Pop singer Madonna came this week to Tel Aviv to take part in a congress of Kaballa studies. According to press releases, she is going to stay in Israel until Sunday night and will have on
last day of her visit, opportunity to visit graves of Jewish Tzaddikim (righteous holy people) near Safed, a small town in northern Israel.Why Safed? What does Kaballa mean? (Literally it means "Receiving" in Hebrew). I am not so sure press has given correct answers to these and other questions related to background of this visit. Here is my humble contribution.
Safed , one of four "holy cities" in Israel, together with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias, is actually a small mountain town (27,000 residents). As opposed to other historical cities in Israel, it is not even mentioned in Bible.
Its golden era was during Middle Ages, when it functioned as a Crusaders fortress and a Moslem administrative centre. But it was only in 16th century that Safed was a city of international importance, as well as a Jewish cultural Capital.
What made Safed so special is linked to what Maddona is looking in Israel for. The Jewish congregation of Safed is oldest in Israel. It has been there for last 800 years. But during Crusaders time it was very small, because Christian knights did everything they could to massacre Jews (and Moslems).
The turning point was conquest of area by Turkish Sultanate. This Moslem empire gave shelter to Spanish Jews during their mass expulsion in end of 15th century. The Turks, who were great warriors and administrators, did not master commerce, industry and science. They understood great potential of Spanish Jews who were experts in these fields, and gave them asylum.
Some of those Jews, a few thousands, came to Safed and settled down there. Safed attracted them for two main reasons: The good water sources and closeness to grave site of founder of Kabbala, Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
The water was needed for establishing a wool manufacturing centre which became one of biggest in world, and made Safed a flourishing city. The grave of Bar yochai, and an ancient tradition according to which Messiah will first come out Safed, attracted some of greatest Jewish religious scholars of Spain, most of them Kabbalists.
In Safed of 16th century settled down Rabbi Yosef Karo, of Toledo, greatest Jewish Law expert of new era, who wrote codification book "Shulkhan Arukh", third most important Jewish book, after Bible and Talmud.
Another great Kabbalist was Shlomo Alkabetz, who is known today more for his religious poetry. His most famous liturgical poem is called "Lecha Dodi". It is used in every Synagogue to receive Sabbath. His brother in law was Rabbi Moshe Kordoveiro, a student of Rabbi Karo, who wrote first book which explains Kabbala methodically.
The greatest student or Rabbi Kordoveiro was Rabbi Yizhak Luria, who is more known as HaAri Hakadosh. Luria Died when he was only 38 years old. Only two and a half years he spent in Safed. But it was in that short period of time that he created a Kabbalist theoretical movement that has had an immense influence on life of almost every Jew since then.
What does Kabbala mean? If you have time and patience just go to a site called http://kabbalaonline.org/ and start reading. It will take you a few days. Otherwise, here is a somewhat simplified explanation.
According to Talmud, world of Torah (the knowledge of Judaism) is based on four layers: Pshat (Literal meaning, in Hebrew), Remez (Implication), Drash (Interpretation) and Sod (Secrecy). Every one of these layers is a different way of weighing same words of Torah. The deepest layer is Secrecy. The Secrecy doctrine, which includes Kabbala, is so mysterious, deep, and special, that not everyone can understand it. Therefore, it is recommended by Jewish scholars to start studying it only at age of 40. A younger person does not have spiritual maturity needed to cope with its depths.
