Why do certain people get under our skin more than others? Why do we sometimes meet someone and feel as though we have known them forever? Why does a particular song reach somewhere inside us that words cannot? And why do so many of us have moments when we wonder whether there is more to our lives than what we can see?
For centuries, Jewish mystics have explored the hidden dimensions of human life, asking questions about the soul, relationships, dreams, personality, purpose, and even what happens before we are born and after we leave this world.
Today, those questions may feel more relevant than ever. We live in an age overflowing with information, yet some of the questions that matter most cannot be answered by a search engine: Why am I here? Why am I drawn to certain people? Why do I struggle with the things I struggle with? Is there meaning behind the circumstances of my life?
These questions are at the core of a new six-week course Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel of Chabad of Nashville is teaching this fall, exploring some forty fascinating ideas drawn from the Jewish mystical tradition.
Kabbalah approaches those questions from a surprising premise: what we see on the surface is only part of the story.
“The fascinating thing about Kabbalah is that it isn’t only about mystical worlds somewhere far away,” said Rabbi Tiechtel. “It is really about understanding yourself. Your soul. Your relationships. Your struggles. Your purpose. It asks us to look beneath the surface of ordinary life.”
Among them are questions that have fascinated human beings for generations: What exactly is a soul? Does Judaism believe in reincarnation? Is there such a thing as a soulmate? Why can another person’s flaw bother us so intensely? What is it about music that can move us without saying a single word?
Some of the subjects sound mysterious. Others are remarkably personal. And perhaps that is what has allowed Kabbalah to speak to people across centuries.
Behind its mystical language is the belief that our lives are not random collections of experiences, but part of a deeper architecture connecting who we are, whom we meet, what challenges us, and what we are here to accomplish.
“You don’t have to be a scholar, and you certainly don’t have to consider yourself a mystic,” Rabbi Tiechtel said. “You simply have to be curious about life.”
Kabbalah and the Hidden Architecture of You begins Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. at Chabad of Nashville and continues for six sessions.
For anyone who has ever wondered why certain people enter our lives, whether our struggles have a deeper purpose, what makes each soul unique, or whether there is more to life than what we can see, these six evenings offer an opportunity to step away from the noise of everyday life and explore some of the questions we rarely give ourselves time to ask.
You may discover that Kabbalah is not only about understanding the mysteries of the universe. It is about understanding the mystery of you.
To learn more and register for this Kabbalah course, visit ChabadNashville.com.
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