Early Kabbaah Research Paper

Esther Park REL 301 Unit Six - Mysticism: The Future of Religion? Mysticism: The Future of Religion? Harvey Cox is your mentor and a professor at Harvard University.

In A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, author Karen Armstrong introduces readers to the vast history of human spirituality and the many facets of world religion. Though a complex and often controversial subject, Armstrong dedication to factual analysis and matter-of -fact tone makes comparing and explaining religious ideologies tangible. One of the many areas of religion that Armstrong puts heavy emphasis on (as shown by the title of the book), is monotheism and how it has morphed into the three major religions known today as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Armstrong’s writing reveals that although many different theories regarding divinity and a possible creator, nothing has been documented as certain and each system of beliefs has its’ own contradictions and inadequacies.

"Everything is named or numbered, but few people are conscious of the degree to which names and numbers influence their experience, progress, and communication," declared Juno Jordan, the "grandmother" of numerology (qtd. in Lagerquist and Lenard 4). Numerology, the language of numbers and moreover the study of how they relate to our lives, speaks about the hidden worlds contained within the simplest numbers. Numerology attempts to analyze numerical information, and makes a determination of the implications and associations that these numbers have (Kelly 10). This metaphysical science has its roots in the ancient cultures of Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and also has ties to the Hebrew Kabbalah; it has unlocked the

There is a close relationship between Christianity and Judaism both from a theological and historical perspective. The similarities between these two religious platforms emanates from the notion that Christianity arose and protested from Judaism. However, it is worth noting that Christianity is not a continuation of Judaism as some people perceive. Both Jesus and most of his disciples, who pioneered the earliest Christian churches, were Jews. Particularly, Jesus’ family practiced and followed Jewish beliefs, and He frequently referenced the Hebrew bible. On the contrary, the disciples believed that Jesus was the one and only Messiah, which is predicted in the Jewish Bible. While the creation narrative is still mysterious to many people, most individuals are still obsessed with the attempt to discover how everything came to existence. The primary purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the basic ideologies of Christianity and Judaism (Neusner, 76).

In this paper I will examine the differences between Jewish mysticism and the beliefs of Maimonides and how the two are influential to the Jewish faith.

The book written by author “Peter Clark” mainly for general public and students to give them brief idea about how Zoroastrianism was founded and along the way it also gives the detail explanation of their principal of the religion. Author Peter Clark also briefly explains the influence of Zoroastrianism on other religion such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Author Peter Clark also talks about “A living faith – Zoroastrianism

The Near Eastern Gnostic myth “The Creation According to Mani,” focuses on the constant battle between good and evil. On the side of Light stands creation, in that creation contains goodness, and the fundamental principles that accompany both Heaven and Earth. The Father of Greatness exists as the original creator of man because Primal Man stands as his follower and warrior in the fight against Darkness. The success of Primal Man reflects directly on the power and strength of the Light. With the Light also are the Sh’kinas –embodiments of Intelligence, Knowledge, Thought, Deliberation, and Resolution. They are what separate the primitive from the enlightened –essentially the difference between the Light and the Darkness. The depravity of

Troubled with the increase in Cossack Pogroms and Jewish ethnic cleansings under Chmielnicki during the latter 17th century, Polish Jews were threatened with near extinction. Faced with hardships and often persecution, many Jews lost faith in their study of Rabbinic Judaism due to its strict religious confines and naturally gravitated toward mysticism in order to feel a closer relationship with God. Discontent with Rabbinic Judaism, many Jewish mystics arose under the titles of “Baal Shem” or “Masters of the Name of God.” However, unlike traditional Judaism, these mystics increasingly preached values based on Kabbalah, including miracle work and divine intervention .

The purpose of this research paper will be to examine how Judaism rituals have helped the religion remained amongst the most prominent in the world. The use of tradition and rituals has been at the very core of its existence. Birth, adolescent, marriage and death rituals will be used to highlight how the Judaism way of life is not dependent on the written word but rather the actions of those who follow this historic Hebrew religion. The paper will begin with a brief outline of Judaism and its relationship with God and then continue with how the written word of the Torah has laid the basis for the many traditions still practiced in Judaism.

