4,193 related texts · Page 64 of 88
It’s a question that’s plagued philosophers and theologians for centuries. But Jewish mystical tradition, specifically as illuminated by Baal HaSulam in his introduction to the Zoh...
We often think of serving God, or doing good deeds, as something that needs to be completely pure, motivated by selfless love and devotion. But what if the path to that pure intent...
The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, offers a pretty compelling answer. It all comes down to pleasure – God’s pleasure, and ultimately, ours. Baal Ha...
Kabbalists talk about this feeling too, but in terms of spiritual growth. Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, that mystical and foundational text of Kabbalah, uses a po...
We read tales of miracles, of prayers answered instantly, of a connection to the divine that feels almost unimaginable today. But why does it seem so distant? Why can't we conjure ...
Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, offers a profound insight. He explains that there's a fundamental difference between how we understand the practical aspects of the ...
And it's more important than you might think. In his "Introduction to Zohar," Baal HaSulam paints a stark picture of what happens when we neglect the inner dimensions of Torah, the...
The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, certainly did. And his words, written in his introduction to the Zohar, still resonate with a raw, urgent power today. He begins with a lament, a...
After all, isn’t it written in the Torah, in Deuteronomy (4:15), "For you did not see any image"? So, how can we then turn around and describe the Divine using names and the Sefiro...
The light of creation, the shefa (divine abundance), has diminished, become veiled. It’s like trying to see the sun through a thick fog. But here’s the beautiful part: we're not pa...
Rabbi Ishmael, a central figure in the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) literature (texts describing mystical ascents to heaven), once posed this very question. He asks, what did Z...
Let me tell you a story from Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a mystical text filled with visions of heavenly realms and encounters with powerful angels. It's a wild tale ...
Specifically, we’re looking at section 22. It's a short passage, but packed with intrigue. The story begins with Rabbi Ishmael, a prominent figure in Jewish tradition, expressing h...
It's not just about a distant, untouchable God, but about a God intimately involved with creation and revelation. The Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) texts, by the way, are a coll...
That's the kind of intimacy we find in Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a mystical text that gives us a peek into the heavenly realms. In one particularly striking passage...
The ancient mystics certainly did. And in the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a text that pulls back the curtain on the heavenly realms, we find a powerful message about ...
Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a key text in the Heikhalot literature – that's the body of Jewish mystical writings concerning ascents to the divine realm – gives us a g...
We've all been there. And it's a question that's echoed through the ages, finding its way into the heart of Jewish thought. The question of a Manhig, a Ruler, is central to Jewish ...
The Mitpachat Sefarim, a text offering guidance on interpreting sacred works, certainly thinks so. It describes the Zohar, that foundational book of Jewish mysticism, as possessing...
I want to tell you a story I heard from Mitpachat Sefarim, a collection of stories and accounts. This particular one involves Rabbi Pinchas Yoshev Ohel, a Torah scholar from Krakow...
That’s where we’re going today, into a fascinating corner of Jewish thought where reverence and caution collide. The text we're looking at is from Mitpachat Sefarim, a work whose t...
That’s a feeling that echoes through the ages, and it’s captured with raw emotion in the ancient text, Mitpachat Sefarim. Imagine the scene: The Knesset Yisrael, the assembly of Is...
The text explodes with frustration and defensiveness. After all his hard work, "a foolish, silly, and wicked person" – a "son of a worthless one," no less! – criticized his work. T...
He urges us – "people of understanding," he calls us – to listen closely and use our discernment. He’s worried about the uncritical acceptance of everything written in books of Kab...
That feeling, that intuition, is at the very heart of a concept explored in Mitpachat Sefarim, a fascinating text that delves into the hidden dimensions of Torah. Imagine the Torah...
There's a beautiful custom, a minhag, for the faithful – the tamim in Hebrew – to eat lots of fruit on a particular day, celebrating them with words of praise. And that day is Tu B...
It's more than just a simple pleasure; it's a connection to something profound. This blessing, this goodness, isn't just about the taste in our mouths. It's about the health that f...
That’s what we’re exploring today: the hidden kavvanot (intentions) behind specific fruits, as revealed in the mystical depths of the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah. These fru...
It’s more than just a wake-up call. According to the ancient text, Sefer HaKanah, these sounds are a complex language, a mystical dialogue between us, the divine, and the very forc...
And Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, offers a breathtakingly beautiful answer. a foundational concept from the Asarah Perakim, "Ten Chapters," of Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, or Ramch...
But when we delve into the Kabbalah, into texts like the Asarah Perakim LeRamchal (Ten Chapters by Ramchal), we find ourselves swimming in a sea of metaphors, all trying to capture...
In Da'at (Knowledge) Tevunot, a profound work of Jewish thought, we find a powerful assertion: that God built the world on justice. Not just any kind of justice, but a "straight an...
Da'at (Knowledge) Tevunot, a work of Jewish philosophy, grapples with this very idea. It tells us that the Master of the Universe, the Creator, is utterly beyond our comprehension....
It’s a question that's plagued theologians and philosophers for centuries. And in the teachings of Da'at (Knowledge) Tevunot, a profound text of Jewish thought, we find a powerful ...
We live, we strive, we experience... and then what? The idea of resurrection, of coming back to life, is a pretty concept. But it's also deeply embedded in Jewish thought. Da'at (K...
We’re so used to having eyes that see and ears that hear, that we rarely pause to appreciate the sheer, intricate genius of it all. But according to Da'at (Knowledge) Tevunot, this...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very feeling, this dance between revelation and concealment, and how it shapes our lives. : the world is full of mysteries. And yet, there’s als...
These are the ten emanations, or attributes, through which the Infinite reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms....
And to understand this, we need to dive into a fascinating concept discussed in Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text concerned with the "138 Openings of Wisdom." Think about...
That’s kind of what we're up against when we talk about the Sefirot (the ten attributes or emanations through which God reveals Himself). We've been exploring how these Sefirot app...
It’s more than just admiring a well-sculpted physique! It’s about seeing something profound reflected in our very being. Something divine. The Kabbalists talk about Partzuf (a divi...
We see the beautiful, flowing Hebrew script, but there's so much more going on than meets the eye. It’s like looking at the surface of a deep, shimmering ocean. The text we see – t...
And in the rich tapestry of Jewish mystical thought, specifically in texts like the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), we find some truly fascinating answers. One might ask: if the ...
It’s a question that’s haunted mystics for centuries, and the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom) offers some fascinating insights. One powerful image it uses, drawn from the Zohar, c...
We're talking about the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter Name of God, usually transliterated as HaVaYaH (יהוה). It’s a Name so holy, so potent, that we don’t pronounce it directly; ...
Now, before your eyes glaze over, let’s break that down. The Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת) are often described as the ten emanations of God's divine energy, acting as attributes through whic...
Is it just a coincidence? Well, according to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), it's anything but. It's not that we just added things up and wound up at ten. It's that the very ...
In Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a key text of Kabbalah, we find a profound exploration of this very issue, and it all starts with understanding the Sefirot – the emanations of the Divi...
