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What a treat it was to see so many glowing faces over the High Holy Days and to get to know even more of the wonderful families that make up our remarkable Temple Beth Am community. Now that I have lived through the greater part of a year in the life of Beth Am, I would like to begin sharing another of my great passions with you: Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism.

I have been fortunate to study for many years with Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf, one of the great contemporary teachers of Kabbalah, and over the years have taught Jewish mysticism in some wonderfully diverse settings, from the Jewish Federation’s JLearn to Bais Chabad of West Bloomfield. One of the first questions to explore as I start a class is: what does Kabbalah mean; what is it? The simplest answer is that Kabbalah explores the inner dimension of Torah. But that answer probably needs as much explanation as the word Kabbalah itself.

Sukkot gives us a wonderful example. This week, we eat in beautiful sukkahs, look up at the stars through natural s’chach, and wave the four species with our families. What could be more physical or worldly than the harvest festival of Sukkot? Yet Kabbalah teaches that each of these physical components has an inner spiritual vitality. The sukkah itself is understood as a hug from God, wrapping around each of us with infinite love. The s’chach becomes a conduit for a Divine light so transcendent that it cannot ordinarily enter our world, and the lulav and etrog become, if you are getting on my wavelength by now, something like an antenna through which we draw that light inward.

This is one of the things I love most about Kabbalah. It doesn’t replace the sukkah we are sitting in or the lulav and etrog we are holding. Instead, it asks what is happening deep beneath the surface. The same is true of Torah itself. We have its revealed dimension—laws, stories, history, mitzvot, midrash, and centuries of interpretation—while Kabbalah explores the inner spiritual reality that gives those teachings life. What is a soul? What is actually happening when we pray? How can an infinite God create and inhabit a finite universe? What happens in the spiritual worlds when we do something as physical as lighting Shabbat candles, giving tzedakah, or waving a lulav and etrog?

These are some of the questions we will discuss in my class, Introduction to Kabbalah. Along the way, we will learn about the structure of our souls, the various spiritual worlds, and the Sefirot: the different ways God’s infinite light flows into and gives texture to creation. My hope is that we will make some very ancient and sometimes esoteric teachings accessible, and that along the way they might change the way we experience some very familiar parts of our Jewish lives.

If that sounds intriguing, please join me for Introduction to Kabbalah as part of Beth Am University, beginning Wednesday, October 14. I look forward to learning with you, and wish you and your families a joyous Sukkot.

Chag Sameach,
Cantor Michael Smolash