The word Kabbalah means received transmission or received tradition. It is one part of the Oral Torah which was not written down explicitly after the Torah was given by G-d to the Jewish Nation almost 3,500 years ago. It was written down in very difficult codes, which compels a student to turn to someone to help him decipher them. Thus, to learn Kabbalah we have to depend on a person-to-person transmission.

The question remains even after the basic definition: What is Kabbalah?

KABBALAH AND PHILOSOPHY

Maimonidies writes that Kabbalah is "the subject which philosophers have pondered for generations." One description of philosophy is to say that philosophy deals with questions which are very clear, but the answers to these questions are not so clear. It's not science. In science, you can have a question, then you make a discovery, and you have an answer. But there are other questions which we cannot answer precisely.

What is the human being? All we see of the human being is his body. We see his limbs. The body is a garment, and the limbs are tools that the human being utilizes. But what is the human being, the person himself? The question is very clear. But for the answer you can only speculate. This is the area of philosophy. It deals with those questions for which we cannot find a clear answer.

There is no doubt that there is such a thing as moral law, but what is it? Why should we follow it? What is the definition of good and bad? These questions are as old as humanity itself. No clear solution to moral problems has yet been found by the human mind. Morality is still a subject of philosophy and is taught as such in the universities. If even a relatively definite solution of the moral problem would have been found, morality would have been transferred from the philosophy department to the field of science.

We see that the Creator is good to us. He wants us to enjoy ourselves. There is a special blessing which we recite when we go out in the spring and see a plant blooming. It's a joy to see. We make a blessing, and we thank G-d that He has created things just for our pleasure. So why did He give us such an area that brings us to sadness and torture? To have a question and not find an answer is a torture.

Ecclessiastes (the book of Koheles) asks the same question. It is essentially a manual of philosophy. King Solomon, the author, quotes many philosophical theories. He discusses many issues. In the end he concludes that no theory answers the questions. He writes, "After you have heard everything and you see that nothing answers you, be in awe of G-d, observe His commandments, and you will have your answers." King Solomon is saying that there are answers given to us, even if we cannot yet understand them, and that they are in the Torah.

INFORMATION AND GATES OF UNDERSTANDING

The answers to all the philosophical questions was given to Moses by G-d to transmit to the Jewish people. This is what Kabbalah is: the answers to all the unanswerable questions. The questions may only be unanswerable to us on our level. The answers are not "secrets," and they are not "mysteries." They simply exist on a higher intellectual level, which we have to be intellectually prepared to reach.

Maimonidies explains that Talmud is a mind-grinding tool. The entire function of it is to grind, to sharpen, and to develop the mind to be so refined that we will be able to understand the questions and the answers. While we are learning, our intelligence is being shaped, refined, and trained in handling abstractions. It is being led towards the abstract parts of Torah. He writes in the Introduction to the Talmud that the purpose of all learning of Torah is to prepare the intelligence to be able to come close to "hasagas haBorei" (understanding the Creator). Some things are hidden because we are not prepared. They are too fine to be handled with the normal tools of our unprepared intelligence.

It says in the Torah, "Let My lessons pour on you like rain, My sayings like dew; like storms on grass and like drops of liquid." The 15th century Sforno likens this to the different ways in which people learn new information. For those who are great, there is so much information that it pours on them like rain. The average person also receives information, but it is less in quantity, relative to his capacity, and it is pleasant, like dew.

The great man may find information as he is learning that will shock him, shake him. That is like storms on grass. The grass represents the green cover of the earth. The great people see the entire picture, as in one sweep of green grass covering the earth. They are constantly making discoveries which they did not expect and are constantly being shaken up by them.

When we learn Torah, we must know that Torah is a replica of the universe, and its depth is endless. The Talmudic section, Ethics of the Fathers speaks of this and says that "it is not up to you to finish the work." Imagine, for example, a large park with a gate at the entrance. Once you go through the gate, you can go as far as your feet can take you. There is no end. But you go as far as you can.

