01/04/2024
𝗞𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗵'𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆
There is a historical account that in 414 BCE, the prophet Jeremiah lived in northern Egypt during the time of the First Temple, and that during this period, a young Greek philosopher, who later became known as Plato, studied with him. It is written that Plato recalled:
“𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵.” - 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 (𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘢), 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘖𝘭𝘢𝘩 (1:11).
At that time, the wisdom of the prophet, the Kabbalist, i.e., one who received the knowledge of the higher laws of nature, was open at that time to other nations because they were at an appropriate spiritual level. It means that Plato practically understood who he was dealing with, and that wisdom could be revealed to him.
Later, spiritual wisdom became closed off from the world. There are periods in humanity’s development when people are closer and further from spirituality. In those ancient times, there were closer ties between nations, without significant differences. Afterward, however, they underwent a process of increasing alienation, and eventually, a major gap of separation accumulated, which continues to this day.
After the ruin of the Second Temple, which means after a fall from the spiritual level that the people of Israel held during the time of the Temple, there ensued a prohibition to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah. Kabbalists themselves forbade its expansion to humanity because the world was unprepared to receive the knowledge, and would thus have used it incorrectly.
The wisdom that Plato received from Jeremiah later turned into Greek philosophy. He absorbed whatever he could according to his level of understanding, and it continued to expand into human society and its systems. Philosophy became a watered-down version of the wisdom of attaining the laws of nature. It did not happen at once, but it was a gradual dissolution over some time.
Plato himself, however, attributed part of the knowledge he received as coming from the teachings of Jeremiah, which suggests that Greek philosophy was a consequence of this learning from Kabbalists.
In addition to this account of Plato, Johannes Reuchlin, a German humanist, political counselor to the Chancellor, a classics scholar and an expert in the ancient languages and traditions (Latin, Greek and Hebrew), and who was affiliated with the heads of the Platonic Academia (della Mirandola and others), wrote in his text, DeArte Cabbalistica, about Kabbalah’s influence on Pythagoras:
“𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, [... ] 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢, 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘗𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘴’ 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
Unlike the period when there was a prohibition on the spreading of Kabbalah, today those prohibitions have been lifted. Kabbalah had always been spread in waves. There were times when it could be taught, discussed and written, and also times when it shrank and became increasingly concealed.
Today’s opening of all the doorways to this wisdom is due to us living in an overblown egoistic world. Egoism, the desire to enjoy at the expense of others, grows throughout the generations, and today is it bigger than ever before. Therefore, Kabbalists, seeing how they had no other method, means or weapons against modern society’s enormous egoism, decided to take Kabbalah out of its hiding places and present it to the world.
In the 20th century, Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) and his son and disciple, Kabbalist Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (the Rabash), both wrote and taught extensively in order to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah. The widespread dissemination of Kabbalah is thus only natural for those who follow in their footsteps, and not only them but also Kabbalists such as Rambam, Ramchal and Baal Shem Tov. Since the biggest egoism dwells within humanity today, more excessive than in any other historical period, the time is ripe for Kabbalah to emerge as a method for guiding its correction: to navigate its further development and transformation to a much broader perception of reality.
Kabbalah can strengthen us in our quest to find out who we are, what our purpose is, and what we can do to bring about a harmonious and peaceful world. It becomes a necessity for every person to discover life’s meaning and purpose, and it answers all such existential questions. I trust that only its revelation can provide people with the keys to spirituality, the upper world.
