Jewish Mysticism and the Original Meaning of 'Kabbalah'

I have been studying Beyond Kabbalah: The Teachings that Cannot Be Taught by Rabbi Joel David Bakst.  In the first few pages, he gives a surprising clarification of the meaning of the word 'Kabbalah'.  This is very significant to consider, because when we understand what this is saying, we realize that there is really no such thing as "Jewish mysticism": everything in the Torah tradition is mysticism, so it does not make sense to have a mystical tradition parallel to the non-mystical.

The dictionary definitions of Kabbalah as 'Jewish mysticism' is actually a misnomer. Kabbalah is the life force running through virtually every aspect of Torah, Talmud, Jewish law and ritual observance. Although not commonly known, originally the term Kabbalah referred to the entirety of the Oral Torah. Initially it was prohibited to write down that which was intended to remain only oral in nature and never to appear in written form. Consequently, the entire Oral Torah was referred to as Kabbalah, i.e., that which was handed down orally as opposed to being written down.

After much of the Oral Torah was written down, the most secretive mode of Oral Torah was then designated as the Kabbalah. It is even less known that long before the vast corpus of the Oral Torah was permitted to be written down, the original usage of the term 'Kabbalah' referred specifically to all the other Books of the Torah outside the Chumash (Five Books of Moses). The Chumash was the Torah proper and the remaining nineteen books, the Prophets and the Writings, were uniquely designated as 'Words of Kabbalah', a received tradition also rooted in the Sinaitic revelation and in the Mind of Moses, i.e., received from a higher-dimensional reality.

-- Joel Bakst, Beyond Kabbalah pp. 9-10

This is probably the first book in English that aims to initiate the reader into the Kabbalistic tradition.  Really, it gives the reader tools to work on their own self-initiation.  I have never seen anything else like this book.  It is highly recommended.

Also worth checking out are Joel's other books, which you can find on his website called "The City of Luz".

http://www.cityofluz.com/