variants
or less commonly kabbala
or kabala
or cabala
or cabbala
or cabbalah
often capitalized
1
: a medieval and modern system of Jewish theosophy, mysticism, and thaumaturgy marked by belief in creation through emanation and a cipher method of interpreting Scripture
2
a
: a traditional, esoteric, occult, or secret matter
b
: esoteric doctrine or mysterious art
Examples of kabbalah in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In code, artists were able to include references to alchemy, astrology, and even kabbalah, a mystical branch of Judaism.
—
National Geographic, 16 Jan. 2020
Gershom Scholem, the pioneering scholar of kabbalah, was one of many public intellectuals who felt that Arendt had lost track of the human reality of the Holocaust amid the scintillating twists of her argument.
—George Prochnik, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2018
While Isaac Luria expounded the kabbalah following the expulsion from Spain, Joseph Caro updated the practical application of halakhah in the Shulchan Aruch code of laws (1563).
—Dominic Green, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018
Incarcerated, not so much for his libidinous ways, but for gambling, cheating tourists, his flagrant libertinism in the face of the Venetian Inquisition, and his heretical interests in alchemy and the kabbalah.
—Gaile Robinson, star-telegram, 30 Aug. 2017
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National Geographic, 16 Jan. 2020
Gershom Scholem, the pioneering scholar of kabbalah, was one of many public intellectuals who felt that Arendt had lost track of the human reality of the Holocaust amid the scintillating twists of her argument.
—George Prochnik, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2018
While Isaac Luria expounded the kabbalah following the expulsion from Spain, Joseph Caro updated the practical application of halakhah in the Shulchan Aruch code of laws (1563).
—Dominic Green, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018
Incarcerated, not so much for his libidinous ways, but for gambling, cheating tourists, his flagrant libertinism in the face of the Venetian Inquisition, and his heretical interests in alchemy and the kabbalah.
—Gaile Robinson, star-telegram, 30 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Kabbalah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kabbalah. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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