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Tzimtzum
The ''tzimtzum'' or ''tsimtsum'' () is a term used in Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by limiting the Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light) of the Godhead in order to allow for a conceptual space in which the Four Worlds, or finite realms, could exist. This primordial initial contraction, forming a "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. Various approaches exist as to how the paradox may be resolved, and as to the nature of ''tzimtzum'' itself. Function Because the tzimtzum results in the space in which the 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. ''Olam'', the Hebrew t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lurianic Kabbalah
Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of Kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlier Kabbalah of the Zohar that had disseminated in Medieval circles. Lurianic Kabbalah describes new doctrines of the origins of Creation, and the concepts of Olam HaTohu (Hebrew: עולם התהו "The World of Tohu-Chaos") and Olam HaTikun (Hebrew: עולם התיקון "The World of Tikun-Rectification"), which represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. These concepts derive from Isaac Luria's interpretation of and mythical speculations on references in the Zohar.The Development of Kabbalah in Three Stages from inner.org: 1 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Worlds
The Four Worlds ( ''ʿOlāmot'', singular: ''ʿOlām'' ), sometimes counted with a primordial world, Adam Kadmon, and called the Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in a descending chain of existence. The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of creative lifeforce from the Ein Sof or Godhead through progressive, innumerable tzimtzumim or concealments. Kabbalists identified the names of these worlds from Isaiah 43:7, "All who are linked to My name, Whom I have ''created'', ''Formed'', and ''made'' for ''My glory'' ()". The names are thus Beri'ah "Creation," Yetzirah "Formation," Assiah "Action," and Atziluth "Emanation." Below Assiah, the lowest spiritual world, is the ''Assiah gashmi'' "Physical Assiah," the physical universe, which enclothes the last two sefirot, Yesod and Malkuth. Collectively, the Four Worlds are referred to as Aviyaʿ after their initial letters. In addition to the functional role each world has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ... theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheism, monotheistic, Pantheism, pantheistic, Pandeism, pandeistic, or Panentheism, panentheistic faiths to suggest that the spirituality, spiritual world permeates the Wikt:mundane, mundane. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence (religion), transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the physical world, material world. Major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the relationship between immanence and transcendence but do so in different ways, su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tohu And Tikun
The World of Chaos () and The World of Rectification () are two general stages in Jewish Kabbalah in the order of descending spiritual worlds known as "the Four Worlds". In subsequent creations, they also represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. Their concepts derive from the new scheme of Lurianic Kabbalah by Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, based on his interpretation of classic references in the Zohar. The implications of tohu and tiqqun underlie the origin of free will and the evil realm of the qlippoth caused by the "Shattering of the Vessels" (), the processes of spiritual and physical exile and redemption, the meaning of the 613 commandments, and the messianic rectification of existence. Tikkun also means the esoteric sifting or clarification () of concealed divine sparks () exiled in physical creation. This new paradigm in Kabbalah replaced the previous linear description of descent by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partzufim
''Partzufim'' or ''Partsufim'' (, singular ''partzuf'', , from Greek: πρόσωπον ''prósopon'' "face" or "mask"), are "countenances" or "personas" of God described in the '' Zohar''. The '' Idra Rabba'' describes a divine being composed of three partzufim: Arikh Anpin, the “Long-Faced One” or “Slow to Anger”; Zʿeir Anpin, the “Small-Faced One” or “Short-Tempered”; and Nukva, the feminine aspect of the Divine. Although one can observe expression of certain sefirot in the partzufim, the Idra Rabba makes no attempt to bring these two paradigms into alignment. The ''Idra Zuta'' describes five partzufim, the aforementioned three and two additional ones Abba (Father) and Imma (Mother), forming an “inner” divine “family” within the Godhead. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the partzufim are reconfigured arrangements of the ten sefirot, the divine attributes or emanations. Each partzuf is thus a configuration of disparate entities into a harmonious unit. Their full ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Or Adonai
Or Adonai (Hebrew: אור אֲדֹנָי), The Light of the Lord, is the primary work of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (c. 1340 - 1410/1411), a Jewish philosopher. As some Jews prefer to not use even the respectful title ''Adonai'' (Lord) other than in prayer (see names of God in Judaism), the book is sometimes called Or Hashem (אור השם) in verbal usage to avoid mentioning even this title of God directly. A partial translation of Crescas was produced by Harry Austryn Wolfson of Harvard University in 1929. Purpose of the work In the early medieval era there had been a tendency for some Jewish religious rationalists to reinterpret classical Jewish theology in the light of then-current philosophy, specifically neo-Aristotelian rationalism. This was the program of Jewish rationalist philosophers such as Saadia Gaon, Maimonides (who was influenced by Ibn Sina aka Avicenna), and Gersonides (who was influenced by Ibn Roshd, aka Averroes). In the view of Crescas, this point of view often l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quiddity
In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" (; Latin: ''quidditas'') was another term for the essence of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is". Etymology The term "quiddity" derives from the Latin word ''quidditas'', which was used by the medieval scholastics as a literal translation of the equivalent term in Aristotle's Greek ''to ti ên einai'' (τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι)Aristotle, ''Metaphysics'', 1029b. or "the what it was to be (a given thing)". Overview Quiddity describes properties that a particular substance (e.g. a person) shares with others of its kind. The question "what (quid) is it?" asks for a general description by way of commonality. This is quiddity or "whatness" (i.e., its "what it is"). Quiddity was often contrasted by the scholastic philosophers with the haecceity or "thisness" of an item, which was supposed to be a positive characteristic of an individual that caused it to be ''this'' individual, and no other. It is used in this sense in British poe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maimonide
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. He was born on Passover eve 1138 or 1135, and lived in Córdoba in al-Andalus (now in Spain) within the Almoravid Empire until his family was expelled for refusing to convert to Islam. Later, he lived in Morocco and Egypt and worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher. During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen. Yet, while Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, his writings also had vociferous critics, particularly in Spain. He died in Fustat, Egypt, and, according to Jewish traditio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" . ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot'') is an expansive Judaism, Jewish Bible, Biblical exegesis using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud. The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or "exegesis", derived from the root verb (), which means "resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require". Midrash and rabbinic readings "discern value in texts, words, and letters, as potential revelatory spaces", writes the Hebrew scholar Wilda Gafney. "They reimagine dominant narratival readings while crafting new ones to stand alongside—not replace—former readings. Midrash also asks questions of the text; sometimes it provides answers, sometimes it leaves the reader to answer the questions". Vanessa Lovelace defines midrash as "a Jewish mode of int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () or the Five Books of Moses. In Rabbinical Jewish tradition it is also known as the Written Torah (, ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll ( '' Sefer Torah''). If in bound book form, it is called '' Chumash'', and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (). In rabbinic literature, the word ''Torah'' denotes both the five books ( "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah (, "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. Rabbinic tradition's underst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah 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 authors and/or contains a small amount of genuinely antique novel mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
