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Rav Hai Gaon in תשובות הגאונים החדשות, מהד' עמנואל סי' קטו, עמ' 125 states that there are books which contain the practical kabbalistic methods for achieving k'fitzat hadereh (miraculous speedy travel)

ודבר ברור ומפורסם לאנשי ספרד ומסורת בידם מאבותיהם כי מר נטרונאי גאון ז"ל בקפיצת הדרך בא אליהם מבבל ורבץ תורה וחזר וכי לא הלך בשיירא ולא נראה בדרך. וכמה ספרים מצויין אצלינו כתוב בהם מהשמות וכמה שמות מלאכים וצורת חותמות ואומ' הרוצה לעשות כך והרוצה להגיע לכך יכתוב כך וכך כמו זה על כך וכך ויעשה כך ויתקיים לו המעשה

I would like to know what exactly those instructions are. Meaning the names and symbols which need to be written and in what order etc.

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    I would not play around with that,anyhow the seforim that contain them are purposely out of order because one needs to receive it from a Rebbi
    – sam
    Mar 14, 2014 at 15:00
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    It is a big mistake to think that Kabbalah is mechanical. It is about a connection with G-d. So first and foremost one has to be a holy person worthy of such miracles, then such techniques can work. Without that pre-requisite, nothing is going to happen.
    – Yishai
    Mar 14, 2014 at 15:50
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    @Yishai lol, I have zero intention of actually trying something like this. I'm just curious about the content.
    – user5092
    Mar 14, 2014 at 15:59
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    Not sure why this was downvoted; it's a cool question. I have no idea what R' Hai Gaon was referring to.
    – Shimon bM
    Mar 14, 2014 at 23:30
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    R' Yaakov Hillel's book, "Faith and Folly", he writes that practical kabbalah was hidden around the time of Shabtai Zevi, and that the methods etc. should not be discussed in public, al pi cherem
    – הנער הזה
    Feb 25, 2015 at 1:55

3 Answers 3

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https://youtu.be/IFTNJ2F38Mc - This a video by Rav Meir Eliyahu describing in detail from Rabbeinu Amar the steps needed for this to be done.

Here are the main points:

There are 2 options of doing קפיצת הדרך, One: Enabling a person to travel 1 years worth into a day, two: 1 months worth into 1 hour.

  1. Take a klaf of a deer and write down 10 holy names (that he doesn't mention for obvious reasons).

  2. Write down the pasuk in Vayetzei 28:11, וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃, and put the 10 holy names around it (all the writing should be done with a קנה- a reed I think, 4 amot tall).

  3. He should role it up, and put it in the reed, and (ירכב עליו, which I'm not sure what he means by this).

  4. Then he should close his eyes and he will be in a different place.

He mentions that this is tried and tested and it works.

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  • thank you for sharing, this answer would be improved if you summarized the points from the video.
    – rikitikitembo
    Mar 16 at 16:48
  • @rikitikitembo thanks for your comment
    – Avishai Tebeka
    Mar 16 at 17:23
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I say that answer lies clearly in the talmud Makkos 5a where it discusses a case that עדים testified about an individual that killed someone in the morning in the city of סורא, then other עדים testified against those witnesses that it cannot possible be true because they we're with them that night in נהדרעא, the talmud rules that we calculate the distance between the cities סורא to נהדרעא and if one cant reach there from morning until evening then the עדים are clearly false witnesses and we kill them , the talmud concludes that we dont say that maybe the עדים can get there speedly using a FLYING CAMEL cause it isnt really a possibility. Now if קפיצת הדרך can be done then why would the talmud have those witnesses killed maybe they knew those kaballistic secrets!!! CLEARLY IT CAN NOT BE DONE. see talmud sanhedrin 95 that only 3 merited קפיצת הדרך and they are אליעזר עבד אברהם-יעקב אבינו-אבישי בן צרויה.

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    We're willing to kill people even if there is a far flung possibility they are innocent. After all, who's to prove who their father is and we kill people for hitting their fathers.
    – Double AA ♦
    Mar 16 at 20:05
  • Are you disputing Rav Hai's statement?
    – Harel13
    Mar 16 at 20:11
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    the talmud uses the possibility of גמלא פרחא which obviously is almost impossible, clearly indicating that קפיצת הדרך is less probable, otherwise קפיצת הדרך would have been stated. You can not bring proof from hitting ones father because there is a POSITIVE רוב (majority) most relations are done by the husband, in our case there is a NEGATIVE רוב most ppl cannot perform קפיצת הדרך that we dont say, and many other distinctions can be made... such as the famous הפלאה in כתובות טו:
    – shayachagigah
    Mar 16 at 20:52
  • "Flying camel" is just an expression for a fast camel; see Rashi and Rambam. The point is we don't concern ourselves with farfetched possibilities.
    – shmosel
    Mar 19 at 4:37
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The historian David Solomon has a pretty comprehensive explanation of this topic in a podcast here

To summarize there are a number of options

  1. Using a special name of Hashem (42 letter, or perhaps 87[?] letter) - the name is uttered and the person is transported. Or in the case of certain righteous people like the Baal Shem Tov, his entire coach is transported.
  2. Using an elaborate ceremony involving a ram's horn (found in the work Brit Menucha) - the horn is made to grow a reed which functions similar to a magic broom, the person mounts the reed and thinks of a destination and is taken there instantly.
  3. Mystical meditation where the soul leaves the body and can then bring the body along

Solomon also mentions that according to the Ari Z'l the reason the first two options work is because there are demons who travel instantaneously and these methods harness demons who are invisibly effecting the transport.

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