Download or read book The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah written by Elliot Kiba Ginsburg and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1989-01-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a critical study of the mystical celebration of Sabbath in the classical period of Kabbalah, from the late twelfth to the early sixteenth centuries. The Kabbalists' re-reading of the earlier Jewish tradition has been called a model of "mythopoeic revision," a revision rooted in a world-view that stressed the interrelation of all worlds and levels of being. This is the first work, in any language, to systematically collect and analyze all the major innovations in praxis and theology that classical Kabbalah effected upon the development of the Rabbinic Sabbath, one of the most central areas of Jewish religious practice. The author analyzes the historical development of the Kabbalistic Sabbath, constructs a theoretical framework for the interpretation of its dense myth-ritual structure, and provides a phenomenology of key myths and rituals. It is one of the first Kabbalistic studies to integrate traditional textual-historical scholarship with newer methods employed in the study of religion and symbolic anthropology.
Download or read book Kabbalah on the Sabbath written by Yehuda Berg and published by Kabbalah Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this concise but powerful book, noted scholar and teacher Yehuda Berg describes all of the basic elements involved in the Sabbath, as practiced by students of Kabbalah, and explains the reasons behind each one. In Kabbalah, the period between Friday sunset and Saturday sunset is very different from, and more important than, any of the other days of the week. Kabbalists believe that the Sabbath is the only day when the spiritual and physical worlds are united, making it the most powerful day. The Light force flows continually, giving the opportunity to refuel energy and rejuvenate the soul for the coming week. But, according to Kabbalah, the day is not one of rest, nor is it about worship; it’s about making a connection, which takes spiritual work. This book clearly explains how to make that connection.
Download or read book The Universal Kabbalah written by Leonora Leet and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-09-29 with total page 1402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a new understanding of the laws of cosmic manifestation through the sacred geometry of the Sabbath Star diagram • Explores three higher levels of consciousness above the four worlds of the classical Kabbalah • Reveals the mathematical code of the laws of all cosmic manifestation This landmark work by an innovative modern Kabbalist develops a scientific model for kabbalistic cosmology and soul psychology derived from the kabbalistic diagram of the Tree of Life and the author's own Sabbath Star diagram--a configuration of seven Star of David hexagrams. This geometric model begins with the four worlds of the classical Kabbalah, which bring us to the present time and birthright level of the soul, and is then expanded to three higher enclosing worlds or levels of evolving consciousness. The Sabbath Star diagram therefore accommodates both the emanationist cosmology of the earlier Zoharic Kabbalah and the future orientation of the later Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. The hexagram elements that construct each expansion of the Sabbath Star diagram configure the cosmic stages of each of its “worlds.” The matrix that is produced by these construction elements configures the level of the multi-dimensional soul that is correlated with each cosmic world. In its final stage, this model unites the finite and infinite halves of the Sabbatical world in a way that exemplifies the secret doctrine of the Kabbalah. Not only does this work offer a new, inclusive model for the Kabbalah but it also provides a basis for complexity theory, with its final extrapolation to infinity. The universality of this model is further shown by its applicability to such other domains as physics, sociology, linguistics, and human history. This universal model encodes the laws of all cosmic manifestation in terms that are particularly coherent with the formulations of the Kabbalah, giving a mathematical basis to many aspects of this mystical tradition and providing a new synthesis of science and spirituality for our time that may well write a new chapter to the Kabbalah.
Download or read book The Origins of Jewish Mysticism written by Peter Schäfer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-24 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The Origins of Jewish Mysticism' offers an in-depth look at the history of Jewish mysticism from the book of Ezekiel to the Merkavah mysticism of late antiquity. The author reveals what these writings seek to tell us about the age-old human desire to get close to and communicate with God.
Download or read book The Poetry of Kabbalah written by Peter Cole and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-10 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduces renderings of, and commentary on, Kabbalistic verse that emerged directly from Jewish mysticism and that reveals the foundations of both language and existence itself.
