science

Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities

Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities rather than just read about it. In short: Kabbalists have included contemporary traditionalist Orthodox teachers of Kabbalah, as well as Neo-Kabbalistic and Academic scholars who read Kabbalah in a critical, universalist way. Kabbalistic views Harmonisation or opposition Traditionalist Kabbalah and its development in Hasidic Judaism often took negative views of secular wisdoms.

Key takeaways

Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kabbalists have included contemporary traditionalist Orthodox teachers of Kabbalah, as well as Neo-Kabbalistic and Academic scholars who read Kabbalah in a critical, universalist way.

Kabbalistic views

Harmonisation or opposition

Traditionalist Kabbalah and its development in Hasidic Judaism often took negative views of secular wisdoms. While some historical Kabbalists were learned in the canon of medieval Jewish philosophy, and occasionally mathematics and sciences, its relationship to medieval Jewish philosophy (built on Ancient Greek science and cosmology) was ambiguous. Kabbalistic dissemination began in the 12th century in order to stem the rationalist influence of Maimonides, in the context of controversies over his teachings. Nonetheless, philosophical terminology from Jewish philosophy, both Neoplatonic and Aristotelian, permeated the systems of Kabbalists, reinterpreted in mystical ways. The Kabbalistic dictum that "Kabbalah begins where philosophy ends" expressed their claim to superior knowledge, but can also be read as an appreciation of the foundations laid by Jewish philosophy. Kabbalaists held they could see further, giving mythological and psychological answers to philosophical questions, but by virtue of benefiting from the shoulders of philosophy. Kabbalists were certainly opposed to a dogmatic rationalism, but mystics such as the systemiser Moses Cordovero (16th century) expressed their influence from, and appreciation for, the profound philosophical purification of Jewish theology from mistaken corporeal interpretations universally established by Maimonides, in Cordovero's dialectical use of imagination to grasp then reject anthropomorphic conceptions in Kabbalah. Judah Loew ben Bezalel (16th century) expressed mystical ideas in the philosophical and scientific terminology of his day, appreciating the natural sciences if subservient to revelation. Kabbalistic views on secular studies were shaped by both mystical views and social context. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (18th century) expresses the dangers of impure secular wisdoms to common faith, yet also the concealed divinity within them for great sages like the philosophical Maimonides (12th century) and mystical Nachmanides (13th century), who can clarify their unity with Torah, disclosing new esoteric dimensions:

"Occupying oneself with the sciences of the nations of the world is… included in the category of engaging in inconsequential matters insofar as the sin of neglecting the Torah is concerned… Moreover, the impurity of science is greater than the impurity of idle speech… Thus this is forbidden unless one employs [this knowledge] as a useful instrument, viz., as a means of [earning a livelihood] with which to be able to serve God… or unless he knows how to apply them in the service of God or to his better understanding of His Torah [i.e., in the manner of] Maimonides and Nachmanides…"

Pre-Messianic era

Kabbalah (such as Nachmanides' commentary on the Torah) relates the 7 Days of Creation in Genesis chapter 1 to the 7 lower sephirot Divine attributes from Chesed to Malkuth. These comprise the "Revealed World" of Divine emotional expression, contrasted with the first 3 sephirot "Hidden World" of the Divine mind. The Talmud relates the 6 Days when God actively creates to the 6000 years of Creation, in the traditional Jewish calendar, with the 7th day corresponding to the messianic era 1000 years of Sabbath rest. The Zohar central text of Kabbalah (disseminated 13th-15th centuries CE) commenting on the verse "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened" (Genesis 7:11), relates that in the 600th year (or 600 years-6th century, 500-600) of the 6th millennium, the floodgates of wisdom above and below will open up, to prepare the world for the messianic age:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities

In research: Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Jewish theology, Judaism and science, Judaism and society, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities in simple terms?

Kabbalists have included contemporary traditionalist Orthodox teachers of Kabbalah, as well as Neo-Kabbalistic and Academic scholars who read Kabbalah in a critical, universalist way. Kabbalistic views Harmonisation or opposition Traditionalist Kabbalah and its development in Hasidic Judaism often…

Why does Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kabbalistic approaches to the sciences and humanities.