When most Southern Californians think about Kabbalah, red bracelets and Madonna come to mind.
A professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rachel Elior, came to Cal State Long Beach’s Karl Anatol Center on Monday to discuss the difference between the medieval age practice of Kabbalah and “new age” Kabbalah.
“Kabbalah is an example of the endless power of human spirit against the atrocities of reality,” said Elior, head of the department of Jewish thought at HUJI. “It is the most important chapter in the history of freedom and defiance. The human spirit can defy the atrocities of human power.”
Ancient Kabbalah, as practiced at the time of the Crusades, was “created by the vanquished, or the losers” of society who decided to “play” with the religious context of the Holy Scripture, Elior said.
By re-interpreting the literal sense of the text by reciting it with different pronunciations, they were able to create an “alternative reality” where it was dependent upon humans to balance the scale of good and evil between heaven and earth. This was thought of to be a form of redemption and a way of “correcting a broken, shattered world” through human hands.
When referring to “westernized” Kabbalah, Elior said that new age Kabbalah is a “phenomenon [that has] no commitment to any kind of tradition.”
“It is just spiritual decoration,” Elior said. “[Those practicing new age Kabbalah] don’t accept personal leadership because they are not creating a new interpretation. They are not mystics, just students.”
Elior was invited onto campus by the CSULB Jewish Studies Department and the Orange County Scholar program, which features a series of lectures by a visiting scholar each year. Over the span of a month, the speaker visits different locations synagogues, schools, and other Jewish organizations.