KABBALAH - The Indigenous Science of Creation

Rabbi Caudill is a student of the ancient mystical Kabbalah tradition, as taught and interpreted by Rabbi Gershon Winkler, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Steven Fisdel, Reb Avram Davis, Reb Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi and Reb Daniel A. Matt, and others.

Rabbi Caudill has studied the basics practices and theory of kabbalah for almost 30 years.

Kabbalistic theory is a psychological method of understanding the mysteries of the mind from an ancient Jewish mystical approach. It developed eventually into the science of psychology and psycho-therapy.

Rabbi Caudill also studies and practices the Practical Kabbalah which seeks to understand and utilize mystical practices that bring changes in the health, welfare, and environment of the individual or group through awareness of "the magic of the ordinary," the magic before our eyes every moment.

The main texts of Kabbalah learning are the "Sepher Yetzira" (The Teachings of Abraham), the "Zohar" (The Teachings of Rabbi Akiba) and "The Bahir" (The Teachings of Rabbi Nehuniah ben HaKana). Rabbi Caudill leans towards the interpretation of the Spanish Kabbalists.

The texts that Rabbi Caudill recommends for those who wish to study the theory of Kabbalah today are: the above writings, and "Magic of the Ordinary, Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism," by Rabbi Gershon Winkler, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 2003; "The Practice of Kabbalah," by Rabbi Steven A. Fisdel, Jason Aronson, 1996; "The Zohar," Pritzker Edition, translated with commentary by Daniel C. Matt, Stanford University Press, 2003; "Kabbalah," by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, Thames and Hudson, 1979; "The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah," by Leonora Leet, Inner Traditions Inter., 1999; "Gate to the Heart," by Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi, ALEPH, 1993.

There are many different views and perspectives of Kabbalah. Each view is correct in it's own way, and for it's own adherents. Yet, none are totally correct, for they all are but the perspectives of people bound to their own methods of thinking and logic.

Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok has written: "Our holy Sages have taught us that the Torah is so sublime and mystical that it is the blueprint of the entire universe.
More than this, the Torah acts as an "owners manual" for the human race.

Ben Hey Hey tells us in Pirkei Avot that everything can be found in the Torah.

In the holy Zohar, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai tells us that the Torah contains within it all the sublime secrets of the universe. Indeed, whatever the likes of a Stephen Hawkins will discover about cosmology, whatever any scientist will discover in any field that will win him/her a Nobel Prize, all of these discoveries are already in the Torah, if only we knew how to extricate them from their concealment.

The holy Mekubalim (those who KNOW kabbalah) have for centuries emphasized the mathematical aspects of the Torah known as gematriyot; how each letter is a number and every word a code. Finding equal numerical values between letters, words and phrases enables us to discover previously unknown relationships and revealing to us secrets of life."

**THE HEBREW LETTERS AS A SOURCE OF KABBALAH**

Rabbi Marc-Alain Ouaknin, in his book "Mysteries of the Alphabet," posits that the proto-Sinaitic script represented an example of the transition from pictogram (hieroglyph) to ideogram (alphabetic character), wherein the single character would now convey the entire idea previously conveyed by the hieroglyphic picture.

He states: "Some authors call this dual, inverse, and paradoxical movement (from "writing a thing" to "writing an idea") "iconic augmentation." We prefer to call it an iconic paradox, since it more accurately reflects the dual inverse movement, the intricate crossover of the image and the meaning."

Carlo Suares, in "The Cipher of Genesis," writes: "The twenty-two graphs which are used as letters in the Hebrew alphabet are twenty-two proper names originally used to designate different states or structures of the one cosmic energy, which is ESSENCE and SEMBLANCE, of all that is. Even though they correspond to numbers, symbols, and ideas, those twenty-two vastly exceed all the most exhaustive sets of classes: they cannot be distributed among things because they factually ARE that which they designate."

In other words, the letter-symbols of each of the Hebrew alphabet consonants ARE the entire message and meaning as was in the original Egyptian hieroglyphic that they replaced.

Unlike the English letters A - B - C - D, ect., whose "names" Ayee, Bee, Cee, Dee, ect., mean nothing , except in combination with other English consonants and vowel letters, Hebrew consonants have an inner meaning that is represented in any word root that the letter helps to make up; i. e. adding an "Ayin" as a prefix to a root verb creates a noun for the name of an animal that also describes the animal's characteristic most apparant to the name giver. An example is "khavar" (to hide); add an Ayin as a prefix, (Ayin represents a scurrying motion), and you have the Hebrew word "Akhbar," (mouse).

