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Kelippot in Jewish Qabala

To: alt.magick
From: "Casey Sheldon" 
Subject: Re: Kelippot in Jewish Qabala (was Re: Beg. Enoch)
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:20:24 GMT

> Kaplan and Scholem's interpretations do not correspond with eachother.

I don't see the differences, could you provide examples?

Meditation and Kabbalah, p. 40, an excerpt written by Chaim Vital

    "From then on, people only made use of techniques involving the universe
of Asiyah. Since this is the lowest of the universes, its angels have only a
little good, and are mostly evil. Besides this, this is a level where good
and evil are closely intertwined [and it is very difficult to separate
them]. This does not bring any enlightenment, since it is impossible to
perceive good alone, and one's perception is therefore a combination of good
and evil, truth and falsehood.
    This is the significance of the Practical Kabbalah. It is forbidden to
make use of it, since evil necessarily attaches itself to the good. One may
actually intend to cleanse his soul, but as a result of the evil, he
actually defiles it.
    Even if one does gain some perception it is truth intermingled with
falsehood. This is especially true today, since the ashes of the Red Heifer
no longer exist. [Since one cannot purify himself,] the uncleanliness of the
Husks attaches itself to the individual who attempts to gain enlightenment
through the Practical Kabbalah.
    Therefore, "he who watches his soul should keep far from them." For
besides polluting his soul, he will also be punished in purgatory (Gehinom).
We also have a tradition that such an individual will be punished in this
world."

"Uncleanliness of the Husks" seems to be equated with the evil mentioned in
the previous paragraph.

Meditation and Kabbalah, p. 286, an excerpt written by the Baal Shem Tov

    "When an extraneous thought comes to you, this is a sign that you are
being cast out. But if you are wise, you can use that thought itself to bind
yourself to God all the more. The thought consists of letters that are part
of the Divine Presence's body, but they fell as a result of the Breaking [of
the Vessels]. The combination of these letters therefore becomes bad,
intermingled with the Husks.
    This is like sweetmeats intermingled with other things. Each thing is
good by itself, but mixed together they are vile and disgusting. This
likewise becomes evil."

The intermixture of the Divine Presence and the Husks is said to become
evil.

Meditation and Kabbalah, p. 291, an excerpt written by the Baal Shem Tov

"When you wish to attach your thoughts to the Creator in the supernal
worlds, the [Evil] Husks (K'lipot) do not allow you."

[Evil] added by Kaplan. I only note this, because he consistently adds the
word evil to the word Husks and the word K'lipot.

    Okay, one more point I'd like to mention here, though. What about Sefer
Yetsirah? Many have said that it, too is full of Gnostic influences, which I
might add are not all similar to Xtianity, and yet, do we simply discard a
useful tool of undoubtable Kabbalistic importance? SY was Abulafia's first
training manual, so should we throw out good ole' Raziel??? Scholem was a
Kabbalistic scholar of the highest order. Assert that he is a tainted source
if you will, but I'm not buying it without some citations from other Jewish
Mystics.
    Kaplan states in his commentary to the Sefer Yetsirah that on the level
of Chokmah we must learn from evil. However, he also states that on this
level, one loses individuality. I think this is more than the ego loss that
many struggle to attain. This is loss of any sort of identity, and it is
only at this level that one can see through the division between good and
evil. He even says that this is above the Understanding which is associated
with the Neshamah. So, good and evil don't exist, but only to people who've
already gone the way of Enoch and Elijah. To the rest of us, evil is still
here.

--
Casey Sheldon

"If it is at night, light many candles, so that your eyes are well
illuminated... Then begin to permute a number of letters. You may use only a
few, or you may use many.  Transpose and permute them quickly, until your
heart is warmed as a result of these permutations, their motions, and what
is derived from these permutations. As a result of these permutations, your
heart will become extremely warm. From the permutations you will gain new
knowledge that you never learned from human traditions nor derived from
intellectual analysis. When you experience this, you are prepared to receive
the influx."
- Abraham Abulafia, Life of the Future World




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