The New Kabbalah: From Jewish Mystics to Madonna (SPJT201/48776)

Class schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 13:30-16:30

For millennia, Kabbalah – the Jewish mystical tradition – was a highly guarded, orally transmitted body of esoteric knowledge. Today, Kabbalah is everywhere, from the Internet to Madonna, to charms and amulets. This course will explore the ways in which Kabbalah has entered into diverse forms of contemporary spirituality, new-age thought, religious cross-fertilization (i.e. Buddhist Kabbalah), art, cinema and even politics.

The course will begin with a brief overview of various Kabbalistic schools of thought, from the theosophic to the ecstatic. Afterwards, there will be an examination of the essential dilemma of Kabbalists, from medieval times until the present, about how much esoteric knowledge can and must be revealed. (“With this Book of the Zohar, Israel will go out of Exile” – Zohar 3:124b.) There will be a discussion on the warnings and restrictions placed on the study of Kabbalah.

The course will then examine the explosion of popular Kabbalistic teachings that occurred in the 18th century, with the Hasidic movement, R. Moshe Hayim Luzzatto and the school of R. Elijah, the “Gaon” of Vilna. Jumping to the 20th century, we will study the writings of R. Yehudah Ashlag and his followers, including the American “Kabbalah Center” and the Israeli “Bnei Baruch.” We will examine the use of Kabbalah by modern Jewish theologians (Arthur Green), progressive Jewish-radicals (Jay Michaelson), right-wing religious Zionists (R. Yitzchak Ginsburgh), artists (Eliah Succot, David Friedman, Madonna, Matisyahu) and literary theorists (Harold Bloom). Various perspectives on G-d and the universe, the human body and sexuality, meditation, ritual, and healing will be also examined.

Throughout the course, the rich picture of the Jewish mystical tradition will be complemented by frequent comparison to other great spiritual traditions of the world.