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Godhead In Judaism
Godhead refers to the aspect or substratum of God that lies behind God's actions or properties (i.e., it is the essence of God), and its nature has been the subject of long debate in every major religion. Terminology The closest corresponding term in the classical and modern languages of Jewish scholarship is אלוהות (''elohút''), meaning deity (essential nature of a god) or divinity. Max Kadushin notes that "The plural 'Elohim, gods, must not be confused with 'Elohut, Godhead. The latter is used with reference to God".Kadushin, M. ''The rabbinic mind'' (2001) p. 199. Conceptions Neoplatonic The leading Jewish Neoplatonic writer was Solomon ibn Gabirol. In his ''Fons Vitae'', Gabirol's position is that everything that exists may be reduced to three categories: the first substance (God), matter and form (the world), with the will as intermediary. Gabirol derives matter and form from absolute being. In the Godhead he seems to differentiate ''essentia'' (being) from ''propriet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essence
Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity or substance has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates rigorously with Aristotle (although it can also be found in Plato), who used the Greek expression ''to ti ên einai'' (τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι, literally meaning "the what it was to be" and corresponding to the scholastic term quiddity) or sometimes the shorter phrase ''to ti esti'' (τὸ τί ἐστι, literally meaning "the what it is" and corresponding to the scholastic term haecceity) for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for its Latin translators that they coined the word ''essentia'' (English "essence") to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azriel (Jewish Mystic)
Azriel ibn Menahem ibn Ibrahim al-Tarās (Arabic: عزريل بن مناحيم بن ابراهيم التاراس ''Azrēyl bin Mināḥīm ben Ibrāhim āl-Tārās''; Hebrew: עזריאל בן מנחם בן אברהם אלתראס ''ʿÁzrīyʾēl ben Mənáḥēm ben ʾAḇrāhām al-Taras''; – ) also known as Azriel of Gerona was the founder of speculative Kabbalah and the Gironian Kabbalist school. He is known for implementing Neoplatonic thought into mainstream kabbalistic tradition. Biography Azriel ibn Menahem ibn Ibrahim al-Tarās was born around 1160 in Girona, Catalonia to the al-Taras family. His father Menahem was a minor rabbi in Girona. In his early years, Azriel moved to southern France, where he studied under Isaac the Blind. Azriel later travelled across Spain, preaching his kabbalistic views, however this proved to be unsuccessful, with Azriel later stating that "''the philosophers believe in nothing that can not be demonstrated logically''." He later return ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Broydé
Isaac David Broydé (23 February 1867, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire – 15 April 1922, New York City) was an Orientalist and librarian. Life He was born in Porozowo, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus). After attending the gymnasium at Grodno, he went in 1883 to Paris. There he studied at the Sorbonne, receiving his diploma from the École des Langues Orientales in 1892, and from the École des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Historiques et Philologiques, in 1894. From 1890 to 1895 he was secretary to Joseph Derenbourg, and on the death of the latter, in 1895, was appointed by the publication committee of the Alliance Israélite Universelle one of the collaborators to continue the publication of Saadia's works, which Derenbourg had commenced. In 1895 Broydé was appointed librarian to the Alliance Israélite Universelle, which position he resigned in 1900. He then went to London, and during his short stay there catalogued the li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Names Of God In Judaism
Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is the formulation of Joseph Karo (SA YD 276:9). Maimonides (MT Yesodei haTorah 6:2), Jacob b. Asher (AT YD 276), and Isaac Alfasi (HK Menachot 3b) also included Ehyeh, as do many later authorities, including Moses Isserles (SA YD 276:9). The original lists are found in y. Megillah 1:9 and b. Shavuot 35a, with some MSS agreeing with each authority. Maimonides and followers give the number of names as seven; however, manuscript inconsistency makes it difficult to judge which are included. Early authorities considered other Hebrew names mere epithets or descriptions of God and wrote that they and names in other languages may be written and erased freely. However, some moderns advise special care even in these cases, and many Orthodox Jews have a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
God In Judaism
God in Judaism has been conceived in a variety of ways. Traditionally, Judaism holds that Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the national god of the Israelites, delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah. Jews traditionally believe in a monotheistic conception of God (God is only one), which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the material universe). God is conceived as unique and perfect, free from all faults, deficiencies, and defects, and further held to be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and completely infinite in all of his attributes, who has no partner or equal, being the sole creator of everything in existence. In Judaism, God is never portrayed in any image. The Torah specifically forbade ascribing partners to share his singular sovereignty, as he is considered to be the absolute one without a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godhead (Christianity)
