To Jews, Kabblaist, Complicated question...

So basicly the belief of Judiasm is that they do not have a belief. Each person is individualize to believe what he or she believes in the Tanakh. This is correct, judaism is more about moral laws and as such, the bible is considered to either be taken literal, or not, or both, by the individual person in the belief of the Torah.

Here is the kicker, as Jews scramble to understand their stance, you are too have a large belly (lots of knowledge of he bible) in order to receieve the Kabbalah and understand its mystical purpose. Great!

But the thing is, is that majority of Rabbis who study the Zohar and become apart of that following (kabbalah)DO NOT TAKE IT LITERAL.
So my question is, if you do not take the zohar literal on the study of kabblah, do rabbis take the bible tankh literal on the torah
Triple standard

You may benefit from googling the acronym "Pardes." There are four ways to interpret: 1. Peshat, which is the direct meaning of a verse, 2. Remez, hints at something more than the literal interpretation, 3. Derash, to seek (Midrash), and my personal favorite, 4. Sod - the hidden mystic meaning.

Number 1 is the base root and the other extended meanings never contradict the base.

reply to post by Jordan River

I am not Jewish, but am a student of the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah is the Jewish System of Ritual Magick. It is also the study of the essence of Deity, and of Man, and of the Tree of Life.

The most famous work of kabbalah, the Zohar, was revealed to the Jewish world in the thirteenth century by Moses De Leon, who claimed that the book contained the mystical writings of the second-century rabbi Simeon bar Yochai. Almost all modern Jewish academic scholars believe that De Leon himself authored the Zohar, although many Orthodox kabbalists continue to accept De Leon's attribution of it to Simeon bar Yochai. Indeed, Orthodox mystics are apt to see Bar Yochai not so much as the Zohar's author as the recorder of mystical traditions dating back to the time of Moses. The intensity with which Orthodox kabbalists hold this conviction was revealed to me once when I was arguing a point of Jewish law with an elderly religious scholar. He referred to a certain matter as being in the Torah, and when I asked him where, he said: "It's in the Zohar. Is that not the same as if it was in the Torah itself?"

The Zohar is written in Aramaic (the language of the Talmud) in the form of a commentary on the five books of the Torah. Whereas most commentaries interpret the Torah as a narrative and legal work, mystics are as likely to interpret it "as a system of symbols which reveal the secret laws of the universe and even the secrets of God" (Deborah Kerdeman and Lawrence Kushner, The Invisible Chariot, p. 90). To cite one example, Leviticus 26 records "a carrot and a stick" that God offers the Jewish people. If they follow his decrees, He will reward them. But if they spurn them, God will "set His face" against the people: "I will discipline you sevenfold for your sins...." and "I will scatter you among the nations" (26:28, 33). At the chapter's conclusion, God says: "Yet, even then, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them, for I am the Lord, their God" (26:44).

source

The Sephirah

One is instructed to make steady progression through the Tree of Life, while giving time to consider and meditate on each Sephirah before moving onto the next.
The Sephirah are as follows:

1. Kether - the eternal, the spiritual perfection

2. Chokmah - Power of creation, energy, wisdom

3. Binah - Understanding, realization

4. Chesed - Condensation, the power of growth and stability

5. Geburah - Movement and changing, the power of destruction

6. Tiphareth - Consciousness and harmony, the balance of the middle, beauty

7. Netzach - Creativity and anarchy, sensitivity

8. Hod - intellect and logic, structure (Mercur)

9. Yesod - Reflection and imagination (moon and water)

10. Malkuth - the root, the origin, the subconscious


One might compare the Sephiroth with the Chakras in Yoga. The mystic way of self-realization requires the rediscovery of all levels of one's own being, from Malkuth - the physical reality - up to Kether as the spiritual perfection. Also, the ten spheres correspond to the four elements as well as to the various levels of the soul and thus to the four worlds of the Kabbalah.
Fire (world of Atziluth) - Kether
Water (world of Briah) - Chokmah and Binah
Air (world of Yetzirah) - Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod
Earth (world of Assiah) - Malkuth
High Magick is, essentially, a Magickal System which involves Celestial entities, and ideas. It is sometimes referred to as "Ceremonial Magic" or "Ritual Magic". The Rites/Rituals are complex, and require an interest in the scientific theory of Magick as well as the application of and the direction of the Will. This would be the Magickal System of Solomon, and Moses, and yes, of the Christ.

i see there is no direct answer, and I found the tree of (life or knowledge) of kabblah very resonating to my beliefs as well

Your question was:

So my question is, if you do not take the zohar literal on the study of kabblah, do rabbis take the bible tankh literal on the torah

I am not a Jew, nor a Rabbi, but I do have one I email with sometimes. He is a scholar of the Ancient Hebrew language, and has studied the Kabbalah, in fact, it was he that lead me to the study of the Kabbalah. It is not a holy book, it is more like an Ancient Grimore, and is akin to a college course of study to become proficient in the High Magickal Craft.
Not for the weak, or the easily influenced, or the ignorant. The study is hard to learn, and the Rituals are long and very involved. The Craft uses the tone vibration of the Names/Attributes of various Gods and Angelic Beings to effect change in the natural environment. And yes, the Magick works.
I know that my friend doesn't take any religious text in a literal manner, and neither do I. For one thing, he has told me that there is no copy whatsoever of the original texts, but only copies of copies.
The Dead Sea Scrolls make everything even more confusion. So, for myself, I only know what I have read, and what he told me. Once you start believing in these things in a literal manner, you tend to become blind to every other source of knowledge.