Recently I read that "the Kabala never originated with the Jews, who got their ideas from Chaldeans and Egyptians". (H.Blavatsky) But where did roots of Kabbalah originate? What about kabbalists of ancient Babylon? How I know they were Jews...

Adam HaRishon was the first "Kabbalist" if you will. He was, of course, not Jewish.

I don't know that that's true. What did he need Kabbalah for? He was God's handiwork; he was already at the highest level there could be.

He wrote Razi'el Ha-mal'ach, didn't he?

Pre or post the sin?

Raziel HaMalach's antiquity is even shakier than that of the Zohar. IIRC, the book we call Raziel was first published in the 17th century, and even today it's not very high on any Kabbalist's bibliography of required reading. I don't know of one commentary that was written on it.Pre . Post the sin he needed Raziel's book.

First published inAmsterdam, 1701 CE, I believe. However, there are manuscripts dating to the 16th century CE of parts. It was likely compiled in the 17th century CE.
[source: Encyclopedia Judaica]

Not to open the can of worms, but since you said it: If so, why was he created?

You beat me to it . Also, I think one of the amulets which made its way into the book is of Christian origin, though I'm no amuletologist and it may be a coincidence.l'hisanag, etc.

Maybe to see if he would pass that one test with the pri etz hadaas.

The inherent ability to choose (which includes both the ability to choose right and to choose wrong), does not make someone 'imperfect'.

Surely Hashem did not need to "try something" in order to know the outcome - He is all-knowing.

I think what he means to say is that the whole "hisangus" would have come about through Adam's refraining from eating the apple.

Who said Hashem needed to know the outcome?

When you are a directing a movie, you know what's going to happen in the script, but it doesn't stop you from having the actors act it out and it doesn't stop you from shooting the movie.

[quote name='Gabbe' date='Jan 9 2008, 12:45 PM' post='961561']
Raziel HaMalach's antiquity is even shakier than that of the Zohar. IIRC, the book we call Raziel was first published in the 17th century, and even today it's not very high on any Kabbalist's bibliography of required reading. I don't know of one commentary that was written on it.

Do you know of any commentaries on Moses Cordovero's 'Pardes Rimonim'? I'm interested in this work. Where is possible to find ones in Internet?

There probably are some, but the Remak lived too close in time to the ARI so there probably aren't that many, being that he, the Remak, was overshadowed by him, the ARI. (Despite "Moshe Emes veSoraso Emes b'Olam haTohu")

Here's an edition of Pardes Rimonim from 1592, but you'll neet the djvu viewer to see it. (Google djvu)

Here's one in text format.

Thank you very much for links. This is what I wanted to find.

On the site of the Kabbalah Centre I have found such text:


"The very first book of Kabbalah was given to Adam by the entity Raziel. This text is so profound, and its secrets hold such a high level of spiritual energy, that by today's standards one would not be allowed to pronounce its words; for speech has the power to ignite tremendous forces of energy.

Randomly uttering words from the Book of Adam would be equivalent to a small child playing with high voltage wires. The book is a blueprint of creation. Consider it the DNA code of the cosmos."


Hence, ideological roots of Kabbalah lie in the sphere of cosmos and its energy?

What is the name of the first kabbalistic book? Book of Adam or Raziel?

Was the wisdom of Kabbalah always loyal only to the thoughts of the first book or absorbed the other teachings also?

The Kabbalah Centre should be avoided at all costs.

I recommend to go to this site http://www.kabbalahbooks.info/
and find there any book on any language you want about Kabbalah(I see you are from Ukraine, I'm actually from Russia).
And this is for you:
For a long time now my conscience has burdened me with a demand to come out and compose a fundamental composition regarding the essence of Judaism, religion and the Kabbalah, and spread it among the nation so that people will come to understand these exalted matters in their true meaning.

Prior to the innovations in the printing industry there weren’t books among us that related to the essence of Judaism, as there were almost no writers who could not stand behind their words, for the simple reason that in most cases, an irresponsible person is not famous.

Therefore if, by chance, one dared to write such a composition, no scribe would copy it, as it would simply not return the investment, which was quite considerable. Thus, such a composition was doomed from the start to be lost.

In those days, knowledgeable people had no interest in writing such a book, because the people did not need that knowledge. Quite the contrary, they had an interest in hiding it in secret chambers for the reason that “the glory of God is to be hidden." We were commanded to conceal the essence of the Torah from those who did not need it, or were unworthy of it, and also to not degrade it by displaying it in shop windows for the lusting eyes of the boasting, because thus the glory of God demands.

But ever since the printing of books became popular and inexpensive, thus eliminating the need for manual scribes, the way has been paved for irresponsible writers to publish whatever books they please, for money or glory. But they do not take into account their own actions and examine the consequences of their work.

From that time on, the publication of such non-credible books began to significantly increase, without any tutoring and mouth-to-mouth transmission from a rabbi that is qualified for that, and even without knowledge of earlier books that dealt with this topic. Such writers fabricated theories of their own empty shells and relate their words to the most exalted matters, and so claimed to portray the essence and fabulous treasure of the nation. Such fools cannot even know how to be careful, and they permeate faulty views to generations, and in return for their petty lusts they sin and make the nations sin for generations to come.

Recently their stench has soared upward, because they have plunged their nails in the wisdom of the Kabbalah, not minding that this wisdom has been locked and chained behind a thousand doors to this day, that no person may understand the true meaning of even a single word of it, much less the connection between one word and the next. That is because in all the genuine books that were written to this daythere are no more than clues that barely suffice for a knowledgeable disciple to understand their true meaning, coming from the mouth of a wise and reliable kabbalist. And there too the conspirators have multiplied, who make such delights that disgust those who behold them.

Some of them even go as far as presume to assume the place of the leaders of the generation, and they pretend to know the difference between the ancient books and tell which of them is worthy of study and which is not. It is both frustrating and infuriating because until today the work of discriminating the good from the bad had been limited to one in ten leaders of a generation, and now the ignorant abuse it.

Therefore, the perception of these matters by the public has been greatly corrupted. In addition, there is an atmosphere of frivolity and people think that a glance in one’s leisure time is sufficient for the study of such exalted matters. They superficially browse over the deep sea of wisdom and the essence of Judaism in a glance and reach conclusions based on their passing mood.

These are the reasons that have prompted me to go out of my way and decide that it is time to “do for the Lord” and save that which can still be saved. Thus I have taken upon myself to reveal a certain amount of the true essence, which relates to the above matter and spread it among the nation.

Thank you for such circumstantial story. Of course, it is possible to find book about Kabbalah now. However, I like to hear 'alive' opinions of the other people also. Sometimes debates generate very interesting ideas.