uesday, July 1, 2008
Sin, Safed and Lurianic Kabbalah.
Lawrence Fine’s Physician of the Soul Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship is a sociological analysis of Isaac Luria (1534-72), the central figure of sixteenth century Kabbalah, and the circle that surrounded him. Fine is not particularly interested in the theology of Luria per se, that ground having already been thoroughly covered by Gershom Scholem. Instead Fine approaches Luria from the perspective of Luria’s distinct practices. Fine is less interested in Luria theology of exile and redemption than the sort of rituals that Luria and his followers engaged in order to bring about redemption. This sort of prax based approach is important when dealing with the Jewish History. Judaism is a highly prax based religion; everything has to make itself relevant in terms of ritual practice, halacha. Any discussion of Judaism that remains solely in the theoretical realm of theology is missing something. Fine is following Moshe Idel’s criticism of Scholem’ treatment of Kabbalah, as primarily a theology and as something separate from rabbinic Judaism. Fine’s treatment of Luria keeps him within the framework of rabbinic Judaism and of halacha.
What I found most interesting about this book was Fine’s discussion of the penances that Luria proscribed for various sins. Figuring prominently within the list of sins, we have from his student, Hayyim Vital, are drinking gentile wine, committing sins which require one of the four types of capital punishment, sexual relations with a menstruant, relations with an animal, sleeping with gentile women, adultery, sodomy and masturbation. According to Vital, he learned of Luria’s proscribed penance for homosexuality from three people who actually carried it out. Luria’s remedy was that a person should fast for 233 days, which is the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word regel, foot. This denotes the part of the Ze’ir that the sin displaced the saphira of Yesod into
The fact that such emphasis was placed on how to repent from sexual transgressions raises some questions as to nature of the people living in Safed in the sixteenth century. If you read Haredi “history” books, all you will hear about sixteenth century Safed is that it was a holy city, full of holy people. In truth Safed was a much more interesting and dynamic place. Clearly the city contained people who had a lot more weighing on their consciousness then missing morning prayers every once in awhile. For one thing many of the people, who migrated to Safed, were ex-conversos, who had lived as Christians for significant parts of their lives. Many of them had left behind non Jewish wives and children. To say nothing of the sins that people committed while living in Safed. Safed was not Lakewood or the Mir; it was an openly dysfunctional place and that was the point of it.
This sinful side of Safed is important for understanding the community and Luria. More than any other movement within traditional Judaism, Lurianic Kabbalah confronted the reality of sin in this world. The goal of Lurianic Kabbalah was to bring about the redemption of the world by redeeming the divine sparks that trapped by the forces of darkness, which in the terminology of Lurianic Kabbalah is referred to as the qelippot, the shells. It is not enough to simply remove oneself from the world and be holy; one has to confront the forces of sin. In effect one tries to redeem even sin. This is not the theology of people convinced of their utter righteousness; this is the theology of people confronting their own sinfulness. Posted by Izgad at 11:00 AM
Posted by Izgad at 11:00 AM
Labels: books, Gershom Scholem, Haredim, Hayyim Vital, history, Isaac Luria, Judaism, Kabbalah, Lawrence Fine, Moshe Idel, Physician of the Soul, Safed, Sin
Many people are making predictions about the year 2012. Some say the end of the world is coming. Some say the planet will undergo a transformation or humanity will experience a change in consciousness. Still others say that whatever you believe will happen on December 21, 2012, is exactly what you will experience at that time in history.
Why all the talk about 2012? That’s year on the Gregorian calendar when the Mayan calendar abruptly ends. Why the calendar stops — or restarts —on December 21, 2012 no one really knows, although lots of people have theories. However, the idea that humanity or the world at large is about to undergo some sort of transformation does not represent a new idea. For instance, the ancient Jewish mystics predict a change as well, but the world transformation they see coming doesn’t happen for another 231 years. That said, it’s already in its beginning stages.
The Jewish mystics, or Kabbalists say that according to the Jewish calendar, the world’s spiritual evolution can be likened to the seven days of the week. They equate the year 6,000 to the end of the sixth work day of the cosmic week and predict that that year marks the time when the world will enter Shabbat HaGadol, or the Big Sabbath, when 1,000 years of sacred time and space begin.
Currently the Jewish calendar has us at the year 5769. The Kabbalists would say, therefore, that it’s about 12:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, a time when Jews begin preparing in earnest for the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Friday evening.
So, what does that mean for us? It means we must now begin preparing for the approaching transformative era. And when it arrives, we will experience “The World to Come,” a time likened to what other traditions have called “Heaven on Earth” or “Peace on Earth.”
The Kabbalists were clear that we should prepare for the coming era by changing our consciousness from a selfish one to a selfless one. To help prepare for 2012 — or the Jewish year 6,000 — we want to develop a higher consciousness that wants to receive not for our own sake but for the sake of giving to others.
The fundamental idea behind this constitutes a spiritual one. We want to learn to reconnect with God by behaving “like” God. The Kabbalists say God created the world to give us Divine gifts. If we focus our attention on giving, we can become givers as well. This removes the separation we normally believe exists between us and God — between Giver and receiver. When that separation is removed, we feel connected to God, which generates an overwhelming sense of peace. Of course, we were created as receivers of God’s goodness, so we still want to receive — we just want to do so with the intention of giving, or sharing, what we receive with others.
Change starts a little bit at a time. When we change our consciousness, it has a ripple affect on the world around us. If we begin preparing for the year 2012 or 6,000 now, who knows, maybe we will simply create the predicted change rather than that change happening to us. In either case, we are sure to improve our individual lives and make the world a better place to live.
Nina Amir (namir@purespiritcreations.com)
15383 Stetson Road
Los Gatos, CA 95033
Phone : 408-353-1943 From
Что ощущает умерший человек ?
Сегодня мы говорим о двух формах восприятия мира .
* через оболочку из наших пяти органов чувств , служащих экраном для восприятия драмы своей жизни
*вне рисунка тела в ограниченного пятью органами чувств , а ощущение себя в своей душе включённым в общую систему душ
А потерявший ощущение себя в животном теле ( покойник ) , продолжает ощущать своё существование в душе , если он достаточно развил её для этого , за время нахождения в теле . А не развивший свою душу ( труп) , возвращается на своё место в общей душе в виде точки без ощущения своего существования и затем повторяет жизнь в животном теле до развития души
I bumped into rocker Rod’s daughter Kimberly Stewart the other evening at London’s trendy Bungalow 8 and was shocked to see she was wearing a ‘trendy’ red band around her wrist. She told me she is now studying Kabbalah. Kim, 28, said: “I’m learning a alot studying Kabbalah. It’s very interesting and it’s really expanding my mind. I’m realising that there’s a lot more in life - I’m seeing the bigger picture. I don’t care what people say about it. It’s something I wanted to explore and I’m getting a lot from it.”
Good for you, Kim. There’s nothing wrong with trying to find a faith - but alarm bells do start ringing when these young Hollywood girls start jumping on bandwagons with the latest crazes and religions. I hope Kim’s the exception……
Filed under: Personal, Showbiz sourse
Группа это не лица и люди , сидящие на уроке . А капля единства , единения к которому человек должен прийти . Это собрание душ ,которые представляют собой некую единую силу исправленного желания . Относительно меня это видится разделённым , И КОГДА Я КОНЦЕНТРИРУЮСЬ , ЧТОБ ВИДЕТЬ ЭТО ВСЁ ВМЕСТЕ , и в той степени , насколько я хочу видеть себя в единстве с ними я получаю эту дополнительную силу ...
