Hence the Spheres were grouped anthropomonically and often drawn up in charts, suggesting the correspondence between man the microcosm (Adam Qadman) and the macrocosm. An illustra tion of such a chart is given in Jew. Enc. (i. 181: another one, with a more recent article, in Enc. Jud., Berlin, 1927, s.v. Adam Kadmon). The Spheres are arranged in triads and represent the intellectual, moral and material worlds : the Spheres are not creations of the 'en sof as this would imply a diminution of its power but they and the 'en sof form a unity. They are finite and yet infinite, according to their conjunction with or absence from the 'en sof. A system of four different worlds was evolved, on the basis of Isa. xliii., 7, e.g., 'Acilah, Beri'dh, Yecirah and eAsiyyah, or emanation, creation, formation, making. These were opposed to the negative world (`Olam hap-Pirfidh) or world of separation.
Kabbalistic System.—There are two main subdivisions in the Kabbalistic system, theoretical or tlyylinith, and practical Mdasith. The chief points can only be enumerated briefly :—(I) Permutations of letters and combinations of numbers, partly Pythagorean—the generic Jewish term, Gematria (see Jew. Enc. s.v.) or Grammatia is foreign—and partly Jewish. Biblical ex amples are not unknown, e.g., and (Jer., xxv., 26: li., 1) and many examples occur in the Talmud. The Sefer Yecirah is based on the alphabet. It must be remembered that the numerical value of letters was obvious and striking when no ciphers for figures existed : a combination of consonants would automatically suggest either a word or a total and a connection between the two would not seem so far-fetched as it does to-day. (2) Classes of angels and demiurges, partly due to gnosticism. Reaction against angelology is seen in the Midrash, whenever angels are felt to be too near the Godhead ; e.g., the denial to the angels of any part in the Creation is emphatic and frequent. The Kabbalistic angels facilitate man's approach to the Deity: they are subordinate, even Metatron (Metator or item Oploop). (3) Qelippoth and Sadh haz-Ziwug, i.e., "Scales" and syzygies, dualism in nature, the Scales being the impure side in a universe wherein everything has a mate and where light and darkness are contrasted throughout. (4) The "Chariot" (Merkabah) of Ezek. i., by which man can ascend to the Hekhaioth or halls of God. (5) Limitation (Day's) God's self-withdrawal, to enable the finite universe to be created. (6) Adam Kadmon, primordial, sexless man, intermediate between the 'en sof and the spheres : cf. St. Paul's idea of a heavenly and earthly Adam (I Con xv., 45-5o). (7) Gilglilim or metempsychosis, a doctrine adopted by the Kabbalists in defiance of Jewish philosophers.
ably by Isaac the Blind (13th century), mystic commentary on Genesis; a precursor of the Zohar: originally attributed to Nehunya haq-Qana. (3) Hekhaloth, mystic writings on the Merkabah, of the Geonic age. (4) The Zohar, the most important of all Kabbalistic works, attributed to Simon ben Yohai, the mystic Tanna (q.v.) of Galilee, in the 2nd century A.D. by Moses de Leon in the 13th century, later stated to be the invention of Moses de Leon himself. It is now held that Moses was not a mere forger, that he had a considerable basis of ancient material before him and that he may sincerely have believed the work which he was giving the world to have been a copy of a Midrash of Simon. The Zohar is composed in Aramaic : it is a mystical commentary on the Pentateuch. Other books of note are the Raziel, the Shitur Qomah and the mystical-ethical works such as the Roqeah of Eleazar of Worms.
Prominent Kabbalists.—The course of Kabbalism may be briefly traced. As in the Midrash, so in Philo are evidences of Kabbalistic exegesis. In Egypt Kabbalism was in existence in the time of Sdadya (892-942), the philosopher and bible-translator, who composed a commentary to the Sefer Yecirah. About this time it is held that Kabbalah came to Europe, sponsored by Aaron b. Samuel, who migrated to Italy from Babylonia. From this developed the French, German and Spanish schools. Judah ben Samuel Hasidh (the Saint), the Kalonymides, and Eleazar of Worms were the chief German Kabbalists. Judah, who founded the Regensburg academy, died in 1217. Among other famous mystics were Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (124o-91), founder of the Spanish Kabbalistic school ; Joseph ben Abraham Giqatilla (1248-1305), author of Ginnath 'Egoz and Shatare cedeq; Isaac ibn Latif (d. 1290), a Spanish physician and philosopher, to whom precision in Kabbalistic terminology is largely due; Azriel ben Menahem (116o-1238), who maintained the theory of nega tive attributes and denied the creatio ex nihilo; Isaac the Blind of Posquieres; Isaac Arama (142o-94) ; Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati, Italian Kabbalist of the 13th century, one of whose mystic bible commentaries was translated into Latin by Pico di Mirandola ; Isaac Lurya Ashkenazi (Ari) founder of modern Kabbalah, with his disciples Cordovero, al-Qabec, Joseph Caro, Hagiz and Vital. He brought Kabbalah into the prayerbook and daily life. His liturgy is saturated with mysticism: every rite and every prayer, almost every word, is invested with a .5 odh or hidden meaning, often of rare beauty of thought. The Kabbalah of Lurya has remained orthodox, whereas a later development, that of the Hasidim under Israel b. Eliezer Ba'al Shem rah (Besht) (I7oo-176o), and Baer Dob of Meseritz (1710-62), be came sectarian.