Rav Tzadok (Shaar HaYichud): And thus I have seen written in a book which was written by a holy man and he said that the sect of Shabtsai Tzvi which did that which it did - because they were involved in the study of Kabbala when their hearts were full of the lusts of this world. Consequentially they took literally the metaphors of kabbala. Thus when they saw in the Kabbala literature terms such as sexual relations, hugging, kissing and others similar expressions it aroused in them lusts and adultery until they became very wicked people. And similarly I am aware of one Rav from the previous generation who was considered to be a scholar and kabbalist and he printed a book on kabbalistic matters with the haskomos of the gedolim of that generation. And afterwards he sinned by committing adultery. There is no question that this was caused by his involvement in kabbala and his taking literally the metaphors of kabbala as is clear from what he wrote in his book. I am writing this in order that people are warned how carefully they must be when studying esoteric material as our Rabbis have said.
Sick joke
ReplyDeleteThere is another way of understanding the phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteThe menuval wants power and authority to help him achieve his nefarious ends. Being a rav already gives power over the faithful, and methods of deception. A lot of narcissist and egomaniacs choose this as a career.
Kabbalah, which is already a dodgy enterprise, is the field for giving reshut ha Torah to the menuval. The menuval is not created by kabbalah, it is just that he discovers it is the ideal camouflage and enabler for his nasty personality.
The Sabbateans and Frankists used Kabbalah as a pretext to contravene the halacha and do evil acts they desired. The fact that some "mystical" text of unreliable origins could be allowed to creep into the mesorah and override halacha in the first place is the tragedy that created this opportunity for sick and evil people to use it toward their own ends to condone evil deeds. There is no way to "check" the so-called "mystic" or "kabbalist" who simply bends Judaism to his own will and crafts his own religion in the name of supposed holy kabala. Oral Torah and Halacha is supposed to be a basic universal standard that would prevent this behavior as no one could justify a foreign "system" or philosophy (like Kabalah) as supplanting the notions of Jewish law in terms of how we are supposed to act.
ReplyDeleteBut, the fact that this particular man in Israel was found to be a rapist has nothing to do with his interest in kabbala and everything to do with his poor character. Unless he was using kabala to twist the law and teach people corrupt ways or justify his own corrupt deeds, the kabbalah has nothing to do with it.