Banned by the Rabbis

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 text inconsistent 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 or to 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 history for its existence. Using the Ten Sefirot as prototype to the structure of the cards a completely new way of interpreting the Tarot was uncovered. Backed up by years of practice the author of Kabbalistic Tarot persuasively argues that the Tarot had its inception during the Greek occupation of Israel 2500 years ago celebrated by the holiday Chanukah.

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 lives 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.

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. But, the Rabbis insist on putting their kosher stamp on everything meaning the Rabbis have checked that there is no meat in this product. 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-the rabbinic 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.”