Godhead (or ''godhood'') refers to the essence or substance (''ousia'') of the Christian God, especially as existing in three persons — God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. at dictionary.com. Retrieved 29 November 2022. Appearance in English Bibles introduced the term ''godhede'' into English versions in two places, and, though somewhat archaic, the term survives in modern English because of its use in three places of the[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses Cordovero
Moses Cordovero was a physician who lived at Leghorn (Livorno), Tuscany in the seventeenth century. David Conforte David Conforte (c. 1618 – c. 1685) () was a Hebrew literary historian born in Salonica, author of the literary chronicle known by the title ''Ḳore ha-Dorot.'' Biography Conforte came of a family of scholars. His early instructors were rabbis H ... praises him as a good physician, and also on account of his scholarship and philanthropy. He was always eager to secure the release of prisoners through his personal influence as well as by ransom. Cordovero died at an advanced age. References Jewish philanthropists 17th-century Italian physicians 17th-century Jewish physicians Livornese Jews Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{Judaism-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (meaning "The Lion"), "Ha'ARI Hakadosh" (the holy ARI) or "ARIZaL" (the ARI, of Blessed Memory ( Zikhrono Livrakha)), was a leading rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Syria, now Israel/Palestine 1948. He is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah, his teachings being referred to as Lurianic Kabbalah. While his direct literary contribution to the Kabbalistic school of Safed was extremely minute (he wrote only a few poems), his spiritual fame led to their veneration and the acceptance of his authority. The works of his disciples compiled his oral teachings into writing. Every custom of Luria was scrutinized, and many were accepted, even against previous practice. Luria died at Safed, Damascu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The ''Zohar'' contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God". The ''Zohar'' was first publicized by Moses de León (c. 1240 – 1305 CE), who claimed it was a Tannaitic work recording the teachings of Simeon ben Yochai (). This claim is universally rejected by modern scholars, most of whom believe de León, also an infamous forger of Geonic material, wrote the book himself between 1280 and 1286. Some scholars argue that the ''Zohar'' is the work of multiple medieval author ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menahem Recanati
Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati ( he, מנחם בן בנימין ריקנטי; 1223–1290) was an Italian rabbi who was born and died in the city of Recanati, who devoted the chief part of his writings to the Kabbalah. Works In addition to the halachic rulings collected in Piskei Recanati (his only halachic work), Recanati wrote a cabalistic commentary on the Torah, a commentary on the siddur, and discussions of the commandments. Piskei Recanati was first published in Bologna, 1538, and was published several times thereafter. * ''Perush 'Al ha-Torah'' (Venice, 1523), a work full of mystical deductions and meanings based upon a textual interpretation of the Bible; it describes many visions and celestial revelations claimed to have been experienced by the author, who was influenced by cabalistic ideas, and expresses the highest respect for all cabalistical authors, even the most recent apocryphal ones. The work was republished with a commentary by Mordecai Jaffe, at Lublin in 1595 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefer Yetzirah
''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is the title of a book on Jewish mysticism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. ''Yetzirah'' is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word ''Briah'' is used for "Creation". The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing how the things of our universe came into existence. Conversely, Judah Halevi asserts that the main objective of the book, with its various examples, is to give to man the means by which he is able to understand the unity and omnipotence of God, which are multiform on one side and, yet, uniform on the other. The famous opening words of the book are as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms (''Seder hishtalshelus''). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as ''sephirot/sephiroth'', singular ''sefirah/sephirah'', etc. Alternative configurations of the sefirot are interpreted by various schools in the historical evolution of Kabbalah, with each articulating differing spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', "Ten sefirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven". As altogether 11 sefirot are listed across the various schemes, two (Keter and Da'at) are seen as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the same principle, conserving the 10 categories. The sefirot are described as channels of divine creative life for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
