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Kabbalah 101
- Thread starter Mr Cheese
- Start date
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
what does Kabalah mean? do you study it? if yes, tell me first steps you take to have general idea of what you're getting into
.
HUGE question
quick answer which I will expand upon further tomorrow:
What does Kabbalah mean?
Well people will tell you several meanings. It means received, to receive, or received wisdom. Kabbalah then is "wisdom" from God.
Technically though the word Kabbalah also means Oral teaching, thus it can technically be applied to ANY oral teaching. This is also exactly the same for the Hindu word Upanishad that is also a word to denote ANY oral teaching.
.....
Do you study it?
Well Kabbalah is HUGE subject.
There are theoretical (just study)
Speculative, kind of like philosophysing
and practical, which is obviously "doing"
Now most people tend to think of the tree of life when it comes to Kabbalah.
However this is but one small aspect. The tree of life is a model of how God "emanated" the universe (and much more).
Kabbalah itself of course involves other things such as study of the letters and writings of Torah, numerology (and gematria, the study of numbers, each Hebrew letter having a value) and more besides.
A good short book as to the varied nature of what Kabbalah is, is the Zohar intorduction by Arthur Green.
More tomorrow.
A Guide to the Zohar (Zohar: The Pritzker Editions)
It is disgraceful that Kabbalah would be classified outside the Judaism forum.
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
not really...
Kabbalah was arguably begun by jews, but not what modern people call jews, the Merkavah mystics and the Hechkalot mystics... who are arguably followers of Enoch. Essenes or some ralted group. Some would argue it has even earlier origins but there.
Kabbalah in modern use began life arguably amongst Jews in 12th century (approx) Spain and nearby parts of Europe, amongst Jews. Of course like all things Jewish, Kabbalah incorporated a mish mash of other things around it. Heavily influenced by Islam (Sufism), Platonic thought and other things.
Kabbalah like any other form of "mystical" insight into the divine transcends any one religion. To be upset because its "not in the jewish section" as opposed to having its OWN section, is a bit silly.
I don't think anyone here is going to turn around and divorce judaism from kabbalah, because that would simply be wrong.
Anyway, I must make some ice tea.... back later maybe
arimoff
Active Member
this is all crap. whatever you are learning is nothing near kabbalah, and yes it is a Jewish teaching, it has nothing to do with Islam, it was written before Islam even came to be.
Another point, kabbalah is a mystical commentary and explanation of the Torah.
If you never studied Torah you cannot understand kabbalah, and all those people like Arthur Green or Philip Berg have no connection to it at all.
te_lanus
Alien Hybrid
Dear Mr. Cheese
One Question, if you talk about Kabbalah, Which "stream" do you talk about. As you get
One Question, if you talk about Kabbalah, Which "stream" do you talk about. As you get
- Jewish Kabbalah
- Christian Kabbalah
- Hermetic Kabbalah
- and Practical Kabbalah
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה‎, lit. "receiving") is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Judaism
Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the milieu of Jewish thought and constantly uses classical Jewish sources to explain and demonstrate its esoteric teachings. These teachings are thus held by kabbalists to define the inner meaning of both the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and traditional rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.
(Just one more example of cultural rape.)
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
yes and I am sure you know so much about Kabbalah huh?
The Berg's are fraudulent nit wits... Arthur Green is a genuine Rabbi...unlike Berg who if you examine his history, just "proclaimed" he was a Rabbi, and thus became one....
Arthur green:
Rabbi Arthur Green is an educator and a scholar of Jewish mysticism and hasidism who has played an influential role in bringing the language of spirituality into mainstream American Jewish life. He is a founder and current rector of Boston Hebrew College's rabbinical school and is a former dean of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He is widely credited with being a founder of Neo-Hasidism and has also been a major influence in the Jewish Renewal and Chavurah movements.
Arthur (Art) Green grew up in Newark, New Jersey in a nonobservant Jewish home. He describes his father as a "militant atheist," but his mother, from a traditional family, felt obligated to give her son a Jewish education.[1]
Raised in the Conservative movement, Green attended Camp Ramah. In 1959, he studied at Brandeis University, where he went through a crisis of faith and sought new approaches to Judaism. [1] Green's professors at Brandeis included Nahum Glatzer and Alexander Altmann. After earning his Ph.D., Green became Philip W. Lown professor (now emeritus) of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. In 1967, he was ordained as a Conservative rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Green has published many works on Jewish mysticism and hasidism. Invited to deliver a series of lectures at Yale University, Green was described as "one of the preeminent authorities on Jewish spirituality, mysticism and Hasidism."[2]
In 1968, Green was one of the founders of Havurat Shalom. In 1987-1993, he served as Dean and President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2003, he became the first Dean for the non-denominational rabbinical program at the Hebrew College. He also serves as the Irving Brudnick Professor of Jewish Theology and Mysticism at Hebrew College.
Green is a founder of Neo-Hasidism, the significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non-Orthodox Jews in different decades due to the writings of non-Orthodox teachers of Hasidic Judaism. Green has done this through his scholarly and spiritual writing and teaching, his involvement in Havurat Shalom, and his participation as a faculty member in the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, among other activities.
Arthur Green - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sufism inluenced sexual attitudes in the writing of the Zohar, perhaps you are unfamiliar?
Here is the result of one quick web search:
The central text of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, contains at least one reference to Sufi practice. It tells, with some measure of admiration, about the people of the east, the inhabitants of the mountains of light, who worship the pre-dawn light that shines before the appearance of the sun. They refer to this light as Allah of the shining pearls.
This expression is taken from the mystical terminology of the Sufis, where the white pearl [al-durra-l-baida] refers to the highest emanation of divine intelligence through which power is channeled into our world: In the beginning God created from his own precious soul a white pearl. Although the Zohar accuses those easterners of directing their adoration to the light and not to the God who created it, it also acknowledges that it is based on an ancient tradition of authentic wisdom.
Mystical Mingling
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
I too come from several centuries of Jewish mothers....
What I am saying is the Merkavah mystics were of a group that is no longer extant, I am sure you are aware, there were far more "Jewish" groups once, now we have only one or two....essentially..
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
like bagles you mean or Borscht or potato pancakes? None of which are Jewish...
anyway... if you want to be the moany old jew and deride the thread fine... otherwise I'm goign to continue
I don't claim to be an expert, but I know enough to hold a conversation, and that is why we are here, is it not?
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
Dear Mr. Cheese
One Question, if you talk about Kabbalah, Which "stream" do you talk about. As you get
.
- Jewish Kabbalah
- Christian Kabbalah
- Hermetic Kabbalah
- and Practical Kabbalah
All forms...
.lava
Veteran Member
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
what does Kabalah mean? do you study it? if yes, tell me first steps you take to have general idea of what you're getting into
.
The first steps you take to have a general idea.....
Hmmm
Well as I mentioned Kabbalah is huge subject.
A good place to start is to of course attend a class, or find a rabbi willing to teach. That is if you want a more Jewish form of kabbalah. There are many schools of Kabbalah within Judaism. Perhaps the most famous is Lurianic Kabbalah, named after the Ari ( Isaac Luria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) a 16th century jew who is ofted cited as the greatest Kabbalist that ever lived. Lurianic Kabbalism greatly advanced the Kabbalah with its doctrines of the unknowable nature of God (similar to that found in Islam) known as Ain ain Other schools include the Tolendano school which is older than the Lurianic schoo Kabbalah Society.
Barring that, a good place is of course to read a book.
Most common for non Jews is the meditative act of "pathworking." Pathworking is frowned upon by some Jews, but is essentially the "act" of "walking" through meditation, along the 32 paths of the Kabbalistic tree of life (Etz Chaim).
Other simple things that Kabbalists do, is the use of the names of God in hebrew. Permutations and chanting or meditating upon Hebrew letters and God names arguably go back to the 12th Century with a Kabbalist called Abulafia, at least he revolutionised it.
For simple study I would reccomend any good Zohar commentary, the Zohar is a huge Kabbalistic commentary on the pentateuch. Other good study books include anything by Gersholm Sholem.
Kabbalah is a huge subject, you can learn and get from it as much or as little as you like. Like any religious practice, the more you put in, the more you will get. Interestingly for Muslims though, Kabbalah is entrenched in Angels. There are many forms (kind of) of Kabbalah, and any genuine ones involve Angels.
