Judaism

Belief in the eventual coming of the mashiach is a basic and fundamental part of traditional Judaism. It is part of Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith, the minimum requirements of Jewish belief. In the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, recited three times daily, we pray for all of the elements of the coming of the mashiach: ingathering of the exiles; restoration of the religious courts of justice; an end of wickedness, sin and heresy; reward to the righteous; rebuilding of Jerusalem; restoration of the line of King David; and restoration of Temple service.

Modes of Authority and the Development of the  Donme Sects  The Donme, both in history and in theology, were a most unusual group. They began as Jews, followers of the 17th-century messianic claimant Sabbatai Zevi. When he was captured by the Ottomans and forced to convert to Islam, a number of his followers did so as well; these converts and their descendants became the Donme. Clustered in Salonika, they developed a blend of Judaism and Islam, outwardly completely Muslim but privately holding to many Jewish rituals and practices, altered somewhat to reflect their faith in Sabbatai Zevi.

n 1935, Kaplan wrote Judaism as a Civilization, a book which became the foundation of the new Reconstructionist Movement, and which is still published in paperback. Kaplan taught that we need a reconstruction of the religious foundations of Judaism in light of our understanding that Judaism is a religious civilization. He promoted democracy in the synagogue community and advocated voluntary membership, elected leadership, and respect for the religious opinions of individuals.

To begin with, there are two classes of attitudes toward Jesus among the Jewish people: these are "sociological" and "theological." The First, by far the most commonly known and expressed, is the result of almost two thousand years of persecution by the Church and are, therefore, fundamentally negative; the Second, less well known and less often discussed, is also less negative and more accommodating. It is this second class of attitudes toward Jesus among the Jews that I wish to discuss here before describing his role in Sabbatian theology.

100-160 CE: Rav Shimon bar Yochai was chosen to reveal the Zohar. He and Rav Elazar, his son, hid in the ground, in a cave for 13 years. Rav Abba concealed the wisdom in writing the physical book of the Zohar.

Sefer HaBahir PDF R. Nehunya, a rabbi of the Mishnaic era, who lived around 100 CE. Medieval Kabbalists write that the Bahir did not come down to them as a unified book, but rather in pieces found in scattered scrolls and booklets. The scattered and fragmentary nature of the Bahir''s text, which sometimes ends discussion in mid-sentence, and which often jumps randomly from topic to topic, supports this claim.

Pardes Rimonim is a classic work of authentic Kabbalah penned by the preeminent scholar, Rabbi Moshe Cordevero (Ramak). A powerful intellect, fertile writer, and gigantic figure in Kabbalah, Ramak (circa 1520-1570) distinguished himself first in Talmudic studies while under the tutelage of Rabbi Yosef Caro. However, he began his Kabbalah studies at age 20 with Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, who was both his brother-in-law and composer of Lecha Dodi.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (2nd century CE)
As they set out from their place above, each soul is male and female as one. Only as they descend to this world do they part, each to its own side. And then it is the One Above who unites them again. This is His exclusive domain, for He alone knows which soul belongs to which and how they must reunite.
(Zohar, Book I, 85b)

Sect of Saloniki, 

Sabbatean