The word "Kabbalah" is a buzzword these days. Madonna and Reina Rich have certainly helped popularize it, but... what does it mean?
To understand this, let's analyze the contexts in which it is used:
1) Kabbalat Shabbat. The reception of Shabbat. In practice, it is the religious ceremony in which a congregation receives and accepts Shabbat with all its laws.
2) Divrei Kabbalah. "Received Words." It is mainly used in halakhic texts - Jewish legal texts - to refer to the laws derived by our sages from the words of the prophets in the Tanakh - the Bible.
3) Kabbalah. Reception of the tradition of shechita – ritual slaughter. In order for a shochet – Jewish slaughterer – to perform his task, he must have received the tradition and practice of how to properly slaughter an animal. This is received from a qualified rabbi who certifies that the slaughterer knows the laws and the practical aspects of the work.
4) Kabbalah. Jewish mysticism. It is a wisdom that explains the secrets of Creation, the Divine qualities, His relationship with man, His Mitzvot - precepts, etc.
All these contexts have something in common: reception. That is, Kabbalah is about receiving, accepting, and incorporating a particular thing, whether it be Shabbat, a tradition, or a mystical idea.
In all of this, there's a fundamental ingredient: to receive, you have to be open, so to speak, turn up your antennas and wait to receive a signal. But those who aren't open won't receive anything.
The most interesting thing is that this is common to all the meanings of "Kabbalah": whoever is not open to enjoying Shabbat, Shabbat may become a suffering (God forbid), whoever does not have an open mind to study about God, the wisdom of Kabbalah may seem like a set of senseless madness (God forbid), and so on.
Let us open our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to receive and perceive the incredible reality that God constantly prepares for us.