Talk:Kabbalah

Recent unilateral splitting up of this article

I think this article, as imperfect as it was, is yet the worse for the recent moves. Especially without the critique and secular-scholarly sections (now a euphemestically named "attitudes toward" article) the whole piece has been emasculated and rendered a kabbala lovefest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 05:26, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I think the changes helpful, and needed, because the article was so large and disorganized. What, specifically, do you consider unbalanced? Malcolm Schosha (talk) 12:15, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

"Unsigned Comment," I fully agree with your statement: you've been specific enough in your criticism. Further, none of these changes were discussed on this page as they should have been, considering the extent of this drastic, heavy-handed and unknowlegeable piece of "editing." Reinstatement of the pre-edited article is required.

Moreover, I would like it noted that although I have some expertise in some areas of Kabbalah, notably the pre-Lurianic Kabbalah, I have disassociated myself from this article, will not edit here further, mainly due to the ignorance shown by the one editor policing the article and another who recently removed the history and "attitudes to" sections. abafied (talk) 12:33, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I think strong opinions about a dramatic reversion made in the same breath as washing one's hands of the article are unhelpful. It comes across more as an expression of dissatisfaction than constructive criticism. And unless such a dramatic reversion is made, it would indeed be helpful to get some more specific details from the anonymous IP editor above.  Fuzzypeg  ^talk  02:30, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I specifically object to splitting this article up. The history of kabbalah's reception in late medieaval Judaism, including the negative positions, deserves a place in an encyclopedia article called "kabbalah." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 05:31, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Splitting the article

• Jayrav, thanks for taking on such a a large job and doing the necessary work of splitting the article. I think it will give the basis for many further improvements that are much needed.

• 69.203.64.233 and Abafied, where you see things that need improvement, please do make the improvements. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 14:27, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the invitation to make improvements, which I have done on numerous occasions. Obviously, anyone can do a massive revert job, but I thought it best to discuss the issue here first; something that was not done before the drastic splitup was undertaken —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 05:35, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Neither section should have been taken out, UC. One because the history of Kabbalah cannot be divorced from the Kabbalah itself; two, because taking out sections of criticism, as now with "attitudes" and, earlier with "gnosticism" and one or two other sections is tantamount to censorship - and that with no discussion and from an editor who has admitted that he knows little about Kabbalah. I would agree to a complete revert, and that to stand until discussion has taken place.

I have kept a copy of the old Kabbalah page, from c. June/July 2007, because I knew nibbling away at the article over months would happen and that, eventually, slashing large sections without retention of any, even a sentence or two, of their contents, would occur.

Further, as far as I can see, there is no record on this page or its history, the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Toledano Tradition, or on Jayrav's user page that he gave any indication to Schosha about help on splitting the article. Would Schosha be so kind as to indicate where he did discuss this and point us to the appropriate Wiki page? I would also like to indicate that such discussion should have occurred here. abafied (talk) 09:46, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

THE history section was moved to its own page which will allow for expansion of both the main Kabbalah article, and the Kabbalah history article. As far as I know, nothing was deleted, and certainly nothing has been hidden. The change gives a better possibility for improvement and expansion of the subject of Kabbalah in all its aspects. (It is a little difficult not to think that Abafied's complaint against this split of the Kabbalah article -- and directed entirely at me -- is connected his unhappiness about the AfC against his Toledano Tradition article that I initiated for reasons that are discussed here: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Toledano Tradition). Malcolm Schosha (talk) 12:51, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Note that my complaints about your editing style date back to June last year. Further, where was the discussion prior to this latest round of cutting and slashing? That is against Wikipedia guidelines, as you and Jayrav should know.

Moreso, did you ensure that, before the article was cut, there were editors around who would be able to ensure "expansion of the subject of Kabbalah in all its aspects?" No. Jayrav cut it and made no such additions; neither have you. That is why the article is now a travesty.abafied (talk) 14:06, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't know the best place to interject, but this split was done poorly. I urge those involved to take a look at WP:SUMMARY for proper instruction on splitting an article. One thing mentioned in that guideline is to discuss such actions before undertaking them. Moving data between pages is a major action, failure to properly document the movement of data has signifigant ramifications in regards to the GFDL, specific comments should be used in the Edit summary to indicate a merge of content. It is preferable when new to such bold changes, that you first take the time to read the appropriate policies and guidelines, or seek out the aid of more experienced editors to help facilitate such changes. I'm still assessing the situation, but I wouldn't be opposed to a revert back to before the split and try it again after discussing an appropriate method for splitting the article....if it is even nessisary. If I read the revision history correctly It was around 66k before the split, which is a ways away from WP:SIZE extremes. -Verdatum (talk) 22:31, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Cut and slash and undiscussed editing

I would like to register a complaint about the style of editing carried out by Schorsha/Kwork since at least June last year. It is based on little knowledge of the subject, by his own admission, and wholesale slashing without any discussion and without reasons given, except for rationalisations after the event. There have, also, been a number of complaints form a number of editors about his style of editing, dating back at least a year. abafied (talk) 11:30, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Abafied, get you facts straight. The article was split by Jayrav, not me. I think he did the right thing, and the article will benefit from his changes. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 12:08, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm aware of that; do not confuse yet another issue. Why do you think I put it in a different subsection? One, I would like to know where Jayrav, and/or you, discussed it as I noted in the last subsection; as you both should know, that style of slashing is contra to Wiki guidelines; two, you, specifically, have already been taken to task for your style of editing and lack of knowledge here and over many months.

Unless there is now discussion with both you and Jayrav as to why a) you both see the need for the edits made, and b) the manner in which they were made, I shall recommend undoing all of Jayrav's edits - reversion to previous text. As it now stands, the Kabbalah article is a travesty of what was up before June last year; it has been butchered. abafied (talk) 12:35, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Abafied wrote: "the Kabbalah article is a travesty of what was up before June last year". Abafied, you walked away from the article in a huff after I started to do some editing, and have done nothing to help the article since then. You need to learn how to work with other editors. Your refusal to cooperate and compromise on editing articles is disruptive, and you need to reconsider your 'my way or no way' attitude toward editing. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 13:57, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

You will note that I am registering a complaint about your editing style and recommending a reversion of Jayrav's 'editing;' I have no interest in editing the article, or, indeed, adding to it further while you are policing it because ignorant filibustering is all that ensues. End of 'discussion.' abafied (talk) 14:02, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Nothing was cut or slashed. I specifically avoided making any changes. The kabbalah article was horrible by all standards. It has been discussed and re-discussed for almost 3 years the splitting of the article. Right now no one is happy. But the article should not be deleted but it cannot stand as is. It is too long, rambling, and no citation of sources. It mostly flows between nonsense, personal feeling, history, doctrine, critique and a few nuggets of sourced facts. As a first step, in almost every wiki in the other languages the kabblah article is divided into Kabbalah doctrines and Kabblahh history. If you read Hebrew I would suggest looking at the Hebrew wiki entry. The goal was to rewrite the articles as a team effort from the regnant Scholem-Idel sources and summaries of their work. To that we can then add paragraphs on “other views” such as Lurianic Orthodox or Toledano-Kenton, Chabad or Kabblah Cente with appropriate links. The goal was not to stifle other opinions but to be able to give them a proper paragraph. The article seems to have germination around the nineteenth century views of history of Kabbalah (a problem when most own a 20th century history based on Scholem) Chabad views, and Hermetic Kabblah (which was already forked off).