Rabbi Ouaknin believes that the reason for the transition from the Egyptian hieroglyphics to the proto-Sinaitic characters was due to the giving of the Torah Law on Mt. Sinai!

He sees the passage from a pictorial form to a nonpictorial form as due to the prohibition on making pictorial representations in the Second of the Ten Commandments.

He states that "this led to a cultural revolution that deleted the image and produced the invention of the letter as a more or less abstract sign."


**REAL TORAH CODES**

There are many claims for there being CODES in the Torah, some factual, and some bogus. Most of those who make such claims do so from a position of having an agenda other than simply trying to understand how the authors and editors of the Torah thought and believed.

For example, the use of the Hebrew code word SHESHEKH (meaning confusion); spelled Sheen, Sheen, Khaf sofeet, in Jeremiah 25: 26 & 51: 41, where it is ATBASH (a code where Alef = Tav and Beyt = Sheen) for BABYLON, spelled Beyt, Beyt, Lamed. Similarly, the name GOG and MEGOG are code for "the leader of Babylon." Gog = Gimel, Gimel. Megog = Mem, Gimel, Gimel. This code actually is referring to the previous letter in the Hebrew alphabet and then reverses it. Thus, Gimel really equals Beyt and Mem really equals Lamed. So you have Gimel (Beyt), Gimel (Beyt), Mem (Lamed), Gimel (Beyt), Gimel (Beyt). Reversed, this reads the code as Beyt, Beyt = which means "Gate of," or "leader of," (leaving the Vav for "and" unchanged) Beyt, Beyt, Lamed = which means "Babylon."

Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as we said before, represents an entire conceptual thought. Thus, every WORD made up of individual Hebrew LETTERS conveys to the word the basic concept of each Hebrew letter that makes up that word.

THE BIBLE "CODES": A TEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE (Click on this link)

***GEMATRIYAH**

Link to an article "On Number Symbolism in the Torah From the Work of Rabbi Solomon D. Sassoon With Applications to Parashat Vezot Haberakha (click here)

Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. This numerical value is then used to determine the total value of the word, or phrase, that the letter is used in. The Kabbalists also considered that every word, or phrase, with a certain value had a mystical connection with every other word, or phrase, that had that same numerical value.

Aleph is 1
Beyt (Veyt) is 2
Gimel is 3
Dalet is 4
Heh is 5
Vav is 6
Zayin is 7
Chet is 8
Tet is 9
Yod is 10
Kaf (Chaf) is 20
Lamed is 30
Mem is 40
Nun is 50
Samech is 60
'Ayin is 70
Peh (Feh) is 80
Tsaddi is 90
Qof is 100
Resh is 200
Sheen is 300
Tav is 400
*******************************
Some continue:
Final Khaf is 500
Final Mem is 600
Final Nun is 700
Final Pey is 800
Final Tsadi is 900
Enlarged ALEPH is 1000
*******************************

Based upon the values of the individual letters, words, and phrases, the rabbis and sages of Babylonia and elsewhere, during the Second Temple period (5th century BCE - 70 CE), would calculate new meanings for the letters, words, and phrases within Sacred Texts; for example, In Genesis 42: 2, Jacob says to his sons, "go down (redu) to Egypt." His words are viewed as a prophecy of the Israelite stay of 210 years in Egypt because the numerical value of REDU (Resh, Dalet, Vav) equals 210.

The writer-redactor of the text of the Book of Genesis believed that the Hebrew concept of God was as ONE GOD. How do we know this? The NUMBER VALUE of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ALEPH, is 1. The letters spelling YAH, one of God's Names; Yod, Heh, equal the numerical value of 15. The 15th letter from the beginning letter of the Book of Genesis is Aleph -1. The Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh Name of God (the Tetragrammaton) equals 26; the 26th letter of Genesis is Aleph -1. The Name of God, El equals 31. The 31st letter of Genesis is Aleph -1. The Name of God, ELOHIM, equals 86 and the 86th letter of the Book of Genesis is Aleph -1.

Consider the gematriya for the Hebrew word 'Ayin - Dalet, ED, meaning WITNESS, as in the verse "Ha'idoti vakhem hayom.... (I witness against you this day...)" Deuteronomy 30: 19.

"Ha'idoti" is a composite Hebrew form that has at its root the letters 'AYIN and DALET, meaning "witness."

The gematriya of 'Ayin is 70, and of Dalet is 4, equalling 74. 7 + 4 = 11 = 1 & 1. I and Thou.

