It may seem that an esoteric tradition such as Kabbalah must be essentially different from the mainstream religious tradition. Ritual life of the Kabbalists, however, was no different than that of traditional Jews for the most part. Kabbalah acted on behalf of traditional religious life as a conservative yet transformative agent. Kabbalah also offered some innovations within its own esoteric tradition designed to develop a fuller relationship with God.
Religious practices by Kabbalists were not visibly different form those of traditional Jews. They said the same prayers and observed the same rituals and mitzvot (Ariel 139). The difference betweeen Kabbalists and traditional Jews in observance of ritual life was one of meaning. A seriousness of purpose and willfullness while performing mitzvot was always of high importance in traditional Judaism. Kabbalists, on the other hand, stressed the importance of full intention of both heart and body in the performance of all ritual actions while directing the intention to the appropriate sefirah (Ariel 140).
Kabbalists actually conserved ritual life by looking for deeper levels of meaning within those rituals by concentrated intention (Fine 16). It was by means of this intention, or kavvanah , that every ritual act became transformed into a mystical act which attempted to adapt itself to the divine will (Scholem, On Kabbalah 126). Kabbalists felt that conserving ritual life was important. Relying on mundane explanations for the mitzvot as cirumstances changed. Kabbalah functioned at a symbolic level through kavvanah to preserve the mitzvot and disallow subjective alterations of the mitzvot as circumstances changed (Dan 12).
It was through kavvanah that Kabbalists could attain mystical prayer from exoteric prayer (Scholem, Major Trends 34). Kabbalists also went a step further in their conception of prayer. Many mystics wrote of their own prayers characterized by directness and simplicity overlayed with the symbolism of Kabbalah (Scholem, Major Trends 33). Words of prayer were seen as representing the sefirot and a means of meditation was also promoted by the Kabbalistic method of rising at midnight to study and praise God (Fine 17).
Words of prayers were believed by Kabbalists to have an active purpose. The words were believed to be entities which ascended to the sefirot and united with them (Ariel 143), allowing a theurgic relationship with the God of the Bible. Daily prayer was performed by Kabbalists to perfect the Shekhinah. Also it was said that ten Kabbalists were necessary during prayer in order to bring about perfection of the sefirot (Ariel 143). The Zohar also imparted the necessity of conventional prayer said in the synagogue. The Zohar suggested individual prayer actually caused God to scrutinize the worthiness of a person praying alone, therefore synagogue prayer was far superior (ariel 144-5).
Kabbalists applied kavvanah and the acceptance of deeper levels of meaning not only to prayer, but to all ritual actions. The positive aspects of ritual were to bring about restoration of the right order of things while the negative aspects were for the elimination of the powers of Sitra Ahra (Scholem, On Kabbalah 128-9). Specifically Kabbalists expected ritual to accomplish the harmony between judgement and mercy, the sacred marriage of masculine and feminine aspects of the sefirot , freedom of the Shekhinah from Sitra Ahra, and defense against the powers of Sitra Ahra (Scholem, On Kabbalah 130).
Kabbalists believed the sefirot were divided into masculine and feminine aspects. Through ritual action they attempted to achieve a union of these elements of the sefirot (Ariel 133). By uniting these elements, specifically Tifeeret and the Shekhinah, Kabbalists could achieve devekut , union, with the sefirot (Ariel 142) and bridge the abyss between man and Eyn Sof. Kabbalists even developed wholly new rituals to reflect this union, some rituals of which became part of the traditional Jewish observances. One such ritual was the Sabbath practice of dressing in white while going into the fields to welcome the Sabbath. As the sun set, the Shekhinah would rise while the Kabbalists served as her entourage in the sacred wedding. The order of the prayers for the Sabbath was established to symbolize a unitive ritual between the Shekhinah and Tifeeret (Ariel 147-8).
Kabbalists also introduced the custom of singing Eshet Hayyil , Woman of Valor, as a hymn at the Sabbath table. The symbolism was Kabbalistic, praising the wife yet referring to the Shekhinah (Ariel 150). The Zohar also introduced the ritual action of the unitive effect of the righteous husband and wife who engage in sexual intercourse on the Sabbath (Atiel 150). The symbolism of the union of Tifeeret and the Shekhinah can be witnessed in this ritual as well.
Kabbalists did introduce new rituals reflecting thier mystical beliefs. Some of these rituals did become integrated into traditional ritual life. Kabbalists also preserved traditional ritual practices. They believed that following traditional ritual life was of high importance. However, the difference between Kabbalists and traditional Jew in following ritual was one of meaning. Kabbalists transformed traditonal rituals via the lens of their symbolically entrenched beliefs. Kabbalists did not practice rituals at a surface level. They instead suffused every religious action with a deep level of meaning and performed it with kavvanah , the full intention of their heart and soul.
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