For books here is a "short" list..of reccomended titles: Kabbalah Books « Prayers and Reflections
Hope that helps....
...................
Kabbalah is the name of a body of esoteric knowledge. Its origin is the inner teaching of Judaism. Its concern is God, the universe and humanity, and their mutual interrelation.
Tradition states that it was given by the archangel Raziel to Adam and Eve, after they had been cast out of Eden, so that they might regain entrance to paradise. This Torah or teaching has been passed on over the generations, although nearly lost from time to time. It is said that Abraham was initiated into the tradition by Melchezedek, who had neither father or mother, indicating that he was a supernatural being. Some say he was Enoch, the first fully realised human being.
[FONT=Times,Times New Roman,serif]From Abraham the knowledge was passed on through the patriarchs to Moses, who transmitted it to Joshua and the elders. It was then taught by a line of priests, prophets and rabbis. Changing its outer form and name from period to period, the teaching nevertheless maintained its essential instruction on the purpose and composition of existence and humanity's role. By the Middle Ages it had taken on the language of philosophy which, combined with biblical symbolism, came to be called Kabbalah or "What has been received." [/FONT]
[FONT=Times,Times New Roman,serif]Cast in a blend of metaphysics, cosmology and psychology, combined with various practices, it has come down to us today when it yet again is being reformulated in contemporary terms. This enables the present generation to comprehend this ancient spiritual teaching. What follows is a very brief account of the theory and practice of Kabbalah. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times,Times New Roman,serif]Diagram 1 Before the beginning of anything there was only God. Nothing existed, not even existence. Tradition states that the Absolute, called Ayin or No-thing and Ayin Sof or The Limitless in Kabbalah, wished to behold ITSELF and so Existence was willed into being to act as a vast mirror by which God could perceive the reflection of God. This process was accomplished, it is allegorically explained, by the Absolute withdrawing ITSELF from a portion of totality, thus allowing a void to appear in which Existence could be encompassed. Into this space the Holy One projected a line of light, a symbol of will, which unfolded in a specific sequence that was to be the structure and dynamic of a series of four universes, held together by Divine will. [/FONT]
--Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
Mostly....
As I tried to explain earlier, the "roots" are from a group of Jews that no longer exist... the Merkavah(chariot) mystics...
but yes, you can quibble, but it is fair and largely accurate to say the roots are jewish, yes.
arimoff
Active Member
Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai who lived after the distraction of the second temple, so get your fact straight before posting.
I never herd of any kind of jewish groups that existed before, why don't you tell me, and one more thing, if you claim that kabbalah is a commentary on the Torah ( and it is) then your study of it should bring you to living according to the Torah, if its not then what ever you are learning is not kabbalah.
I never herd of any kind of jewish groups that existed before, why don't you tell me, and one more thing, if you claim that kabbalah is a commentary on the Torah ( and it is) then your study of it should bring you to living according to the Torah, if its not then what ever you are learning is not kabbalah.
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
the author of the zohar is debated...
Shimon is who it is attributed to by legend, but it is Moses De Leon that most attribute it to. However what is clear is that the Zohar is a collection of books, written at different periods. De Leon's "copy" was proclaimed by his wife to have been written in one night by De Leon.... careful study of the text however shows that some is far earlier than others.
The Zohar deals with such things as sexual attitudes, as I mentioned. Around this time Christians were proclaiming that the body and sex were dirty and disgusting. Jews reacted to this by embracing the opposite. The times of course were overrun by the sentiment that Jews killed Jesus , the messiah, thus anti semetic feelings were rife. So the Jewish response was in part a reaction to the Christians. Thus sex became even more holy than before. Here we find Islam. The Sufi perspective is of course that one is to make love to God, to the "beloved." This highly influenced the Jews of the Zoharic period and it is through this attitude that the sufi influenced the Zohar.
............
Never heard of Jewish groups that existed before? the tribes I mean.... me thinks you are being persknikety.... the Merkavah mystics were mostly likely apocalyptic Jews, probably followers of the Enoch writings, which are rather rejected by Jews today.
