The focus of Judaism and kabbalah is predominately on Kabbalah Iyunit—the contemplative dimension—rather than Kabbalah Ma’asit, the practical or magical. I’m not sure this distinction was always so pronounced, but if we look at Judaism historically, its mystical roots often sought to understand the cosmology of the kabbalah – the 4 worlds, the 10 sefirot. How do we perceive the Four Worlds to understand the Sefirot and perhaps the 32 Paths of wisdom.
What seems to be missing today is the living link between cosmology and ritual. Take, for example, the act of putting on tefillin. It is one of my most beloved rituals. Few realize that tefillin correspond to the ten Sefirot and can serve as a profound tool of transformation. To experience it as such, one must understand the concept of liminal space, know how to work with one’s inner psychology, and look beyond the structure of the ego. When approached this way, ritual becomes infused with a deeper power.
From cognitive understanding to channeling power
I see this as a contemporary opportunity for Kabbalah—to move beyond intellectual understanding and into embodied experience. Today’s emphasis leans heavily on cognition, with too little attention to the transformative potential of ritual. Perhaps it was once different. In communities such as Morocco or Yemen, the tribal and mystical traditions may have kept these two dimensions—concept and ritual—more closely connected.
In our work with executives, we create modern rituals to translate the energy of the Four Worlds or the ten Sefirot into the lived reality of leadership. These practices allow leaders to channel those archetypal forces through their own experience.
Ane example of a ritual
One of our rituals, for instance, is the Triangle of Fragmentation. It helps executives recognize how they operate under pressure—from the ego, from avoidance, or from emotional discomfort. They confront the truths that are difficult to speak and allow themselves to experience the illusions and emotions the ego resists. In doing so, something in them begins to die or transform—enabling the reintegration of lost parts of the self. It becomes, in essence, a process of healing through awareness and sacred practice. With the aim that the ‘self’ or tiferet’ is able to merge and shine through.
If we look at Judaism and kabbalah, its such a beautiful way of viewing the world and transformation, we’d hope that people and leaders will feel inspired to channel power to bridge the gap = perhaps between the sacred and the profane. As we say in Hebrew: been kodesh le chol.