I edited the following question because I needed to fix tags anyway, but I'm not actually sure it's within our scope. Is this "too localized", or is it ok? I think we've had questions about kohein-related names (like Katz), so it's not obviously out of scope, but I wanted to ask for input:
My last maiden name is Logan and I want to know if I am of Jewish descent. Logan was my grandmother's last name and she was from New York. I attend synangogue on Saturday having always been drawn to Judiasm.
@BabySeal yes, I was wondering if I should delete that outright. Usually mods try not to act unilaterally, but... if it were to get a flag or two that would help.
@BabySeal btw you know we're still in the public chat room, right? I pinged you in a different one -- would you like to move there?
@TRiG huh. Presumably it's just borrowing the name and (their impression of) the high-level idea, like when Christians talk about doing PaRDeS (which is not really much like their "four-fold method" or whatever they call it).
Since, to do kabbalah properly, you have to first be fluent in torah (tanakh? probably) and talmud, it's unlikely that a Christian would have the requisite background. (Many Jews don't either.) So it's kind of like taking graduate-level Calculus when you haven't mastered high-school algebra; either you'll be lost or, if you seem to understand, then the course has been dumbed down for you and it's not what you think.
@TRiG I wasn't really commenting on the question per se -- more the idea of what that phrase could mean.
@TRiG they'd have to unlearn a lot of what they "know" about the Tanakh. The only Christians I've met who've studied any talmud (and then, not a lot) have been to seminary.
What are the necessary conditions for being ready to learn Kabala?
And if one meets those conditions, what books should he start with?
Please provide a source.