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Ohr (other)
Ohr ( he, אור, ʾor, Light, plural: ''ʾoroṯ'') is a central Kabbalah, Kabbalistic term in Jewish mysticism. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysics, metaphysical divine emanations. Shefa "flow" () and its derivative, hashpoah "influence" ), are sometimes alternatively used in Kabbalah, a term also used in Medieval Jewish philosophy to mean divine influence, while the Kabbalists favour ''Ohr'' because its gematria, numerical value equals , a homonym for ''rāz'' "mystery". It is one of the two main metaphors in Kabbalah for understanding God in Judaism, God, along with the other metaphor of the human soul-body relationship for the sefirot. Light as metaphor The metaphorical description of spiritual divine creative flow, using the term for physical "light" perceived with the eye, arises from analogous similarities. These include the intangible physicality of light, the delight it inspires and the illumination it gives, its apparently immedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keilim
''Keilim ''or ''Kelim'' ( he, כֵּלִים, literally "Vessels") is the first tractate in the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It contains thirty chapters, making it the longest tractate in the entire Mishnah. The Tosefta on Keilim consists of twenty-five chapters,Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: *Z. Frankel, Hodegetica in Mischnam', p. 263, Leipsic, 1859. divided into ''Bava Kama'' ("First Gate"), ''Bava Metzia'' ("Middle Gate"), and ''Bava Batra'' ("Final Gate") of ''Keilim''. The tractate discusses the laws of ritual purity and impurity pertaining to all types of vessels. * Chapter 1 clarifies the ranking of ritual impurities * Chapters 2–10 discuss earthenware vessels ( clay ovens, ranges, etc.) * Chapters 11–14 discuss metal vessels * Chapters 15–19 discuss vessels made of wood, leather, and bone * Chapters 20–25 discuss laws of purity and impurity pertaining to all vessels * Chapters 26–28 discuss laws pertaining to leather and clothing * Chapter 29 discusses t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabbalistic Texts
The primary texts of Kabbalah were allegedly once part of an ongoing oral tradition. The written texts are obscure and difficult for readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish spirituality which assumes extensive knowledge of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Midrash (Jewish hermeneutic tradition) and halakha (Jewish religious law). The Torah For kabbalists, ten utterances in Genesis with which God created the world are linked to the ten sefirot—the divine structure of all being. According to the Zohar and the Sefer ha-Yihud, the Torah is synonymous with God.Kabbalah: New Perspectives, Moshe Idel, Yale University Press, 1988. More specifically, in the Sefer ha-Yihud, the letters in the Torah are the forms of God. The kabbalist looks beyond the literal aspects of the text, to find the hidden mystical meaning. The text not only offers traditions and ways of thinking, but it also reveals the reality of God. One of the first Jewish philosophers, Philo of Alexandria (20BCE-40), said that A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term ''Sifrut Chazal'' ( he, ספרות חז״ל "Literature f oursages," where ''Hazal'' normally refers only to the sages of the Talmudic era). This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmudim, Midrash ( he, מדרש), and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms ''meforshim'' and ''parshanim'' (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts. Mishnaic literature The Midr'she halakha, Mishnah, and Tosefta (compiled from materials pre-dating the year 200 CE) are the earliest e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''''. : ''Tānāḵh''), also known in Hebrew as Miqra (; : ''Mīqrā''), is the canonical collection of script ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations of virtually any text, including not just religious texts but also philosophy, literature, or virtually any other genre of writing. The phrase ''Biblical exegesis'' can be used to distinguish studies of the Bible from other critical textual explanations. Textual criticism investigates the history and origins of the text, but exegesis may include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, text, and original audience. Other analyses include classification of the type of literary genres presented in the text and analysis of grammar, grammatical and syntax, syntactical features in the text itself. Usage One who practices exegesis is called an ''exegete'' (; from the Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seder Hishtalshelut
In Kabbalistic and Hasidic philosophy, ''seder hishtalshelut'' or ''hishtalshelut'' ( he, סדר השתלשלות) refers to the chain-like descent of spiritual worlds ( ''Olam/Olamot'') between God and Creation. Each spiritual world denotes a complete realm of existence, resulting from its general proximity or distance to divine revelation. Each realm is also a form of consciousness reflected in this world through the psychology of the soul. The theosophical tradition in Kabbalah is concerned with defining in great detail the esoteric nature, particular divine manifestations, and functional role of each level between the infinite and the finite. Each spiritual realm embodies a creative stage God continually uses to go from his self to the creation of the physical world, the material Universe being the end of the chain, and the only physical realm. Hasidic thought applies the Kabbalistic scheme to its own concern of perceiving divine omnipresence in this material world. In this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Worlds
