Despite its popularity at cocktail parties and in the media, few people genuinely understand what Kabbalah is. Unlike traditional Judaism, Kabbalah views God as a divine source of light, energy, and love, ever present in the physical world, rather than a patriarchal diety.
Kabbalah practitioners look beyond a literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible for information about the soul; the nature of God, Creation, and the spiritual world; and humans' relationship to God and to each other.