“Cursed be the man who makes any sculpted or molten image, which is an abomination to Havayah being the handiwork of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret!” (Deut. 27:15)
Fifth Reading: Learning the Torah’s Secrets
Even if one finds an authentic source in a teacher who is learned both in the revealed and concealed aspects of the Torah there is still one more danger, more subtle, yet usually the one that most people end up being harmed by. Many of the teachers of Kabbalah only understand its external, technical aspects, but are completely lacking an understanding of its inner message. Inner understanding of Kabbalah means being able to experience the teachings in a rectified and holy manner (both on the intellectual as well as the emotional plane) and to transfer that experience and its meaning to students. An authentic teacher of Kabbalah understands and relays to his students that Kabbalah is not referring solely to external reality or external mystical experiences.
The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, said something very important in this respect: if a person gets used to looking at and experiencing the world externally, not only is he temporarily unaware of inner reality but he is even liable to injure his or her ability to later acquire an inner perspective on the world. Without an inner perspective the study of Kabbalah can deteriorate into a corporealization of God, which is forbidden. (It can further deteriorate into the self-worship-like gratification that comes with pseudo-mystical experience.)
Throughout the generations, this has been the most problematic and the most feared consequence of the improper study of Kabbalah. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai begins one of the deepest sections of the Zohar, the Idra Rabbah, with the verse “Cursed be the man who makes any sculpted or molten image... and sets it up in secret,” a clear reference to the danger of corporealization (hagshamah) inherent in studying the “secrets” of the Torah.
To avert this final danger the Ba’al Shem Tov prescribed that Kabbalah should initially be studied only through the lens of Chasidut. Even when the classic texts of Kabbalah (that predate Chasidut) are studied with a heart for inner understanding, nonetheless, because of the coarseness of the human mind, the teachings may be misinterpreted, and the result may be an anthropomorphization of the Almighty.
The internal spiritual work needed to avert these three dangers corresponds to the three stages of all transformation taught by the Ba’al Shem Tov and discussed in length elsewhere. They are: submission, separation, and sweetening. To avert the first danger one needs to submissively acknowledge that action must come before understanding and that in order to study Kabbalah here must be a commitment to the Torah as a whole. Averting the danger of being seduced by an unauthentic source requires us to distance ourselves from unworthy teachers, no matter how promising they seem. Separation from that which is negative leads to a strengthening of our true identity and an ability to define our goals more precisely. Finally, studying Kabbalah from the perspective offered by the teachings of the Ba’al Shem Tov only requires that one have a proverbial sweet tooth for the inner sweetness of the Torah and its hidden dimensions.
(What You Need to Know About Kabbalah pp. 48-49)