Feel free to change the title of the subdivisions, if you want to make “attitudes toward “ Critique” or “Debate” that is fine. For concepts, we need to start with a standard list of sefirot, souls. Et al For history, we start with a standard list that runs through the kabblah from Heikhalot to Luria. Several of the languages such as French have a fork for Hasidism, and stop the entry after Safed or before. For “attitudes toward” or Debate—other languages have a single paragraph on Bar Sheshet, Emden, and Kapach and then a fork to a new entry “debate”. The goal was not to sanitize or change the article but to cut it onto workable units, then create for each the appropriate narrative and outline. This way we can create an article with proportion - a regnant scholarly view, other views, localized critique of the topic (meaning critique of history on the history page and critique of doctrines on the doctrine page). Since this division has been debated for years, let us now work together to create a proper outline for each entry. I would suggest calling in several of the administrators to give some input on cleaning it up.--Jayrav (talk) 14:52, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Jayrav, you wrote: "I would suggest calling in several of the administrators to give some input on cleaning it up." I am in favor of that. Which administrators do you think might be willing to take a look and give input? I have been trying to attract more attention to the article and get more editors involved than have been active recently.

Abafied, I would like you to be involved in editing the article. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 15:11, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

That outline for a new article, Jayrav, is one way in which the article could be organised, but it is also a rationale that should have been put up for discussion before deletions were made.

Further, I do not agree with splitting off the history from the concepts, considering that the concepts first arose in a historical context. In any case, many of the concepts have changed and been developed through time. There is no reason why the Wikipedia article should follow the form in the works you quote; after all, the "Encyclopedia Judaica 2006" and the "Jewish Encyclopedia 1906" both conflate the concepts and history, but, overall, favour the historical form for their articles. This needs further discussion.

However, whatever the outcome, I am prepared to work with you on upgrading the article, but not with Schosha; you know my area of expertise. I suggest, also, that new sections are put on the discussion page for discussion first, before they are put up in the completed article. abafied (talk) 15:26, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Hrrm. This debate is very tedious to read. Abafied, proclaiming who you will and won't cooperate with isn't going to induce others to cooperate with you, and by doing so you throw a spanner in the works of the collaborative community that Wikipedia is supposed to be. The inflexible language you adopt, saying your word is final, "end of discussion", indicates your inflexibility to being reasoned with (you are, by definition, being unreasonable). I note of course that wasn't the end of the discussion. It would be easier on the other editors if you figure out what your intentions are. If you want to register a complaint and end the discussion, then do so (and end the discussion). If you intend to contribute to the article's improvement, either through editing the article or participating in discussion, then do; however you will find this impossible if you are purposely uncooperative with certain editors, and you will find it very difficult if you fill your posts with so much anger and accusation.

Editing at Wikipedia is supposed to be a joy, and it really can be. The thrill of personally adding to the repository of human knowledge! The pleasure of debating with worthy peers in your field of expertise! It's a real shame when people don't experience Wikipedia as the stimulating and supportive community it should be.  Fuzzypeg  ^talk  00:28, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I work with whom I choose; I do not work with those who know little. I am prepared to work with Jayrav (and others who have expertise) should two issues be addressed, and of which he has now said that he'll address one. The Wiki way of working is not collaborative; people put up individual pieces and then wait for the flak to hit; this way, getting agreement before the work begins, heads off some of that disagreement. That is part of collaboration. abafied (talk) 11:00, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Abafied wrote: "I do not work with those who know little". Then, how are you able to work with yourself? There is on one editing this article who could possibly know less about Kabbalah than you. Kabbalah is supposed to be a cure for egoism (as well as many other ugly human flaws), but your ego has become inflamed by acquiring a small amount of knowledge in the very subject that should have cured you egoistic attitude. To see such a strange outcome, is pathetic. Kabbalah is a way of life, not a academic head trip. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 12:34, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Fantasies about editors' personal lives are not within guidelines for editing Wikipedia articles. No further discussion with Schosha on this issue. abafied (talk) 13:50, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Fantasies? It think not. To repeat, you wrote above, "I work with whom I choose; I do not work with those who know little."

Abafied, if you stop making arrogant comments, I will not have your arrogant comments to point out to you. Stop your incivility, and I will not say more about your incivility. Wikipedia encourages editors to get along, and to act with civility to eachother so that they can focus on the article that is being written. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 15:51, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

"... but your ego has become inflamed by acquiring a small amount of knowledge in the very subject that should have cured you egoistic attitude. To see such a strange outcome, is pathetic. Kabbalah is a way of life, not a academic head trip. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 12:34, 27 February 2008 (UTC)" ...Fantasies about editors' personal lives are not within guidelines for editing Wikipedia articles. No further discussion with Schosha on this issue. abafied (talk) 18:27, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

In fairness, you called him ignorant and he called you ignorant. There's no 'fantasy' involved. Malcolm's point about Kabbalah teaching humility was well-made.Teachdubh (talk) 20:19, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Humility. It appears to be received knowledge that QBLH, Kabbalah, cabala etc. is mysticism(above the intellect). This is a definition. Is there an editor humble enough to consider the writings of a writer who disagrees with this definition? One to whom "cabala" describes the intellectual way to study Torah?Johnshoemaker (talk) 14:06, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Major changes to article

Many of these major changes have not been done correctly. For example, it is not correct to put the notes to see other articles in the lead section. The way this should be done is to have summary sections with a link to the subarticle as the top of the summary of the subarticle. Also, the editor doing this major reorganization needs to read the Manual of Style and at least try to follow Wikipedia style guidelines; for example, only the first word and proper nouns are supposed to be capitalized in headings. I'm sure you will find many other applicable style guidelines which apply to some of the messes which have been made here if you bother to read the MoS. Valtyr (talk) 16:16, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Agreed; neither have the split-off pages been properly set out, sourced or referenced. However, if there is to be a rewrite, perhaps Jayrav will pay attention to that. abafied (talk) 16:24, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't understand the objection, nor the reason for the wiki-lawering -- which tends to be disruptive. No one said that the articles don't need work. So far, everyone's time has gone either into complaining about the changes, or into replying to the complaints about the changes, instead of into work on improving the articles. If you understand what is needed to bring the articles into line with style guidelines, make any changes that will help the articles. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 16:34, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

You know exactly why there are objections. No discussion took place before the article was split. Criticism of that and the subsequent mess on three pages is legitmate. abafied (talk) 17:18, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Why are you assuming this was a bad faith edit? Jayrav put time into making the article better; and, instead of getting thanked for his efforts, he is getting your kvetching. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 18:04, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I have to go work at my job and wont have time to talk much until later, but we should think about changes in a systematic fashion not individual changes. I will not make any changes without discussing them first. But We should agree on an outline and general regnant view of the Kabblah first.