It is fascinating to understand the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah. These different realms are known as “worlds” in the writings of the Kabbalah and outline the channel of Judaist thinking. The focus on the mind, with the connection to the exterior world, relies on the four worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. The concept of the four worlds denotes the emanation of a creative life-force from the Ein Sof divine infinite through progressive systems of thought. This mode of Jewish perspective in the mind will help a person attain optimal health and balance for the body, mind and spirit.

Within Sufism, Al-Ghazali defined the difference between Ilham (inspiration) and Ta’allum (reasoning or learning). He believes that inspiration and revelation in union with religion hold a superior position than reasoning that originates from philosophy. Rational knowledge, according to Al-Ghazali, is always relative to the senses. The knowledge of the senses, however, cannot be trusted as valid. True knowledge, known as the Truth, only comes through inspiration and revelation (McCarthy 378). Al-Ghazali introduces the aspect of God, or Allah, in the acquisition of perfect knowledge. “Inspiration can bring one closer to Allah than philosophical learning alone” (Inglis). Ultimately, this idea of Ilham brings with it the Supreme Reality which is equivalent to Truth (McCarthy 378). In practical terms, Al-Ghazali believes that the necessary Truths of the intellect begin from “a light which God most high cast into my breast. That light is the key to the greater part of knowledge” (Al-Ghazali 25). An individual can only experience this light of God if he or she has reached the “state.”

This is the Sef ha-Zohar written mainly between 1280 and 1286 by Moses b. Shem Tov de Leon in Guadalajara, a small town northeast of Madrid. In this city there also lived two kabbalist brothers, Isaac and Meir b. Solomon ibn Sahula, and it is in Isaac’s books that the first quotations are found from the earliest stratum of the Zohar, dating from 1281. Many kabbalists were active at this time in the small communities around Toledo, and there is evidence of mystical experience even among the unlearned. An example of this is the appearance as a prophet in Avila in 1295 of Nissim b. Abraham, an ignorant artisan, to whom an angel revealed a Kabbalistic work, Pil’ot ha-Hokhmah, and who was opposed by Solomon b. Abraham Adret. This was the community where Moses de Leon passed the last years of his life. The Zohar is the most important evidence for the stirring of a mythical spirit in medieval Judaism. The origin of the book, its literary and religious character, and the role that it has played in the history of Judaism, have been subjects of prolonged argument among scholars during the analysis. In an analysis of this kind we can establish a precise place for the Zohar so doing we must resist continually recurring apologetic attempts to antedate its composition by turning its late literary sources into evidence for the earlier existence of the book, or by proclaiming ancient strata in it. The mingling of these two currents-the Kabbalah of Gerona and the Kabbalah of the “Gnostics” of Castile-became in the mind of Moses de Leon a creative encounter which determined the basic character of the Zohar. Instead of the brief allusions and interpretations of his predecessors he presents a broad canvas of interpretation and homiletics covering the whole world of Judaism as it appeared to him. He was far

Christianity and Rastafarianism are both rooted in Judaism and draw from the Hebrew sacred scriptures. Rastafarianism evolved as a reaction to the Christianity that was imposed upon African-American slaves and their descendents. There are several other aspects in which these two religions are similar, the purpose of this paper is to explore some of those similarities.

Most know the Torah for being the Judaism’s holy book, the first five books of the Bible, and the laws. More advanced Jewish scholars may be familiar with the Talmud. But, few Jews learn the Kabbalah teachings. Traditionally, adults of the age of forty would begin to start learning about the Kabbalah and read from the Zohar (Slick). The Zohar from Hebrew directly translates to splendor or radiance. The Zohar is one of the most important works of Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah, it was written in medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew. It discusses of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, sin, redemption, good, and evil. The Zohar is not one book, but a group

Judaism is one of the oldest, current and influential religion in world history, which until today emphasizes the identity and memory monotheistic religions. Through time, it has transformed