This is what a "gate of understanding" is. It is an opening, and each and every one can go in. One gate leads to another, and it is endless. They are all different sections of Creation. The levels are infinite, and each person grasps on his own level. All that G-d wants from us is to go, to proceed as far as we can.

INTELLECTUAL LEVELS AND SECRETS OF TORAH

We have to understand what is meant by the expression "secrets of Torah." It is not proven that we cannot have answers to our questions. One thing is proven: The unaided human mind cannot find an answer to many problems and questions of philosophy. The great philosophers have tried for thousands of years, and no one has come up with answers. They have come up with theories, but not clear-cut, definite answers. Thus, by experience, we have to conclude that the human mind cannot find an answer to those questions. But it is not proven that the human mind cannot grasp an answer if it is given. However, that answer has to be given from without, from a higher source. The assumption is that logically, once an answer is given, it can be grasped. If it cannot be grasped, it would be a terribly illogical arrangement. It would mean that I can be tortured with questions for which I cannot get an answer. It would not be fair to be given questions such as these. And we find that the Creator is fair.

We say that those answers were given together with the revelation of Torah. However, not everyone is ready to grasp the answer when it is given to him. Would you teach mathematics in pre-kindergarten? You don't want to keep it a secret from the children. But they are not ready for it.

Every person has two levels of intelligence. There are things he can find out and solve on his own, and there are things which he cannot find out on his own; but if someone comes and gives him the answer, he will understand it. All the areas where a person can find out things himself may be called level A. The level where he can understand the answer, if given to him, may be called level B. Not everybody has the same level of intelligence.

Reuven has a certain level where he can answer questions himself. This is A. But the next level for him is B. Here he cannot answer, but if you will explain it to him, he will grasp it.

Shimon is a little more intelligent. What is B to Reuven is A to Shimon. But what is B to Shimon is entirely off limits to Reuven --he will not understand it even if someone tries to explain it to him. The highest person has an A which may be understandable to the person just under him, if explained, but the highest person's B is off limits to everyone else.

Therefore, when we say there are questions which the human mind cannot answer, we are talking about questions which a very few can understand when they are given the explanations. There always remains something that is beyond B to everyone. That may be the actual essence of the G-d Himself, which Moses asked to have revealed to him, and which he was told was impossible even for him. He was told by G-d, "Nobody can see Me and live."

But the answers to all the other questions were given to Moses and passed on to us. The higher levels are called the "hidden" parts of Torah. But there is no mystery. They are just something of a higher intellectual level that one has to be prepared for by going through the ''brain-grinding" and refining process of learning and observing Torah. They are understood in their fullest and deepest meanings by only the highest level people. Each person is obligated to proceed as far as he can go, even though "It is not up to you to finish the work."

TRANSMISSION AND THE CONVEYER BELT

It is important to understand the mechanism with which we explain things to each other. What we are doing at those times is transferring ideas from mind to mind. A conveyer belt is needed to accomplish this. That conveyer belt is language. If a person never saw a table in his life, I might want to give him an idea of what a table is. First, I myself have to understand that the table is a complex of elements. Does the other person know elements? Does he know shapes? Shape is also an element of a table. Does he know color? Can he figure out how to put things together? Then I tell him, ''Listen, this is of a hard material. The shape is like a rectangular board. But I want the board to be at the level where it is easy for me to use, so I take something and I support it. Then I raise it, and I have it at the level where I can do something with it."

This is the process of translating ideas. You take apart the concept that you have to explain and bring it down to its elements. You give him the elements and you also tell him how to construct it. Therefore, if I explain something to you, there are preconditions that you, as a listener, must possess. You have to be familiar with all the elements that I am discussing, and you have to be able to follow instructions in order to construct something from what I tell you. If my listener is missing one element, he will get a picture, but not a true picture of the table. If he has all the elements but he cannot follow instructions on how to construct it, then he will have the legs of the table on top of it.

