Path of the Kabbalah (David Sheinkin)
Path of a Klueless Kabbalist
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Path of the Kabbalah,” Dr. David Sheinkin.]
The late Dr. David Sheinkin (1939-1982), a psychiatrist who tragically perished in a plane crash along with four other members of his family, is respected as an astute Kabbalist by many. I’m not one of the many.
Sheinkin studied Kabbalah under the renowned Kabbalist/Physicist Aryeh Kaplan (1934-1983), but that means nothing to me, because Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan never “cracked the cosmic code,” never figured out what the Kabbalah is really about (see my two-star review of his “Sefer Yetzirah”).
Sheinkin is just as clueless regarding Eastern mysticism as he is Kabbalistic teachings. Stumping for Kabbalistic mysticism, he writes, “There is simply no way to adopt an Eastern path and live successfully in an environment like New York or Los Angeles.” The spiritual cognoscenti laugh at such self-serving nonsense.
Sheinkin writes, “Kabbalah represents the secret mystical part of Judaism… Kabbalah means to receive.” But Sheinkin never says what one receives, which is the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Hokodesh. True Kabbalists understand that the epitome of Kabbalah is receiving the Holy Spirit/Ruach Hokodesh, which en-Light-ens one. But Sheinkin never mentions this en-Light-ening Spirit Power; hence his teachings do not qualify as truly spiritual, or mystical.
Sheinkin, referring to the Old Testament, states that “the Bible can be seen as the owner’s manual to the cosmos.” Anyone who believes this is living in the dark ages, unless they think stoning someone to death for working on the Sabbath makes sense.
Sheinkin tells us that Kabbalistic word for God is Ain Sof, which means “without end.” But “Ain Sof” is not mentioned in the Bible, which doesn’t say much for the so-called “owner’s manual to the universe.”
Sheinkin writes, “According to Kabbalistic traditions, only seven sefiroth are accessible to humans; three are inaccessible.” This begs the question: if the three (Binah, Chokmah, and Kether) are inaccebile to humans, how can Kabbalists, who are humans, speak of and describe them?
Sheinkin informs us that “there are at least five universes that intervene between Ain Sof and the world.” No there aren’t. There is only one universe, which encompasses the totality of existents. There are different dimensions within the universe, but that doesn’t qualify them as separate universes.
Sheinkin insists that “science and religion cannot possibly contradict one another.” Where does science speak of, or provide evidence for, these universes, not to mention other Kabbalistic teachings? When Sheinkin says “there can be no contradiction between the Bible and science,” one can only laugh.
Sheinkin writes,” We — in a universe filled with names -- are at the bottom of this five-step process of creation. If we wish to come closer to God, then we must work our way up the five-step ladder to Him.” Unbeknownst to Sheinkin, names are a human creation (to identify existents), and cannot be found in the universe except in man’s head.
Sheinkin writes, “To effect a communication system between God and man, Ain Sof or God created a set of ten forces – Sefiroth – that went on to create the universe.” This is farcical. The Sefiroth don’t pertain to the universe, they pertain to our solar system, with each Sefirah correlating with a planet.
Sheinkin’s book has a chapter entitled “The Way of a Mystic,” which has nothing to say about Divine Communion, the true Way of a mystic. Instead, it reduces the Kabbalistic path to laws and rituals pertaining to the Torah. Sheinkin writes, “In contrast to the Noahide Laws stands the Kabbalistic path. It is very complex with many more laws and many more rituals. Within its general framework are two conduits to spirituality: obeying God and emulating God. The obeying of God essentially means observing the laws and dictates of the spiritual handbook known as the Torah.”
Sheinkin does provide a short chapter on meditation at the end of the book, but all the practices are vey basic. And when he writes, “The mem sound is connected to the divine Realm of Chokmah, you can reach the state of Chokmah through this meditation”, he again contradicts himself, because he earlier states that this Sefirah (along with two others) is not accessible to humans.
Sheinkin hits rock bottom when he argues that circumcision (which I consider genital mutilation) is a spiritual operation. He writes: “The whole issue of circumcision involves a returning of humanity to the pre-sin state of existence. In the process of evolution, human beings had developed a foreskin and a hymen for the two sexes. Apparently, Adam and Eve were originally created without these tissues; God fashioned them only after they sinned.”
In contrast to many Enlightened mystics, Sheinkin believes that “God and man are worlds apart.” What is really worlds apart are Sheinkin’s text and good books on mysticism.
