Imhoff/Judaism in Five, 5. What is Kabbalah?

This chapter provides an overview of the major ideas, texts, and figures in the history of Kabbalah. Kabbalah is often characterized as a Jewish form of mysticism. It emerged in a mature form around the thirteenth century in Western Europe with the creation of the Zohar, a sprawling work of Kabbalistic narrative. The Zohar uses the central system of Kabbalistic symbols called the sefirot. The Sefirot are presented as representing the inner workings of divinity or the divine attributes. Subsequently, Kabbalah developed in North Africa, Eastern Europe, Israel, and the United States.