Therefore, every teacher must be very careful that the students get the right ideas. Otherwise, the teacher may say something and the student will understand something else. Every teacher has had that experience.

G-d wants us to be knowledgeable people. Therefore, He gave us the Torah, which is a replica of the universe. Along with that, we were given the mitzvah of Talmud Torah--learning Torah. We find that by learning Torah, we learn about the entire universe.

G-d wants us to have that information, but He wants us to have the real picture. Therefore, the Torah warns us not to teach people who are not prepared for that teaching, because if they are not prepared, they will learn something other than what you tell them. Maimonidies makes a statement in his Laws of Torah Study that ''if you have a student who is not ripe to understand you, what you teach him is nonsense, because what you say makes sense, but what he hears is nonsense.

There is a story about two Sages in the Talmud. Each was particularly expert in a different part of Kabbalah--one was a master of maaseh merkavah (the wisdom of the holy Chariot) and the other was a master of maaseh Bereishis (the Creation wisdom). They said, "Let us teach each other. You teach me your wisdom and I'll teach you mine."

The first one taught the other one maaseh Bereishis. Then he said, ''Now it's your turn to teach me." The other answered him by saying, "I cannot teach you. While you were teaching me, I saw your level, and you are not ready for it."

This means that what I can understand, I understand. What I cannot understand, I am better off not touching, because I will only misunderstand it. Misunderstanding is not just a zero. It is a minus. When a teacher is teaching, he should always be checking to see if the student is on the level of the teaching. This limits misunderstanding of the things that the Torah wants us to know.

There is no end to the depth of any created thing. It is only a question of how far you can go. If you take a match apart and you consider all the laws of physics in it, you can make a lifetime study out of one match. Similarly, Torah has no end. But if you are not ready for it, you can burn yourself.

Kabbalah gives you what is beyond the normal limits in the search for truth. But man does not always search for truth. He often looks for convenience. Some people think that Kabbalah is some kind of a ''power" which they can call upon and use. This is often how people look at Jewish mysticism. Their entire concept of mysticism centers around the performance of miracles. They think Kabbalah contains blessings or gimmicks. That kind of mysticism is close to paganism.

Certain academics--known as "experts" on Kabbalah--talk about Kabbalah, but they do not know what they are talking about. They have their own imagination of something, and they are teaching it as 'truth."

Often they think of Jewish Kabbalists as people who found "the key"--a good thing--and these Kabbalists keep it for themselves, not giving it to anyone else.

There are some things that are forbidden to be taught to three students at a time. But the "experts" misunderstand the reason for it. The reason is as follows: If one of the students misses a word, he may ask another one, "What did the rabbi say?" In the meantime, while those two are conversing, the rabbi is continuing with his teaching because there is a third person to listen. Then the first two will miss something. However, if just two people are being taught, it is impossible that the rabbi will continue teaching. If they are talking with each other, he will stop.

It is forbidden to learn maaseh Bereishis even with two students. If one teaches two students, he adjusts the teaching to an average between the two. Therefore, neither one can get the maximum. And maaseh Bereishis needs so much precision that you cannot trust your explanation unless it is directed to just one student.

Maaseh merkavah is so deep that it is not trusted to be handed over to even one person. It is forbidden to teach it to even a single person, unless he is a chacham (wise) and understands himself; then the rabbi may guide him to discover more for himself. Chacham refers to one who knows the whole Torah, in quantity. This means that he has learned and understands the entire Mishnah component of the Talmud, which is a compressed miniature of the whole Torah. This is quantity, but not depth, because in depth there is no end.

THE HIDDEN ART OF TORAH

We live in a period of great scientific discovery. Many people are finding out about the wonders of Creation. But instead of coming to be in awe of the Creator, they go in the opposite direction. Therefore, to learn the marvels of Creation, it is safer for us to learn it through a page of Talmud. There we also see the wondrous beauty of the Creation--in a depth without end.