The entry in EJ on Kabbalah is over 500 pages when printed as a separate volume and even there they distinguish between history and major doctrines as separate parts. We do not want a 500 pages wiki entry. Abafied, maybe you can use the EJ and propose an outline for pages. As the article stands nothing is sourced and there is no point fixing the language of random observations on Kabablah garbled together. There are also Spark Notes on the Kabblah available online that can provide a source and an outline.--Jayrav (talk) 17:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

"Abafied, maybe you can use the EJ and propose an outline for pages." No. My area of expertise is the medieval period in Europe (Italy, France, Spain, the Rhineland) and parts of the Ottoman Empire, those lands bordering the Mediterranean. I have some knowledge of ma'aseh bereshit and ma'aseh merkevah, along with heichalot mysticism (together with some knowledge of the Tannaic and Gaonic periods, plus timelines of movements of Judaic mysticism across Europe). Those sections I'm prepared to help with.

"There are also Spark Notes on the Kabblah..." Spark Notes are useless as sources and references and are anyway too truncated to use as an outline here; they are not scholarly. Online sources should not be used unless they quote which scholars put up the articles, or which Kabbalists/Rabbis are being quoted and even then, sources, dates and publishers should be noted where possible.

What I will do is put up a number of topics for a new Kabbalah page, should editors agree a new page is necessary, under a new sub-heading. It can be added to, or subtracted from as discussion proceeds about their inclusion/exclusion, and before work takes place.

Further, the question has still not been decided as to whether the current pages should have been split up. Please address that first with other editors here. I do not work under a fait accompli. abafied (talk) 18:30, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I will attempt a full justification ASAP - unfortunately I cam home from work with fever and swollen glands. To bed and possibly doctor if wife thinks it is necessary.----Jayrav (talk) 01:33, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Commiserations and recover well. It sounds like the low-grade 'flu going around; my husband's just recovered from it. abafied (talk) 10:39, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Jayrav, please do get some rest, and get well.

As far as I can see, no one has made a valid argument against your edits that split the article; and I suspect the reason neither of the administrators you asked to weigh in have gotten involved is because there seems no need. To me the angry reactions to your good faith edits seem puzzling, but it is in line with the Islamic saying, "If you wish to never experience ingratitude, then never do any good".

Looking through the edit history of the Kabbalah article, I see that Abafied (who has been so active on the talk page the last few days) has not made an edit to the article since one on 08:38, 4 September 2007, despite the fact that she has been actively editing other articles during that time. As a result, it is difficult for me to not conclude that she just sees the situation here as an opportunity for pay back, and to turn the thumbscrews, because she is upset over the AfD on the Toledano Tradition article. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 15:15, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

"As a result, it is difficult for me to not conclude that she just sees the situation here as an opportunity for pay back, and to turn the thumbscrews, because she is upset over the AfD on the Toledano Tradition article. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 15:15, 27 February 2008 (UTC)" ...Fantasies about editors' positions are not within guidelines for editing Wikipedia articles. No further discussion with Schosha on this issue. abafied (talk) 18:12, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

New Kabbalah Page - Topics

A new Kabbalah page will be written only if editors agree that it's needed.

For a Kabbalah hub page:

Concepts: First, a definition of Kabbalah is needed, along with a statement about when the word 'Kabbalah' was first introduced into Jewish mysticism.

The history of the nature of the Godhead - Anthropomorphism, Ayin, Ein Sof, Ein Sof Or. Ditto Meditation in Kabbalah; the Sephirot; the Tree of Life; the Ladder of Ascent (the 4 worlds); the Work of the Chariot; Elijah's Ascent in the Chariot; the Work of Creation; the Heavenly Palaces; the issues of Evil and Samael; Tzimtzum; Hidden Maggids; Hanoch and Metatron; Redemption, Repentance (Teshuvah); the Work of Unification; the Torah and mystical readings; levels of Soul; Shekinah; Adam Kadmon; Gilgul; Divine Providence; Free Will; the Will of God; Exile; Gematria, Notaricon and Temurah;

History: Should be a mixture of the history of Mizrahi, Sephardi and Ashkenazi Kabbalah, including key personalities, their sourced key writings and a note of scholarly discussions of the same.

Historical periods: Oral history; Post-1st Babylonian Exile history - (IV Esdras on mysticism, etc.); Talmudic period -> Tannaic and Gaonic periods - closure of Babylonian academies; Early Medieval Period in Europe and beyond; Late Medieval Period in Europe and the Ottoman Empire - up to Cordovero, Caro and Alkabetz; Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed; Post-Lurianic Kabbalah up to Shoah; Modern Kabbalah from Shoah to present day. Add in Mizrahi Kabbalah where possible.

Texts: Now a stand-alone page.

Practice of Kabbalah Methods used, ancient and modern. Merkevah, Bereshit, Heichalot. Hitbodedut. The methods of The Tanya. Ecstatic Kabbalah - Baal Shem Tov and Luria. Contemplation and study of the Torah and Kabbalistic texts. Abulafia and Gematria, etc. Methods of Aryeh Kaplan.

Criticisms and Kabbalah: of and from Orthodox, Conservative, Reform Judaism and Jewish Revivalist; of and from non-traditional Jewish Kabbalah; of and from Christian Kabbalah; Kabbalah and pantheism. Kabbalah, Gnosticism and Jewish Gnosticism. abafied (talk) 18:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

• Added section on "Texts" as I forgot to include it earlier. abafied (talk) 19:14, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Comments on above item

Abafied, you wrote: "A new Kabbalah page will be written only if editors agree that it's needed." What you are saying, in effect, is that you want a right to veto what goes into the article. That is a ridiculous expectation because you don't own this article. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 22:21, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Note the plural in 'editors'. That means the agreement with as many as possible of the editors who have made comments on the discussion page, not just you, me and Jayrav. Do start reading for meaning. I am trying to head off disagreements before they start.

Furthermore, (and this does apply to my part in it), no prior agreement to the discussion that a new page is necessary, no agreement to the discussion of the current splitting-off, then you forego my help as I am not adding to pages as they currently stand. It's simple. What you and Jayrav do with the page then is your choice. abafied (talk) 22:34, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

That is not how Wikipedia articles are written.

And, as for forgoing your help, if you intended to get involved with writing the article again -- beyond putting demands on the talk page -- I think you would have done something by now. Prove me wrong about that, if you want. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 22:59, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

"That is not how Wikipedia articles are written." Too bad. There's either going to be consensus over this and offered help, or not.

