The study of Kabbalah — Jewish mystical texts — used to be limited just to certain men. In recent years, though, Kabbalah has gone merely a fascination of esotericism to mainstream and for a hot minute even became a trend among some big name celebs like Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Ariana Grande. But what is Kabbalah, how has it shaped Judaism and why is it more popular than ever?

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:56 What is Kabbalah?
01:21 Origins of Kabbalah
01:34 Renowned Kabbalists
01:51 The Zohar
02:38 Controversies surrounding Kabbalah
02:54 The false Messiah Shabtai Zvi
03:40 Kabbalah during the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment)
04:28 Gershom Scholem and fascination with Kabbalah
05:09 Kabbalah as a reaction to the Holocaust and the atom bomb
05:34 Rabbi Philip Berg and the Kabbalah Center
05:53 Famous members of the Kabbalah Center
06:38 Kabbalah today as divisive
06:55 Can Kabbalah be separated from Torah study?
07:21 Outro

For a more in depth look at the origins of Kabbalah, check out ‪@ReligionForBreakfast‬'s video here:
   • What is Kabbalah?  

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