I was listening to NPR when a Rabbi was interviewed and let on that she followed the mysteries of the Kabbalah. Now that made me prick up my ears as I have heard that most Jewish Rabbis other than the Orthodox Rabbis have turned to this mystery religion. The Rabbi was being interviewed on the reasons for the Flood and the Rabbi proceeded to give a interpretation that can only be described as a strange myth of confusion. She stated that Noah was a quiet man that said not a word while building the ark as people came by and finally finished the ark and got into the ark with the animals and the flood happened and he became depressed at the many bodies floating on the water and the first thing he did after getting out of the ark was take to drink to surpress the awful memories. No mention of God or His guidance or message given so others might be saved, and no scriptural support, just ideas on the flood narrative.

So I dug into the background of the mysteries religion and found some interesting things. Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the cult practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were of considerable antiquity and predated the Greek Dark Ages. The popularity of mystery cults flourished in Late Antiquity. Notable among these late cults was the Mithraic Mysteries which grew strong in the Roman Empire, and appears to have had its epicentre in Rome. There were seven grades of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras, which are listed by Jerome. Christianity embraced them when the church allowed pagan ceremonies and beliefs and one aspect is seen in the Christian doctrine of the sacraments that formed in the Catholic church after the 4th century.

The Jewish Kabbalah, according to kabbalistic thought on Torah study proceeded along four levels of interpretation (exegesis):

Peshat (lit. "simple"): the direct interpretations of meaning.
Remez (lit. "hint[s]"): the allegoric meanings (through allusion).
Derash (from Heb. darash: "inquire" or "seek"): midrashic (Rabbinic) meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses.
Sod (lit. "secret" or "mystery"): the inner, esoteric (metaphysical) meanings, expressed in kabbalah.

Kabbalah taught doctrines that Jews rejected outright these mysteries for many centeries as heretical and antithetical to Judaism. However by the 16th century, Kabbalah had replaced "Hakira" (Jewish philosophy) as the mainstream traditional Jewish theology, both in scholarly circles and in the popular imagination.

According to Kabbalistic tradition, knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages (Hakhamim in Hebrew), eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. According to this tradition, Kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BC, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel.Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge and make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands. The Sanhedrin leaders were also concerned that the practice of Kabbalah by Jews deported on conquest to other countries (the Diaspora), unsupervised and unguided by the masters, might lead them into wrong practice and forbidden ways. As a result, the Kabbalah became secretive, forbidden and esoteric to Judaism.

Because it is by definition esoteric, no popular account (including an encyclopedia) can provide a complete, precise, and accurate explanation of the Kabbalah. Historians have noted that most claims for the authority of Kabbalah involve an argument of the antiquity of authority. Kabbalah's, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. This tendency toward pseudepigraphy has its roots in Apocalyptic literature, which claims that esoteric knowledge such as magic, divination and astrology was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz'el (in other places, Azaz'el and Uzaz'el) who 'fell' from heaven (see Genesis 6:4).

Now the following verses make sense to me......

Mark 7:8
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mark 7:13
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Mark 7:12-14 (in Context) Mark 7 (Whole Chapter)

Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Has anyone come across any aspects of this as it seems to be followed by many of the Hollywood personalities, the Jewish Rabbis, and the Jewish intelligensia or philosophers....

That's interesting. Consider Sounds like they might be right on for the source.

It's also interesting that Mithra has infiltrated both Christian religion and Jewish.

I came across more...Kabbalism Albert Pike, 33-degree Freemason, informs us that Kabbalism is part of Masonic doctrine: The Holy Kabalah, or tradition of the children of Seth, was carried from Chaldea by Abraham, taught to the Egyptian priesthood by Joseph, recovered and purified by Moses, concealed under symbols in the Bible, revealed by the Saviour to Saint John, and contained, entire, under hieratic figures analogous to those of all antiquity, in the Apocalypse of that Apostle... Masonry is a search after Light. That search leads us directly back, as you can see, to the Kabalah. In that ancient and little understood medley of absurdity and philosophy, the Initiate will find the source of many doctrines.xxxviii What, then, is Kabbalism? The Kabbalah is a collection of Jewish mystical teachings. Some of these doctrines are based on an esoteric interpretation of the OldTestament. Kabbalism is no longer solely Jewish, but is the basis for doctrine in many mystical Orders and New Age groups. Helena Blavatsky tells us that Kabbalism is Gnostic teaching: Once that the key to Genesis is in our hands, the scientific and symbolical Kabalah unveils the secret. The Great Serpent of the Garden of Eden and the "Lord God" are identical, and so are Jehovah and Cain ONE—that Cain who is referred to in theology as the "murderer" and the LIAR to God! Jehovah tempts the King of Israel to number the people, and Satan tempts him to do the same in another place. Jehovah turns into the Fiery Serpents to bite those he is displeased with; and Jehovah informs the Brazen Serpent that heals them. These short, and seemingly contradictory, statements in the Old Testament—contradictory because the two Powers are separated instead of being regarded as the two faces of one and the same thing—are the echoes, distorted out of recognition by exoterism and theology, of universal and philosophical dogmas in Nature (bold emphases added, capitalization in original).xxxix Mithraism Mithraism, an ancient Roman cult, may have been one of the first secret societies. Those in the cult worshiped the god Mithra in a secret temple called a mithraeum, and were initiated in the same way as modern secret society members: The structure of the cult was hierarchical. Members went through a series of seven grades, each of which had a special symbol and a tutelary planet. From lowest to highest these grades were Corax (raven, under Mercury), Nymphus (a made-up word meaning male bride, under Venus), Miles (the soldier, under Mars), Leo (the lion, under Jupiter), Perses (the Persian, under Luna, the moon), Heliodromus (the Sun's courier, under Sol, the sun), and finally Pater (father, under Saturn). Those who reached the highest grade, Pater, could become the head of a congregation.xl Mithraism was part of ancient Roman paganism, which has formed into modern Roman Catholic practice.

As for the clergy, they borrowed the title of "father" from priests of Mithra, in spite of Christ's formal prohibition: "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). Thus it is not astonishing that mitre, meaning a bishop's cap, calls Mithra to mind, and that the Pope's headdress tiara (a word of Persian origin) derives from frigium, referring to the Phrygian cap.xli Mithraism is still alive in another form today, as Masonic author A. T. C. Pierson admits: The Masonic legend stands by itself, unsupported by history or other than its own traditions; yet we readily recognize in Hiram Abiff [Christ-figure of Freemasonry] the Osiris of the Egyptians, the Mithras of the Persians...xlii i. Nesta Webster, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements (London: Boswell Publishing)...www.amazingdiscoveries.org 2011

In the occult religion of secret societies, two simultaneous doctrines are taught. Insiders are taught the doctrines of Johannism and Lucifer worship, and their knowledge is considered esoteric. To outsiders, Freemasonry dresses itself in the garb of religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The inversion of Scriptural truth in "secret knowledge" is found in the doctrines of Gnosticism. Charles Berger explains: Thus, symbols came to have to meanings, the esoteric and the exoteric. The esoteric meaning was the true or original meaning, understood only by a few and closely guarded by them. The exoteric meaning was the invented, or modified, explanation intended for the many. The sacred mysteries, which are often mentioned in connection with many ancient religions and which were closely guarded by the initiate, concerned esoteric meanings in the religions of previous times. These sacred mysteries very often were merely continuations of the simpler forms of early sex worship carried on by a select few (emphases added).xxxvi

Even hundreds of years ago, the Knights Templar had two doctrines. Initiated members knew the esoteric doctrine, which taught that Lucifer is the true son of God. Those uninitiated were led to believe that the Templars were grounded in Catholic doctrine: The Templars, like all other Secret Orders and Associations, had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the Masters, which was Johannism; the other public, which was the Roman Catholic.xxxvii

The Knights Templar The Knights Templar formed in the 1000s AD and were sanctioned by the Pope in 1128. However, the power and rituals of the Knights soon began to unnerve both the Pope and the King of France, who tried to overthrow the Order through persecution and arrests. Historian N. Webster tells us more: The King of France, Philippe le Bel, who had hitherto been the friend of the Templars, now became alarmed and urged the Pope to take action against them; but before the Pope was able to find out more about the matter, the King took the law into his own hands and had all the Templars in France arrested on October 13, 1307. The following charges were then brought against them by the Inquisitor for France before whom they were examined: 1. The ceremony of initiation into their Order was accompanied by insults to the Cross, the denial of Christ, and gross obscenities. 2. The adoration of an idol which was said to be the image of the true God. 3. The omission of the words of consecration at Mass. 4. The right that the lay chiefs arrogated to themselves of giving absolution. 5. The authorization of unnatural vice.i Despite the best efforts of monarchies, the Templars were not extinguished. In fact, offshoots of the Order are still in existence today. Knights of Malta The Knights of Malta (Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta) formed around the same time as the Knights Templar. They are controlled by the Jesuits and have strong global influence: As always, the Freemasons are in the foreground while the Jesuits and their Knights of Malta are in the background (emphasis added).

Headquartered in Rome these Knights of the Papal Caesar control the Banking, Industry and Military Complexes of the world. They oversee Chase Manhattan Bank with branches in Moscow and New York. They rule the International Intelligence Community, the KGB in the east and the CIA in the west, in restoring the despotism of the Dark Ages.iii Take note of this list of a few Knights of Malta: Rosicrucianism The Rosicrucians are another ancient organization still in existence today. Founded in the 1400s, this secret society's spirituality is a combination of magic, alchemy, Jewish mysticism, and Gnosticism. The website for the Rosicrucian Order offers this promise to prospective members:


Through our teachings you will gain specific knowledge of metaphysics, mysticism, philosophy, psychology, parapsychology and science not taught by conventional educational systems or traditional religions... The Rosicrucian system of study provides a foundation that ties together all different aspects of metaphysical study and demonstrates their interconnectedness. You will understand the natural laws that govern all realms. You will understand Your Self.iv Many of the newer esoteric societies were formed out of Rosicrucian philosophy, and it is thought that Rosicrucianism had a large influence on the creation of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The Knight of the Rose Croix is the 18th degree of Scottish Masonry.