First Semester. Popular discourse seems to have always used Jewish Mysticism (Kabbalah) as a buzzword without much clarity behind its meaning. This advanced seminar encounters Kabbalah as an evolving edifice whose theories and practices both complemented and revolutionized traditional Judaism: sifting carefully through various sources and engaging them critically, this seminar offers the needed subsoil to systematically unpack the major concepts of Jewish mystical thought, and charts the historical and conceptual maps necessary for its broader appreciation.