Download or read book People of the Book written by Jeffrey Rubin-Dorsky and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors are highly productive and respected Jewish-American scholars, critics, and teachers from departments of English, history, American studies, Romance literature, Slavic studies, art, women's studies, comparative literature, anthropology, Judaic studies, and philosophy.
Download or read book Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life written by Lawrence Fine and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this thoughtful and lucid exploration of the Jewish mystical tradition, leading scholars and teachers come together to share their favorite texts-many available in English for the first time-and explore why these materials are meaningful and relevant to contemporary life.
Download or read book Kabbalistic Revolution written by Hartley Lachter and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2014-11-01 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The set of Jewish mystical teachings known as Kabbalah are often imagined as timeless texts, teachings that have been passed down through the millennia. Yet, as this groundbreaking new study shows, Kabbalah flourished in a specific time and place, emerging in response to the social prejudices that Jews faced. Hartley Lachter, a scholar of religion studies, transports us to medieval Spain, a place where anti-Semitic propaganda was on the rise and Jewish political power was on the wane. Kabbalistic Revolution proposes that, given this context, Kabbalah must be understood as a radically empowering political discourse. While the era’s Christian preachers claimed that Jews were blind to the true meaning of scripture and had been abandoned by God, the Kabbalists countered with a doctrine that granted Jews a uniquely privileged relationship with God. Lachter demonstrates how Kabbalah envisioned this increasingly marginalized group at the center of the universe, their mystical practices serving to maintain the harmony of the divine world. For students of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalistic Revolution provides a new approach to the development of medieval Kabbalah. Yet the book’s central questions should appeal to anyone with an interest in the relationships between religious discourses, political struggles, and ethnic pride.
Download or read book Path of the Kabbalah written by David Sheinkin and published by International Religious Foundation, Incorporated. This book was released on 1986 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book On the Wings of Shekhinah written by Rabbi Leah Novick and published by Quest Books. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One effect of rising interest in the Kabbalah is a renewed focus on the Shekhinah, Judaism's divine feminine principle. Written with warmth and clarity, On the Wings of Shekhinah interweaves historical views of this concept with thoughtful quotes and guided meditations. Rabbi Leah Novick offers healing strategies for both Jews and non-Jews disaffected by rigid gender roles. Awareness of the Shekhinah’s energy within and around us helps bring hope to a planet afflicted by war, violence, and environmental abuse — this book shows how to find and use that energy.
Download or read book People of the Body written by Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By shifting attention from the image of Jews as a textual community to the ways Jews understand and manage their bodies — for example, to their concerns with reproduction and sexuality, menstruation and childbirth— this volume contributes to a revisioning of what Jews and Judaism are and have been. The project of re-membering the Jewish body has both historical and constructive motivations. As a constructive project, this book describes, renews, and participates in the complex and ongoing modern discussion about the nature of Jewish bodies and the place of bodies in Judaism.
Download or read book Folktales of the Jews V 3 Tales from Arab Lands written by Dan Ben Amos and published by Jewish Publication Society. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 873 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to these generous donors for making the publication of the books in this series possible: Lloyd E. Cotsen; The Maurice Amado Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture Tales from Arab Lands presents tales from North Africa, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq in the latest volume of the most important collection of Jewish folktales ever published. This is the third book in the multi-volume series in the tradition of Louis Ginzberg?s timeless classic, Legends of the Jews. The tales here and the others in this series have been selected from the Israel Folktale Archives (IFA), named in Honor of Dov Noy, at The University of Haifa, a treasure house of Jewish lore that has remained largely unavailable to the entire world until now. Since the creation of the State of Israel, the IFA has collected more than 20,000 tales from newly arrived immigrants, long-lost stories shared by their families from around the world. The tales come from the major ethno-linguistic communities of the Jewish world and are representative of a wide variety of subjects and motifs, especially rich in Jewish content and context. Each of the tales is accompanied by in-depth commentary that explains the tale's cultural, historical, and literary background and its similarity to other tales in the IFA collection, and extensive scholarly notes. There is also an introduction that describes the culture and its folk narrative tradition, a world map of the areas covered, illustrations, biographies of the collectors and narrators, tale type and motif indexes, a subject index, and a comprehensive bibliography. Until the establishment of the IFA, we had had only limited access to the wide range of Jewish folk narratives. Even in Israel, the gathering place of the most wide-ranging cross-section of world Jewry, these folktales have remained largely unknown. Many of the communities no longer exist as cohesive societies in their representative lands; the Holocaust, migration, and changes in living styles have made the continuation of these tales impossible. This series is a monument to a rich but vanishing oral tradition. This series is a monument to a rich but vanishing oral tradition.
