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Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed to heal, enact miracles, perform exorcisms,''Studies in East European Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism'', Joseph Weiss, Littman Library: chapter 1 "Some Notes on the Social Background of Early Hasidism", chapter 2 "A Circle of Pneumatics in Pre-Hasidism" treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or the evil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers. In Judaism, similar figures arbitrated between earthly realities and spiritual realms since before the establishment of Talmudic Judaism in the 3rd century. However, it was only in the 16th century that the figures were called ''Baalei Shem''. Herbal folk remedies, amulets, contemporary medical cures as we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most affiliates reside in Israel and the United States. Israel Ben Eliezer, the " Baal Shem Tov", is regarded as its founding father, and his disciples developed and disseminated it. Present-day Hasidism is a sub-group within Haredi Judaism and is noted for its religious conservatism and social seclusion. Its members adhere closely both to Orthodox Jewish practice – with the movement's own unique emphases – and the traditions of Eastern European Jews. Many of the latter, including various special styles of dress and the use of the Yiddish language, are nowadays associated almost exclusively with Hasidism. Hasidic thought draws heavi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tzvi Ashkenazi
Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi ( he, צבי אשכנזי; 1656 – May 2, 1718), known as the Chacham Tzvi after his responsa by the same title, served for some time as rabbi of Amsterdam. He was a resolute opponent of the followers of the false messiah, Sabbatai Zevi. He had a chequered career owing to his independence of character. He visited many lands, including England, where he wielded much influence. His responsa are held in high esteem. Early life and education Ashkenazi was born in 1656 in Moravia, most likely in Gross Meseritsch where his father Jacob Wilner was active. He was descended from a well-known family of scholars, a grandson of Ephraim ha-Kohen who in turn was the son-in-law of a grandchild of Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm. He spent most his childhood in Alt-Ofen (now Budapest) where his grandfather served as rabbi. Tutored by his father and grandfather, he later went to Salonica where he attended the school of Eliyahu Kovo and devoted himself to an investiga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singular: , Modern Hebrew: are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. Their traditional diaspora language is Yiddish (a West Germanic language with Jewish linguistic elements, including the Hebrew alphabet), which developed during the Middle Ages after they had moved from Germany and France into Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. For centuries, Ashkenazim in Europe used Hebrew only as a sacred language until the revival of Hebrew as a common language in 20th-century Israel. Throughout their numerous centuries living in Europe, Ashkenazim have made many important contributions to its philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music, and science. The rabbinical term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Besht Shul1 Medzhibozh
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which means "Master of the Good Name," a term for a magician who wields the secret name of God. The little biographical information about the Besht comes from oral traditions handed down by his students (Jacob Joseph of Polonne and others) and from the legendary tales about his life and behavior collected in ''Shivḥei ha-Besht'' (''In Praise of the Ba'al Shem Tov''; Kapust and Berdychiv, 1814–15). A central tenet in the Baal Shem Tov's teaching is the direct connection with the divine, "dvekut", which is infused in every human activity and every waking hour. Prayer is of supreme importance, along with the mystical significance of Hebrew letters and words. His innovation lies in "encouraging worshippers to follow their distracting though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggid
A maggid ( he, מַגִּיד), also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a '' darshan'' (). The title of ''maggid mesharim'' ('a preacher of uprightness'; abbreviated ) probably dates from the sixteenth century. There have long been two distinct classes of leaders in Israel—the scholar and rabbi, and the preacher or ''maggid''. That the popular prophet was sometimes called "maggid" is maintained by those who translate (''maggid mishne'') , by "the maggid repeats" (Löwy, "Beqoret ha-Talmud," p. 50). Like the Greek sophists, the early maggidim based their preaching on questions addressed to them by the multitude. Thus the Pesiqta, the first collection of set speeches, usually begins with "yelammedenu rabbenu" ('let our master teach us'). An excellent example is the Passover Haggadah, which is introduced by four questions; the recite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Meditation
Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accompany unstructured, personal Jewish prayer, may be part of structured Jewish services, or may be separate from prayer practices. Jewish mystics have viewed meditation as leading to ''devekut'' (cleaving to God). Hebrew terms for meditation include ''hitbodedut'' (or ''hisbodedus,'' literally "self-seclusion") or ''hitbonenut/hisbonenus'' ("contemplation"). Through the centuries, meditation practices have been developed in many movements, including among Maimonideans (Moses Maimonides and Abraham Maimonides), Kabbalists (Abraham Abulafia, Isaac the Blind, Azriel of Gerona, Moses Cordovero, Yosef Karo and Isaac Luria), Hasidic rabbis (Baal Shem Tov, Schneur Zalman of Liadi and Nachman of Breslov), Musar movement rabbis (Israel Salanter and Simcha Zissel Ziv), Conse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theurgic
Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting with the divine) and perfecting oneself. Definitions *Proclus (c. 480): theurgy is "a power higher than all human wisdom embracing the blessings of divination, the purifying powers of initiation and in a word all the operations of divine possession" * Keith Thomas: "Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation." * Pierre A. Riffard: "Theurgy is a type of magic. It consists of a set of magical practices performed to evoke beneficent spirits in order to see them or know them or in order to influence them, for instance by forcing them to animate a statue, to inhabit a human being (such as a mediu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven alive. Heaven is often described as a "highest place", the holiest place, a Paradise, in contrast to hell or the Underworld or the "low places" and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith, or other virtues or right beliefs or simply divine will. Some believe in the possibility of a heaven on Earth in a '' world to come''. Another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions, heaven is cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences. The term "mysticism" has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek word μύω ''múō'', meaning "to close" or "to conceal", mysticism referred to the biblical, liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity. During the early modern period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs and ideologies related to "extraordinary experiences and states of mind." In modern times, "mysticism" has acquired a limited definition, with broad applications, as meaning the aim at the "union with the Absolute, the Infinite, or God". This l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Healing
With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area and replace it with new living tissue. The replacement can happen in two ways: by ''regeneration'' in which the necrotic cells are replaced by new cells that form "like" tissue as was originally there; or by ''repair'' in which injured tissue is replaced with scar tissue. Most organs will heal using a mixture of both mechanisms. Within surgery, healing is more often referred to as recovery, and postoperative recovery has historically been viewed simply as restitution of function and readiness for discharge. More recently, it has been described as an energy‐requiring process to decrease physical symptoms, reach a level of emotional well‐being, regai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