If you had any knowledge of Kabbalah, you would have been able to put up the list of items for inclusion above. No agreement to discussion, no further help than that. That is clear, I hope. As with other issues, I will no longer discuss this one with you. abafied (talk) 23:35, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Schosha, that is indeed how Wikipedia articles should be written. To quote WP:SIZE "Do not take precipitous action the very instant an article exceeds 32 KB. There is no need for haste. Discuss the overall topic structure with other editors. Determine whether the topic should be treated as several shorter articles and, if so, how best to organize them. Sometimes an article simply needs to be big to give the subject adequate coverage; certainly, size is no reason to remove valid and useful information." Please also read WP:SUMMARY which was completely ignored in this split. As I mentioned above, it is for this reason that I am considering a revert. -Verdatum (talk) 16:30, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The action has been discussed for years. That is not precipitous. Please do not start an edit war by reverting without cause. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 16:36, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

precipitous or not, I do not see concensus in this case. I don't want to revert because I think the action shouldn't be done. I want to revert because the action was done wrong or rather, not in accordance with the procedures defined in WP:SUMMARY. I suggest they be redone correctly afterwards if concensus is met. -Verdatum (talk) 16:58, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Schosha, in reading this discussion, you seem to be consistantly failing to assume good faith. I agree with Abafied in that changes should only remain in place that meet consensus. Users are more than welcome to be bold and make major changes, but by nature, other users are also welcome to be bold and revert those changes. It is at that point that discussion should take place. Another way to express this could most certainly be "A new Kabbalah page will be written only if editors agree that it's needed." -Verdatum (talk) 16:30, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Show me some examples where I have failed to assume good faith, and I will apologize if I am in the wrong. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 16:39, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

There is a good chance I will be gone soon. If so, perhaps you will find working with other editors more to your liking. (I am curious about just what you think you have learned by studying Kabbalah. Certainly not equanimity[1]).Malcolm Schosha (talk) 23:54, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Fantasies about editors' personal lives are not within guidelines for editing Wikipedia articles. No further discussion with Schosha on this issue. abafied (talk) 13:51, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Generally speaking, per WP:CONSENSUS, plans for splitting up major articles into sub-articles should be proposed on the article talk page, discussed, and consensus reached prior to taking action. WP:BOLD is not unlimited, and I agree that when other editors don't agree with bold actions discussion should ensue. I would suggest discussing the merits of Abafied's proposal and/or making an alternative proposal. Best, --Shirahadasha (talk) 16:49, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

• Okay, then I agree to reverting all, or any, of the the changes. As far as I know that gives the majority to those who want to revert the changes. Malcolm Schosha (talk) 16:57, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

(This section has gotten rediculously messy with multiple threads of discussion and back-indents and such. Take care when reading it) Getting back to the original topic raised of suggested sub-articles, I have a problem with Criticisms of Kabbalah as it presents too strong a potential for a POV Fork. Otherwise, I have no strong opinions for or against the division as proposed by abified at this time. -Verdatum (talk) 17:07, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

"I have a problem with Criticisms of Kabbalah as it presents too strong a potential for a POV Fork" Criticisms have been made of Kabbalah from both within and without Judaism. Criticisms of various introductions into Kabbalah (e.g., criticism of Jewish Gnosticism), or divergences from Kabbalah (e.g., the rise of Christian Kabbalah), have been made from within Judaism. Provided the section is presented neutrally and sourced, I see no reason why the facts shouldn't be represented here; criticism is an importnt part of Kabbalah's history and development - see the disputes on mysticism between Maimonides and followers (rationalists) and Nachmanides and his followers (revelationists). I do think the section now needs renaming; Criticism and Kabbalah, is possibly better, so will change that topic-for-discussion heading now. The section might also become of such length, in time, as to warrant a page of its own, with a link back to the Kabbalah hub page, and a brief paragraph on the hub page describing its contents (as happens now between the Kabbalah: Primary Texts page and the Kabbalah page). Comments/preferences, anyone? abafied (talk) 18:02, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I accidentally linked to the wrong article. It should've been POV Fork. Anyway, the concept of "criticism of..." articles is a touchy subject. According to WP:POVFORK, "In line with Wikipedia's policy of assuming good faith, the creator of the new article is probably sincerely convinced that there is so much information about a certain aspect of a subject that it justifies a separate article. There is no consensus whether a "Criticism of .... " article is always a POV fork. At least the "Criticism of ... " article should contain rebuttals if available, and the original article should contain a summary of the "Criticism of ... " article." I have no doubt that criticisms of kabbalah exist and are documented in verifiable sources, nor do I doubt the worth of including such content in articles or sub-articles on the topic. It's just when it is sectioned into it's own page, it tends to have a greater potential to split off into a alternate opposing POV. If it is written and maintained properly, it's fine by me, but I suspect after splitting other sections off, the article will be small enough as to not need this additional split just yet. -Verdatum (talk) 18:20, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The topics I put up (4 of them) weren't meant to be taken as separate pages, but as topics for inclusion into a hub Kabbalah page. I should have made that clearer, perhaps. I agree, Kabbalah and Criticism would take some time to reach the need for a sub-page. I don't know if this clarifies your query. abafied (talk) 18:42, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Aha, I see, yes this does clarify things for me, thank you. (so I have no objections, but I still need to examine the article more closely to form any strong opinions about organization details) -Verdatum (talk) 19:44, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I'll head up the list with "For a Kabbalah hub page." That should make it clearer for everybody. All new work ought to be put up here first, before putting it on the Kabbalah page, so everyone gets a chance to comment.abafied (talk) 20:26, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

If we're interested in having such a temporary collaborative drafting area, then per Wikipedia:Content_forking#Temporary subpages it should be in a separate sub-page such as Talk:Kabbalah/Proposed draft. (Don't forget to deactivate the categories in the method described in the link). Discussion of the draft still takes place on this page. -Verdatum (talk) 20:47, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Right! Thank you. abafied (talk) 20:59, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Verdatum. (I also believe that despite abafied's good intentions here, the "Criticism" sections, like the split-off articles, usually result from some editors who marginalize material they consider non-traditional as "Criticisms," and who then bury the "Criticism" sections safely late in an article.)

