What is Kabbalah and why do they teach a concept called the language of branches?

Kabbalah, which means "that which is received," encompasses a collection of esoteric traditions dating back to the Old Testament of the Bible. Alternatively, it can be said that Kabbalah is a school of thought that originated in southern Europe in the 12th century and deals with issues such as the creation of the world, the nature of God, the ecstatic mystical experience, and the nature of life after death. Ultimately, Kabbalah represents the Jewish form of what all mystical traditions strive for. It means direct and close knowledge of God at a level beyond mind.