbalah?

 

From:         Barry Meadows
To:           heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:      Re: Should Christians study Kabbalah?
 Dear sirs,
 In your anwser to my question"is there any value for a
Christian to study the Sefirot" it sounds as if you are replying as if "Sefirot"
ment Old Testement Or Tanach. Maybe I do not understand your reply. I
study the OT often and am very blessed by its study,my question
however was about the Sefirot of the "Kabbalah" and the study of it's
meaning mystical though it may be.
I find that most all of Kabbalh scholars do not believe Jesus
was infact the Messiah.I dont know of a single one who even intertained
the thought. How could it be then that this study is benificial to a
believer(Jew or otherwise)?
I know that the Torah/Tanach is the revealed Word--Inspired By
G-d. I wonder however if He had anything to do with the Kabbalh. If you
have any suggested reading on this question it would be helpful.
         I'm keeping my mind open on this subject.
         Thank you---Barry Meadows
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From:          Eben Abram
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       Re:  Should Christians study Kabbalah?
Shalom Alecheim
Might it be that the words Michael Silver
wrote be well considered and well thought out. There are injunctional
warnings and criteria normally associated to a Level of Understanding 
when approaching Kabbalistic Writings. Without some framework and 
or interelative relationship to a balanced source, the studious becomes 
a study, if you catch my meaning.
A rabbi once told me Kabbalah was too dark and focuses isolinear
without incorporating Bulk of Jewish Writing, being Chabad, He meant 
the approach with Tanya of a more balance adaption than an extreme.
With so many noted capable  authors like Eddie here and Those accrued 
on Mail servers contact questions and some resource of adapted 
references can be evaluated for their lasting import to your studies but to 
the casual read, the general study, the general medium, or even the 
appreciable noviatte to Jewish Philosophy, Writings, etc. . No, it's not 
recommended without some balance or person to co-operatively answer 
and resolve many .........challenging...areas in the Zohar, much less 
Teachings based there on.
              Alecheim Shalom
              Eben Abram
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From:          Barbara Turner
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       Re: Should Christians study Kabbalah?
Years ago I got into the study of the Kabbalah.  It was interesting.
However, you must be very disciplined and not have the tendency to
get into other things where you shouldn't go.  The New Agers are much 
into the study of the Kabbalah,but not for the right reasons.  There are 
many books on the Kabbalah.  Take care you get the ones written by 
Jewish scholars.  I abandoned my study because I found myself off in
directions I didn't want to go.  That was many years ago and I have
never wanted to study it since.
Barbara
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From:          Stephen Yulish 
Subject:       RE:Rabbi isaac Luria
To:               heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Mike, 
you know not of what you write. According to Heinrich Graetz's
"History of the Jews" vol. IV, published in 1894 by the Jewish
Publication Society and which I received as a bar Mitzvah present in
1960 (the 1956 edition), it says of the great Ari, Isaac Luria; "Isaac
Lurya Levi (born in Jerusalem in 1534, and died in 1572)was descended
from a German family. Left an orphan at an early age by the death of
his father, young Isaac came to Egypt to the house of a rich
uncle...The dry study of the Talmud, which filled the mind with
voluminous learning, unfruitful hairsplitting, and mere formulas, yet
failed to satisfy the wants of the heart, seems to have driven him to
fantastic mysticism. he preferred the awful loneliness of the Nile
country to the noise of the school;abstraction in worlds of mysticism
and devout praying to working out intellectual problems. he was
greatly attracted to the Zohar...The more he became familiar with the
Kabbalah the more he sought solitude..Firmly convinced of its
authenticity as the work of Simon bar Yochai, and also of the divine
