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Tzava’at HaRivash
Tzavaat HaRivash (Hebrew: , "Testament of the Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem") is a book of collected teachings from the Baal Shem Tov regarding Divine service, personal refinement, and understanding the Divine. The title of the book is derived from its opening words of the first teaching.Preface to Tzavaat HaRivash for the New Edition, by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet. (Hebrew) The work was not penned by the Baal Shem Tov himself, but rather compiled by his disciples and followers. Teachings Subduing physical desires and the evil inclination The book calls for a high degree of self-mastery. In repeated instances, the Baal Shem Tov urges constant attachment to the Divine and separation from unnecessary physical matters. Even when involved with worldly affairs, one should consider the higher worlds to be his true home and long to return there as soon as the necessary business is finished. Although the book was written for those who still felt attachment to physical desires, it teaches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baal Shem Tov
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 thoughts t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanya (Judaism)
The ''Tanya'' () is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1796. Its formal title is ''Likkutei Amarim'' (, Hebrew language, Hebrew, "collection of statements"), but is more commonly known by its first Hebrew word ''tanya'', which means "it has been taught", where he refers to a baraita section in Niddah (Talmud), "Niddah", at the end of chapter 3, 30b. Tanya is composed of five sections that define Hasidic mystical psychology and theology as a handbook for daily spiritual life in Jewish observance. The ''Tanya'' is the main work of the Chabad philosophy and the Chabad approach to Jewish mysticism, Hasidic mysticism, as it defines its general interpretation and method. The subsequent extensive library of the Chabad school, authored by successive leaders, builds upon the approach of the Tanya. Chabad differed from "Mainstream Hasidism" in its search for philosophical investigation and intellectu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil
In Judaism and Christianity, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ( he, עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, ʿêṣ had-daʿaṯ ṭōḇ wā-rāʿ, label=Tiberian Hebrew, ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life. Alternatively, some scholars have argued that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is just another name for the tree of life. In Genesis Narrative Genesis 2 narrates that God places the man in a garden with trees of whose fruits he may eat, but forbids him to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God formed woman after this command was given. In Genesis 3, a serpent persuades the woman to eat from its forbidden fruit and she also lets the man taste it. Consequently, God expels them from the garden. Meaning of ''good and evil'' The phrase in Hebrew, () literally translates as "good and evil". This may be an example of the type of figure of speech known as meris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tefillah'' among German Jews, and ''tiklāl'' () among Yemenite Jews. History The earliest parts of Jewish prayer books are the ''Shema Yisrael'' ("Hear O Israel") ( Deuteronomy 6:4 ''et seq'') and the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' or the '' Amidah'' (Hebrew, "standing rayer), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra, at the end of the biblical period. The name ''Shemoneh Esreh'', literally "eighteen", is a historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, (), meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music". The book is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many are linked to the name of David, but modern mainstream scholarship rejects his authorship, instead attributing the composition of the psalms to various authors writing between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. In the Quran, the Arabic word ‘Zabur’ is used for the Psalms of David in the Hebrew Bible. Structure Benedictions The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections, each closing with a doxology (i.e., a benediction). These divisions were probably intro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schneur Zalman Of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Lyady, Vitebsk Region, Liadi in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Lithuania Governorate, Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for ''Shulchan Aruch HaRav'', ''Tanya (Judaism), Tanya'', and his ''Siddur Torah Or'' compiled according to the ''Nusach Ari''. Zalman (name), Zalman is a Yiddish variant of Solomon and Shneur (or Shne'or) is a Yiddish composite of the two Hebrew words "shnei ohr" (שני אור "two lights"). Zalman of Liady is also known as "Shneur Zalman Baruchovitch," Baruchovitch being the Russian patronymic from his father Baruch, and by a variety of other t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggid Of Mezritch
Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch ( yi, דֹּב בֶּער מִמֶּזְרִיטְשְׁ; died December 1772 OS), also known as the ''Maggid of Mezeritch'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and was chosen as his successor to lead the early movement. Dov Ber is regarded as the first systematic exponent of the mystical philosophy underlying the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, and through his teaching and leadership, the main architect of the movement.see Kaufmann Kohler & Louis Ginzberg"Baer (Dov) of Meseritz" ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', retrieved May 20, 2006 He established his base in Mezhirichi (in Volhynia), which moved the centre of Hasidism from Medzhybizh (in Podolia), where he focused his attention on raising a close circle of disciples to spread the movement. After his death the third generation of leadership took their different interpretations and disseminated across appointed regions of Eastern Europe, rapidly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved throughout history as the main liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. Hebrew is the only Canaanite language still spoken today, and serves as the only truly successful example of a dead language that has been revived. It is also one of only two Northwest Semitic languages still in use, with the other being Aramaic. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as '' Lashon Hakodesh'' (, ) since an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with many elements taken from Hebrew (notably Mishnaic) and to some extent Aramaic. Most varieties of Yiddish include elements of Slavic languages and the vocabulary contains traces of Romance languages.Aram Yardumian"A Tale of Two Hypotheses: Genetics and the Ethnogenesis of Ashkenazi Jewry".University of Pennsylvania. 2013. Yiddish is primarily written in the Hebrew alphabet. Prior to World War II, its worldwide peak was 11 million, with the number of speakers in the United States and Canada then totaling 150,000. Eighty-five percent of the approximately six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust were Yiddish speakers,Solomon Birnbaum, ''Grammatik der jiddischen Sprache'' (4., erg. Aufl., Hambu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggid Of Mezeritch
Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch ( yi, דֹּב בֶּער מִמֶּזְרִיטְשְׁ; died December 1772 OS), also known as the ''Maggid of Mezeritch'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and was chosen as his successor to lead the early movement. Dov Ber is regarded as the first systematic exponent of the mystical philosophy underlying the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, and through his teaching and leadership, the main architect of the movement.see Kaufmann Kohler & Louis Ginzberg"Baer (Dov) of Meseritz" ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', retrieved May 20, 2006 He established his base in Mezhirichi (in Volhynia), which moved the centre of Hasidism from Medzhybizh (in Podolia), where he focused his attention on raising a close circle of disciples to spread the movement. After his death the third generation of leadership took their different interpretations and disseminated across appointed regions of Eastern Europe, rapidly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasidic Literature
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 heavily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Mystical Texts
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The people of the Kingdom of Israel and the ethnic and religious group known as the Jewish people that descended from them have been subjected to a number of forced migrations in their history" and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, "Historically, the religious and ethnic dimensions of Jewish identity have been closely interwoven. In fact, so closely bound are they, that the traditional Jewish lexicon hardly distinguishes between the two concepts. Jewish religious practice, by definition, was observed exclusively by the Jewish people, and notions of Jewish peoplehood, nation, and community were suffused with faith in the Jewish God, the practice of Jewish (religious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