The Four Worlds ( he, עולמות ''Olamot'', singular: ''Olam'' עולם), sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence. The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of creative lifeforce from the Ein Sof Divine Infinite, through progressive, innumerable tzimtzumim (concealments/veilings/condensations). As particular sefirot dominate in each realm, so the primordial fifth World, Adam Kadmon, is often excluded for its transcendence, and the four subsequent Worlds are usually referred to. Their names are read out from Isaiah 43:7, "Every one that is called by My name and for ''My glory'', I have ''created'', I have ''formed'', even I have ''made''" each elucidating the names Atziluth ("Emanation/Close"), Beriah ("Creation"), Yetzirah ("Formation"), and Asiyah ("Action"). Below Asiyah, the lowest spiritual World, is ''Asiyah-Gashmi'' ("Physical Asiyah"), our Ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ein Sof
Ein Sof, or Eyn Sof (, he, '; meaning "infinite", ), in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to any self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, probably derived from Solomon ibn Gabirol's ( 1021 – 1070) term, "the Endless One" (''she-en lo tiklah''). ''Ein Sof'' may be translated as "unending", "(there is) no end", or infinity. It was first used by Azriel ( 1160 – 1238), who, sharing the Neoplatonic belief that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by it the negation of any attribute. Of the Ein Sof, nothing (" Ein") can be grasped ("Sof"-limitation). It is the origin of the Ohr Ein Sof, the "Infinite Light" of paradoxical divine self-knowledge, nullified within the Ein Sof prior to creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the first act of creation, the Tzimtzum self "withdrawal" of God to create an "empty space", takes place from there. In Hasidic Judaism, the Tzimtzum is only the illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, giving rise to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divine Transcendence
In religion, transcendence is the aspect of a deity's nature and power that is completely independent of the material universe, beyond all known physical laws. This is contrasted with immanence, where a god is said to be fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways. In religious experience, transcendence is a state of being that has overcome the limitations of physical existence, and by some definitions, has also become independent of it. This is typically manifested in prayer, rituals, meditation, psychedelics and paranormal "visions". It is affirmed in various religious traditions' concept of the divine, which contrasts with the notion of a god (or, the Absolute) that exists exclusively in the physical order (immanentism), or is indistinguishable from it (pantheism). Transcendence can be attributed to the divine not only in its being, but also in its knowledge. Thus, a god may transcend both the universe and knowledge (is beyond the gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divine Immanence
The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, pandeistic, or panentheistic faiths to suggest that the spiritual world permeates the mundane. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world. Major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the relationship between immanence and transcendence but do so in different ways, such as: * casting immanence as a characteristic of a transcendent God (common in Abrahamic religions), * subsuming immanent personal gods in a greater transcendent being (such as with Brahman in Hinduism), or * approaching the question of transcendence as something which can only be answered through an appraisal of immanence. Western Esotericism Another meaning of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tzimtzum
The ''tzimtzum'' or ''tsimtsum'' (Hebrew ' "contraction/constriction/condensation") is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his ''Ohr Ein Sof'' (infinite light) in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist. This primordial initial contraction, forming a ''ḥālāl happānuy'' "vacant space" () into which new creative light could beam, is denoted by general reference to the ''tzimtzum''. In Kabbalistic interpretation, ''tzimtzum'' gives rise to the paradox of simultaneous divine presence and absence within the vacuum and resultant Creation. Function Because the ''tzimtzum'' results in the "empty space" in which spiritual and physical Worlds and ultimately, free will can exist, God is often referred to as " Ha-Makom" ( lit. "the Place", "the Omnipresent") in Rabbinic literature ("He is the Place of the World, but the World is not ... [...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] |
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