From prayer to ecstatic ascent. An early mystical book, Sefer ha-Malbush, describes a magical and kabbalistic practice of “wearing the Name” (levishat ha-Shem). This rite includes the “prophetic kabbalah” of Abraham Abulafia, whose principal contribution to the kabbalistic movement was the “science of combination” (hokhmat ha-zeruf). This mystical discipline utilized the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, concentrating most particularly on the letters that formed the Tetragrammaton (the four-letter name of God pronounced as ADONAI), and the other Names of God for the purpose of intensifying the process of meditation. By immersing himself in these various combinations of Hebrew letters and names the kabbalist emptied his mind of all natural forms of existence, concentrating only on divine matters. By opening his heart to divine emanation he could attain the level of prophecy.

This kabbalistic philosophy was seen by other kabbalists as dangerously esoteric. Abulafia discussed the obstacles, dangers, and rewards of this “ecstatic study.” He drew a parallel between “the science of combination” and music, which could also bring a soul to the state of highest rapture through the combination of sounds. The techniques used to attain this level are still highly popular today: breathing exercises, the repetition of the Divine Names, meditations on colors. All these remind one of the practices in Indian Yoga and Muslim Sufism. The successful practitioner sees flashes of light and feels a suffusion of Divinity. In certain stages of this meditative process he lives through a personal identification with an inner spiritual mentor or guru who is revealed to him. This “being” is known as Metatron, the prince of God’s countenance. The climax of this stage is the gift of prophecy.

Although most kabbalists avoided recording their personal mystical experiences, in the Zohar a description of mystical ectasy is offered by a high priest in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. It is not until the golden period of the chasidic movement in the eighteenth century, particularly in the circle of the Maggid of Mezhirech, that descriptions of mystical ecstatic experience are set forth in Jewish literature. One book on this subject, Berit Menucha, describes the visions of the supernal lights achieved by meditating on various pronunciations of the Tetragrammaton.

The attainment of “ecstasy” was included in the rubric of “speculative Kabbalah” (kabbalah iyyunit), which concentrated on the inner spiritual guidance of the individual. The subject of “practical Kabbalah” (kabbalah ma’asit) focused primarily on magical activity.