In my limited experience, well balanced-articles on controversial topics remain stable only if the conflicting POVs are worked into the fabric of the article. In the case of Kabbalah, the "Concepts" section must include an NPOV discussion of analogies to Gnosticism; the "History" section must include reference to the dirth of pre-13th-century evidence of Jewish-mysticism-as-we-know-it, despite the ancient credentials offered by Kabbalistic tradition; and that section or the "Practice" section must recount the mixed history of Kabbalah's acceptance in Rabbinic Judaism, including our contemporary situation honestly described. I think this can be done NPOV and acceptably to all parties. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 01:13, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

"well balanced-articles on controversial topics remain stable only if the conflicting POVs are worked into the fabric of the article." That is a better way to do it, yes, and might avoid subsequent splitting-off/POV pages. Re "the "History" section must include reference to the dirth of pre-13th-century evidence of Jewish-mysticism-as-we-know-it, despite the ancient credentials offered by Kabbalistic tradition:" there is an attested and sourced history of pre-13thC. Judaic mysticism that did affect later developments. However, maybe this isn't the time to argue the case; that can wait until if/when the article's about to be rewritten. I agree with the rest of what you say. abafied (talk) 02:48, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

No argument at all, I meant to emphasize "mysticism as we know it" i.e. mysticism as Kabbalah, which may not properly characterize earlier mysticism. My point being that--for example--Kabbalistic doctrines like the sefirot are not described in the Hekhalot, and even Sefer Yetzira does not explicitly use sefirot in the same way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 05:46, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Proposal

Shirahadasha and Verdatum, I would like to propose that the article be at least reverted until before Jayrav's splitting-off, but that it shouldn't preclude writing a new page, or rewriting bits of, expanding where necessary and properly sourcing, the old page. The old one, even the one of June 2007, needed sections rewritten and properly sourced, as I noted at the time. What has happened since that time has been gradual nibbling away of the article over the intervening months and this latest splitting-off. I'm still willing to help with a new page (as it looks as though Jayrav also is), or rewriting bits of the old, though, if people agree to either one or the other. abafied (talk) 17:15, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I think my fever broke/is breaking-am much better.

Reasons for Splitting article The article right now is a jumble of random factoids going every which way.

1) In most other wiki entries in other languages – Kabbalah is split into history and doctrines.

2) It makes for a clearer decision of what if included or excluded: This way the history tells a story from Jubilees to Contemporary Kabbalah – one cannot add side points about anything one wants if it has a clear history narrative. The doctrine article deals with sefirot, souls, et al --- One cannot spin off into debates on history

3) A good wiki article on a big topic is about 12 pages and each page then creates a link to a 12 page article on the sub-topic. Look at US history a well written entry and see that each unit is a page and then link to a page of greater detail. There is a clear sense of proportion. And one can exclude with clear criteria of historical survey, discussions of democracy or the 1960 Presidential elections or if a certain President should not have been elected.

4) There was no way to adjudicate the debate over Neoplatonism and the Kabbalah in the current format. If there is history – then there is the clean question as a subunit of Spanish Kabbalah. “Scholem did not emphasize the connection of Kabbalah and Neoplatonism, but most 19th century scholars did, and the following 21st century scholars do.”

5) The article has no outline and breaking into history and doctrines will help create an outline, even if everyone wants them merged again at the end.

6) Yes, doctrines play a role in the history but a topic like the shekhinah to document it from Ben Sira Logos theories until the New Age, would break up the historical account and is too detailed

7) Removing the attitudes toward or debate around Kabbalah is not to silence the views or to create a POV fork. Since Kabbalah is not necessarily part of the Rabbinic- Halakhic world, therefore there is 1000 years of criticism, much of the content is only tangentially related to the history of doctrines of the Kabbalah. Much of the debate is about the origin of the Hebrew vowels, the fixing of liturgy, the role of midrashim and the defense of Aristotelianism. Much of it is not a debate about Kabbalah as much as a separate tradition. Criticism that is actually about Kabbalah belongs. Saadyah rejecting Reincarnation is probably not responding to Kabbalah. To claim it is, is OR. A separate article is in order

8) The entry for Hinduism is a good model to use. There is an entry for doctrine, another for history, and the main entry defines the term and gives parameters. This may be a good model for Kabbalah

A] One article on What is Kabbalah? Is it mysticism? Is it Neoplatonism? Is it theosophy? Does it need a tradition?. Are there different approaches? This will allow the various answers to be presented, scholarly, Orthodox, and other to be presented with a fight over one approach. Rather, here are the approaches.

B] One article on history with a clear narrative with sources from Second Temple era until Modernity. So a reader can have a ready 10 page history like an encyclopedia. It should follow Scholem and Idel and have other opinions on history recorded as other opinions. Right now we have the remnants of little sermons about the differences between scholars and Orthodox/ Hermeticists at several points.

C]One article on doctrines where the reader finds the major ideas arranged topically.

Right now the article has neither rhyme or reason.--Jayrav (talk) 05:31, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I've said for some time that this article needs lots of work, but splintering it into pieces is an easy way out (just send the mess elsewhere and cleanup the core thats left) with mostly undesirable consequences (to wit, a drastically less informative/complete main article). Further, whatever your intentions, I feel the split marginalizes the POVs that were largely deported with "History" and "Critique" (although I think a separate section with that title is counterproductive, see discussion above).

To address your list:

1) I have not done a survey of the other language wikis, but if I were fully literate in any of the languages that split "History" from "Concepts," I would disagree there too on the relavant talkpages. The other wikis are not a compelling reason to split in this one.

2) "A clear history narrative" is no more likely in a "History" article than in a "History" section of a mainarticle. The same with "Concepts." If anything, redundancy is more likely with multiple webpages.

3) This article is not 12 pages like "US History" and the urgency to "cut it down" is not present. "US History" is well written because the earlier versions with less sub-articles were also well written. Sub-articles are created when the related section in the mainarticle gets too big relative to its significance and the main article is too big. Neither of these reasons for splitting are present, and the article itself is not yet well written.

4) I don't think your following suggestion is accurate regarding Scholem:

“Scholem did not emphasize the connection of Kabbalah and Neoplatonism, but most 19th century scholars did, and the following 21st century scholars do.” I know you mean this as an example, but even assuming this is true, why is a "History" article a better place for it than a "History" section? Anyhow, I would argue that cut-and-dry history/origins is not really available for this issue, and an NPOV comparison between Neoplatonism and the Sefirot might best be handled in "Concepts."

5) I completely disagree with the following, except that the article is not currently well outlined: "The article has no outline and breaking into history and doctrines will help create an outline, even if everyone wants them merged again at the end." See what I wrote for 2) above. Why not coordinate everything here, on this one talkpage, instead of on several?

6) "Yes, doctrines play a role in the history but a topic like the shekhinah to document it from Ben Sira Logos theories until the New Age, would break up the historical account and is too detailed." Ok, so don't split off a "History" article; summarize somewhere appropriate in this article, and then incorporate the rest into mainarticle:Shekhinah. That stuff would bog down a separate "History" article too.

7) "Saadyah rejecting Reincarnation" is highly relevant here because it demonstrates that he did not "know" what Kabbalah teaches about it. He isn't "probably not responding to Kabbalah," he's definitey not, and this sort of information should be discussed somewhere here; I would suggest in "History" in the context of Rabbinic Judaism's acceptance of Kabbalah.

