I wanted to know if there are Orthodox groups that do not include Kabbalah or mysticism in the teachings? If there are, could you tell me or give me a list of those groups? Toda Rabba.
Answer:
This depends on what you mean by not including the Kaballah in the teachings.
If you mean groups that don’t usually teach Kaballah, but rather focus on the revealed parts of the Torah, then this is true of most Orthodox groups. Many Hassidim place a greater emphasis on Kabbalah, but most non-Hassidic groups don’t focus on Kaballah in public shiurim, and allow it to be learned in private.
However, if you mean groups that see Kaballah as being a distortion, and not an authentic part of Torah, then there are no Orthodox groups today that state this.
The Darda’im, a small group within Yemenite Judaism, do uphold this belief — but the group was excommunicated some hundred years ago, and its followers are distanced from mainstream Orthodox Judaism.
Best wishes.
From what I have read in history of Judaism, which granted is not complete, I have discovered that, or believe I have found, that Kabbalah or mystical teaching of Torah was not an initial thing that was done but only came about after the first thousand years after the destruction of the Beit Mikdash in the year 70 AD or something like that and as time went on it immerged as a legitimate aspect of the Torah. Is this not true? Has Kabbalah always been a part of discerning the truths of the Torah? Thank you for your time.
We don’t have an early history of Kaballah, but the assumption is that there were always mystical teachings of Kaballah that were handed down from rabbi to disciple over the generations. Later on, these teachings were recorded in writing. Like all parts of Torah, the Kaballah also finds its sources in the Bible and in Talmudic texts.
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