Scholars often note that Jewish tradition views the Torah much the way the Christian tradition views Christ.  When we take account of the Jewish mystical tradition, the parallel becomes even more striking.

For classic Rabbinic thought, the Torah is more than the first five books of the Bible.  It is the heavenly wisdom of God, which existed before the creation of the world and which God employed as a blueprint and instrument when fashioning all things.

Yet, according to classic Rabbinic thought, the Torah itself remains part of that created order.  It is the highest of all created realities, but it has a temporal beginning and is not divine.

One might say that the classic Rabbinic view of the Torah is analogous to the Arian view of Christ.  For the Arians, Yeshua was the incarnate Logos, who existed before the world was made; but the Logos was himself created by God, the firstborn and highest of the angels.  The Logos is neither eternal nor divine.

Popular fascination with Jewish mysticism has been with us now for more than a decade.  Among scholars it began much earlier.  Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) paved the way for a new generation of historians of religion who perceived the central role mysticism has played in Jewish theology, practice, and religious experience.  These scholars have transformed our understanding of the early Yeshua-movement.  It is no longer viewed as a departure from Judaism under the influence of pagan mystery religions and Greek philosophy.  The ascribing of divine attributes to the risen Messiah by Paul, John, and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews—all Jews—now makes sense as an appropriation of terms and concepts at home in the world of Jewish mysticism.  Common to this world were wide-ranging speculations concerning the enthroned divine image described by Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and concerning the mysterious biblical figure known as the Angel of Hashem.

The Jewish mystical tradition remained a potent force in Jewish religious life throughout the centuries that followed the destruction of the Second Temple.  In the Middle Ages, one particular form eventually became dominant.  Known as Kabbalah (“tradition”), this system of thought saw the One God of Israel not as an undifferentiated singularity but as a dynamic and unfolding interplay of divine powers(the ten Sefirot).