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Path of the Kabbalah,” Dr. David Sheinkin.]
The late Dr. David Sheinkin (1939-1982), a psychiatrist who tragically perished in a plane crash along with four other members of his family, is respected as an astute Kabbalist by many. I’m not one of the many.
Sheinkin studied Kabbalah under the renowned Kabbalist/Physicist Aryeh Kaplan (1934-1983), but that means nothing to me, because Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan never “cracked the cosmic code,” never figured out what the Kabbalah is really about (see my two-star review of his “Sefer Yetzirah”).
Sheinkin is just as clueless regarding Eastern mysticism as he is Kabbalistic teachings. Stumping for Kabbalistic mysticism, he writes, “There is simply no way to adopt an Eastern path and live successfully in an environment like New York or Los Angeles.” The spiritual cognoscenti laugh at such self-serving nonsense.
Sheinkin writes, “Kabbalah represents the secret mystical part of Judaism… Kabbalah means to receive.” But Sheinkin never says what one receives, which is the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Hokodesh. True Kabbalists understand that the epitome of Kabbalah is receiving the Holy Spirit/Ruach Hokodesh, which en-Light-ens one. But Sheinkin never mentions this en-Light-ening Spirit Power; hence his teachings do not qualify as truly spiritual, or mystical.
Sheinkin, referring to the Old Testament, states that “the Bible can be seen as the owner’s manual to the cosmos.” Anyone who believes this is living in the dark ages, unless they think stoning someone to death for working on the Sabbath makes sense.
Sheinkin tells us that Kabbalistic word for God is Ain Sof, which means “without end.” But “Ain Sof” is not mentioned in the Bible, which doesn’t say much for the so-called “owner’s manual to the universe.”
Sheinkin writes, “According to Kabbalistic traditions, only seven sefiroth are accessible to humans; three are inaccessible.” This begs the question: if the three (Binah, Chokmah, and Kether) are inaccebile to humans, how can Kabbalists, who are humans, speak of and describe them?
Sheinkin informs us that “there are at least five universes that intervene between Ain Sof and the world.” No there aren’t. There is only one universe, which encompasses the totality of existents. There are different dimensions within the universe, but that doesn’t qualify them as separate universes.
Sheinkin insists that “science and religion cannot possibly contradict one another.” Where does science speak of, or provide evidence for, these universes, not to mention other Kabbalistic teachings? When Sheinkin says “there can be no contradiction between the Bible and science,” one can only laugh.
Sheinkin writes,” We — in a universe filled with names -- are at the bottom of this five-step process of creation. If we wish to come closer to God, then we must work our way up the five-step ladder to Him.” Unbeknownst to Sheinkin, names are a human creation (to identify existents), and cannot be found in the universe except in man’s head.
Sheinkin writes, “To effect a communication system between God and man, Ain Sof or God created a set of ten forces – Sefiroth – that went on to create the universe.” This is farcical. The Sefiroth don’t pertain to the universe, they pertain to our solar system, with each Sefirah correlating with a planet.
Sheinkin’s book has a chapter entitled “The Way of a Mystic,” which has nothing to say about Divine Communion, the true Way of a mystic. Instead, it reduces the Kabbalistic path to laws and rituals pertaining to the Torah. Sheinkin writes, “In contrast to the Noahide Laws stands the Kabbalistic path. It is very complex with many more laws and many more rituals. Within its general framework are two conduits to spirituality: obeying God and emulating God. The obeying of God essentially means observing the laws and dictates of the spiritual handbook known as the Torah.”
Sheinkin does provide a short chapter on meditation at the end of the book, but all the practices are vey basic. And when he writes, “The mem sound is connected to the divine Realm of Chokmah, you can reach the state of Chokmah through this meditation”, he again contradicts himself, because he earlier states that this Sefirah (along with two others) is not accessible to humans.
Sheinkin hits rock bottom when he argues that circumcision (which I consider genital mutilation) is a spiritual operation. He writes: “The whole issue of circumcision involves a returning of humanity to the pre-sin state of existence. In the process of evolution, human beings had developed a foreskin and a hymen for the two sexes. Apparently, Adam and Eve were originally created without these tissues; God fashioned them only after they sinned.”
In contrast to many Enlightened mystics, Sheinkin believes that “God and man are worlds apart.” What is really worlds apart are Sheinkin’s text and good books on mysticism.
