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A series of articles by S.
Drob, THE SEFIROT: KABBALISTIC ARCHETYPES OF MIND AND CREATION
S. Drob,
Jung’s Kabbalistic Visions (Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice,
Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp 33-54). Jung’s 1944 Kabbalistic Visions, which he
described as “the most tremendous things I have ever experienced”, are
discussed against the background of
Jung’s earlier provocative remarks about Jewish psychology and National
Socialism, Jung’s attitude towards the Jewish sources of his own theories,
Jung’s interest in Jewish mysticism, and from the perspective of both Jungian and Kabbalistic dream theory I
myself was, so it seemed, in the Pardes Rimmonim, the garden of pomegranates, and the wedding of Tifereth with Malchuth was
taking place. Or else I was Rabbi
Simon ben Jochai, whose
wedding in the afterlife was being celebrated. It was the mystic marriage as it appears in
the Cabbalistic tradition. I cannot
tell you how wonderful it was. I could
only think continually, “Now this is the garden of pomegranates! Now this is
the marriage of Malchuth with Tifereth!” I do not know exactly what part I played in
it. At bottom it was I myself: I was
the marriage. And my beatitude was that of a blissful wedding (C. G. Jung,
Memories, dreams, reflections (A. Jaffe, Ed.). S. Drob,
19 Kabbalistic Ideas: Philosophical Implications of the New Kabbalah Click here for pdf version The author describes 19 Kabbalistic Ideas
that form the foundation of his current thinking regarding the New Kabbalah. From Kabbalistic
Metaphors. A discussion of two responses to the suffering,
contradictions and absurdities of earthly life--one that leads us fully back
into the world (the "immanent solution") and the second that leads
us to "higher worlds" (the "transcendent solution"). The
two movements are each present in coincidentia
oppositorum in Kabbalistic and Hasidic thought. This paper
represents an important aspect of the author's own theology. S. Drob, J. N. Findlay: A Personal Appreciation The
author relates his reminiscences of the rational-mystical philosopher, John
Niemeyer Findlay at For more
on Professor J.N. Findlay go to www.jnfindlay.com. S. Drob, "This
Is Gold:" Freud, Psychotherapy and the Lurianic
Kabbalah The author considers the report of a
Lithuanian rabbi, Chayyim Bloch, that Freud
exclaimed “This is gold” when presented with a German translation of one of
the works of Chayyim Vital, a 17th century Kabbalist and disciple of Isaac Luria.
The psychological significance of the Lurianic
Kabbalah is explored, and the Kabbalah is shown to be an important historical
antecedent to psychoanalysis, and source for contemporary psychotherapeutic
practice. The author shows how the Kabbalists, in their theory of the concealment,
shattering, and restoration of the light of the infinite God, provide a
theosophical analog to the psychoanalytic theory of libido, repression, and
therapy. The Kabbalistic symbols of Ein-Sof
and “the Other Side” are seen to be theosophical parallels to different
aspects of the unconscious. The notion of Tikkun
ha-Olam, the “Restoration of the
World”, through which divine sexual energy, entrapped in the “husks” of the
Other Side, is restored to God’s service, is interpreted as a metaphor for
the therapeutic processes of “making the unconscious conscious” and restoring
the libido to the service of the individual. Finally, the psychotherapeutic
implications of several Lurianic symbols, including
Ein-sof (the infinite
godhead), Tzimtzum
(concealment/ contraction), the Sefirot
(the archetypes of creation), Shevirat ha-Kelim (the Breaking of the Vessels) and Tikkun ha-Olam
(the Restoration of the World) are explored. Click here for pdf version S. Drob, Jacques
Derrida and the Kabbalah. S. Drob, Derrida and the Lurianic Kabbalah The author explores Derrida's notions of
differance and the trace in connection with similar notions in the Lurianic Kabbalah. From the article: "In one of his
last meetings with Jacques Derrida, Emanauel Levinas is said to have asked Derrida to confess that he
was in fact a modern day representative of the Lurianic
Kabbalah. I learned of this from the death-of-God theologian, Thomas JJ Altizer, who related to me that he himself had heard it
from Hillis Miller on the occasion of his
introducing Altizer to Derrida himself. Whether
apocryphal or true, the story seemed to confirm something I had suspected for
quite some time, that an encounter with Derrida’s thought is an important
gateway to a contemporary Kabbalistic philosophy and theology." S. Drob, The
Coincidence of Opposites in Jewish Mysticism.. An exploration
of the Kabblistic and Hasidic notion that the
deity, "Ein-sof," embodies all dichotomies and oppositions. The
author examines the Jewish Mystical view of coincidentia oppositorum in the
context of dialectical and postmodern thought. He argues that a form of
"bilinear thinking," in which the poles of various dichotomies that
characterize traditional metaphysics are understood to be reciprocally
determinative, is a necessary step in "thinking the world whole"
and ascending the first rungs of the ladder to the Kabbalist's
"Absolute." In this context the author explores the sign/signifier
distinction and other issues in the philosophy of language, in an effort to
show that post-modern ideas can best be understood as poles in opposition to
traditional metaphysical ideas and that these opposite ideas are, like all
metaphysical and theological oppositions, fully interdependent. In this way
the author provides a contemporary philosophical foundation for Rabbi Aron Ha-Levi's dictum that "all created things in
the world are hidden within His essence, be He blessed, in one potential, in
coincidentia oppositorum...” IS. Drob: A
Rational Mystical Ascent The author makes use of the notion of coincidentia oppositorum to develop
the theme of a rational-mystical ascent to the absolute. Click here for pdf
version Those interested in how an application of
the coincidentia oppositorum idea
to the problem of arriving at a comprehensive understanding of the human
psyche are directed to: S. Drob: Fragmentation In Contemporary Psychology: A
Dialectical Solution. Click here for pdf
version The author discusses the
multi-paradigmatic state of contemporary psychology and offers a dialectical
solution inspired by his study of Hegelian philosophy and the history of
mysticism. Readers may also be interested in: S.
