"There is a general misunderstanding of the role of Kabbalah, and of the mystical experience altogether, in Judaism."

"Kabbalah is the chief repository of the mystical aspect of the tradition, and in Europe it was taken firmly in hand.

Only mature students were permitted to study it, and carefully preserved texts were left to gather dust and sink into oblivion.

In later years, mostly in the nineteenth century, there was another, newer element that helped to suppress the mystical lore.

Within the strong rationalistic tendency of the age, many influential people, such as the authors of the most important books of Jewish history, were fiercely antagonistic to any mystical approach and tried to disparage it and even deny its existence in the past.

The apologetic mode of the time demanded hiding these shameful parts of Judaism and trying to forget them entirely.

The result has been a general misunderstanding of the role of Kabbalah, and of the mystical experience altogether, in Judaism."

--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From Pebbles of Wisdom from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz