What is Kabbalah? - Kabbalah: A Delicate Flower
The 'soul' refers to Kabbalah, the mystical secrets. Unlike the garments and body which are visible to the naked eye, the soul of a person is invisible; its presence is felt only when one sees the animated body. Similarly, while the narrative and laws are apparent when the Torah is opened, the Kabbalah teachings remain concealed. Thus, although every episode and law, and indeed, every nuance of a single letter in the Torah, signify the deepest truths about reality, they are imperceptible to the uninitiated eye.
What is Kabbalah? - Tree of Life
Throughout history, the teachings of Kabbalah were restricted to a select few individuals in each generation whose saintliness and scholarship were of the highest order.
The ancient, central text of Kabbalah, the Zohar, warns: "One must not reveal the secrets of the Torah to a person unless he is wise, studied the Scripture and Talmud, his studies endure, and he is G-d fearing."
In the Talmud we find a similar warning: "One does not expound on the 'works of creation' before two people or the 'workings of the chariot' to even a single person, unless he is wise and can understand [the teachings] independently [of his teacher]."
The great codifier of Jewish law - whose legal rulings constitute the vast majority of contemporary Jewish law - the Rambam, rules in accordance with the above quoted Talmudic restriction.
Let us consider some of the reasons why Kabbalah has been concealed from the masses throughout the ages:
a) Initially Kabbalah was only taught in short riddle like teachings. It was expected of the student to be able to decipher the meaning of the teachings himself. Only those few individuals that were exceptionally learned in Torah and pure of heart were considered to have attained the state of consciousness necessary to accurately decipher the teachings.
b) The central purpose of the human is to purify and refine the world. This is achieved when people fulfill mitzvot and engage in business, family life, etc. in accordance with Torah law. It is specifically through the study of the legal teachings of the Torah which discuss what is permitted and what is forbidden, as well as detailing the intricate laws pertaining to mitzvah performance, that one directly assists the achievement of this goal. The study of Kabbalah, which does not detail the nuances of practical law, was thus reserved for those individuals who had already mastered practical Torah law.
