In the middle ages, several forms of Kabbalah developed, all rooted in the original Kabbalah of our sages. In France and Germany, the Kabbalists emphasized humility, awe for the Names of G-d, and connecting various mitzvot (commandments) with Divine Names, and meditating on these names while performing these mitzvot. However, it was still the province of the learned. Spain was particularly fertile ground for Kabbalah. Although some shunned Kabbalah in favor of "rationalistic" philosophy, Kabbalah was the main spiritual outlook of Spanish Jews of the time.
There were many who also tried to reconcile Kabbalah with philosophy, and who came up with much deep, original thought. Of the Kabbalists, there were two main approaches in Spain. One, similar to the German Kabbalah, emphasized Divine Names. But they went much further; they would meditate on the letters until they experienced an illumination. Some even called it prophecy. One famous rabbi of this school even developed a "Jewish Yoga", replete with breathing exercises and special postures, all connected with Divine Names.
Another school of Spanish Kabbalah delved into theosophy (the philosophy of knowing G-d). The traditions of the Chariot Mystics (Yordei Hamerkavah) were elaborated upon. G-d Himself is unknowable and transcendent. He has no name, and is simply called "Ein Sof" (Infinite). Ein Sof emitted a ray of His light, and, like a ray of sunlight hitting a prism, there became differentiated "attributes", alluded to in I Chronicles 29:10-13. These are known as the Ten Sefirot (which may mean "spheres" or "Lights"). All the Names by which G-d is known relate to our perceptions of Him in the Sephirot. Our world exists at the "bottom" of the Sefirot. (This is all a tremendous simplification). Just as there are the Holy sefirot, there are also the unholy. There was meant to be a balance. But, when man sins, there is a hemorrhaging of the light of G-d into the sefirot of Evil. This is called "the exile of the Divine Presence (Galut HaShechinah). Sin causes a "disconnect" between different "levels" within G-d,G-d and the world, G-d and Man, and Man within himself. This is the root cause of human suffering. These ideas were not just among the scholars, but became part and parcel of the understanding of Judaism for Spanish Jews.
Then, in 1492, after at least 900 years of Spanish Jewish life, mostly in peace and freedom, the Spanish Jews were exiled. Many went to Portugal, but the same thing happened there four years later. The Spanish Jews went from riches to rags. They had been a prosperous, spiritually enlightened community for so long, now left to wander, penniless. The question was "WHY?????" The philosophers had no answers. Most of these became Humanists. But the Kabbalists had an answer. It was the Exile of the Divine presence! We are reliving the cosmic drama on a human level! We need to perform Tikkun-repair on ourselves, repair on the Universe. But how? A recently discovered book would tell them, and they would apply it in a new home. Stay tuned.
