Kabbalah & The Mystical

I got into a discussion with a friend about some classes I was attending. He claimed that one shouldn’t learn Kabbalah until he is 40 years old and that to do so can be dangereous. Is this true? And if yes, how come many rabbis and Jewish educational organizations, including your own site, don’t seem to be concerned about this?

I see a ball moving up and down on the screen--is it really rebounding against the bottom of the screen? Does the menu bar really have drop-down menus hidden behind it? To explain our world without examining its inner depth is as shallow as explaining the workings of a computer by describing the images viewed on its monitor...

Angels in Judaism are spiritual beings with no physical traits, mentioned in Genesis and described anthropomorphically to reflect their roles and tasks.

The idea of "selling one's soul to the devil"—meaning, becoming a slave of the devil in exchange for favors provided—does not exist in Torah. Jewish ethical works do describe instances where one can be somewhat "possessed" by evil drives. But even that state is always reversible.

Kabbalah and Chassidism speak of four worlds. Where are they? Why haven’t they been discovered yet?

Why would G‑d have any name - let alone so many? When can and can't I use the names?

Kindness, Severity, Harmony, Perseverance, Humility, Foundation, Royalty--which defines your soul?

I was watching a news report the other day with Madonna (now known as Esther). She was discussing how Kabbalah has changed her life

A chassid is a mystic. A chassid is pious. A chassid is joyous. A chassid is selfless. A chassid is a revolutionary. What is the common denominator of all these traits? That a chassid lives life from the inside.

For the body's perspective, the Talmud refers to sleep as 1/60th of death. From a soul perspective, it's a return to an "embryonic state" in which all its faculties exist in utter equality, as there is no above or below, earlier or later...

G-d gives us things. G-d does not give others these same things. This can and does cause jealousy, an unvoiced "Why does she deserve it?," and somewhere on High that energy does not dissipate. It gravitates, and brings into question "Maybe she doesn’t deserve it after all?"

The “evil eye,” ayin hara in Hebrew, is the harmful negative energy that is created when one looks at something with envy or ill feeling.

Predicting the future is big business, as newspaper astrologers and corporate consultants profit from our insatiable desire to know the unknown. Is there anything to it? Do the stars hold any power over our lives?

It was so vivid that I was sure it was real. What does my dream mean? Does it mean anything?

The double triangle of the Star of David symbolizes the connection of both the inner and external dimensions of G‑d, Torah and Israel.

On the surface there do seem to be contradictory statements in the midrashic and kabbalistic texts with regard to how the world was created—with ten sefirot or only the final seven.

I am fascinated by a documentary I watched about astronomy and how many stars and galaxies there are. What is the Jewish view on this? Why did G‑d create so many galaxies? What purpose do they serve?

At times my mind wanders off and I imagine myself committing crimes. I’ve always felt that there is nothing wrong with these thoughts because I do not actually follow through and commit the crime. What do you think?

Nobody has died and come back to tell us this information. Where does it come from?

There is none else but G‑d, but nevertheless, not all is G‑dly.

Dreams have meanings, but interestingly, those meanings are fluid.

The term “archangel” doesn’t actually have a Hebrew equivalent in Jewish Scriptures.

Some people wear red strings around their wrists to ward off an ayin hara (evil eye). Does this have a source in Judaism?

Does Judaism believe in unicorns? I once heard that the Torah says they really do exist!

I always thought Mazel Tov meant “congratulations.” I recently heard that it actually means “good luck.” But I thought Jews don’t believe in luck . . . ?