character of all the fantasies and follies therein revealed, Lurya
persisted in seeing in it high allusions and profound wisdom. In his
heated imagination, he even saw Elijah, the teacher of mysteries, face
to face. But what did the prophet Elijah, or the Zohar, or rather his
own heated imagination, reveal to him?...by the first sin of the first
man-for the Kabbalah finds original sin necessary for its fanciful
creations-the higher and the lower, the superior and the inferior
souls, good and evil became confused and mingled together...Therfore a
complete separation of good from evil must take place, and this can
only happen through Israel, if it or each of its members will lose or
cast away the admixture of evil. For this purpose men's souls
(especially those of the Israelites) have to wander through the bodies
of men and animals, even through transmigration of
souls(reincarnation) through rivers, wood, and stones. The doctrine of
the transmigration of souls forms the center and basis of Lurya's
Kabbalah, but he has a peculiar development of the idea...Besides the
transmigration of our souls, sinful and subject to demonic forces as
they are, there is another mode of expiation, the IMPREGNATION OF THE
SOUL. If a purified soul has neglected various religious duties here
on earth, or has had no opportunity of fulfilling them, it must return
to the earthly life,ATTACH ITSELF TO THE SOUL OF A LIVING HUMAN BEING
and unite and coalesce with it in order to retrieve this neglect. Or
again the departed spirits of men freed from sin appears again on
earth to support the weak and wavering souls which cannot attain to
good by their own efforts, strengthen them and lead them to the final
goal.These pure spirits combine with weaker souls still struggling and
form a union with them...According to this theory the banishment and
dispersion of Israel have for their purpose the salvation of the world
or of men's souls. The purified spirits of pious Israelites unite with
the souls of men of other nationalities in order to free them from the
demoniacal impurities that possess them... He believed that he held
the key to the kingdom of the Messiah and the regeneration of the
world. He also believed that he possessed the soul of the Messiah and
that he had a Messianic mission. he saw spirits everywhere...He saw
how at death the souls were set free from the body, how they hovered
in the air, or rose from their graves. HE HELD INTIMATE INTERCOURSE
WITH THE SAINTS OF THE BIBLE, THE TALMUD AND WITH THE RABBIS (LONG
DEAD!)IN PARTICULAR SIMON BAR YOCHAI. IN SHORT LURYA WAS A GHOST SEER
AND A RAISER OF THE DEAD...AFTER MOVING TO SFAT AROUND 1569,HE VISITED
THE GRAVES OF DEAD KABBALISTS PARTICULARLY THE GRAVE OF Simon BAR
YOCHAI THE FEIGNED AUTHOR OF THE ZOHAR. THIS WAS LURYAS FAVORITE SPOT
BECAUSE HE FANCIED THAT HE COULD DRAW DOWN UPON HIMSELF THE SPIRIT OF
THIS CHIEF OF THE MYSTICS.NOW AND THEN HE SENT HIS DISCIPLE(CHAIM
VITAL TO CONJURE UP SPIRITS USING LETTER FORMULAS...MYSTICAL
CONVERSATIONS AND NOTES, THE INTERVIEWING AND SUMMONING OF SPIRITS
FORMED THE OCCUPATION OF LURYA AND HIS FOLLOWERS." PAGES 618-624 Did
the famed ARI, the Lion, rabbi Isaac Luria channel sprits. yes! Does
Kabbalah and its primary book, the Zohar,speak of this. Yes. Don't
believe this old historian and former KABBALIST, look at the eminent
German historian Graetz. Do the research! 
Stephen Yulish PH.D.
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>From Eddie:
**************
     Here is my answer to "Should Christians study Kabbalah?". 
In my experiences, I have found it very challenging to find large 
numbers of Christians who understand the Hebraic/Jewish roots 
of Christianity.  For those who are studying the Hebraic/Jewish Roots 
of Christianity, I have found it challenging to find people to have a 
BALANCED view of their Hebraic Roots while still embracing the
truths that have been taught within Christianity over the years. 
I have also found it challenging for Christians to have a deep and 
comprehensive understanding of both the OT and the NT and how each 
relates to each other. Therefore, my recommendation is to study THE 
inspired Word of God (OT and NT) perpetually to gain a deeper and 
greater  understanding of God and His Kingdom. If we all do this, 
this should keep us all occupied for the rest of our lives. 
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