Pop Kabbalah: When Secret Jewish Mysticism Goes Mainstream | Unpacked

The study of Kabbalah — Jewish mystical texts — used to be limited just to certain men. In recent years, though, Kabbalah has gone merely a fascination of esotericism to mainstream and for a hot minute even became a trend among some big name celebs like Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Ariana Grande. But what is Kabbalah, how has it shaped Judaism and why is it more popular than ever?

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:56 What is Kabbalah?
01:21 Origins of Kabbalah
01:34 Renowned Kabbalists
01:51 The Zohar
02:38 Controversies surrounding Kabbalah
02:54 The false Messiah Shabtai Zvi
03:40 Kabbalah during the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment)
04:28 Gershom Scholem and fascination with Kabbalah
05:09 Kabbalah as a reaction to the Holocaust and the atom bomb
05:34 Rabbi Philip Berg and the Kabbalah Center
05:53 Famous members of the Kabbalah Center
06:38 Kabbalah today as divisive
06:55 Can Kabbalah be separated from Torah study?
07:21 Outro

For a more in depth look at the origins of Kabbalah, check out @ReligionForBreakfast's video here:

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About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.

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#Kabbalah #Mysticism #Explainers

[cL-bfug]

After watching this, I still don’t know what Kabbalah is.

[Arigato]

If celebrities are doing it then that should be a sign that it involves magic

[organicwins]

You know it’s corrupted when it’s mainstream

[jimd]

When they adopted the Babylonian religion and quit the Torah is when people should of known they were false teachers.

[Studiosmediamilk]

According to actual Jewish people, Hollywood kabbalah makes you as Jewish as eating a Taco Bell makes you as Mexican.

[newone]

I guess this pop-kabbalah is that cultural appropriation they talk about

[justmeditateyearsagoedit]

It can't go mainstream. Those who say dont know and those who know don't say

[shravanivak]

What made those rabbis seek such secretive mysticism in the first place? What happens after studying Zohar or Kabbalah? What kind of truth does this lead to? Truth, peace and fulfillment comes from God. He is sovereign and He alone is enough for us!

[antonivsfortis]

I'm a Christian of Jewish descent that wanted to learn my own history and it deeply saddened to me that something as precious, esoteric and sacred as Kabbalah is divorced from the Torah. It's treated more like yoga is from its Hindu roots. Even with that being said a lot more people make Kabbalah into what it's not and make it more close to what Hinduism or Witchcraft is. I understand why traditional kabbalists don't appreciate what has been done to their tradition

[k]

I remember what my Rabbi said about Gershom Scholem (in the 1970s) and his relationship to kabbalah: "He is like an accountant. He knows how much and where the money is, but it is not his money."

[benyaminmiller]

I can guarantee these people in Hollywood do not understand Kabbalah in the slightest sense of it.

[The-illuminated]

There is no way people like ariana grande's are allowed in kabbalah...

[eileenfisher]

I was never too impressed by Madonna. Now im downright appalled by her.
Somebody who sells their soul for fame and money ISNT TOO BRIGHT nor admirable.
Shes rather pitiful in her quest for youth and beauty. The lengths she has gone to achieve it is absolutely Heinous. With a capital H.

[indianaftali]

I love the research put into this! The visuals are also amazing!!

[GregSchneider]

Jewish mysticism has been around since Moses received the Torah. The Gematria of the Torah is fascinating in and of itself. As others have commented, it is Chassidism spearheaded by the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) that really spread the spiritual message of Kabbalah to traditional Jews (who are have been labeled as Orthodox) as a way of connecting to HaShem, doing Mtzvot, and re-enforcing the divinity of the Torah. If Kabbalah helps secular Jews identify more with Judaism, that's cool but to really appreciate the concept of Kabbalah, study the Chumash, chant Psalms daily, keep the Mitzvot, keep Kosher, study Talmud, Mussar, and then dive in to the Zohar.

[jjs]

I learned nothing about what kabbalah is from watching this.

[awakenedaristocrat]

Kabbalah is KEY to understanding the sabatean frankists who are ruling the planet and their goals (which end w WW3 in the next few years)

[Rotisiv]

*Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.*

Quran 5:44

May God bless all of our Jewish brothers and sisters. ❤️

[ryderwilson]

interesting video, many Jewish friends of mine are scared of reading the Zohar book because they've always been told it's so complex that people literally die just by looking at it, they believe it with their entire hearts.


Studied about the Zohar, unless you actually learn how to read Aramaic you will not interpret the book correctly no matter what, just like the English Bible is misleading in translation from the Hebrew Bible, so are the books of Zohar.

[antonivsfortis]

It's almost like it's become its own form of Jewish gnosticism. I see a lot of parallels between modern interpretations of Kabbalah and gnosticism both devoid of the roots that they came from