Sources: Sefer Yetzirah (~3rd–6th century AD); Bahir (~1150 AD); the Zohar (~1280 AD, Moses de Leon); Luria’s Etz Chaim (~1572 AD, posthumous); Vital, Sha’ar HaKavanot.

Kabbalah (reception/tradition) is Jewish mysticism — the attempt to understand the inner structure of divinity, creation, and the human soul through an esoteric system of symbols, divine emanations, and spiritual practice. The classical Kabbalistic system: (1) Ein Sof — the infinite, unknowable divine essence beyond all description; (2) The ten Sefirot — divine attributes/emanations through which God relates to creation (Keter, Chokhmah, Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkhut), depicted as a “Tree of Life” diagram; (3) The four worlds — Atzilut (emanation), Beriah (creation), Yetzirah (formation), Assiyah (action); (4) The Zohar — the central Kabbalistic text, presented as 2nd-century teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai but probably written by Moses de Leon in 13th-century Spain — the most influential work in Jewish mysticism. Lurianic Kabbalah (~1570 AD) adds: Tzimtzum (divine contraction to make room for creation), Shevirat HaKelim (shattering of the vessels), and Tikkun (cosmic repair). Kabbalah profoundly influenced: the Safed school (16th century), Hasidism (18th century), and through Christian Kabbalah, European Renaissance philosophy and Rosicrucianism.