8) Regarding "Hiduism" being a good article, see what I wrote for 3) above. Regarding your suggestions for the content of three separate articles:

A] "One article on What is Kabbalah? Is it mysticism? Is it Neoplatonism? Is it theosophy? Does it need a tradition?. Are there different approaches? This will allow the various answers to be presented, scholarly, Orthodox, and other to be presented with [sic] a fight over one approach. Rather, here are the approaches." But these views have all been expressed in this article, which presumably has defining "What is Kabbalah" as a primary objective, and still there is much fighting. How will a new article change this? Besides, the article you describe sounds like a much-too-long, blown-up, and unnecessarily separate introduction for this one.

B] Yes, the "History" needs to be cleaned up, I agree. So let's do it here.

C]"One article on doctrines where the reader finds the major ideas arranged topically."

Again, do it here and coordinate it with a "History" section and others to safeguard against redundancy. Lots of redundancy is certain to creep in with separate articles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 06:50, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

If there's to be a new page, and it hasn't yet been agreed that there will be, I'd prefer to see one hub page with sections on "Concepts/Doctrines" with inbuilt crticism, "History" with inbuilt criticism, "Texts" (now a sub-page) and "Practice" - something left out of the present page. abafied (talk) 07:29, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Archive

At 117,392 bytes, this discussion page is getting a little lengthy. I'd like to archive all topics that have not had replies in the last two weeks using the copy/paste method as defined by WP:ARCHIVE. Any objections? -Verdatum (talk) 06:38, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

No objections. Please do. abafied (talk) 07:31, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

 Done -Verdatum (talk) 17:45, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks. abafied (talk) 18:35, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Cont.1 of "Comments on the above item"

I've put in a new sub-section - the one above is too long for my computer to handle when responding. abafied (talk) 14:24, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

"No argument at all, I meant to emphasize "mysticism as we know it" i.e. mysticism as Kabbalah, which may not properly characterize earlier mysticism. My point being that--for example--Kabbalistic doctrines like the sefirot are not described in the Hekhalot, and even Sefer Yetzira does not explicitly use sefirot in the same way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 05:46, 28 February 2008 (UTC) "

Ah, right! I think catch your drift. Yes, the distinction would have to be made between earlier Jewish mysticism and the same when it became known as Kabbalah - in-built critical comments, if scholarly/rabbinical sources can be found to back the statement. Have I got you right?abafied (talk) 14:24, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Precisely, yes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 06:47, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

For my input, according to WP:SIZE, "Readers may tire of reading a page much longer than about 6,000 to 10,000 words...of the main body of prose." using the program wc (wordcount) I measure the main body of the article to be less than 9,029 words long. Looking over the article (and I'm still extremely new to this content), I do not feel an additional split is nessisary given the current content at this time (possibly appropriate later if content can be better organized into a more modular and hierarchical structure, or if content signifigantly grows). I think it is inarguable that major cleanup and reorganization can and probably should be done to this article. I do not particularly feel the need to resort to a temporary draft article for this cleanup. Unless someone would like to take the initiative of severely rewriting the article making potentially controvertial changes first and then requesting comments on the work. Otherwise, specific arguable changes can be brought up here and changed in the main article (e.g. "I think we should yank out section X entirely, remove all unreferenced content in section Y, and move section Z to the top of the article"). I can tell that this is a seriously heavy topic, so I myself will just be sticking to arguments about policy and style. -Verdatum (talk) 19:07, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I agree; a rewrite can be done from within the page as it stands. It could, should people agree, incorporate the sections I suggested above, "I'd prefer to see one hub page with sections on "Concepts/Doctrines" with inbuilt crticism, "History" with inbuilt criticism, "Texts" (now a sub-page) and "Practice" - something left out of the present page." It could also incorporate the "Topics" listed above, should people agree to that.

However, many of those Concepts in "Topics" link to Wiki pages that already exist and some are badly written, so there'll need to be clean-ups there, too, eventually. That's a massive task that needs to be undertaken with the Wikipedia:WikiProject Kabbalah.

Either way, I'm willing to have a go at the Medieval Period and some of the earlier history, and, recognising that the work is too much for one person, I'd be willing to have a go at some of the Concepts/Doctrines, if people agree to that. (It may expedite clean-up to divide up work in this fashion by agreement among ourselves).abafied (talk) 19:30, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

On division

I guess that I see this as fundamentally 25-35K article to cover the material. Right now it is 9K and says little.

I also see a historical core of doctrine from 12th cent Spain called sefirot, that has little overlap in language and emphasis with earlier trends. I call this core the doctrines.

I also see that by doing a scholem history core and a sefirot as doctrines we preclude many of the debates over listing the Bible as a kabblistic text and the role of mysticism

I also find the lede to go in three directions. A good article need a decisive lede. Currently, this one blurs theosophy, mysticsm, and the hasidic concept of an innermost Torah.

There is already an article on Jewish meditation for praxis, - it was mainly chabad- I added over a year ago abulafia, Cordovero, and vital to it and all the chabadniks disappeared and no one else came to work on it.--Jayrav (talk) 19:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Historical periods: Oral history; Post-1st Babylonian Exile history - (IV Esdras on mysticism, etc.); Talmudic period -> Tannaic and Gaonic periods - closure of Babylonian academies; Early Medieval Period in Europe and beyond; Late Medieval Period in Europe and the Ottoman Empire - up to Cordovero, Caro and Alkabetz; Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed; Post-Lurianic Kabbalah up to Shoah; Modern Kabbalah from Shoah to present day. Add in Mizrahi Kabbalah where possible.

On history I think that the periods are Second Temple- Esdres, Jubilees, Qumran

Heikhalot

Rabbinic maaseh merkavah

Sefer yezirah

Ashkenaz

Spanish Schools – Gerona, Castille, Iyyun

Abulafia

Zohar,

Post Zohar

Cordovero

Luria

Mizrahii development of Luria

Renaissance Italy

Luzzatto and Vilna Gaon

Contemporary Orthodox

Contemporary Modern

I would exclude Hasidism from the Kabalah entry, not as POV but because it differs in many doctrines from the 13th century- i would sent the reader to the page on Hasidism. --Jayrav (talk) 20:07, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

It's certainly not required, but could we possibly find a Reliable Source that designates it's own enumeration of the historical periods related to kabbalah? It's much more convenient then aribrarily devising our own (which, if you wanted to be super-picky, is a slight form of Original Research if not properly sourced). -Verdatum (talk) 21:41, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

There isn't one; all the sources differ, but some refer to periods of Jewish history, such as Second Temple, Tannaic Period, Gaonic Period, Talmudic Period, etc. However, it is possible to use a historical period chart, which most historians would use: that's measure in thousands of years BCE (difficult if we're to choose to refer to the Oral Tradition in Kabblah), and in the CE era, that would cover, Early Antiquity, Late Antiquity, Early Medieval, Late Medieval, Early Modern, Modern, and Contemporary. abafied (talk) 21:55, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Response to Jayrav: Chassidic developments in Kabbalah are part of Kabbalah's history; the developments therein need mention, as part of post-Lurianic history, however briefly, particularly because the page on Hasidic Judaism makes no mention of Kabbalah. That is the problem with Wikilinks; unless we can be sure of reliable pages to which to link, we're in for a massive clean-up job all round. As part of the history, the Oral Tradition should also be mentioned - part of the lineage of early Judaic mysticism. Ma'aseh bereshit has been missed out, too.

