Is Hollywood distoring Kabbalah?

According to Rabbi Allan Nadler, the answer is yes.

Rabbi Nadler is a professor of religious studies and director of the program in Jewish Studies at Drew University in Madison, NJ. He recently wrote an editorial for the New York Post about the Hollywood version of Kabbalah and how it distorts and abuses the canon of Jewish mystical teachings.

What is Kabbalah?

Kabbalah is the Jewish form of mysticism. You can find an excellent explanation of the original teachings of Kabbalah here.

What is mysticism?

According to Dictionary.com, mysticism is

a.     Immediate consciousness of the transcendent or ultimate reality or God.

b.    The experience of such communion as described by mystics.

In other words, mysticism involves the practice/seeking of a connection with God or ultimate reality through actual experience – whether that’s physical experience or some sort of mental experience like intuition. Mystics often achieve this connection through meditation which exists in many forms for many religions: prayer or meditation for Christians, meditation or chanting for Buddhists, dancing for Sufi Muslims (see whirling dervishes), and so forth. 

A list of common mystic traditions includes kabbalah (Judaism), Sufism (Islam), Christian mysticism (often practiced by monks and nuns), and yoga (Hinduism).

What do you think?

Is Hollywood distorting Kabbalah?

Filed under: Judaism