Kabbala, Qabballa, Cabbala or sometimes Kabballah with an “H” at the end, it’s very hard to find any kind of criterion spelling of the term that collectively covers Jewish Mysticism

The Spellings of Kabballa….sorry, Qabbala…

On the Hasidic Judaism website, Chabad.org they use the spelling Kabbalah which is why we trend towards doing this on this website but sometimes drop the “H” just to make sure that we have a good spread. However, on the same website they do aknowledge that there are many spellings for this word and list 24 of them.

They do not actually state that the way they spelling it if the correct way but emphasise that following the teachings of Kabbalah in the kosher manner is infinitely more important than the spelling or the pronunciation.

Enoch, Cobbler of the Cosmos and Shoemakers

The first hints of the source of the word Kabbalah and its link to the word Cobbler are seen in the Jewish Midrash with Enoch who is described as a “Cobbler of the Cosmos” who sewed worlds together and was raised to the rank of angel due to his piety in the corrupt pre-flood world. In the Christian Bible are told that God takes him but no more is mentioned beyond this.

²¹ And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

²² And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

²³ And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Genesis 5:21-24

The Wandering Jew and Shoemaking

Another very clear link between Kabbalah, Hasidic Judaism and the Cobbler is the legend of the wandering Jew. Depending on your source he is anything from a Jew who taunted Jesus Christ at the crucifixion to Pontius Pilates doorman but he is always a Shoemaker.

One theory about the wandering Jew is that he represents the Jewish people as a whole who called upon a curse to follow them and their ancestors and gave way to a second Exodus in the Biblical sense.

Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

Matthew 27:25

It’s speculated that this legend is the source of the Jewish and German occupational family name, Schumacher. While not in the German sense, the Jewish Cobbler is very much linked to mysticism. This is covered in great extent in the book, “Jews and Shoes”, by Edna Nahshon. She covers the cultural links of Jewish tradition, Kabbalah, the cobbler from the Biblical sense and even looking at the view from the Kabbalist holy book, The Zohar.

Hollywood Kabbalist Adam Sandler Subtle Nods to the Zohar and the occupation of Cobbler

Jewish American actor and entertainer, Adam Sandler pays his respects to both the Zohar and Jewish cobblers with two of his recent movies. Don’t Mess with the Zohan has a lead character who is but one letter away from the name of the Hasidic Jewish Mysticism Holy Book, The Zohar along with insertion of Tzimtzum anthropology in the promotional material. We cover these links in another article.

He isn’t the only actor to make references to Jewish mysticism within their work. Many Jewish movie makers and actors, mostly from New York coincidentally, insert references to both Freemasonry (Hasidic Judaism for Gentiles) and Jewish mysticism within their movies. Sandler also links magick to the trade of the cobbler. He portrays a magic cobbler much like the angelic figure of Enoch from the Jewish Midrash.

Philippines Mysticism, shoe obsession and Shoetown

Philippines has a deep and strong link with Israel. Unlike almost everywhere else, the Philippines passport is held in the highest regard when entering Israel and a deep respect exists between the two nations. Philippines has historically supported Israel in a similar fashion to the USA but also the two nations both have a history of hidden mysticism or what many would call pagansim that hides within the shell of Judiasm and Christianity. Within the Jewish traditions lies Kabbalah, what many consider the basis for all witchcraft and pre-colonial Philippines also had a long history of Paganism and pluralistic Gods that now exists within Christianity in the form of folklore and veneration of Arch-Angels.

Imelda Marcos, Freemasonry, Shoes and Brutalist Architecture

Philippines is rumoured to have the largest percentage of Freemasons within any nation worldwide with a flag that’s actually a masonic apron turned on its side due to Freemasons liberating the country. While the first notable Kabbalist link to the cobbler and Philippines would seem to be Imelda Marcos obsession with shoes an entire city dedicated to shoemaking (Marikina is known as “Shoetown” and is home to the worlds largest shoe), Imelda also had interest in Masonry. She encouraged Brutalist Architecture projects so her obsessions were the magickal elements of shoes and also the mystic science of Masonry.

The strong four way link between Israel, the cobbler, Freemasonry and Philippines is no secret and in actual fact many Philippines residents and those abroad are proud of the links both geographically and in the more mystical sense.

The Cosmic Cobbler of Kabbalah and modern Witchcraft

Whether good or bad, Enoch the Shoemaker is strongly tied to the many practices of Witchcraft in use today with “Enochian Magic” and “Enochian alters” used by many covens. Because of this, many christians and Jews avoid the apocryphal Book of Enoch found in the dead sea scrolls that describes in more detail Enochs trip through heaven, the passing of sorcery from fallen angels to human women and even touches on his shoemaking.

While it’s somewhat presumptuous to confirm that Kabbala means cobbler and the 24 spellings beyond that are just intentional esotericism, the links and evidence is very hard to deny.

Enoch is held up as a patriarch within both Freemasonry (described alongside Solomon in their teachings) and Hasidic Judaism and whether the device of Shoemaking is used to simply mean sorcerer or there is actually a mystical link as described in “Jews and Shoes”, one thing cannot be denied. The Cobbler and the Kabbalist are at very least close siblings. Possibly twins.