In the SH'MA' (Deuteronomy 6: 4), "Sh'ma' Yisrael YHVH Elohaynu, YHVH echad [Listen Israel, ADONAI our Creator-Power, ADONAI is ONE-ALONE]" the last letter of "sh'ma'" is 'Ayin and the last letter of "echad" is Dalet. These two letters are written extra large in the Hebrew Torah scrolls in order to stand as a WITNESS FOREVER (l'olam v'ED) of the unique character of the nature of the Hebrew concept of God and of the Israelite responsibility to WITNESS as to that character.

THE CONCEPT OF THE TEN SEPHIROT IN KABBALAH - Rabbi Gershon Winkler's USER-FRIENDLY VERSION

TO SEE AN ARTISTS VIEW OF THE KABBALISTIC SEPHIROT - CLICK HERE

SEPHIRAH originates in the word SAH'PEER, which means "Sapphire" stone.

The SEPHIROT represent an ancient Jewish mystical formula for esoteric gymnastics and God-shuttling. They are based on the ancients' understanding of the qualities of the Creator as revealed within the fabric of Creation. The SEPHIROT are symbolized in the human form, each attribute corresponding to a particular sector of the body. What follows is a loose adaptation of this ten-point kabbalistic formula.

KETER- literally: Crown

Symbolic of the No-Thing place from where everything originated. Therefore also known as the AYN-SOF, or the "No-End." There is a part of you that is infinite, that began in the middle of infinity. Where did you come from? Your origin lies in the primordial thought of the Creator, in the KETER realm of the divine spiral that eventually unfolded to become you becoming you.

CHOCHMAH - literally: hollowed out. Also: Wisdom

Symbolic of the very initial phase of your genesis from the real of No-Thing. The Infinite Being hollowed out a space in No-Thing in which there now arose the possibility for your manifestation. This space is known in the kabbalah as the TEHERU, literally: Clear Space. This is the beginning of what we experience as wisdom. No wisdom comes to us when we are void of it, only when we have hollowed out a clear space in our selves, created room for experience and for what experience teaches us.

BINAH - literally: constructing. Also: Understanding

Symbolic of the subsequent phase of building upon what you have experienced, building upon the newly evolving premises of the wisdom that is germinating in you. Where CHOCHMAH is the dynamics fo hollowing out a space for possibility, BINAH is the dynamics of building possibility within that space, and doing so with the very pieces that were chipped away in the process of hollowing out that very space. Understanding builds on wisdom.

CHESSED - literally: drained. Also: Benevolence

Symbolic of the lovingness that emerges out of the act of creating, of giving form to something, as BINAH has done to CHOCHMAH. The excitement and newness of initial lovingness causes it to flow unconditionally and unbridled, potentially draining BINAH straight out of the hollow of CHOCHMAH, reverting everything back to nothing.

GEVURAH - literally: powerfulness. Also: Setting Boundaries; Balance.

Symbolic of the rousing drive to initiate, to take a stand, to exert your power in order to balance the unbridled awkwardness of CHESSED flow, so that instead of being drained in the act of giving, you are nutured by it; instead of giving of yourself because it is expected of you, you give of yourself from a place of strength, and therefore not more than you are capable of giving without being drained. Where CHESSED is spilling, GEVURAH is pouring. GEVURAH provides CHESSED with a spout, provides randomness with direction, and tempers what would otherwise be running amok.

TIF'ERET - literally: beauty. Also: Pride.

Symbolic of your sense of togetherness, your sense of walking your life journey in balance, void of extremes and filled with a sense of accomplishment, or pride. This achievement of balance between CHOCHMAH and BINAH, and between CHESSED and GEVURAH, ignites within you the spark of Divine Light that now becomes fanned into a brilliant glow so potent it shines within you and through you so that those around you behold your Beauty. This is the meaning of Beauty: Divine Light sparked by the walk of balance into a glow that nutures not only yourself but all who encounter you. This is GOOD pride, a pride that will never bring you down, only raise you and those around you higher and higher. This pride is not egotism since your walk is now far from the extremes and always in careful, deliberate balance. In TIF'ERET you become so aware of your strengths and weaknesses that you feel no compulsion to flaunt your streangths and no need to fear your weaknesses. They are both well balanced in a synchronic dance that spins you further and further to the fruition of your deepest essence, that essence concealed in the mystery of KETER.

NETZACH - literally: sparked. Also: Victory and Eternity (also-perseverence).

This is symbolic of asserting your power in all that you do and encounter, being the one who sparks, who ignites, who touches projects or relationships or experiences and sets them ablaze with your Presence. Some call this charisma. Some call it intensity. There is probably a little of both attributes that fuel NETZACH, a direct flow from TIF'ERET which has so empowered you that you now come at everything and everyone from a position of Victory and excuding an air of Eternity, or immortality.

