A few days ago I became aware that there's an inherent difference between the term Kabbalah and Qabbalah. Of course, both stem from the Hebrew word קבלה which means "receiving [of tradition]" and use similar terminology, but what I did not know was that the two disciplines take these ideas in two different directions.
Until now, I was aware that there were two types of Kabbalah: the real stuff, taught according to Jewish traditions, and the fake stuff, seemingly taught according to Jewish traditions, but really is the work of a group of charlatans and thieves (as a rule of thumb in Judaism - if a man outright tells you he's Kabbalist, and even more so, if he demands payment for his services, he's a charlatan. That's not to say he may not have some sort of special abilities - but that ain't Kabbalah). An example for the latter are the Kabbalah centers that people such as Madonna go to - that's fake, new-agey stuff. True Kabbalists study Kabbalah in secret and for the theoretical part, not the practical part.
However, it seems that there's a third type: Qabbalah (yes, the distinction is made with a different first letter) which appears to have been created by non-Jews (Christians originally, to my understanding) by taking the Jewish terminology in a different direction, as I previously stated. An example for this is that some of Kabbalah is used to heal the person's spirituality from various sins, however the same terms that are used to define the [mostly negative] parts of the person's soul that have muddied it and need to be dealt with and fixed, according to Kabbalah, "Klipot", are considered in Qabbalah (as "Qliphoth") to be quite the opposite: Untold secret fountains of knowledge that one must strive to access. (Qliphoth - Wikipedia)
What I'm wondering is: How did this happen? How did Qabbalistic teachings deviate so much from Kabbalistic teachings? This is, after all, considered to have originated as a Jewish school of thought, yet the teachings are so vastly un-Jewish (regardless of the terminology). Is this a form of supersessionism, perhaps? But if so, on what is it based, exactly?
(Note to people who may follow the path of Qabbalah, I'm not attacking the view, but simply attempting to understand where it is coming from).
Until now, I was aware that there were two types of Kabbalah: the real stuff, taught according to Jewish traditions, and the fake stuff, seemingly taught according to Jewish traditions, but really is the work of a group of charlatans and thieves (as a rule of thumb in Judaism - if a man outright tells you he's Kabbalist, and even more so, if he demands payment for his services, he's a charlatan. That's not to say he may not have some sort of special abilities - but that ain't Kabbalah). An example for the latter are the Kabbalah centers that people such as Madonna go to - that's fake, new-agey stuff. True Kabbalists study Kabbalah in secret and for the theoretical part, not the practical part.
However, it seems that there's a third type: Qabbalah (yes, the distinction is made with a different first letter) which appears to have been created by non-Jews (Christians originally, to my understanding) by taking the Jewish terminology in a different direction, as I previously stated. An example for this is that some of Kabbalah is used to heal the person's spirituality from various sins, however the same terms that are used to define the [mostly negative] parts of the person's soul that have muddied it and need to be dealt with and fixed, according to Kabbalah, "Klipot", are considered in Qabbalah (as "Qliphoth") to be quite the opposite: Untold secret fountains of knowledge that one must strive to access. (Qliphoth - Wikipedia)
What I'm wondering is: How did this happen? How did Qabbalistic teachings deviate so much from Kabbalistic teachings? This is, after all, considered to have originated as a Jewish school of thought, yet the teachings are so vastly un-Jewish (regardless of the terminology). Is this a form of supersessionism, perhaps? But if so, on what is it based, exactly?
(Note to people who may follow the path of Qabbalah, I'm not attacking the view, but simply attempting to understand where it is coming from).
Last edited: