Far more pleasant worlds than ours were possible, but Adam's poor behavior selected the words, and the world, we got. Still Kabbalists looked forward to the messianic age, when god would perform a kind of cosmic genetic engineering, rearranging the letters to the Torah to spell out paradise. Kabbala is an ancient esoteric Jewish mystical tradition of philosophy containing strong elements of pantheism, yet akin to neo-Platonism. Kabbalistic writing reached its peak between the 13th and 16th centuries. It is largely rejected by current Judaic thought as medieval superstition, but is basic to the Hassid sect.
Hassidic teachings encourage prayer, piety, and serving the lord with joy.
Many of their ideas are based on the kabbala. Hasidism spread against strong opposition throughout Eastern Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, led by charismatic leaders, the Zaddikim. The sect emphasized ecstatic prayer, while denouncing the intellectual approach of Talmudic academies. A resistance to modernization had led some Hassids to oppose Zionism, though others are active supporters of Israel. Cabala's roots are in Hellenistic astral mysticism, in which the adept, through meditation and the use of magic formulas, journeys ecstatically through and beyond the seven astral spheres.