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The understanding of the word Kabbalah undergoes a transformation of its meaning in medieval Judaism, in the books which are now primarily referred to as 'the Kabbalah': the Bahir, the Zohar, Etz Hayim etc. [29] In these books the word Kabbalah is used in manifold new senses.
The Zohar (Hebrew: זֹהַר , Zōhar, lit."Splendor" or "Radiance" [a]) is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. [1] 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.
Christian Kabbalists sought to transform Kabbalah into "a dogmatic weapon to turn back against the Jews to compel their conversion – starting with Ramon Llull", whom Harvey J. Hames called "the first Christian to acknowledge and appreciate kabbalah as a tool of conversion", though Llull was not a Kabbalist himself nor versed in Kabbalah. [4]
Medieval Kabbalah depicts a linear descending hierarchy of Ohr "Light", the ten sefirot or divine attributes emerging from concealment in the Ein Sof "Divine Infinity" to enact Creation, with the Four Worlds unfolding sequentially until physical creation. Lurianic Kabbalah, in contrast, describes dynamic processes of exile and redemption in the ...
Sefirot (/ s f ɪ ˈ r oʊ t, ˈ s f ɪr oʊ t /; Hebrew: סְפִירוֹת, romanized: səp̄īrōṯ, plural of Koinē Greek: σφαῖρα, lit. 'sphere' [1]), [2] meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, [3] through which Ein Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut (the chained descent of ...
The word "notarikon" is borrowed from the Greek language (νοταρικόν), and was derived from the Latin word "notarius" meaning "shorthand writer." [2] Notarikon is one of the three methods used by the Kabbalists (the other two are gematria and temurah) to rearrange words and sentences. These methods were used to derive the esoteric ...
Traditionalist Kabbalah and its development in Hasidic Judaism often took negative views of secular wisdoms. While some historical Kabbalists were learned in the canon of medieval Jewish philosophy, and occasionally mathematics and sciences, its relationship to medieval Jewish philosophy (built on Ancient Greek science and cosmology) was ambiguous.
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).