Overall, it looks as though your history list is going for a mixture of personalities and particular periods: I'd rather see chronological historical periods used, for simplicity and consistency, with personalities key to those periods discussed within them.

On your recommendation for the page length, it is now 73K. After a consensus was reached yesterday and advice on procedure from an administrator (see discussions above), the article was reverted. Please let us not start a reversion war. Some articles need to be longer if the page is to be truly informative, rather than a brief description of the topic; I'd suggest Kabbalah is one of them. abafied (talk) 21:55, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

No, there is a standard history -Most start with Scholem Heikhalot-Ashkenaz- Early Schools-Zohar- Abulafia-Luria- Sabbatianism- Hasidism and then work and modify from there.

Scholem leaves out Sefer Yetziah, and does not have an moderns or Mizrahi. --Jayrav (talk) 22:06, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

There is no reason to follow Scholem, particularly as he leaves out the period of the Oral Tradition, and what would be to him the Modern Period. Work on Mizrahi Kabbalah is only now starting to come to light. We have to work from where we are, not where Scholem was. abafied (talk) 22:22, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Your list has no bearing on the history of the kabblah.Pick a recent history or syllabus. --Jayrav (talk) 22:26, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I would suggest it does and has rather more breadth of perspective than the one you are following, and into which your chosen focus-points would easily fit. However, people will go for a consensus on this, as on everything else. abafied (talk) 22:38, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Sephirot

The supposed translations of Sephirot from this article and from the lead section of Sephirot seem to be in conflict, neither provide an inlined reference for the translation. Could someone shed some light on this?

Further, I don't believe the Sephirot section needs to be this long. Because the topic has it's own article, per WP:SUMMARY (man, I reference that thing a lot!), this article should merely present a summary of the topic and reference readers to the main sephirot article if they want more detailed information. I think stuff like the specific enumeration of the ten is unessisary and redundant here. -Verdatum (talk) 21:32, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I just added the correct translation. It does not mean emanations. In this article we should stop reproducing and moving around information that has no sources- much of it is wrong. Allmaterial needs to be sourced.

We should also stop speaking of the Kabbalah- as it was a single idea stable over three millennium- most of the statements need to be qualified by a historic time period or author. The specific enumeration is necessary and in many ways more important than the time bound interpretations of the ten. --Jayrav (talk) 21:45, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Jayrav. I believe it's not so much that we should stop reproducing and moving around information that has no sources (though essentially true), we should keep interdependant articles in sync with one another so that the do not provide directly conflicting information. If the lead paragraph of this section was better formed than the main article, I would have moved the content in the other direction.

I agree, Kabbalah does not appear to be a static entity in universal concensus, and this should be resolved by proper attribution to the originating sources of the facts stated. However, speaking as an outsider, I do not remotely understand the last sentence of your comment. If your statement is correct, then the section (and/or main article) should be expanded to better explain the signifigance and importance of the enumeration in relation to the topic as a whole. (Again, to clarify, it's not that I disagree with your claim, I'm just very confused, and in general, WP articles shouldn't do that). -Verdatum (talk) 22:11, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

What I meant is that the list of the ten sefirot should stay because for many people sefirot and talk of sefirot=kabbalah. For many people even memorizing the chart of the ten is kabbalah. It is basic to the article. The explanations as creation, ethics and other should be moved not the chart.--Jayrav (talk) 22:15, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

That is all well and good, but that sort of information should be present in the article (with a reference). That's the sort of thing people coming to this article to learn (such as myself) would definately like to know. -Verdatum (talk) 23:27, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

"present a summary of the topic and reference readers to the main sephirot article if they want more detailed information." ... No history of the Sephirot on the Sephirot page, I see. Similarly with the Tree of Life pages on wiki, of which only one is reliable - Tree of life (Kabbalah). Argggggggh! We're going to meet up with this problem all the time, as I said above.

On the use of "Kabbalah", jayrav, you're right - Early Jewish Mysticsm and Kabbalah. You'll note, though, that Wiki has Kabbalah as the redirection page for Jewish Mysticism. abafied (talk) 22:17, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Here is a Jewish mysic who is not a kabbalist or pre-kabbalah. [2] --Jayrav (talk) 22:29, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes, this begins to encrouch on topics more appropriate for the wikiproject page. I merely urge that content not be added here simply because it does not exist or is in a poor state within the correlating main article.

Regarding the Jewish Mystisism redirect, I thought I remembered that being the case. I suspect this redirect is in place for the sake of simplicity. If sufficient verifiable information regarding no kabbalistic jewish mystisism can be gathered, the page can be altered from a redirect, but at the moment it's not a major concern of mine. -Verdatum (talk) 23:27, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

On "no kabbalistic jewish mystisism". I wasn't referring to Jewish mysticism as a whole, but indicated that, if we're talking about historical periods, Early Jewish Mysticism refers to pre-12thC. mysticism; that was Kabbalah's lineage. Kabbalah, the name, was introduced into mystical studies/life during the 12thC.; the main body of Jewish mysticism was called Kabbalah from then on. abafied (talk) 01:58, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

On the Sephirot, I suggest we keep the following:

"Sephirot (heading) Main article: Sephirot According to Lurianic cosmology, Ten Sephiroth (literally, Ten Emanations) correspond to ten levels of creation, and are emanated from the Creator for the purpose of creating the world[7]. These levels of creation must not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different ways of revealing God, one per level. It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.

"The names of the ten Sephirot are Keter (will) Chochmah (wisdom) Binah (understanding) Chesed (loving kindness) Din (Sometimes refered to as Gevurah or Gedulah) (judgement) Tiferet (harmony) Netzach (victory) Hod (glory) Yesod (foundation) Malchut (sovereignty)" (all tabulated)

and move the rest of the text, where it's accurate and appropriate, to the Sephirot article. What about reference to Da'at, as the "hidden Sephirah"? What about the diagram? The one on the Kabbalah page now isn't traditional. Could we use the one on the HebrewWiki, for example, or another, like the Portae Lucis one? What do people think about thse suggestions? abafied (talk) 23:15, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Kabbalah Practice

"There is already an article on Jewish meditation for praxis, - it was mainly chabad- I added over a year ago abulafia, Cordovero, and vital to it and all the chabadniks disappeared and no one else came to work on it.--Jayrav (talk) 19:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)"

The page on Jewish meditation looks reasonable to me, though it's light on references. (I haven't read Aryeh on Meditation for a while, but didn't he refer to practices that he devised?) I suggest a short paragraph in a rewritten Kabbalah page and a link to that article, if people agree. abafied (talk) 22:56, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

What IS the Kabbalah?

