The Rabbis do not actually ban
books, they just turn their nose up and that is enough since
for the Jewish People, the People of the Book, rely upon
the Rabbis to weed out textual inconsistencies with the tradition
handed down from Moshe 3500 years ago. In general, this practice
was saved for Jewish scholars who did not meet the grade.
However,
the Rabbis do not have complete power over the people; if
the Rabbi refuses to state his source in the Torah/Teaching
and
argue his point then his authority loses strength and becomes
just an opinion.
In the case of Kabbalistic Tarot neither
is true and yet the ban is on; published in 2005 Kabbalistic
Tarot is the
first book to clearly explain the ties between the Tarot
and the Cabala establishing a reason and |
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Though published by Inner Traditions
a well-known and trusted publisher not one of the twenty Jewish
publications or awards who were sent Kabbalistic Tarot would
review the book. In San Francisco where the author resides
the Jewish Center of San Francisco refuses to carry the book,
without explanation. One of the few independent reviewers
who did read the book said: whether or not one adheres to
this way of understanding the Tarot, the fact that a modern
mind could conceive a credible new way of understanding an
ancient tradition is laudable.
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Why did the rabbis turn up their nose at this book? Because,
like food, the only thing which is kosher is what they control;
though all foods from around the world that do not have meat
or any byproducts of meat are kosher—simple, nonetheless
the Rabbis insist on putting their kosher stamp on everything.
It has become a big business.
In the beginning of Kabbalistic Tarot explaining why the
title is written with a K while the interior maintains Cabala
with a C is written this, Note to the Reader:
Although the
established convention as put forth by the rabbis has Kabbalah
spelled with a K—therabbinic kosher stamp—I prefer
Cabala because it is more to the point. The Cabala is the
most feminine of the Jewish teachings; even among the esoteric
works, Cabala is the ultimate hidden secret. Therefore, in
my opinion, Cabala should be written with a curve, denoting
the feminine, and not defined by the line of the rabbis.
Rigidity, the line, is the antithesis of the subtle, ephemeral
truths that swim in the deep waters of the Cabala.
John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty: “If all mankind
minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were
of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified
in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power,
would be justified in silencing mankind.”
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