KABBALAH from page 16 forth a rich history of spiritual prac- tices that were Jewish. • The effect of these ideas, the rabbi says, is found in many other synagogues in the form of medita- tive and healing services and the studying the Tanya (a popular introduction to Jewish mysticism), all manifestations of this same movement." Davis, founder and co-director of a Jewish meditation center in Berkeley, Calif, conducts the after- noon meditation and discussion at the retreat. He talks-about becom- ing alert through meditation. "Get in touch with what's already there," he instructs those gathered around him. "Permit yourself to fall in love with God. Practice awareness and loving-kindness." Bringing People Together Sunday morning, on a large blan- ket, a father and daughter partici- pate in yoga exercises as the sun rises over the water. "I got to know my dad more this weekend," says Lindsay Klein, 24, a nursing student at the University of Michigan. "He's much deeper and more intellectual than I thought. More expressive." Her father, Stephen Klein, 47, of Congregation Beth Shalom in Atlanta, says he discovered a more reflective and mature side of his daughter over the weekend. Others comment on the impor- tant connection they've made to a spiritual community at the retreat. "I wanted to identify with my Jewish faith and sense of communi- ty," says Elizabeth Hall, 16. "I'm the only religious one in my family, the only one who belongs to a syna- gogue [Ahavat Shalom], and I just know there's something inside of me that needs to be complete." Linda Jo Doctor from Ann Arbor misses the large spiritual communi- ty she belonged to on the East Coast. "I'm thrilled that a spiritual residential retreat center is starting here in the Midwest. This is a very safe place for people at different [spiritual] levels to enter." ❑ Silberberg. "Jewish mysticism was passed on at Mt. Sinai along with the oral teachings of the Torah." He adds that Shimon Bar Yochai, who lived in the mid-second century, is the father of the Zohar. Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, in the 1500s, is credit- ed with inspiring his students to write down its mystical concepts. Green and other modern scholars, however, say the doctrines of the Kabbalah are first mentioned in sources written in the mid-12th centu- ry around the borders of France and Spain. "It's impossible to know about the much older ideas b e cause there's no documentation," he says, adding that the Zohar was edited in the 13th century by Moses de Leon. "True origins are lost in obscurity," Green says. "But probably the Kabbalah goes back to late antiquity — and has Jewish and Hellenistic and Near Eastern origins. That it goes back to Abraham are legends among the [traditional] Kabbalists." The most important person in recent history of the Kabbalah, Green adds, is Gershon Scholem. The founder of modern historic Kabbalah research (1920-1983) rediscovered kabbalistic manuscripts in European libraries, Green says. "Scholem showed that the Kabbalah was essential to the history of Judaism." Only Hebrew University's Elior gives an explanation for why the many writings that form the Kabbalah were written in the first place. "The Kabbalah was the major avenue of freedom for the Jews who had no other kind of freedom," Elior says. "Jews were in exile under Christian rulers. The only place to find dignity and freedom was in the spiritual world." These writings arose out of difficult times, says Elior. The first writings occurred 50 years after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., then again after the Jews were kicked out of Spain in 1492. "Mysticism is the history of the imagination in the context of reli- gion," she says. Dangerous Or New Ways? Though women were not originally allowed to study the Kabbalah, that has changed in modern times with some rabbis. In the mid-1980s, Marilyn Sontag of New York City and her husband studied the Kabbalah KABBALAH on page 20 09 Wrwit. <04:405.- • moonroof • leather • cd player • power driver's seat • • cold weather package • metallic paint • 39 months lease 1580 due at signing . including $42500 refundable security deposit. 39 month closed end lease. 20 cents per mile over 39,000 miles based on M,S.R.P. $31,900 and license plates are additional. Offer ends 11/30/01. Current Volvo owners are eligible for additional Volvo loyalty bonus. Plus Tax sueactu ELM ANDSONS VOLVO 248-624-0400 On Maple Rd., West of Haggerty - OPEN SATURDAY 10-4 - www.dwyerandsons.com SUNDANCE Shoes Happy Holidays Open Sundays 12-4 Sale Continues On the Boardwalk 248-737-9059 TENDER OPEN SUNDAY 12-5 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 11/30 2001 19 .