With all due respect to the heavy editors of this article, I'd like to offer some criticism (in good faith, of course). What IS the Kabbalah? I've heard the word, and read the intro of this article, and skimmed the Overview section, but couldn't figure it out. I feel this should not be the case. I know what it literally translates as, but what IS it? Is it a book? A time period? A set of traditions? I recommend clarifying this early on, perhaps in the first sentence or so of this article. Starwarp2k2 15:39, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

My dictionary holds that cabal=cabala; a small group keeping secrets. They've obviously kept it from you. Mystical= "above the intellect." Clarify this in a sentence? Sentences sentence one to the intellect. This has been deleted(secreted) once.Johnshoemaker (talk) 14:34, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh, for crying out loud! What dictionary are you using, and who was the ape who wrote it? Read http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cabal and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cabala please. One is not the other. If the article doesn't clearly explain what Kabbalah is, then that's because it needs more work, not because some secret society of plotters is trying to cover up the awful truth. Please, anyone out there who knows the awful truth, help us summarise it in the lead of this article. Fuzzypeg★ 00:11, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

JS reply: FP Oh, for crying out loud! What dictionary are you using, and who was the ape who wrote it?

JS Ape? Funny, since Qof is termed an ape; commonly bears that character of copying. My dictionary is big and blue and the turnip greens I left on it for a year got fluidy but it did place an “=” between the two. Can’t find it to make sure it’s an Oxford abridged.. It’s at least 57 years old so it hasn’t had the advantage of modern “American” e-opinion. Beat me, maim me, make me write bad checks but please don’t make me be a scholar! FP Read http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cabal and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cabala please. One is not the other.

JS Your reference to cabal referrred to the cabala article as an earlier(early 16th century) appearance of cabal. Mine placed it about 1510

This from your cabal reference {Origin: 1610–20, for an earlier sense; earlier cabbal < ML cabbala. See CABALA}

The wordsmiths haven’t received the wisdom of seperating group keeping secrets from a secret system.

FP If the article doesn't clearly explain what Kabbalah is, then that's because it needs more work, not because some secret society of plotters is trying to cover up the awful truth.

JS My statement: “This has been secreted once” referered to the fact that the discussion “What IS Kabbalah” was deleted last night a few minutes after I entered it. Possibly there’s a rule about where to place a comment on talk pages. I just put it first. It disappeared. Since no-one claimed credit, I’ll admit thinking….... Maybe someone thought I was unclear in calling popular Kabbalah a “smokescreen.” I’ll be more clear. Just found this quote somewhere.

"truth is in the passionate insights that one receives” Received is passion, feeling? Makes sense; that's not intellectual.

When a friend tried to show me, at ten, how to take myself in hand I didn’t see truth. At 13 the truth was awefully full of awe. Then I got over puberty a while back and looked at this received business. In the talk that disappeared I think I summarized the received wisdom of Kabbalah as a knowledge system that takes the most intimate look at Torah. It is mystical, that is, “above the intellect” so that one is not limited to a defined set of symbols manipulable by a system of logic(loggings of manipulations). As such it has defended itself from any dialectic.

What would be the use of that? Try this:

From ON LIBERTY by John Mills MMM The Socratic dialectics were essentially a negative discussion of the great questions of philosophy and life directed with consummate skill to the purpose of convincing anyone who had merely adopted the commonplaces of received opinion that he did not understand the subject. That he/she as yet attached no definite meaning to the doctrines he professed; in order that becoming aware of his ignorance, he might be put in the way to obtain a stable belief. The school disputations of the Middle Ages had a similar object. They were intended to make sure the pupil understood his own opinion and (by neccessary correlation) the opinion opposed to it. Since the premises appealed to were taken from authority, not reason, they were inferior to the Socratic.MMM.

Here’s the thought to try: These writers of the received have patiently created the received so that it serves as the received for the masses so that the Socratic dialectic can be used to teach the masses who have received the received that they don’t understand the subject. Ultimately, the subject is Torah and the goal is an awakening of all who apply their intellect to the awesome beauty in its observations. I suspect what when the dialectics commence and one understands the allegories used by the old dead men we will receive passionate insights, truths.

Writing, talking about the sacred Letters and their formulas is not part of the received but certainly the masters were/are intimate with them. The students entering the dialectic will be armed with the definitions of the Sacred letters and assistance with their combinations.

Myth carries spiritual truth. The myth of Socrates has him condemned partly because he didn’t believe in the gods. There will be no babelling about “God” in the dialectics.

FP Please, anyone out there who knows the awful truth, help us summarise it in the lead of this article.

JS Anyone who knows the awesome patience and effort to create and define the received as not limited or available to the intellect isn’t going to mess it up now with an intellectual explanation. Hasn’t the secret been worth keeping? Since it is in vain to use an undefined word in an intellectual sentence I do wonder why WP editors have not used the Chassid method of respect for the intellect and commandment, G-d. Thank you for your reply and humor.Johnshoemaker (talk) 12:39, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I think the first few sentences of the intro sum it up pretty well. In fact, they might be the strongest part of the article. That the intro mentions nothing of Kabbalah being a book or a "time period" is not an accidental omission; it's because it isn't a book or a period, and it is hardly necessary to list what Kabbalah is not in order to define it.

Perhaps new readers are disappointed to learn that Kabbalah isn't what it is popularly supposed to be. But that shouldn't influence the direction of the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 04:26, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree. The intro seems pretty to-the-point. Unlike Johnshoemaker's post above, which I couldn't be bothered reading in its entirety. I presume he's the keeper of great secrets that are impossible to communicate to us, the great unwashed, except in double-dutch, but since I can't be bothered reading it I guess I'll never know. Sorry JS...

On the cabal and cabala thing, though, a cabal is a group, a cabala is... hey, wait a minute! You can't even say "a cabala"! It's an uncountable noun. "A furniture". "A cutlery". Makes no sense. Obviously not the same word, regardless of what your poor abused dictionary says. Fuzzypeg★ 04:16, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

You're also not allowed to demand "a shrubbery", unless you first say "Ni". --Shirahadasha (talk) 03:00, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

A return to unilateralism

Just when you think this article's turned a corner, when you say to yourself, "I've misjudged the set of Wikipedians who are interested in the Kabbalah, we can agree to disagree about the details and still move forward with an NPOV..." Just when you believe that this article actually has a chance to improve, the thought police return.

There was no reason to erase a big chunk of the "Sefirot" section. Jayrav and I reached a consensus on it, and neither of us deserves to have our goodfaith efforts summarily dismissed. The removed material was, I think, fair and not even particularly objectionable to the frum readers. But if an editor feels it was "not neutral and not balanced," well then by all means, let him do something constructive and "balance it" with what he feels is missing. Why always take the easy, unthinking way out? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.64.233 (talk) 00:29, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Ban on the study of Kabbalah

The article mentions approximately when the ban ended. But it doesn't explain what ban, or when the ban started. Fuzzypeg★ 04:56, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

The idea that the ban has ended is really just one POV