Does anyone know of any halacha or hashkofeh opinion regarding mekubalim? Specifically, going to one or their proposed ability to know certian things?

There are many who call themselves mekubalim but very few that are trully reliable. If you feel the need to contact one, make very sure he is authentic,and don't rely upon word of mouth.

This is not an area of my knowledge but I find it rather interesting. How would one go about verifying the reliability of a Mekubalim? Torah is so vast, how would one ascertain real credentials? Certainly not by question and answer.

That can only be discerned by asking the Gedolim(leading Rabbis) as to which mekubalim are authentic

How are the gedolim to know who is authentic or not? and how shall we decide who is a godol? maybe we should ask the mekubalim?

I would suggest you visit any school or Yeshiva. They will all be able to tell you who the Gedolim are.

Thank you Rabbi Kacev for the suggestion.
my question was more the following: who is to decide who is an authentic godol. if it were based on torah scholarship, then why not use the same yadstick to determine who is an authentic mekubal. the reason must be because scholarship is not deciding factor, because if not the non-reigious professor well versed in talmud could be a godol (Heaven forbid), while his college from down the hall, versed in kabbala could be a mekubal(Heaven forbid). being that this is obviously not the case, and other personal factors contribute to who we can consider a true Godol, i come back to my earlier question:
How shall we decide who is a godol? maybe we should ask the mekubalim?

my second question is: How are the gedolim to know who is authentic or not?
what i mean to ask is being that most gedolim are not familiar with kabbalah or the mekubalim how would they decide who is authentic?
Happy Chanuka

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dr,

You ask a very good question. How do we know who is a true Godol or not? The answer is that this is based on a Mesorah from the Gedolim of one generation letting us know who are the gedolim of the next generation. For they are the only ones who are in a position to decide such a thing. So it is passed down from one generaion the the next.

As far as your other question,namely how would the Gedolim know who is a true mekubal? The answer to that is that in order to be a true expert in Kabbalah one must first be a true Torah scholar and a godol in Yiras Shomayim.
If such a person is involved in Kabbalah it can be assumed he is legitimate. Therefore once again it is only the Gedolim who can discern whether the peron has the required qualities to be a legitimate mekubal.

Thank you rabbi Kacev for the reply.
your response about how we know who is a godol is interesting but i cant seem to fit it in with my meger knowledge of recent history. in what way did one godol transfer cerdibility to the next godol? who have todays gedolim anointed as the leaders of tommorow?

There is no official "annointing" or installation process. The Gedolim of one generation let us know who the future Gedolim are and we just accept them as our leaders.
As far as who these future leaders are, I myself am not aware of any specific names.

Kvod harabbonim: Please enlighten me on the Torah sources for the concept of a "Gadol" and how these sources are applied to this generation.

Thank you,

Moshe

R. Yaakov Hillel of Ahavat Shalom and R. Gamliel Rabinowitz of Shaar haShamayim are noted scholars of Kabbalah.

However, someone looking for a Kabbalist is probably looking for a PRACTITIONER of Kabbalah, i.e. Kabbalah Maasis. This is a different field.

Rav Tzvi Rumpler can give a picture of what one’s former lifetime might have been like, and some spiritual guidelines for self-improvement etc. Rav Kadduri is highly respected in the Sefardic world, and is especially known for his amulets. The Amshinover Rebbe, also a noted scholar, is reputed to have an intuitive understanding akin to ruach hakodesh.

But the subject of practiced Kabbalah is a very touchy one in many circles. The best approach is to ask recommendations from people you know and respect, and to keep in mind that this generation is not blessed with very many true miracle-workers, if any at all.

No takers on my previous request?

Gedolim are simply the greatest people of the generation.

I heard a mashal that gives an idea of how dificult is to distinguish a real Mekubal; A Mekubal is compared with a "Pushka" -metal receptacle to collect zedaka money in the "Beth HaKnesset"- when it has only a couple of coins and if shaked, makes a lot of noise, but if that same "pushka" is totally full, and shaked again any noise comes out.

A real Mekubal never talks about Kabalah. Rabbi Y. Kacev said it better "in order to be a true expert in Kabbalah one must first be a true Torah scholar and a gadol in Yirat Shamayim". and that is the best indicator.

Ovadia

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mousa07,

quote:

Originally posted by Rabbi Y. Kacev:

As far as who these future leaders are, I myself am not aware of any specific names.

Wouldn't there be a time close to the Gadol Hador's passing that he would choose the next one?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sam-,

They are chosen long before his passing

And is there any way to find out prior to these decisions? Is there a commitee or something?

quote:

No takers on my previous request?

apparently not

I heard that R Chaim Kanievsky stands up for Rav Gamliel and rav Chaim usually wouldnt stand for anyone.