Mystical Concepts in Chassidism

Mystical Concepts in Chassidism
Author: Jacob Immanuel Schochet
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1979
Genre: Cabala
ISBN: 9780826604125

An excellent guide to the intricate concepts of Jewish mysticism found in Chabad Chasidic philosphy. It traces the history of Jewish mysticism from its earliest beginnings through its expansion in the sixteenth century and the new era of its promulgation through the Chasidic movement. Special attention is given to the teachings of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, who first elucidated Kabbalistic concepts in a systematic manner and made them accessible to the average person.

Phenomenology and Mysticism

Phenomenology and Mysticism
Author: Anthony J. Steinbock
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2009-12-22
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0253221811

Exploring the first-person narratives of three figures from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystical traditions—St. Teresa of Avila, Rabbi Dov Baer, and Rūzbihān Baqlī—Anthony J. Steinbock provides a complete phenomenology of mysticism based in the Abrahamic religious traditions. He relates a broad range of religious experiences, or verticality, to philosophical problems of evidence, selfhood, and otherness. From this philosophical description of vertical experience, Steinbock develops a social and cultural critique in terms of idolatry—as pride, secularism, and fundamentalism—and suggests that contemporary understandings of human experience must come from a fuller, more open view of religious experience.

Kabbalah and Eros

Kabbalah and Eros
Author: Moshe Idel
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 030010832X

In this book, the world's foremost scholar of Kabbalah explores the understanding of erotic love in Jewish mystical thought. Encompassing Jewish mystical literatures from those of late antiquity to works of Polish Hasidism, Moshe Idel highlights the diversity of Kabbalistic views on eros and distinguishes between the major forms of eroticism. The author traces the main developments of a religious formula that reflects the union between a masculine divine attribute and a feminine divine attribute, and he asks why such an "erotic formula" was incorporated into the Jewish prayer book. Idel shows how Kabbalistic literature was influenced not only by rabbinic literature but also by Greek thought that helped introduce a wider understanding of eros. Addressing topics ranging from cosmic eros and androgyneity to the affinity between C. J. Jung and Kabbalah to feminist thought, Idel's deeply learned study will be of consuming interest to scholars of religion, Judaism, and feminism.

Centers of Power

Centers of Power
Author: Stanley R. Schneider
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2008-01-22
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0765708493

Kabbalah and psychoanalysis are conceptions about the nature of reality. The former is over two thousand years old. The latter has been formalized less than a hundred years ago. Nonetheless they are parallel journeys of discovery that have forever altered not only what we see, but the very nature of seeing itself. The purpose of this study is to explore how Kabbalah and psychoanalysis converge and diverge, complement and conflict with each other, in order to amplify their impact and enable mankind to gain a greater understanding of reality.

A Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism Reader

A Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism Reader
Author: Daniel M. Horwitz
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2016-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0827612869

An unprecedented annotated anthology of the most important Jewish mystical works, A Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism Reader is designed to facilitate teaching these works to all levels of learners in adult education and college classroom settings. Daniel M. Horwitz's insightful introductions and commentary accompany readings in the Talmud and Zohar and writings by Ba'al Shem Tov, Rav Kook, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and others. Horwitz's introduction describes five major types of Jewish mysticism and includes a brief chronology of their development, with a timeline. He begins with biblical prophecy and proceeds through the early mystical movements up through current beliefs. Chapters on key subjects characterize mystical expression through the ages, such as Creation and deveikut ("cleaving to God"); the role of Torah; the erotic; inclinations toward good and evil; magic; prayer and ritual; and more. Later chapters deal with Hasidism, the great mystical revival, and twentieth-century mystics, including Abraham Isaac Kook, Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. A final chapter addresses today's controversies concerning mysticism's place within Judaism and its potential for enriching the Jewish religion.

Habad

Habad
Author: Roman A. Foxbrunner
Publisher: Jason Aronson
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1993
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780876685266

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Why the Torah Begins with the Letter Beit

Why the Torah Begins with the Letter Beit
Author: Michael J. Alter
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
Total Pages: 346
Release: 1998-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1461734169

Why does the Torah begin with the letter beit, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet? In seeking answers to this question, Michael J. Alter has gathered a wealth of material drawing from the Oral Law (Mishnah and Talmud), the Midrash, anonymous kabbalistic texts, and the works of many prominent rabbis, scribes, and writers spanning the past 2,000 years.

The Alef-beit

The Alef-beit
Author: Yitsḥaḳ Ginzburg
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 518
Release: 1991
Genre: Hasidism
ISBN: 0876685181

Index. Bibliography: p.462-475.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments
Author: Marco Liuzzi
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2011-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1257769405

This book contains a brief discussion of the theories on creation, good and evil, as they are presented by the Jewish mystical tradition. It is a body of knowledge which often appears difficult to comprehend to those who approach it. In this book we endeavor to propose an interpretation mediated by the language of modern psychology. The book begins with an examination of the Ten Commandments, which are juxtaposed with the Sefirot, the ""Divine Emanations"" of Cabbala. The main concepts of Cabbala theology on the creation of the world are then considered: the tzimtzum (""contraction""), the ""Breaking of the Vessels"", caused by the disposition of the ""Iggulim"" (""circles"") of the Sefirot, the new creation of the Sefirot according to the scheme of the tree of Cabbala. The theories on good and evil and man's task of repairing the world (the so called ""reintegration of the world"") are then interpreted and commented on in the language of modern psychology, based on the most important studies published by Alice Miller.

Interreligious Philosophical Dialogues

Interreligious Philosophical Dialogues
Author: Graham Oppy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017-09-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351617923

Interreligious Philosophical Dialogues, volume 2, provides a unique approach to the philosophy of religion, embracing a range of religious faiths and spiritualities. This volume brings together four leading scholars and philosophers of religion, who engage in friendly but rigorous cross-cultural philosophical dialogue. Each participant in the dialogue, as a member of a particular faith tradition, is invited to explore and explain their core religious commitments, and how these commitments figure in their lived experience and in their relations to other religions and communities. The religious traditions represented in this volume are: Sunni Islam Mystical (Kabbalistic) Judaism Radical incarnational Christianity Shinto. This set of volumes uncovers the rich and diverse cognitive and experiential dimensions of religious belief and practice, pushing the field of philosophy of religion in bold new directions.