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The history of Jewish mysticism dates back over 2200 years or more. These 2200 years can be divided roughly into four major periods: Pre-Kabbalistic, Proto-Kabbalistic, Early Kabbalistic and Late-Kabbalistic or Zoharic. Beyond the Zoharic period there is also Christian or Hermetic Kabbalah and Post-Hermetic or “magical” Kabbalah, which uses concepts of a Kabbalah but in either an altered Christian or European-Magical bias. These aspects of Kabbalah become farther and farther removed from the original and traditional concepts of Jewish Kabbalah, becoming mystical and magical systems in their own right.

The Pre-Kabbalistic Period
The Pre-Kabbalistic period stretches back into antiquity. The earliest surviving manuscript fragments date back to the first century BCE. This period continued well into the Early Kabbalistic period, up to at lest the 10th century CE.(1) This period is best depicted by what is called Merkavah mysticism.

The ideology of Merkavah mysticism is based upon two sections of the Torah; the beginning of Genesis and the vision of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1:2-28. These two aspects of Merkavah mysticism were known as Ma’aseh Bereshit (Work of Creation) and Ma’aseh Merkavah (Work of the Chariot).

The Merkavah mystic was to ascend through the heavenly palaces to stand before the chariot of God, thereby gaining insight to the glory of the Lord and the nature of creation. The cradle of Merkavah mysticism was Rabbinic Palestine. Here it reached its hey-day between the fourth and sixth centuries CE. While based upon the vision of Ezekiel, mystical interpretations of Genesis 1, as well as non-Canonical texts such as the first century CE work The Book of Enoch, also heavily influenced Merkavah mysticism. Besides these texts the most important of the practical or instructional Merkavic works are the “Greater Hekhalot” and the “Lesser Hekhalot”(2), “hekhalot” meaning heavenly or palaces. The Hekhalot texts contain both Babylonian and Palestinian elements.

The process the mystic used is remarkably similar to the methods of astral projection or skrying developed in the 19th century during the magical revival in Germany, France and England. The mystic would enter into a trance-state and recite magical formulae to induce visions. As the mystic ascended through the various heavenly palaces he would be stopped and challenged by various angelic guardians. If they mystic did not know the correct signs and divine names to pass each gate he would be destroyed. At the seven palaces or chamber, many of them having up to eight guards each, the Merkavah mystic would be required to remember numerous seals and divine names in order to survive the ascent. Further, the seals required of the mystic, as well as the magical formulae, become more complex with each gate that is passed.

The Proto-Kabbalistic Period
The Pro-Kabbalistic period is idealized by the Sefer Yetzirah or Book of Creation which appears around the first century CE(3) and remains one of the most important texts of Jewish mysticism. The Sefer Yetzirah was heavily influenced by the Ma’aseh Bereshit movement within Merkavah mysticism. Jewish tradition states that the patriarch Abraham was the author of this text.

The Sefer Yetzirah is a short text, the longest version containing only 2500 words, and has only six chapters. These six chapters, however, contain the secrets of the divine process of creation using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alef-bet, which is divided into three groupings. The first two chapters discuss the fundamental nature of creation and the basic process of letter permutation that was used in creation. Chapters three through five discuss the letters themselves, each chapter dealing with one of the three divisions of the alef-bet. Chapter six discusses the natures of the letters in relationship to one another.

The Sefer Yetzirah is very much a bridge between Merkavah mysticism and Kabbalah proper. The first chapter of the Sefer Yetzirah introduces the ten sefirot and the Tree of Life, a system of divine emanations leading to physical creation or manifestation, which becomes the most important symbol of the Kabbalah. At the same time the meditative techniques suggested by the Sefer Yetzirah have similarities in ideology to those used within Merkavah mysticism. While the greatest similarity between the Sefer Yetzirah and Merkavah mysticism lies within the realm of Ma’aseh Bereshit, it is thought by some that the placement of the 22 letters of the alef-bet in conjunction with the ten sefirot creates a meditative framework wherein the Merkavah of God can be contemplated.(4)

The Early Kabbalistic Period
Not surprisingly, considering the importance of the Sefer Yetzirah, the Early Kabbalistic period overlaps the Proto-Kabbalistic period. It is during this time that we start to see some of the hallmarks of the Kabbalah. The Bahir or Book of Illumination, is a primary text of this period, and is attributed to Rabbi Nehunia ben haKana, a master of a first century Jewish esoteric school.

The Bahir is apparently the first major Kabbalistic work that discusses the nature of the sefirot, or at least several if not all of them. The Sefer Yetzirah also seems to have greatly influenced the Bahir, as there are large portions of the text, only 12,000 words in length, that deal with the formation of the Hebrew letters and their esoteric meanings, as well as the 32 Paths of Wisdom.

