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When I was somewhat younger, I took affront to the stipulation that Kabbalah should only be studied after the age of forty. I should be able to grasp these grand and deep concepts as surely as I had grasped philosophy or physics in university. Truth be told, this was more an exhibition of arrogance than a real desire to learn Kabbalah.
Now, although, I am not yet forty but rapidly approaching, I have found occasion to reconsider the dictate regarding age requirements for study of Kabbalah. At first glance it is easy to equate age-appropriateness to learning. I see this on every assignment that my children receive; I make a mental note whether it is really within the realm of their capabilities as such. But consider the fine minds that roam the halls of Columbia University or some other great college. Surely those inclined to seek a greater depth of knowledge possess the skills necessary to acquire it. Yet, I have come to believe this is not entirely so; for age and life experience are not only the greatest teachers but they provide the template with which to evaluate the validity of all acquired knowledge.
The impetus for these thoughts stem from reading The Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Had I been forced to read this during college, I would have suffocated on the length of the book and many of the amazing insights into life, relationships and the human mind would have been entirely lost on me. Or perhaps, they would be entirely abstract and make less of an impression upon me. Having weathered many a storm in my personal life and profession, I found many of Dostoyevsky’s ideas more than just words on a page or belonging to some abstract piece of fiction but rather an echo of many of my own feelings never before articulated. Here and there, a stray sentence would catch my attention and my eyes widen and my head slowly nods in enlightened recognition.
Then again my approach to reading has changed as well. I look for insight beyond the simple text or plot. Centuries ago scientists used to think the eyes sent out ‘feelers’ or rays to analyze the world around. But we have since come to learn NOT that the eyes tell the brain what to see but the brain tells the eyes what to look for (and that’s why we are fooled by optical illusions). Perhaps we see what we want to see.
So perhaps the impetuosity of youth stems from a lack of perspective attained only through life’s lessons. Through the myopic lens of inexperience, the deeper lessons of Kabbalah or any greater work of literature and the powerful messages expressed in allegory or in fable would become distorted, missed entirely, taken literally, or just plain misinterpreted. It was that very fear that the sages cautioned against early study of Kabbalah.