The Torah was never considered merely knowledge—as that which one learns with the mind and in which one becomes an expert. 

As one of the sages, Hillel Zeitlin, said: "In many religions there is the notion of a book or doctrine that comes from heaven. We Jews, however, believe that the Torah itself is heaven."

When one is studying the Torah, one is in direct communion with God.

One is not just reading or studying or even seeking inspiration.

In Judaism we, God and man are talking together.

As it is written in the Zohar: there are three things that are connected with each other—the Jews with the Torah, and the Torah with God.

We do not delve into the Torah just in order to know something in our past or to learn how to behave.

To be engaged with Torah is not just the fulfillment of a commandment, a mitzvah; it is in itself being as close to the Almighty as we will ever be.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From "Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition" in On Being Free by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

There was never a separation of any real consequence between the daily obligations and open practice of Judaism and the esoteric or mystical aspects of the tradition.

They have always been connected.

They are simply different aspects of the same thing.

In the Middle Ages many scholars leaned almost entirely on the writings of Maimonides and pointed to his Thirteen Articles of Faith as the supreme theological authority.

But even in those times there was more than one approach to theology.

For example, we also have the more mystical approach of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the Ramban).

But since there was no central authority to define a consensus of opinion, the differences—which, as intimated, were never as polarized as modern thinkers believe—were allowed to flourish.

It is only since the sixteenth century that there has been a consensus accepted by almost every Jew.

If there is a normative Jewish theology, it is the integration of the two (never really separate) approaches—the Kabbalah of the Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) and the Shulhan Arukh (The Code of Jewish Law) of Rabbi Joseph Caro.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From "Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition" from On Being Free by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

The study of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, presents a special problem.

Though the Kabbalah is probably the only extant Jewish theological system, there are various attitudes to its study, which question not the relative value of studying Kab­balah, but the qualifications necessary to undertake it.

It is very important to recognize that, unlike other mystical doctrines, the Kabbalah is not a discipline unto itself but is closely linked to mainstream religious practice.

It is in a sense a commentary on both the written and oral Torah, and cannot be separated either in theory or practice from the full panoply of the mitzvot.

There are relatively few places where Kabbalah can be studied properly, and the secondary literature available on the subject tends to be superficial, un-Jewish, or even anti-Jewish.

While recent rabbinic authorities have ruled that study of "the doctrine of hidden things" need not be suppressed, it is none­theless advisable to avoid getting into mysticism in an unbal­anced way.

One drawn to Judaism along the mystical path should take special pains to study halakhah as well, particularly the Talmud and its commentaries, both in order to better un­derstand the Kabbalah itself—a connection a number of well-known scholars have underscored—and in order to keep one's balance and avoid going astray.

It is false and misleading to view the Jewish mystical tradition apart from the larger context of Judaism as a whole.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From "Talmud Torah" in Teshuvah by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

Customarily, we speak of the different ways of dealing with Torah, from the explicit to the implicit, from peshat (literal meaning) to derash (exegesis), to remez (hint), to sod (secret or esoteric truth).

All these simply address the same words of Scripture in four different languages, all of which have the same meaning.

One of the methods of study is to gain an understanding of the way these languages change from one form of expression to another, how they change from saying something in poetic terms to those of a story, a commandment, and a kabbalistic idea.

Consequently, the common view about mysticism and Kabbalah being a different world from the Talmud is a misconception of the organic unity of the whole.

The Kabbalah and the Talmud are different forms of expression, each following its own point of departure.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From "Mysticism in the Jewish Tradition" in On Being Free by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

Man was put into the Garden of Eden to till and to keep it (Genesis 2:15), as it is written: 

The holy days are connected to significant historic happenings, such as the Exodus from Egypt on Passover, the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai on Shavuot (Pentecost), or the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the wilderness on Succot (Tabernacles).

These holy festivals are not intended simply as memorial days to keep alive the memory of the events.

They are divinely appointed times dedicated to a renewal of the same revelation that once occurred on that day in the year, a repetition and a restoration of the same forces. 

So that the sanctity of the holidays is derived not only from a primal divine revelation but also from Israel's continual resanctification, in the way it keeps these days holy, of this revelation.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From The Thirteen Petalled Rose, p. 77, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

The great Hassidic Rebbe known as "the Holy Jew" said that he owed his great achievements to a blacksmith. 

The Jews had to flee Egypt

because of the Egypt within their souls

and not because of the earthly Pharaoh.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From Understanding the Tanya, p. 110, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

If we want to understand the personal, inner meaning of a festival, we should look to its intrinsic spiritual essence.