Drob: The Dilemma of Contemporary Psychiatry, which also explores the
fragmentation and multi-paradigmatic state of psychiatry and clinical
psychology. Click here for pdf version Contemporary scholarship on the Kabbalah
has focused considerable attention on the Kabbalist's views of language and
interpretation. One reason for this is, as Moshe Idel
and others have observed, is that there is an important affinity between the
Kabbalistic conception of infinite layers of meaning in scripture and
contemporary philosophical ideas regarding the infinite interpretability of
both texts and the world. In this essay, I will review some recent
scholarship on Kabbalistic hermeneutics. IIn this
paper the author shows how a careful consideration of Kabbalistic notions of
"infinite interpretation" can not only lead to a new understanding
of the relevance of Kabbalah to contemporary thought, but also to a radical
new understanding of the Kabbalah's attitude toward
"Torah" and religious life. S. Drob, The Lurianic Metaphors, Creativity and the Structure Of Language Click here for pdf version In the Lurianic
Kabbalah we are witness to a highly mythological account of the world’s
creation, which at the same time provides a description of human creativity
and the deep-structure of linguistic significance. By explicating how the Lurianic symbols reveal the very form of speech and
writing, we can gain insight into both human creativity and language, and
also deepen our understanding of the Kabbalah and its capacity to reveal the
hidden nature of the world and God. Further, a Lurianic
understanding of the emergence of the “linguistic subject,” provides insight
into the role of humanity as a partner with G-d in the creation of the world. S. Drob,
FORWARD TO DAVID BIRNBAUM's GOD AND EVIL David Birnbaum's God and
Evil, published by Ktav Press, is a
bold and highly original synthesis which attempts to provide an overarching
metaphysical solution to the vexing problem of radical evil in a world
created and sustained by an all powerful, all knowing, benevolent God. In his
foreword, Dr. Drob, summarizes Birnbaum's theodicy
and relates it to the Kabbalah. Birnbaum's work can
be regarded as an important contribution to the New Kabbalah. S. Drob, THE BEHINNOT: DIALECTICS IN THE KABBALAH OF
MOSES CORDOVERO A discussion of Cordovero’s doctrine of the behinnot: the
"interpenetration of the Sefirot"
in connection with dialectics, the relationship between language and the
world, the Wittgensteinian critique of metaphysics,
the "unity of all things," and the metaphysics of
"perspectives." S. Drob, IGGULIM AND YOSHER: THE KABBALISTIC THEORY OF "CIRCLES" AND
LINES" An explication
of two Lurianic perspectives on the Sefirot, the first of which,
"Circles" points to a transcendent God, who emanates the cosmos
from outside the system, and the second of which, "Lines" points to
an immanent God, who emanates the cosmos from within the mind of man.. The complimentarity of these
two points of view in the Kabbalah is described. S. Drob, RABBI MAX
DROB AND "TRADITIONAL JUDAISM."
This article
originally appeared in the 1987 volume of Conservative Judaism. Click here for pdf version S. Drob, MORDECAI KAPLAN
AND THE KABBALAH? SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS Recently, I was
asked whether there is any potential relationship between the Kabbalah and
the theology of Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983), the founder of Jewish Reconstructionism. This article provides a brief
discussion of Kaplan's naturalistic theology and its relationship to the Lurianic symbol of Tikkun
ha-Olam. Discusses the Lurianic
symbol of the Kellipot within the context of a New
Kabbalah perspective on dogamtism, idolatry,
atheism, and intellectual freedom. A discussion of how certain Kabbalistic
principles can be of guidance in formulating our response to terrorism. The Lurianic
Kabbalah is treated in detail in If you entered this
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