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Our story today takes us to 16th-century Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism, and introduces us to Rabbi Abraham Berukhim, a man known for his profound connection to the Divine. Th...
Like one moment there’s nothing, and the next, BAM! The whole shebang is right there in front of you? Jewish tradition has a fascinating take on creation that might resonate with t...
We talk about Creatio ex nihilo – creation out of nothing. That phrase, those words, speak to the very heart of God's power. : absolute, utter nothingness transformed into… everyth...
Did creation happen all at once, a cosmic Big Bang of everything? Or was there an order, a divine sequence to the unfolding of existence? Jewish mystical tradition, specifically Ka...
The answer, as they see it, lies in light. Not just any light, mind you. We're talking about the primordial light, the very essence of God's presence. But how does that translate i...
We often hear about God's word, God's actions... but what about God's beauty? It's a question that takes us deep into the heart of Jewish mystical thought. Forget the image of a ce...
Jewish mysticism, particularly the Kabbalah, grapples with this very question, offering profound and beautiful answers. One of the most evocative images comes from the Zohar, the c...
That, according to some powerful Jewish mystical traditions, is how the universe came to be. Not a slow burn, not a gradual unfolding, but a single, instantaneous burst of divine e...
Some stories tell us it all started with a division. A grand sorting. According to tradition, when God created the world, it wasn't a uniform, homogenous blob. No, no. It was divid...
It’s a question that’s haunted mystics and philosophers for millennia, and the answers are, well, delightfully strange. The Bible tells us that in the beginning, the earth was tohu...
We look up and see blue, maybe clouds, but according to ancient Jewish wisdom, it's so much more than that. It’s a carefully maintained separation, a cosmic balancing act between t...
This brings us to a little story, a fragment really, told by the great Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. You probably know him from his famous Sippurei Ma’asiyot, his collection of thirte...
Jewish tradition is full of fascinating, sometimes mind-bending, ideas about how creation actually unfolded. And there's this figure...this mysterious being...known as Yotzer Beres...
We often jump straight to God, the Creator, but Jewish mystical tradition offers a fascinating glimpse at something...more. Something that acted as a bridge between the unknowable ...
Maybe, just maybe, you're part of something much bigger: a cosmic wheel. The idea of a "wheel of creation" isn't some new-age concept. It's a powerful image found in Jewish mystica...
Jewish tradition offers us just such a vision: the Cosmic Tree. In the beginning, according to some mystical texts, God planted this tree, a being of unimaginable scale stretching ...
Jewish mystical tradition grapples with this very question, offering a powerful, and somewhat unsettling, origin story. It's a story of creation through destruction, a cosmic recyc...
Today, we're diving into a fascinating, and frankly unsettling, corner of Jewish mystical tradition: the story of Samael (the angel of death) and Lilith. It's a story of intertwine...
Maybe that's not a bug, but a feature of the entire universe. Is anything truly ever finished? Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Parsischa, a Hasidic master from the late 18th and early 19th c...
Jewish tradition offers some breathtaking, poetic answers. And one of the most vivid? The Tree of Souls. Imagine this: Deep within Paradise, there stands a magnificent tree. Not ju...
There's a place, a hidden realm, far beyond our everyday perception, where souls reside in a truly remarkable way. Imagine a field. Not just any field, but one overflowing with lif...
The story of Rabbi Ishmael offers just such a glimpse, though it's woven with threads of immense suffering and ultimate acceptance. This story, "Rabbi Ishmael's Ascent," isn't just...
Not in some abstract, philosophical way, but literally. Imagine a map so complete, so comprehensive, that it contains everything that ever was, is, or will be. Sounds like somethin...
We often think of heaven as a visual paradise, shimmering light and breathtaking vistas. But what about the auditory experience? Jewish tradition paints a picture of a heaven const...
It's so much more than just a physical act; it’s a profound moment steeped in tradition, faith, and ancient promises. And at the heart of it all stands a powerful, unexpected figur...
It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for millennia, and Jewish tradition has some pretty specific – and unsettling – answers. According to Jewish folklore, demons can be born fr...
I'm talking about Lilith. The tales surrounding Lilith are wild and varied, and one particular story, found woven within the mystical threads of the Zohar (1:19b), paints a fascina...
Jewish tradition has a fascinating, and ultimately hopeful, answer to that feeling. We're talking about Gehenna. It's a name that often gets translated as "hell," but in Jewish tra...
Some say they're locked away in a book, a very special book called the Book of Raziel. Now, this isn't your ordinary paperback. According to tradition, this book was revealed to Ad...
That’s the idea behind a powerful myth found in the Zohar (l:4b-5a), the central text of Kabbalah. It speaks of God constantly creating new heavens and a new earth. But where does ...
One of my favorites involves nothing less than the Torah itself, envisioned as a radiant bride. Imagine this: the sixth day of Creation is wrapping up. God surveys everything He ha...
Jewish tradition suggests that might be truer than you think, especially when it comes to the relationship between us, the Torah, and the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). The Shekh...
How can you possibly do both? That's the dilemma our ancestors faced after their return to Zion. The story goes that the people, overwhelmed by the demands of rebuilding, found the...
It’s a question that’s haunted mystics and storytellers for centuries, and it sits right at the heart of the legend of the golem. We usually think of the famous Golem of Prague, bu...
Let’s journey back to Prague, to the time of Rabbi Loew, the famed Maharal. The emperor had just decreed that the horrific blood libel accusations – the false claims that Jews used...
Jewish tradition has a powerful image for our connection to the Divine. It's not a cable, not a chain, but a string. Think of it as a lifeline, a bond, a constant (though sometimes...
It's tied to Rosh ha-Shanah, the Jewish New Year. It's more than just eating apples and honey, you know? It's about something truly profound: the renewal of creation itself. Imagin...
The holiday of Sukkot, as we know, is based on the biblical verse, "You shall live in booths seven days" (Leviticus 23:42). We build these temporary dwellings, the sukkot (plural o...
Vital, as recounted in Sefer ha-Hezyonot, dreamed of a very unusual Simhat Torah, the joyous holiday that celebrates the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle. Imagine this:...
What's happening on high? Well, according to a beautiful passage in the Zohar (2:40b-41a), the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, God isn't just observing. God's hosting a cele...
These aren't just any years; they're cosmic Shemittot. The word Shemittah might sound familiar – it's the same word used for the sabbatical year, when fields lie fallow, a time of ...
It's more than just a day off. It's a portal, a moment when the entire cosmos shifts. According to ancient wisdom, Shabbat (the Sabbath) isn't just about our rest, it's about the u...
Jewish mystical tradition paints a breathtaking picture of the Sabbath – not just as a day of rest, but as a sacred marriage, a cosmic coronation, a weekly reunion between God and…...
It’s a question that has occupied mystics and theologians for centuries. And within Judaism, there are some truly fascinating answers. One perspective, and perhaps the most widely ...
The Torah tells us that Abraham did. But the story, like so many in our tradition, is layered with meaning, prompting centuries of interpretation and debate. The scene is set in Ge...
The Zohar Hadash, in Yitro 37b, tells us that Jacob owned not one, but three incredibly significant books. Imagine the weight of that! These weren't just any scrolls; they were bel...
One powerful idea, found in Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ha-Ne'elam and the Zohar Hadash, is that the Garden of Eden is actually hidden. So hidden, in fact, that "it ...
What about the other tree... the Tree of Life? Here's a mind-bender: God actually didn't forbid Adam from eating from the Tree of Life. He was free to partake! Genesis doesn't say ...
