A Yeshiva of Authentic Kabbalah · Jerusalem · Est. 5776

Authentic Kabbalah —
taught the way it was meant to be learned.

King David Kabbalah teaches the wisdom of the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria) and the Zohar (the central text of Kabbalah) alongside Talmud, Jewish law, and Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Formation) — with a teacher, in plain language, live from Jerusalem.

Tuesdays · 22:00 ILBegins June 2 · 15:00 NY · 12:00 LA
Everything FreeNo subscription, no paywall
Plain & InnerTalmud · Jewish Law · Sefer Yetzirah
Live from JerusalemTaught by Rabbi Shepherd
Rosh YeshivaRabbi Yaakov Avraham Shepherd
Teaching sinceFive-Seven-Seven-Six
AuthorMerkavah LaShechinah (forthcoming)
LanguagesHebrew · English · Spanish
What's missing from most Kabbalah teaching

The plain meaning without the inner is bones without a soul.

  • "Online Kabbalah" stripped from Jewish law, Talmud, and the text it lives inside.
  • Talmud taught with no awareness of the secret it carries.
  • Books in Aramaic that nobody opens with you.
  • No one tells you whether you're even allowed to learn this.
"The Zohar reads the same weekly Torah portion that the Talmud studies. The Arizal prayed the same daily service that Jewish law codifies. The kabbalists never split them. We are not going to split them either." — Rabbi Yaakov Avraham Shepherd
The Free Curriculum

Read your way into Kabbalah.

Every teaching, every "course," every essay — free to read. No login. No paywall. Organized by theme so you can start anywhere and follow the thread.

Browse All Articles
Beginnings

What's Dangerous About Learning Kabbalah?

For 800 years, you weren't allowed to study Kabbalah before age 40, marriage, and a foundation in Torah. The Rosh Yeshiva opens the question that decides whether you should be here at all.

The Texts

Sefer Yetzirah: The Oldest Book of Kabbalah

Six brief chapters, six centuries of commentary. Where the book comes from, what each chapter actually teaches, and why the Arizal returned to it again and again.

Tikkunim & Segulot

What is Pidyon Nefesh?

An ancient practice misunderstood by both critics and practitioners. The sources, the structure, when it's appropriate — and when a Rabbi will refuse to perform one.

Daily Practice

A Thread of Light: The Kabbalah of Tzitzit

Every Jewish man wears them. Almost no one is taught what they are. Eight strings, five knots, and a map of the soul most people walk past every morning.

The Soul

Reincarnation in Jewish Thought

Not the new-age version. The real one — from the Zohar, the Arizal, and Sha'ar HaGilgulim (the Gate of Reincarnations). Why souls return, how the system works, and what it means for the life you're living now.

Holidays

The Kabbalistic Secrets of Yom Kippur

Why the day is structured the way it is. What the service of the high priest corresponds to. The mystical intentions (kavanot) the Arizal taught for each prayer of the day.

Published Works

Three decades of publishing.

Siddurim, machzorim, holiday books, meditation guides, and standalone teachings — print-on-demand worldwide. Click any cover to order or read more.

Browse the Full Library →
Begins Tuesday, June 2 · Every Tuesday after that

Tuesday Night Live · English.
Where Talmud meets Zohar.

Jerusalem22:00
New York15:00
London20:00
Los Angeles12:00
Buenos Aires16:00

One live class every Tuesday from the yeshiva in Jerusalem, in English. Three movements: a passage from the Talmud opened with kabbalistic commentary, one paragraph of Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Formation, one of the oldest works of Kabbalah) taught slowly, and live Q&A from students around the world.

  • Talmud & Jewish Law · with Kabbalistic CommentaryThe page everyone reads, opened with the layer most people miss.
  • Sefer Yetzirah · One Passage at a TimeThe most ancient work of Kabbalah — slowly, with sources, never rushed.
  • Live Q&A · From Students WorldwideSubmit your question in advance or ask live.
  • Recording & Notes · By Wednesday MorningCan't make the live time? Recording in your inbox, notes attached.

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יא״ש
The Rosh Yeshiva

Rabbi Yaakov Avraham Shepherd

"I teach the way I was taught — text, source, structure, breath. The plain meaning and the inner, Talmud and Zohar, never split. The kabbalists before us learned both. So do we."
  • Rosh Yeshivat HaMekubalim · Jerusalem
  • Decades of study in Recanati, Arizal, Ramchal, and the Zohar
  • Author of the forthcoming Merkavah LaShechinah
  • Teaching in Hebrew, English, and Spanish to students worldwide
  • Lives and teaches in Jerusalem
Read His Full Story
Watch the Free Masterclass

What's dangerous about learning Kabbalah?

Ninety minutes with the Rosh Yeshiva on the prerequisites, the dangers, and the question every honest seeker has to answer first — without it, nothing else here will land.

The full course is also free.

"The Key for Learning Kabbalah" is a multi-part course taught by Rabbi Shepherd — no charge, no upsell. Watch on your own pace.

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From Our Students

Students from five continents. One Torah.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"I read every article on this site before I booked the call. By the time I sat across from him on Zoom, half my question had already answered itself. The other half he answered in twenty minutes."

DW
David W. Toronto
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"Tuesday night is the highlight of my week. My family joins. We learn Talmud and Sefer Yetzirah with the Rosh Yeshiva from Jerusalem — there is nothing else like it online."

MR
Miriam R. Buenos Aires
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"I came in skeptical — another rabbi selling secrets. He's not. He hands you sources, makes you read them, and then teaches you what they actually say."

YK
Yossi K. Tel Aviv
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