2,245 texts · Page 47 of 47
Tales abound of subtle changes, deliberate alterations made for reasons far deeper than simple translation. One such story, laden with intrigue and divine intervention, revolves ar...
Our sages, zichronam livracha, may their memory be a blessing, were extremely careful to distance themselves from any notion that the Almighty needed His creations or relied on the...
The Zohar, that mystical cornerstone of Kabbalah, gives us a glimpse into their inner world. In Parashat Bereshit, 34a, it speaks of God’s reign in layered terms: "The Lord is King...
How did they know which aspect of God they were connecting with? It's a profound question that touches on the very heart of our faith. to a fascinating passage from the tractate Me...
It’s a question that’s plagued theologians and spiritual seekers for centuries. Are we addressing the Infinite, the unknowable source of all creation? Or is there… something more? ...
It's not as simple as shouting into the void, that's for sure! According to the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, and subsequent Kabbalistic teachings, all our service, all our ...
Isn't it amazing how sometimes the most profound questions come from wrestling with what seems like a tiny detail? Like, really, really tiny. Let's consider something truly mind-bo...
The book "HaB'rit," in a chapter written by the author of "Ma'amar Kuf" in "Yashar Levav," touches on this very idea: that the very name of God is ever-present on our lips. When we...
It’s a question that has occupied countless scholars, mystics, and everyday spiritual seekers for centuries. And the answer, as we find when delving into the intricate world of Kab...
It's a system that has been unfolding for centuries, really taking root around the start of the sixth millennium – that's roughly the 13th century CE. It all started with a handful...
This is a tricky concept, one that's tripped up even seasoned students of Kabbalah. We're diving deep into the nature of the Divine, grappling with ideas about creation, generation...
The answer, as with so many profound questions, lies deep within Jewish tradition, and grapples with some pretty mind-bending concepts, especially when we delve into Kabbalah. But ...
Maybe you enthusiastically shouted "Amen!" a few too many times, or perhaps you lingered a little too long on the "Modim" (we give thanks) during the Amidah. Turns out, there's a s...
Jewish mystical tradition, specifically Kabbalah, wrestles with this very question. And it takes us to some truly mind-bending places. : if God is eternal, and God is the source of...
It's a desire that sometimes leads to conflict, as we see when examining certain debates within Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. In this particular instance, we're diving i...
My dear friend, it all boils down to the core of our faith: the absolute and singular authority of God. Our sages, whose wisdom stretches back to Moses himself, taught us that the ...
It’s a story of intense debate, careful consideration, and a deep commitment to preserving the integrity of Jewish law and thought. It’s a reminder that tradition isn’t static; it’...
The Jewish tradition grapples with this very question, and it's a fascinating journey to explore. Now, Rabbi Tzadok ben Yechiel, in the book "Ravid HaZahav," makes a crucial distin...
Kabbalah spends centuries trying to describe a God who cannot be described, and sometimes even the greatest sages stumble on the attempt. Here we're looking at how some Kabbalists ...
That’s kind of what we're doing today, diving into some pretty deep Kabbalistic concepts about the nature of the Divine. We’re talking about the Sefirot (the divine emanations), th...
You’re not alone. Sometimes, the deepest spiritual truths can seem shrouded in complexities. Now, there's a fascinating debate, particularly among some Jewish mystics, about the na...
Oy vey! Have we, in our zeal for hidden wisdom, inadvertently stumbled into idolatry? It's a question that weighs heavily, especially when considering the influence of the Zohar an...
We all know the story – God breathes life into Adam. But what kind of life? What kind of being was this first human? It's a question that has haunted thinkers for millennia. And it...
What’s the deeper, almost mystical, undercurrent?We're going to look at a teaching that grapples with the verse from Genesis (2:24): “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his...
You know, Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam? The one who, according to (Genesis 5:24), simply "was not, for God took him." A verse so simple, yet so… strange. What does it ev...
Maybe there's a deeper reason. Maybe the Torah, in its infinite wisdom, is trying to teach us something profound about our relationship with the world around us. Philo, the 1st-cen...
The verse in question, from (Genesis 6:13), states that "all things which existed upon the earth shall be consumed." But why? The text grapples with this apparent injustice. One ex...
Take the flood narrative in Genesis, for example. We read that "the fountains of the deep were broken open and the floodgates of the sky were opened" (Genesis 7:11). Straightforwar...
The ancient stories of the flood, like the one starring Noah, resonate so deeply because they speak to that very human experience. We all know the story: God saw wickedness and sen...
A dove, sure, feels right. But a raven? What's that all about?Philo wasn't just interested in the surface-level story; he was all about digging deeper, finding the hidden meanings ...
It offers a reading that's surprisingly insightful, telling us it’s actually a praise of the wise person. Yes, you read that right: praise! But how can nakedness be praiseworthy? P...
Sometimes, it feels like there's a whole hidden world waiting to be unlocked. Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher who lived in the first century CE, was absolutely convinced ...
This particular piece tackles the tricky subject of a virtuous man taking a concubine, even though he already has a wife. How could that possibly be seen as righteous? Well, Philo ...
Because the eyes of God, we're told, are everywhere. It's a powerful image, isn't it? From His throne in Heaven, God's eyes observe absolutely everything that takes place in the wo...
The mystics imagined it, and what they saw is The story goes that when God decided to create Adam, it wasn't a snap of the fingers. It was a process. A cosmic sculpting project, if...
A time long, long before time as we know it. Before the sun, the moon, the stars… before even the very Earth beneath our feet. What existed then? Well, according to some mystical t...
The very concept of the Temple in Jerusalem, that sacred place, was envisioned at the dawn of creation itself. As Howard Schwartz recounts in Tree of Souls, God, in His infinite wi...
