Who can study Kabbalah?

Now is the time that obligates increasing acquisition in the inner Torah. The Book of Zohar, which breaks new paths, makes a way in the wilderness, a highway in the desert, it and all its yield, is ready to open the gates of redemption.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, "Orot"

Although Kabbalah was studied under strict conditions for many generations, because it speaks about the roots of reality, the correction of desire, and the revelation of the Creator, and without a real need for these matters, the wisdom could easily be misunderstood as imagination or symbolism – although this was the case, its concealment was not meant to keep people away arbitrarily. In these previous generations, the general public could still develop through religion, culture, knowledge, social order, and ordinary life, whereas Kabbalah becomes necessary when the question about the purpose of creation begins to awaken as a real lack.

That is, Kabbalah becomes necessary when a person begins to ask about the root of life itself: what force governs reality, what the purpose of creation is, and by what correction the Creator can be attained. When this kind of question begins to awaken in many people, the attitude toward concealment also changes. The wisdom then has to become more revealed, since the lack that can receive it has appeared.

The great spiritual questions that were previously known only to the greatest and most excellent, must now be known, in various degrees, to all the people. Sublime and lofty words must be brought down from their high fort to the depth of the common, ordinary level. This requires great wealth of spirit and constant practice. Only then will the mind expand and the language be clarified sufficiently to express even the deepest matters in a light and popular style, to satiate thirsty souls.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, Ikvey HaTzon (Footsteps of the Flock), 54

For this reason, the later generations and those of our time are described as a time in which the great spiritual questions can no longer remain only in the hands of isolated individuals. The wisdom has to reach wider circles, according to the preparation of each person. Once the desire of the generation wants the revelation of its root, Kabbalah is opened because the human desire has reached a state where it needs a direct method for attaining the Creator – and not only that, but it is also considered a great deed to disseminate it.

The decree has been lifted, and permission is granted to engage in the Book of Zohar. It is a commandment of the highest order to engage in it publicly, both great and small, as brought in the Ra'aya Meheimna.

Rabbi Avraham Ben Mordechai Azulai, introduction to the book "Ohr HaChama"

The most important point in this process is the Ari. Before the Ari, the wisdom existed through a chain of Kabbalists, but most of their writings were written for themselves, hence they didn’t write in means that could be understood by everyone. The Zohar speaks through stories and images, and the language of roots and branches. Thus, earlier writings often assume an attainment that the reader does not yet have. Therefore, even when the wisdom was written, it still remained partly concealed behind its form of expression.

With the Ari, the inner order of the wisdom received a clearer systematized structure. The “upper worlds”, “Partzufim”, “Sefirot”, “lights”, “vessels”, and so on, began to be used as a language to explain the writings of the Zohar, explained according to a precise sequence of cause and consequence. Because of that, from the time of the Ari onward, the gates of the wisdom are considered open for engagement.

All the sages of the generations following them to this day, none missing, have abandoned all the books and compositions that precede him: the Kabbalah of the RAMAK, the Kabbalah of the Rishonim [first], and the Kabbalah of the Ge'onim, blessed be the memory of them all. They have attached their spiritual life entirely and solely to his Holy Wisdom.

Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot"

And even though historically, the wisdom of Kabbalah was transmitted through the people of Israel and through the language of the Torah and the Zohar, its subject is still a method that is applied to the correction of the human desire. Since the desire to receive exists in every person, the possibility of correcting this desire also belongs to every person. Therefore, a person does not need to be Jewish in order to study authentic Kabbalah, nor does the study of Kabbalah have any opposition to one’s religion, or absence of religion, whatsoever. And this becomes clearer once the language of Kabbalah is read according to roots and branches. The sources use words such as Torah, Mitzvot, Israel, nations of the world, and so on. And it is correct to notice that in their common use, many of these words belong to Judaism and religious life. Nonetheless, within Kabbalah, they simply indicate spiritual roots and inner states in the desire, all within a person. Torah refers to the light that corrects the desire (“Torah” refers to the Hebrew word for light, “Ohr”); mitzvot refer to corrections of desires and intentions; Israel can indicate the desire that is directed straight to the Creator (the Hebrew spelling of Israel, ישראל, comes from ישר-אל, “straight-Creator”, straight towards the Creator), and so on.