As far as living according to the Torah, well the esoteric is a part of the exoteric and both are inseperable.... but the esoteric works at a subtler deeper level. Those from an exoteric stance will often find the esoteric suspicious, invisible and simply beyond their understanding.
..........
The four elements stem from a single source element. This is alluded to in the verse, and a river flows from Eden to water the Garden; from there it divides and becomes four major rivers. That is, there is a single source which divides into four the four elements .. This source element is called the yesod hapashut, the simple element, in that, at the source, everything is united as one, without differentiation.
Everything in the world is composed of four basic elements. Each element contains traces of all the others, even if only in microscopic proportion. Thus, domem (mineral) has earth as its main component, but one can find traces of water, air and fire within. The continued existence of the world is based upon the proper combination and interaction of these elements.
Each element is radically different in makeup from the others, yet God in His infinite wisdom created them in such a way that they could coexist and sustain life in an almost endless array of combinations as long as that which they are sustaining is alive. When its life ends, the elements disperse creating a situation, conceptually, of the World of Separation. Thus it is the life force that binds the disparate elements together so that man can exist ..
Although every person is made up of all four elements, there are four main roots, corresponding to the four letters of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH). Each individual is rooted in his particular letter more than all the others. Correspondingly, he is also rooted in the specific element and character trait that derives from that letter. This is what accounts for the tremendous differences we find in peoples temparents. Some temperaments are rooted in fire, some in air, some in earth, some in water. The main thing is to harmonize their differences, for when difference, rather than harmony, is stressed, strife becomes the norm and people resist and oppose each other. This strife reverberates into their root elements, causing disharmony Above. As a result, the world is visited with destruction and sickness.
The main controlling force which can harmonize these differences is found in the single source element, the Tzaddik, The Tzaddik knows how to establish a proper balance between the various elements in his domain. This brings harmony and peace to each individual and to humanity as a whole.
Nosson of Bratslav (Likutei Halachot)
Further: (please note this is a text on sexuality) Jewish Sexuality dot Com - From Likutei Halachot
Tzadik, Righteous צדיק
Tzaddik:
1. righteous man: in Judaism, a righteous man
2.
Same as rebbe
[Late 19th century. < Hebrew ṣaddīq "righteous"]
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
Merkavah (Hebrew - "Chariot") Mysticism is an early form of Jewish Mysticism dating from the Early Rabbinic Period, circa 600 AD. It is thus the predecessor of the Qabalah by about six centuries. Aryeh Kaplan, in his commentary on The Bahir goes further by saying that the Qabalah is its direct descendant, so much so that by the twelfth century, the phrases "Works of the Chariot" and "Qabalah" are synonymous.
The main source of what we know about details of Merkavah comes from a Hebrew text Hekhalot Rabbati, The Greater Heavenly Halls. Although dating from the seventh century, the Hekhalot Rabbati claims that Merkavah Mysticism was being taught as early as the second century, at the time of the Roman persecution of the Jewish people. However, the implication of Merkavah is that it originally dates back to at least the time of the Prophet Ezekiel himself. (Ezekiel lived during the deportation of the Jews to Babylon, in the sixth century BC).
Simply put, the object of Merkavah Mysticism is to recreate the ecstatic vision which the Prophet experienced, as described in Ezekiel Chapters 1-3. Central to this vision was the Chariot of hwhy, drawn by the Four Holy Living Creatures.
The procedure, as laid down in Hekhalot Rabbati, describes the Mystic travelling out of the body, and into seven chambers, one inside the other. At the door to each Chamber are Angelic Guardians whom the Mystic must propitiate before being allowed to continue his journey. The Seven Chambers represent seven levels of purity and holiness (or to use a modern phrase, energy levels), to which the Mystic must be successively raised, before he can complete his quest: which is to enter the Seventh Chamber, and stand before the Throne of Glory.
