<jats:p>Its name literally meaning pietism, Hasidism is a mystical renewal movement that or... more <jats:p>Its name literally meaning pietism, Hasidism is a mystical renewal movement that originated in eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth century. It has become one of the most important spiritual and social developments of Orthodox Judaism and has exerted an influence as well on non-Jews and Jews who are not Orthodox. Early Hasidic leaders claimed their spiritual authority on the basis of heavenly revelations and mystical awakenings. But they generally differed from the more esoterically minded Kabbalists, from whom they drew their earliest following, in seeking to present the fruits of mystical inspiration to the community. Hasidic teachings fostered specific spiritual and ritual innovations, which gave outward expression to the profound nexus that the Hasidic masters saw between mundane existence and the inner, mystical meaning of God's law. According to Hasidic thinking, the divine and the human formed a single, all-encompassing unity, and it was on this basis that the Hasidic rabbis found in acts of Jewish piety means of linking divine experience with human responsiveness. Notable for its vitality and continuity in diversity, Hasidism continues its influence on religious Jewry and beyond to the present day.</jats:p>
This chapter discusses the hidden meanings embedded in the sacred text. Jewish mysticism develope... more This chapter discusses the hidden meanings embedded in the sacred text. Jewish mysticism developed within a traditional religious world that placed its collected holy scriptures at the focal point. The Torah was seen as evidence of the direct bond that existed at one time between God and the people of Israel. It was understood also as the written expression of the divine word, with unshakable authority and timeless validity. The creators of mystical literature that emerged in a culture that put a sacred text at its centre illuminated the Torah with a timeless mystical–mythical light. They experienced the power of the permanent presence of God in Scripture and searched for the infinitude of the divine word in the written text. Indeed, the mystical tradition is based on the assumption that the divine infinitude in space, time, thought, speech, and action is suggested in the Torah and is embodied and unfolded in language. A human being who studies the totality of revealed and hidden la...
Note on Transliteration 1 The Jewish Mystical Library and the New Vision of Reality 2 The Infinit... more Note on Transliteration 1 The Jewish Mystical Library and the New Vision of Reality 2 The Infinity of Meaning Embedded in the Sacred Text 3 The Mystical Figure: Life without Limits 4Mystical Language and Magical Language: 'Had I been using tongues of men and angels' Appendix: Historical and Literary Figures, Kabbalists, and Mystics Mentioned in Jewish Mystical Literature Bibliography Index
Page 1. Paradoxical Ascent to God The Kabbalistic Theosophy ofHabad Hasidism RachelElior TRANSLAT... more Page 1. Paradoxical Ascent to God The Kabbalistic Theosophy ofHabad Hasidism RachelElior TRANSLATED FROM HEBREW BY JEFFREY M. GREEN Page 2. Page 3. The Paradoxical Ascent to God This One GQLW-PD7-BH82 Page 4. ...
This chapter describes the mystic. A mystic is one who is gifted with spiritual greatness, vision... more This chapter describes the mystic. A mystic is one who is gifted with spiritual greatness, vision, imagination, inspiration, and the ability to be exalted; one who is able, awake or in dreams, to cross boundaries of consciousness and to experience a feeling of immediate contact with higher worlds; one who experiences a transition from one reality to another through visions or dreams. By using mystical metaphors or kabbalistic symbols, the mystic is also able to reinterpret the literal meaning of the sacred text. By virtue of inner illumination or inspiration and authority from higher worlds, the mystic shatters existing frameworks, deconstructs established distinctions, and lives in the enigmatic world of Torah mysteries. In the Jewish tradition, people blessed with these qualities have been called prophets, visionaries, masters of secrets, kabbalists, tsadikim, or holy people. Their essential attributes were defined by a variety of concepts expressing the blurring of boundaries and...
This chapter describes the paradigms of yesh and ayin in hasidic thought. At the core of hasidic ... more This chapter describes the paradigms of yesh and ayin in hasidic thought. At the core of hasidic thought lies the idea of the dual nature of reality. The two contradictory aspects of all existence are bound to one another dialectically. This duality applies to all dimensions of reality and mirrors the perception of the deity as a dialectic unity of oppositions. The deity is perceived as a dialectic process of reversible and variable opposites. This unity of opposites is expressed in pairs of contradictory concepts. All these concepts clearly derive from the kabbalistic heritage of hasidism. But while the kabbalistic interest in dialectic opposites relates only to the heavenly realm, the new hasidic concern encompasses all aspects of reality. The principles of yesh and ayin are thus projected in hasidism from the domain of the Godhead onto the domain of religious awareness and divine service.
This chapter examines the role of language in Jewish mysticism, explaining the concept of mystica... more This chapter examines the role of language in Jewish mysticism, explaining the concept of mystical language. In mystical thought, the basic assumption for understanding reality is that the upper and lower worlds are joined and related. The hidden world is implied in the revealed world and is seen in its unity despite its various contrasts, whereas the revealed world reflects in its variety the hidden world and draws its life and essence from it. This reciprocity is based on language, which according to the mystical point of view has a divine source whose existence is multifaceted. Speech is the unfolding of the divine being in language, and reality is simply the unfolding and revelation of the divine word. Divine language is thus a revelation in perceptible concepts of the infinite power of God within creation, understood by mystical doctrine as an infinite stream of letters or as a chain of letters and divine names whose links are connected from the highest level of the unknown bei...