There is a concept of mechuseh, something which is covered up and nistar, something which is completely hidden. If I put an object in my coat, with the bulge visible, that's called mechuseh. You do not see what I carry, but you see that I carry something. The Books of the Prophets are in the category of mechuseh. Sometimes there are very difficult sections there that absolutely require investigation and interpretation in order to be understood on any level. One knows there is something being said other than the simple, surface meaning. That's not nistar--hidden.

In the Torah, the five books of Moses, which is in the category of nistar, the art is so great that you don't even notice that there is something under the surface. The twelfth century Rashi, in his commentary on the Torah, points out for us the places where we need to investigate further. He has put together in the Torah all the elements which he felt a Jewish person needs. But there are difficult parts in Rashi also, which bear further investigation:

... In the beginning of Genesis it says, "Let there be a firmament in the middle of the waters." Rashi says that the firmament is exactly in the center between the lower waters and the upper waters. The twelfth century Nachmonidies writes that what Rashi is saying here is one of the most hidden statements of the Torah; he says, "Do not expect me to explain it, because even those who know should not explain it; and even more so, myself."

Now why did Rashi write this if it is so deep that it cannot be understood?

Let us give an analogy to explain this. Torah is compared to bread. The Midrash says that Moses did not eat bread or drink water for forty days. The Midrash then asks, ''What did he live on?" And the answer is, "On Torah. From the light of the Shechinah, (the Divine Presence)," and then it says that the angels also exist on the light of the Divine Presence.

Moses, during the time he was being given Torah, received his sustenance from Torah, which is the bread of the soul and the food of the personality.

When you eat bread, the first thing you do is chew it. When you chew it, you enjoy it. We say that G-d is tov u'meitiv--He is good and He gives goodness. This means: He is good--He gives us food; and He gives goodness--He enables us to enjoy it. But this enjoyment is not the function of the bread. The function is nourishment, and it is not nourishing until it is swallowed.

It is the same with Torah. When I am learning, that which I understand is like the taste which brings me a feeling of great satisfaction and enjoyment. But there is more: When the bread--the Torah--goes into the system, it nourishes; it goes in with an entire depth, the entire power and strength of Torah, much more than I consciously know, just like food which is digested automatically and nourishes the body even though I am unaware of it.

There are times when a person needs a food, but it is too hard to chew. So it is put in a pill, like vitamins. It is swallowed, and then one has the needed element without having to taste or chew it. When Rashi put together all the elements we need in learning Torah, there were parts which he knew we could not understand. When Nachmonidies talks about that part in Genesis which we cannot understand, he is saying, "It's a vitamin pill. Swallow it. You need it, and you'll get what you need. But don't try to understand it --you'll break your teeth!"

Whether we realize it or not, Torah is full of tremendous force and brings great inspiration.

ON THE ENERGY OF TORAH

A simple battery is full of energy. An atomic bomb looks very innocent. But with one press on an innocent-looking button we can release enormous energy. Likewise, the whole of Creation looks very innocent.

One of the greatest miracles of Creation is not the energy, but the locking in of that energy. Kabbalah refers to the locking in of energy as tzimtzum, and shows that this is gevurah (power, strength). The tzimtzum of Creation is the greatest power that exists. The world was created in such a manner that the raw energy was locked in and chained down to us on our level, in order for us to be able to approach it.

The Torah is also a creation by the same Creator. Torah is also full of tremendous force--dynamite. Rashi says in the beginning of the Book of Genesis, that the original light of Creation was much more powerful than the light we have for our use, the light of the sun. The Creator said, continues Rashi, that the original light was too good to give into the hands of the wicked, so He hid it away and reserved it for the righteous in the World-to-Come. It was hidden in the Torah.

When we learn Torah--when we swallow it--we don't realize the fullness of its inspiration and its power. It is full of tremendous power and energy.