The format of the Bahir consists of a series of seemingly unrelated stories and allegories, based around various quotes from the Hebrew bible. This becomes the hallmark of other major Kabbalistic texts, including the 14th century Zohar. According to some the Zohar is largely an expansion upon the Bahir.(5) Finally, the Bahir introduces the concept of tzimtzum or "constriction", which is the process through which God created the universe. The idea of tzimtzum is very important in the Zoharic period.

Throughout this period we begin to see the final formation of the Tree of Life taking shape. Also, a more and more concrete explanation of the sefirot begins to appear, culminating, perhaps, in the late 13th century work Sha’are Orah or Gates of Light. Breaking away from the literary style of the Bahir, Gates of Light discusses the ten sefirot in a relatively clear and straight forward manner. While never becoming as important or popular as the Bahir or the Zohar, its importance for understanding the Tree of Life should not be underestimated, and was considered by an important 14th century Kabbalist to be the key to the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah.(6)

It should be noted that there were in fact several important Kabbalistic schools during this period, especially towards the end of the 12th century. This includes the school of mystic and prolific writer Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, who the author of the Gates of Light, Joseph Gikatallia was a disciple of.(7)

The Late Kabbalistic Period (The Zoharic Period)
The late Kabbalistic period is exemplified by the late 14th century text, or set of texts, called the Zohar. According to tradition, the Zohar was written in the first century CE by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. According to the legend, Rabbi Shimon defied and denounced the Romans and was sentenced to death. He escaped to a cave with his son, where they stayed for 13 years. During this time the two engaged in prayer and mystical meditation. Eventually they reached a such state of purity and piety that they were visited by prophet Elijah who revealed to them the teachings of the what would become the Zohar. Historically, it is likely that it was Rabbi Moshe de Leon, a 13th century Spanish Jew, who wrote the entirety of the Zohar, a colossal manuscript written entirely in Aramaic.

The Zohar is primarily an esoteric exegesis of the Torah. Volumes included in the overall corpus of the Zohar discuss many other topics, including everything from angelology to the nature of the soul and creation. From this time onward the Zohar became the primary text of Jewish mysticism.

In the 16th century Rabbi Isaac Luria, called the Ar”i, or Elohi Rabbi Yitzach (the Godly Rabbi Isaac), became the greatest proponent of and expounder upon the Zohar. He is considered by many to be the greatest of Kabbalists who ever lived and is the only Rabbi given the title Elohi, Godly.

The Ar”i’s teachings are almost solely based upon the Zohar. They include subjects such Tzimtzum, the Tree of Life, reincarnation, and the afterlife or “world to come”. Besides theoretical Kabbalah, the Ar”i taught techniques of meditaiton known as “yechudim” or “unifications”. Unfortunately Rabbi Isaac never wrote anything down, much of what is known about his teachings comes to us through the writings of his chief student, Rabbi Hayyim Ben Joseph Vital.

Due to the influence of the Zohar and the Ar”i, it could be said that the Kabbalah is still in the Zoharic period. This can especially be seen by today’s Hasidic Jews, who’s daily life rituals are filled with Kabbalistic symbolism and Zoharic practices.

Notes
1. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p 40.

2. Wilson, "The Evolution of the Medieval Kabbalistic World-View", p 122, 125.

3. Kaplan, Sefer Yezirah: The Book of Creation, p ix.

4. See especially the Work of the Chariot Trust at http://www.workofthechariot.com/. However it seems that some magical orders of the late 19th century, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, had some idea of this as well.

5. Kaplan, The Bahir: Illumination. p xvii.

6. Kaplan, Kabbalistic Meditation, p 125

7. See Kaplan, Kabbalistic Meditation, for an details of several Kabbalistic schools.

Bibliography
de Leon, Moshe. The Zohar, Vols 1-5. Translated by Harry
Sperling and Maurice Simon. Soncino Press, London,
England, 1984.

Gikatilla, Rabbi Joseph. Gates of Light (Sha’are Orah), Avi
Weinstein (Trans.). HarperCollins Publisher, San Francisco,
CA, 1994.

Kaplan, Aryeh. The Bahir: Illumination, (trans). Samuel Weiser,
Inc,. York Beach, ME, 1979.

Meditation and Kabbalah. Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach,
ME, 1982.

Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation, In Theory and
Practice, Revised Edition. Samuel Weiser, Inc. York Beach,
ME, 1997.

Wilson, George. "The Evolution of the Medieval Kabbalistic
World-vew. In The Golden Dawn Journal, Book 2. Chic and
Sandra Tabatha Cicero (Eds.), pp 119-154. Llewellyn
Publications, St. Paul, MN, 1994.

Scholem, Gershom. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism.
Schocken Books, NY, 1954.