Friday: Hasidic Jews.

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Friday Hasidic Jews.

• P. 123-124
• MONDAY HASKELAH ENLIGHTENMENT
• SPINOZA
• MENDELSSOHN

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Kabbalah
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Mysticism

• Hekhalot Palaces
• Merkabah Chariot
• Kabbalah Received tradition
• Hasid Pious Baal Shem Tov.

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2 Kings 29-12

• As they were going along and talking, behold,
  there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of
  fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah
  went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it
  and cried out, "My father, my father, the
  chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw
  Elijah no more.

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Hebrew Bible. Ezekiel 11-17

• Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the
  fifth day of the fourth month, , the heavens
  were opened and I saw visions of God. As I
  looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the
  north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth
  continually and a bright light around it, and in
  its midst something like glowing metal in the
  midst of the fire. Within it there were figures
  resembling four living beings.

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Cont.

• In the midst of the living beings there was
  something that looked like burning coals of fire,
  like torches darting back and forth among the
  living beings. Now as I looked at the living
  beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth
  beside the living beings, for each of the four of
  them. The appearance of the wheels and their
  workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all
  four of them had the same form, their appearance
  and workmanship being as if one wheel were within
  another.

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Merkavah Chariot Mysticism

• Early Rabbinic speculations on Gods Throne /
  Chariot described in Bible.
• Early centuries C.E.
• Attempt to enter throne room.

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3 Enoch 5-6 century C.E.

• Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God
  took him. Rabbi Ishmael saidWhen I ascended to
  the height to behold the vision of the chariot, I
  entered 6 palaces, one inside the other, and when
  I reached the door of the 7th palace I paused in
  prayer before the Holy One, blessed be he Then I
  entered the 7th palace and he led me to the camp
  of the Shekinah and presented me before the
  throne of Glory so that I might behold the
  chariot.

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Fear and Fascination

• Rabbis restricted teaching of mysticism
• Best not to ask what is before
• above
• below creation
• b

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Bavli Chagigah 14b

• "Our masters taught Four men entered the Pardes
  ('Orchard' of mystical teachings),
• Ben Azzai.. died,
• Ben Zoma.. became demented,
• Aher became a heretic.
• Rabbi Akiva departed unhurt." -

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Kabbalah

• Sephardic Medieval tradition
• Many books written
• Torah has many levels of meaning.
• Mystic wants uncover the deepest.

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Lady torah

• Torah disrobes before the mystic.
• Superficial meanings
• Midrashic meanings
• Mystical meanings the ultimate truth.

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Rituals

• Link between human and divine realms.
• Ritual transforms reality
• Sabbath divine forces reunited
• Sabbath as bride of Israel

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God Ein Sof

• Without End.
• God can only be described by what he is NOT!
• How then, can one approach God?

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Ascent and Decent

• People must elevate themselves spiritually.
• God has created the world in a series of 10
  projections or Emanations of himself
• Sefirah / Sefirot.
• Mystics quest self perfection to understand the
  Sephirot

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Feminization of God

• Different aspects of God are masc. and feminine.
• Goal is unification with God.

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Zohar Book of Splendor

• 13th Century
• Most important Kabbalah text
• Aramaic
• Commentary on Biblical readings.

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Baal Shem Tov

• With the light created by God during the six days
  of Creation, Adam could see from one end of the
  world to the other. God hid the light away for
  the righteous in the hereafter. Where did he hide
  it? In the Torah. So when I open Zohar, I see the
  whole world.

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ZoharSefirotSometimes likened to a
personUnity of Tiferet Shekinah influenced by
human sin / righteousness
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Garment of Torah

• Physical torah not the real torah.
• Handout

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Kabbalah

• Magic
• Reincarnation
• Miracles
• Golem artificial man.

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Mysticism and Messiah

• Isaac Luria 1534-1572
• taught that a saintly teacher could redeem a
  generation
• Revolutionary Messiah replaced by Heroic messiah

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Lurianic Kabalah

• Tzimzum
• Ein Sof (GOD) contracts to open a space for
  creation remnant of divine light remains
• light preserved in jars.

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Lurianic K.

• Breaking the vessels Light cannot be contained.
  Shards of vessels are root of evil Light
  scattered and surrounded by matter

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Lurianic K.

• TIKKUN Repair.
• Rebuilding the primordial ADAM.
• separating divine sparks from shards.
• Obedience to torah etc elevating worlds to
  original purity

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Luria

• Gradual redemption.
• Acts of righteousness prepare the way for
  Messiah
• Jews have special obligation to help bring
  Messiah

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Breslauer, p. 100

• Torah a secret code
• Open to any interpretation outside of Oral Torah
• Prayer has magical power
• New prayers will replace the old
• Disorder is fundamental to nature
• Descent into disorder necessary to restore cosmos
• Leader is essential to salvation.
• Small step to Messiah

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1648 Messiah will come

• Eastern European Kabbalists determined that
  Messiah will come in 1648

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1648-1649 Ukraine / Poland

• Slaughter
• Cossack rebellion
• 300,000 Jews left dead?

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New prediction 1666
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Sabbatai Zvi 1626-1672

• 1648 Claimed to be Messiah.
• Overturned traditional Halakhah
• Turks imprisoned him, forced conversion to Islam
• Many followers saw his descent into sin part of
  mystical repair of the universe.

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Messianism Mysticism Fall from favour