The Torah, which created the angels and all the worlds, and they exist for its sake, how much more so when it descended to this world. If it had not clothed itself in these garments of this world, which are the stories and mundane matters, the world could not endure. Therefore, the story in the Torah is its garment. Whoever thinks that this garment is the actual Torah and there is nothing else within it, may his spirit expire, and he will have no share in the world to come. Thus, David said, "Uncover my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Torah," to look at what is beneath the garment of the Torah.

Zohar for All, Parashat Behaalotecha, Article "Passover in Its Time and Second Passover," Sections 59-60

Therefore, the same word may be read on different levels, according to the context in which it appears. And thus, a person may begin without prior attainment, since attainment is precisely what the method is meant to lead to.

Yet the study still has to remain connected to authentic sources, to a teacher, to an environment, and to the aim of correction. Otherwise, the same texts can again be read as symbols, theories, or spiritual fantasy. Because of that, the student has to learn these terms patiently. But a beginner may come from any culture, nation, or educational background and still begin to study, provided the study is directed toward attainment and correction rather than external interpretation. Meaning, the study depends solely on the direction of the desire that a person has during their study.

Even more so: in the twentieth century, Baal HaSulam made this opening much more concrete, and very much closer to today’s academic standards. Through the Sulam commentary on The Book of Zohar, the Study of the Ten Sefirot, and his introductions and articles, he arranged the wisdom in a language suitable for systematic study. He explains definitions, causes, consequences, and so on, with much precision. And the Rabash, the son and successor of Baal HaSulam, developed the practical side of this opening. His articles explain how the student works with the environment, the group and one’s intention. Rabash gives any student that wishes to engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah a way to set in practice the whole method.

These secrets, not only is there no prohibition to reveal them, but on the contrary, it is a great commandment to reveal them (as mentioned above in Pesachim 119). And whoever knows how to reveal and does so, his reward is very great, for the revelation of these lights to the many, and specifically to the many, depends on the coming of the Righteous Redeemer, speedily in our days, Amen.

Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot," Item 30

In our generation, Rav Dr. Michael Laitman, the disciple of Rabash, continued this dissemination on an international scale. Through daily lessons and books, people from very different backgrounds can now approach the authentic sources gradually. They can hear explanations, ask any question, study with others, and receive support from an environment directed toward the same goal. Access to the study of Kabbalah only expands through this framework.

This is also the concrete role of Bnei Baruch today. The study gathers people from more than seventy countries, from all continents, and from very different backgrounds: Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, people from other traditions, and people with no religious background at all. Most of them continue living according to their own culture, family life, and external identity, because Kabbalah only addresses the point in the heart, that is, the desire that awakens in a person that seeks to attain its root. Therefore, even a shared framework of study can be built around authentic sources, regular lessons, translation, guidance, and a community of students. Within such an environment, people who outwardly live very different lives can study the same method, because the method is directed toward the correction of desire and the attainment of the Creator.

And know, my brother, that these generations and these days are not like the ancient generations and the earlier days of the fifth millennium. In those days, the gates of this wisdom were closed and sealed. Therefore, there were only a few Kabbalists then. Not so in this sixth millennium, when the gates of light, the gates of mercy, have been opened, for it is close to the end of days, and it is a great joy and pleasure before the Lord for the glory of His kingdom to be revealed forever. [...] We have no stumbling block or danger now, just as with the revealed Torah.

Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Ben Meir, "Sefer HaBrit"

Kabbalah becomes suitable for a person when the search goes beyond information about spirituality. The wisdom speaks about the correction of desire, the acquisition of the quality of bestowal, and the revelation of the Creator. Therefore, the study is open to everyone, and it asks seriousness from everyone. The next natural question is: how to study the wisdom of Kabbalah?