Merkavah Mysticism
MERKABAH (= CHARIOT) MYSTICISM developed out of speculation on and expansion of the
visions of Ezekiel(chapters 1, 8, and 10) and, to a lesser extent, Isaiah (chapter 6) and Daniel
(chapter 2). This strain of mysticism meanders through the intertestamental pseudepigrapha*
and even touches corners of gnostic and Qumran texts.**
Merkabah material and references can be found in shreds, often more provocative than
telling, in the Talmud and other rabbinic writings.† However, the major concentrated
expression of merkabah mysticism is that cluster of writings which has come to be called the
hekhalot(= HEAVENLY HALLS) literature, which is the focus of this paper.
www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/karr/mmhie.pdf
hope that helps
In Hebrew, a prophet is called a navi. Practioner Ayeh Kaplan pointed out that this word has three etymologies. One is navach (to cry out), another is nava (to gush, to flow forth) and the last is navuv (to be hollow). All three etymologies help us understand biblical meditation and its relationship to prophecy and enlightenment. For the prophet was as one hollow, his or her ego stripped away. The prophet was the flute through which flowed the Infinite One’s wind and melody.
–Avram Davis (The Way of Flame: A Guide to the Forgotten Mystical Tradition of Jewish Mysticism)
“If you want to be unique in the world, to have the mysteries of the world and the secrets of wisdom revealed to you, repeat this teaching and be careful with it until the day of your passing. Do not seek understanding of what is behind you and do not search out the words of your lips. You will understand what is in your heart when you merit the beauty of the chariot [Merkavah]. Be careful with the glory of your Creator, and do not descend to it. And if you descend to it, do not enjoy it. And if you enjoy it, your end is to be banished from the world. ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter’ [Proverbs 25:2], lest you be banished from the world.”
- Hechalot Zutarti (Lesser Palaces) [335]
The main source of what we know about details of Merkavah comes from a Hebrew text Hekhalot Rabbati, The Greater Heavenly Halls. Although dating from the seventh century, the Hekhalot Rabbati claims that Merkavah Mysticism was being taught as early as the second century, at the time of the Roman persecution of the Jewish people. However, the implication of Merkavah is that it originally dates back to at least the time of the Prophet Ezekiel himself. (Ezekiel lived during the deportation of the Jews to Babylon, in the sixth century BC).
Simply put, the object of Merkavah Mysticism is to recreate the ecstatic vision which the Prophet experienced, as described in Ezekiel Chapters 1-3. Central to this vision was the Chariot of hwhy, drawn by the Four Holy Living Creatures.
The procedure, as laid down in Hekhalot Rabbati, describes the Mystic travelling out of the body, and into seven chambers, one inside the other. At the door to each Chamber are Angelic Guardians whom the Mystic must propitiate before being allowed to continue his journey. The Seven Chambers represent seven levels of purity and holiness (or to use a modern phrase, energy levels), to which the Mystic must be successively raised, before he can complete his quest: which is to enter the Seventh Chamber, and stand before the Throne of Glory.
Merkavah Mysticism
MERKABAH (= CHARIOT) MYSTICISM developed out of speculation on and expansion of the
visions of Ezekiel(chapters 1, 8, and 10) and, to a lesser extent, Isaiah (chapter 6) and Daniel
(chapter 2). This strain of mysticism meanders through the intertestamental pseudepigrapha*
and even touches corners of gnostic and Qumran texts.**
Merkabah material and references can be found in shreds, often more provocative than
telling, in the Talmud and other rabbinic writings.† However, the major concentrated
expression of merkabah mysticism is that cluster of writings which has come to be called the
hekhalot(= HEAVENLY HALLS) literature, which is the focus of this paper.
www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/karr/mmhie.pdf
hope that helps
In Hebrew, a prophet is called a navi. Practioner Ayeh Kaplan pointed out that this word has three etymologies. One is navach (to cry out), another is nava (to gush, to flow forth) and the last is navuv (to be hollow). All three etymologies help us understand biblical meditation and its relationship to prophecy and enlightenment. For the prophet was as one hollow, his or her ego stripped away. The prophet was the flute through which flowed the Infinite One’s wind and melody.
–Avram Davis (The Way of Flame: A Guide to the Forgotten Mystical Tradition of Jewish Mysticism)
“If you want to be unique in the world, to have the mysteries of the world and the secrets of wisdom revealed to you, repeat this teaching and be careful with it until the day of your passing. Do not seek understanding of what is behind you and do not search out the words of your lips. You will understand what is in your heart when you merit the beauty of the chariot [Merkavah]. Be careful with the glory of your Creator, and do not descend to it. And if you descend to it, do not enjoy it. And if you enjoy it, your end is to be banished from the world. ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter’ [Proverbs 25:2], lest you be banished from the world.”