HOD - literally: distinction. Also: Majesty, Gracefullness.

This is symbolic of what the continuing influence of the nucleus, the heart, TIF'ERET, brings next to contain NETZACH within the sphere and dance of balance. You can exert your power and your Presence in a forceful, intimidating way, and you can exert your power and your Presence in a majestic way, a way in which your power does not intimidate yet comes across with equal forcefulness. This juggling act requires the attribute of DISTINCTION, being capable of distinguishing between situations and personalities that require the more cutting and power-fused NETZACH approach, or the more laid-back and majestic HOD approach. HOD, like the balancing arm of GEVURAH, is situated on the left side. Ao, as GEVURAH tempers CHESSED to its right, HOD tempers NETZACH to its right. And like GEVURAH balances out the overwhelming force of CHESSED, so does HOD balance out the overwhelming force of NETZACH. And like GEVURAH determines when it is appropriate to spill in the CHESSED mode or to pour pour in the GEVURAH mode, so does HOD determine when it is appropriate to exude in the NETZACH mode or to simply glow in the HOD mode.

YE-SOD - literally: support. Also: Base, Foundation, Creativity.

This is symbolic of the mystery that holds it all together, the base onto which all of the delicately balanced attributes of divine manifestation are fastened, connected. The word SOD, "mystery," is in the name for this phase, because what it is that holds together so many paradoxical personifications and emotions, is pure mystery, is an unknown, a piece that cannot be named, identified, defined, or pegged. In your physical manifestation, this powerful Base, capable of supporting all of the above, is played out or experienced in your sexuality. It is in the act and sensation of sex that you set the stage for all of the above characters to actualize optimally their roles without any inhibitions. It is during sex that you open up wide the chutes of all of the above divine forces so that, in the crescendo of lovemaking, they channel freely and fully, unleashing all of their powers through you, within you, and out into the universe of your lover and into the universe around you, rippling uninterruptedly across the planet and into the cosmos, up through the SEPHIROT and into the No-Thing realm of that which in that very moment is bringing you and everything in your world into existence.

MAL'CHUT - literally: council. Also: Sovereign.

This is symbolic of the bigger picture that simultaneously emanates from your very being while also encompassing your very being from without, from the transcendent realm of all that surrounds your existence, from the ground you are standing on to the trees outside your window to the people, insects, flowers, and stones of Timbuktu, to the planets and stars that are both visible to your eye and unknown even to science. MAL'CHUT is therefore also referred to in the kabbalah as SHECHINAH, the She-Dwelling, or Divine Presence in Creation, which is everywhere. So where KETER is the Primordial Light, MAL'CHUT is the Primordial Prism that gives FORM to that light, that draws forth its colors. KETER is white, containing within it all the colors but in a state of potentiality. MAL'CHUT is black, containing all the colors but in a state of fruition. MAL'CHUT is the earth, drawing all of creation out of seed and into realization. MAL'CHUT is where it all ends. And begins. MAL'CHUT brings KETER full circle. Infinity and Divinity are therefore as much in MAL'CHUT as they are in KETER. It is only through the physical translation of the spirit, through MAL'CHUT, Judaism teaches, that we stand any chance of coming anywhere near Spirit.

"KABBALAH 365" by Gershon Winkler

Rabbi Gershon Winkler is a longtime practitioner and interpreter of the Kabbalah, teaching workshops across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Israel. He is the cofounder and executive director of the Walking Stick Foundation and Retreat Center in the San Miguel Wilderness of New Mexico, where he currently resides.

Book Description
Every day is a chance for a new beginning - an awakening. Start each day with the gift of time-tested wisdom from the Kabbalah. Kabbalah 365 is a unique collection of rare Jewish mystery and understanding. People from all walks of life are finding their paths illuminated within the Kabbalah. Each selected reading, one for every day of the yearly cycle, encourages honest contemplation, true inspiration, and deep reflection. Here are just a few examples: If you are in a hurry to get to an appointment, and you are riding on a train that is moving too slow, do you think you will arrive at your destination any faster by getting up and running through the train? Likewise, when the time is right for you, you'll be arriving at your destination - no sooner, no later. In the meantime, make sure you are on board. If you are rubbing two sticks together and are having difficulty lighting a fire, move to another place and try again. Likewise, if you are having difficulty in the place where you are, shift to another place. Experience the vastness and riches of the Kabbalah with Kabbalah 365, which ably preserves the integrity of the original texts, some translated here for the first time, and renders insights in easy-to-understand language.