<jats:p>Its name literally meaning pietism, Hasidism is a mystical renewal movement that or... more <jats:p>Its name literally meaning pietism, Hasidism is a mystical renewal movement that originated in eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth century. It has become one of the most important spiritual and social developments of Orthodox Judaism and has exerted an influence as well on non-Jews and Jews who are not Orthodox. Early Hasidic leaders claimed their spiritual authority on the basis of heavenly revelations and mystical awakenings. But they generally differed from the more esoterically minded Kabbalists, from whom they drew their earliest following, in seeking to present the fruits of mystical inspiration to the community. Hasidic teachings fostered specific spiritual and ritual innovations, which gave outward expression to the profound nexus that the Hasidic masters saw between mundane existence and the inner, mystical meaning of God's law. According to Hasidic thinking, the divine and the human formed a single, all-encompassing unity, and it was on this basis that the Hasidic rabbis found in acts of Jewish piety means of linking divine experience with human responsiveness. Notable for its vitality and continuity in diversity, Hasidism continues its influence on religious Jewry and beyond to the present day.</jats:p>
This chapter discusses the hidden meanings embedded in the sacred text. Jewish mysticism develope... more This chapter discusses the hidden meanings embedded in the sacred text. Jewish mysticism developed within a traditional religious world that placed its collected holy scriptures at the focal point. The Torah was seen as evidence of the direct bond that existed at one time between God and the people of Israel. It was understood also as the written expression of the divine word, with unshakable authority and timeless validity. The creators of mystical literature that emerged in a culture that put a sacred text at its centre illuminated the Torah with a timeless mystical–mythical light. They experienced the power of the permanent presence of God in Scripture and searched for the infinitude of the divine word in the written text. Indeed, the mystical tradition is based on the assumption that the divine infinitude in space, time, thought, speech, and action is suggested in the Torah and is embodied and unfolded in language. A human being who studies the totality of revealed and hidden la...
Note on Transliteration 1 The Jewish Mystical Library and the New Vision of Reality 2 The Infinit... more Note on Transliteration 1 The Jewish Mystical Library and the New Vision of Reality 2 The Infinity of Meaning Embedded in the Sacred Text 3 The Mystical Figure: Life without Limits 4Mystical Language and Magical Language: 'Had I been using tongues of men and angels' Appendix: Historical and Literary Figures, Kabbalists, and Mystics Mentioned in Jewish Mystical Literature Bibliography Index
Page 1. Paradoxical Ascent to God The Kabbalistic Theosophy ofHabad Hasidism RachelElior TRANSLAT... more Page 1. Paradoxical Ascent to God The Kabbalistic Theosophy ofHabad Hasidism RachelElior TRANSLATED FROM HEBREW BY JEFFREY M. GREEN Page 2. Page 3. The Paradoxical Ascent to God This One GQLW-PD7-BH82 Page 4. ...
This chapter describes the mystic. A mystic is one who is gifted with spiritual greatness, vision... more This chapter describes the mystic. A mystic is one who is gifted with spiritual greatness, vision, imagination, inspiration, and the ability to be exalted; one who is able, awake or in dreams, to cross boundaries of consciousness and to experience a feeling of immediate contact with higher worlds; one who experiences a transition from one reality to another through visions or dreams. By using mystical metaphors or kabbalistic symbols, the mystic is also able to reinterpret the literal meaning of the sacred text. By virtue of inner illumination or inspiration and authority from higher worlds, the mystic shatters existing frameworks, deconstructs established distinctions, and lives in the enigmatic world of Torah mysteries. In the Jewish tradition, people blessed with these qualities have been called prophets, visionaries, masters of secrets, kabbalists, tsadikim, or holy people. Their essential attributes were defined by a variety of concepts expressing the blurring of boundaries and...
This chapter describes the paradigms of yesh and ayin in hasidic thought. At the core of hasidic ... more This chapter describes the paradigms of yesh and ayin in hasidic thought. At the core of hasidic thought lies the idea of the dual nature of reality. The two contradictory aspects of all existence are bound to one another dialectically. This duality applies to all dimensions of reality and mirrors the perception of the deity as a dialectic unity of oppositions. The deity is perceived as a dialectic process of reversible and variable opposites. This unity of opposites is expressed in pairs of contradictory concepts. All these concepts clearly derive from the kabbalistic heritage of hasidism. But while the kabbalistic interest in dialectic opposites relates only to the heavenly realm, the new hasidic concern encompasses all aspects of reality. The principles of yesh and ayin are thus projected in hasidism from the domain of the Godhead onto the domain of religious awareness and divine service.
This chapter examines the role of language in Jewish mysticism, explaining the concept of mystica... more This chapter examines the role of language in Jewish mysticism, explaining the concept of mystical language. In mystical thought, the basic assumption for understanding reality is that the upper and lower worlds are joined and related. The hidden world is implied in the revealed world and is seen in its unity despite its various contrasts, whereas the revealed world reflects in its variety the hidden world and draws its life and essence from it. This reciprocity is based on language, which according to the mystical point of view has a divine source whose existence is multifaceted. Speech is the unfolding of the divine being in language, and reality is simply the unfolding and revelation of the divine word. Divine language is thus a revelation in perceptible concepts of the infinite power of God within creation, understood by mystical doctrine as an infinite stream of letters or as a chain of letters and divine names whose links are connected from the highest level of the unknown bei...
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