The first reference to this kabbalah meditation is found at Genesis 4:26. There it states that Adam’s son, Seth, had a son named Enosh, who began “calling in the name of the Lord.” Other former patriarchs have also done this “calling.” Abraham and Isaac, are described in biblical verses to also having done this “calling.”
This kabbalah meditation has been around for more than 5,800 years. “The Adam" from the book of Genesis (Gen 2:7) , wrote about these “callings” in a book. Traditionally the book is referred to simply as The Book of Adam.
The book of Adam has been handed down from Adam to each succeeding generation. From Seth it eventually trickled down to Abraham, to Isaac, to Joseph, to Moses, to Samuel, to David, to King Solomon, to numerous prophets, to Rabbi Akiva, to Rabbi Simeon, and after that it was disseminated to those well advanced in the knowledge of Kabbalah. This book was a most guarded secret. Many of the followers of the Baal Shem Tov said he had this book in his possession when he was alive. His students would look at this book and say they could not understand what it meant. It contains the most treasured of mystical secrets. Tzeruf meditation is among these mystical secrets.
At the end of the 13th century, a Rabbi named Abraham Abulafia, ben Samuel, decided to publish tzeruf meditation to the world. He made the teachings of these techniques the main focus of his life’s work. Rabbi Abulafia, on the Isle of Crete, wrote the first known writings detailing these techniques. He founded a school which specialized in this meditation. These mystical writings and teachings were the main impetus behind it’s spreading to other parts of the world. Abulafia called his system “the Kabbalah of letters,” and has stated that this kabbalah meditation is more powerful than praying.