Short answers, pulled from the story.
Kabbalah emerged as a distinct movement in the 12th century within Languedoc, southern France. A small group of Jewish scholars gathered there to explore hidden meanings within ancient scriptures.
The Sephirot are ten divine emanations that serve as vessels for specific qualities such as loving-kindness, judgment, or beauty. These attributes form the backbone of Kabbalistic theology by offering a framework through which humans can understand God’s relationship with creation.
Isaac Luria was a 16th-century mystic living in Safed who revolutionized Kabbalistic thought through his theories about cosmic shattering and divine contraction. His teachings introduced three pivotal concepts: Tzimtzum (divine contraction), Shevirah (shattering), and Tikkun olam (rectification).
Foundational manuscripts like the Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah serve as pillars supporting the vast edifice of Kabbalistic literature. The Sefer Yetzirah dates back possibly between 200 and 600 CE while the Zohar was authored likely by Moses de León in the late 13th century.
Gershom Scholem initiated a paradigm shift in understanding Kabbalah by applying historical-critical analysis to previously dismissed mystical traditions. Before his work in the mid-20th century, academic historians framed Judaism primarily through rationalist lenses, marginalizing esoteric elements as peripheral curiosities.