Download or read book The Kabbalistic Culture of Eighteenth Century Prague written by Sharon Flatto and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2015-09-03 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharon Flatto's comprehensive study offers the first systematic overview of the eighteenth-century Jewish community of Prague and the first critical account of the life and thought of its pre-eminent rabbinic authority, Ezekiel Landau. Her detailed analysis, firmly rooted in the historical and cultural context of the period, challenges the conventional portrayal of Landau as a staunch opponent of esoteric practices and reveals the centrality of kabbalistic thought in this key central European city.
Download or read book Resplendent Synagogue written by Thomas C. Hubka and published by Brandeis University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-02 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A provocative interpretation of the art and architecture of a pre-modern wooden synagogue. Thomas C. Hubka immersed himself in medieval and early-modern Jewish history, religion, and culture to prepare for this remarkable study of the 18th-century Polish wooden synagogue in the town of Gwoździec, now in present Ukraine"--
Download or read book Through a Speculum That Shines written by Elliot R. Wolfson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive treatment of visionary experience in some of the main texts of Jewish mysticism, this book reveals the overwhelmingly visual nature of religious experience in Jewish spirituality from antiquity through the late Middle Ages. Using phenomenological and critical historical tools, Wolfson examines Jewish mystical texts from late antiquity, pre-kabbalistic sources from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, and twelfth- and thirteenth-century kabbalistic literature. His work demonstrates that the sense of sight assumes an epistemic priority in these writings, reflecting and building upon those scriptural passages that affirm the visual nature of revelatory experience. Moreover, the author reveals an androcentric eroticism in the scopic mentality of Jewish mystics, which placed the externalized and representable form, the phallus, at the center of the visual encounter. In the visionary experience, as Wolfson describes it, imagination serves a primary function, transmuting sensory data and rational concepts into symbols of those things beyond sense and reason. In this view, the experience of a vision is inseparable from the process of interpretation. Fundamentally challenging the conventional distinction between experience and exegesis, revelation and interpretation, Wolfson argues that for the mystics themselves, the study of texts occasioned a visual experience of the divine located in the imagination of the mystical interpreter. Thus he shows how Jewish mystics preserved the invisible transcendence of God without doing away with the visual dimension of belief.
Download or read book The Art of Mystical Narrative written by Eitan P. Fishbane and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-22 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the study of Judaism, the Zohar has captivated the minds of interpreters for over seven centuries, and continues to entrance readers in contemporary times. Yet despite these centuries of study, very little attention has been devoted to the literary dimensions of the text, or to formal appreciation of its status as one of the great works of religious literature. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a critical approach to the zoharic story, seeking to explore the interplay between fictional discourse and mystical exegesis. Eitan Fishbane argues that the narrative must be understood first and foremost as a work of the fictional imagination, a representation of a world and reality invented by the thirteenth-century authors of the text. He claims that the text functions as a kind of dramatic literature, one in which the power of revealing mystical secrets is demonstrated and performed for the reading audience. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a fresh, interdisciplinary perspective on the Zohar and on the intersections of literary and religious studies.
Download or read book Peering Through the Lattices written by Ephraim Kanarfogel and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ephraim Kanarfogel now challenges this conventional view of the tosafists, showing that many individuals were influenced by ascetic and pietistic practices and were involved with mystical and magical doctrines. He traces the presence of these disciplines in the pre-Crusade period, shows how they are intertwined, and suggests that the widely available Hekhalot literature was an important conduit for this material."--BOOK JACKET.
