The Difference Between Kabbalah And Judaism

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Judaism and Kabbalah both have their origin in the Jewish culture. However, the two have distinct differences which this article seeks to highlight. Kabbalah on one hand is a system of belief that is founded on Judaism while the latter is the parent Jewish religion. Though some forms of Judaism strongly rely on Kabbalah, other forms pay little or no attention to Kabbalah. Thus Kabbalah can be said to be a subset of the beliefs and ideas found in Judaism, with this subset far more important in some forms of Judaism than others. By definition, Kabbalah is the Hebrew word referring to an ancient mystical teaching of the secret which is all about the essence of God or an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought originating from Judaism. The latter refers to an ancient monotheistic religion which is considered by religious Jews as an expression of covenantal relationship established by God between the children of Israel and Himself.

The main founding text of Judaism is the Torah which is believed to be inspired by God and it is also said that studying it can be a means of experiencing God. Moreover, Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable and that they should be strictly followed. Kabbalah on the other hand is centered around the Zohar which is a collection of written mystical commentaries on the Torah. The Zohar is intended to guide kabbalists in their spiritual journey and it is the main text of the Kabbalah. Just as the study of the Torah is perceived to be a means of experiencing God in Judaism, the study of the Zohar is viewed as a means of achieving greater levels of spiritual oneness with God in the tradition and practice of the Kabbalah.

The Torah was written down and has been in existence for a longer period than the Zohar. This is because the Torah was used to come up with the Zohar since the latter is a collection of the commentaries of the former. In terms of time frame, Judaism has been around for more than 3500 years while the Zohar has been around since the medieval times- about 1000 years ago. Consequently, it can be rightly noted that Judaism is much older than the Kabbalah. In addition, Judaism is a religion while Kabbalah is a tradition and a belief system arising from the aforementioned religion. While Kabbalah arises from Judaism, there are various sects of the religion of Judaism and not all the sects agree on the importance of Kabbalah as a system of religious thought. Some sects of Judaism strongly rely on Kabbalah while other branches pay little or no attention to Kabbalah. Thus Kabbalah is a subset of the beliefs and ideas that can be found in Judaism, with this subset far more important in some forms of Judaism than others.

Lastly; while Judaism is for those who are born Jews and those who have formally undergone a Jewish conversion process, the practice of Kabbalah can be done outside of Judaism and thereby accommodating more people into the tradition than Judaism. Contrary to practicing Judaism, the practice of Kabbalah has both a religious aspect as well as a secular aspect and hence presently a growing number of people in popular culture have begun to adopt Kabbalah as a way of attaining mystical experiences and unlocking esoteric secrets. In addition, Judaism is a religion that is focused on action and in doing while kabbalah is more of a system of belief and mysticism.

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