- Hechalot Zutarti (Lesser Palaces) [335]
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arimoff
Active Member
your answer just proved my point, if kabbalah is a comentary on the Torah, you can't take the kabblah out of the Torah, don't you understand that?
there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah, kabbalah explains mystical reasons for each and single one of them, meaning when you fulfill each of them you repair spiritual worlds the sparks of the broken vessel from the first sin.
now when you learn kabbalah and don't keep the Torah then it all doesn't make sense.
all the mrkavah and cheichalot and everything else you explain is worth a penny, when there is no action to follow up.
It is even more comlicated if you don't even know what are the 613 mitzvot or Torah it self.
Now the 10 lost tribes, where did you get your idea that they don't exist? from Kabbalah? lol. they are LOST it doesn't mean they don't exist, now you can think they don't exist its your free choice, but to learn kabbalah and think they don't exist anymore is nonsense, it is a commentary tot he book that claims they are lost not stop to exist.
the time span between Rav Shimon bar Yochai and Moses De leon is over a thousand yrs.
Kabbalah was part of oral tradition witch was written down by Shimon bar yohai who learned in from Rabbi Akivah and so on. Later it was discovered again when an Arab merchant approached the Arizal (isaac Luria) and showed him a book and said i found this its no use to me since I can't read the language, but I can sell it to you.
My friend my point is it is not kabbalah, sure the concepts are from there but it is all to complicated and different then what you are being thought by people like Arthur Green and so on, there are so many of them today. Read biographies of people like Isaac luria or Moses de leon, they are different then Arthur greens of the world (You don't get Torah knowledge from an institute). they were Holy man who devoted their lives to studying and doing mitzvot, these people where real scholars of Tanakh, Talmud, laws, traditions and so on before they even started learning kabbalah.
lets not start with the sufi stuff, kabbalah entered history before Isam did, so lets not argue who influenced what.
If you really want to learn kabbalah go to Israel, in Jersualem there is a Yeshiva where they learn kabbalah, real kabbalah, real teachers who learned it from their teachers and so on like it always was.
a little hint where to start my friend Yitzchak Kaduri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah, kabbalah explains mystical reasons for each and single one of them, meaning when you fulfill each of them you repair spiritual worlds the sparks of the broken vessel from the first sin.
now when you learn kabbalah and don't keep the Torah then it all doesn't make sense.
all the mrkavah and cheichalot and everything else you explain is worth a penny, when there is no action to follow up.
It is even more comlicated if you don't even know what are the 613 mitzvot or Torah it self.
Now the 10 lost tribes, where did you get your idea that they don't exist? from Kabbalah? lol. they are LOST it doesn't mean they don't exist, now you can think they don't exist its your free choice, but to learn kabbalah and think they don't exist anymore is nonsense, it is a commentary tot he book that claims they are lost not stop to exist.
the time span between Rav Shimon bar Yochai and Moses De leon is over a thousand yrs.
Kabbalah was part of oral tradition witch was written down by Shimon bar yohai who learned in from Rabbi Akivah and so on. Later it was discovered again when an Arab merchant approached the Arizal (isaac Luria) and showed him a book and said i found this its no use to me since I can't read the language, but I can sell it to you.
My friend my point is it is not kabbalah, sure the concepts are from there but it is all to complicated and different then what you are being thought by people like Arthur Green and so on, there are so many of them today. Read biographies of people like Isaac luria or Moses de leon, they are different then Arthur greens of the world (You don't get Torah knowledge from an institute). they were Holy man who devoted their lives to studying and doing mitzvot, these people where real scholars of Tanakh, Talmud, laws, traditions and so on before they even started learning kabbalah.
lets not start with the sufi stuff, kabbalah entered history before Isam did, so lets not argue who influenced what.
If you really want to learn kabbalah go to Israel, in Jersualem there is a Yeshiva where they learn kabbalah, real kabbalah, real teachers who learned it from their teachers and so on like it always was.
a little hint where to start my friend Yitzchak Kaduri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia