The Unifying Factor: A Review of Kabbalah »

Nekhama Schoenburg has taught, researched, and studied Kabbalah in Israel and North AmericaDclasses taught in the U.S. in coordination with Rabbi Phillip Berg's Kabbalah Centre. She currently studies Kabbalah at the Sulam Raphael Center, headed by Rabbi Daniel Stawsky HaCohenDstudent of Rabbi Mordechai ShinebergerDand is preparing a number of articles about the Jewish holidays from the perspective of Kabbalah under the tutelage of her rabbi.

In The Unifying Factor, Nekhama Schoenburg posits that Kabbalistic tradition provides us with the unification theory that modern science is searching for. Kabbalah is not a composite of fairy tales or fantastical superstitions, but rather it is the science that defines the very structure and workings of our universe. The metaphysical principles that Kabbalah lays out clearly demonstrate how theories like relativity and quantum mechanics are really one and the same. Schoenburg discusses three potential reasons why people have steered away from metaphysics: fear of the unknown, a sense of being overwhelmed by the very existence of the supernatural, and the belief that pursuit of knowledge of the supernatural is sacreligious. Schoenburg dispels these concerns by providing a _road map_ to indicate exactly where each Kabbalistic principle fits into the grand scheme of existence. She also illustrates how the essence of Judaism (and many of the principles and practices of Christianity) are based on the science of Kabbalah. As the title implies, the fundamental theme of this book is unity. One of its main goals is to alert and convince humankind of the need to bring harmony to all conflicts in our world: nations and people, ideas, theories, or forces, either physical or metaphysical. Schoenburg demonstrates unity's feasibility by illustrating metaphysical principles and insights from diverse sources, including classical literature, various spiritual doctrines, and the natural sciences. What results is a picture of unification of physical theories (such as general relativity and quantum mechanics) and a reconciliation of perceived conflicts (such as the theories of evolution and the_Big Bang_ versus the Bible's account of the seven-day creation of the world).