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Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal. The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its origin in medieval Judaism to its later adaptations in Western esotericism. Jewish Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God—the mysterious Ein Sof —and the mortal, finite universe. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism.
In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon also called Adam Elyon, or Adam Ila'ah, sometimes abbreviated as A"K, is the first of Four Worlds that came into being after the contraction of God's infinite light. Adam Kadmon is not the same as the physical Adam Ha-Rishon.
Tohu can refer to:
Gilgul is a concept of reincarnation or "transmigration of souls" in Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism. In Hebrew, the word gilgul means "cycle" or "wheel" and neshamot is the plural for "souls." Souls are seen to cycle through lives or incarnations, being attached to different human bodies over time. Which body they associate with depends on their particular task in the physical world, spiritual levels of the bodies of predecessors and so on. The concept relates to the wider processes of history in Kabbalah, involving cosmic Tikkun, and the historical dynamic of ascending Lights and descending Vessels from generation to generation.
The tzimtzum or tsimtsum is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his Ohr Ein Sof in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist. This primordial initial contraction, forming a ḥālāl happānuy "vacant space" into which new creative light could beam, is denoted by general reference to the tzimtzum. In Kabbalistic interpretation, tzimtzum gives rise to the paradox of simultaneous divine presence and absence within the vacuum and resultant Creation.
Sefirot, meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms. The term is alternatively transliterated into English as sephirot/sephiroth, singular sefirah/sephirah, etc.
Ein Sof, or Eyn Sof, in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to any self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, probably derived from Solomon ibn Gabirol's term, "the Endless One". Ein Sof may be translated as "unending", "(there is) no end", or infinity. It was first used by Azriel, who, sharing the Neoplatonic belief that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by it the negation of any attribute. Of the Ein Sof, nothing ("Ein") can be grasped ("Sof"-limitation). It is the origin of the Ohr Ein Sof, the "Infinite Light" of paradoxical divine self-knowledge, nullified within the Ein Sof prior to creation. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the first act of creation, the Tzimtzum self "withdrawal" of God to create an "empty space", takes place from there. In Hasidic Judaism, the Tzimtzum is only the illusionary concealment of the Ohr Ein Sof, giving rise to monistic panentheism. Consequently, Hasidism focuses on the Atzmus divine essence, rooted higher within the Godhead than the Ein Sof, which is limited to infinitude, and reflected in the essence (etzem) of the Torah and the soul.
Pardes (פרד"ס) is a Kabbalistic theory of Biblical exegesis first advanced by Moses de León. The term, sometimes also rendered PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the initials of the following four approaches:
In Kabbalistic and Hasidic philosophy, seder hishtalshelut or hishtalshelut refers to the chain-like descent of spiritual worlds (Olam/Olamot) between God and Creation. Each spiritual world denotes a complete realm of existence, resulting from its general proximity or distance to divine revelation. Each realm is also a form of consciousness reflected in this world through the psychology of the soul.
Ze`ir Anpin is a revealed aspect of God in Kabbalah, comprising the emotional sephirot attributes: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod.
Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlier Kabbalah of the Zohar that had disseminated in Medieval circles.
The Four Worlds, sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence. The concept of "Worlds" denotes the emanation of creative lifeforce from the Ein Sof Divine Infinite, through progressive, innumerable tzimtzumim (concealments/veilings/condensations). As particular sefirot dominate in each realm, so the primordial fifth World, Adam Kadmon, is often excluded for its transcendence, and the four subsequent Worlds are usually referred to. Their names are read out from Isaiah 43:7, "Every one that is called by My name and for My glory, I have created, I have formed, even I have made" each elucidating the names Atziluth ("Emanation/Close"), Beriah ("Creation"), Yetzirah ("Formation"), and Asiyah ("Action"). Below Asiyah, the lowest spiritual World, is Asiyah-Gashmi, our Physical Universe, which enclothes its last two sefirot “emanations”. Collectively, the Four Worlds are also referred to as ABiYA, after their initial letters. As well as the functional role each World has in the process of Creation, they also embody dimensions of consciousness within human experience.
The realm known as Nekudim/Olam HaNekudim is one of the many spiritual worlds (Olamot) described by Kabbalah, as part of the order of development in Creation. Its significance emerges in Lurianic Kabbalah as part of the process of Tohu and Tikun.
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations. Shefa is sometimes alternatively used in Kabbalah, a term also used in Medieval Jewish philosophy to mean Divine influence, while the Kabbalists favour Ohr because its numerical value equals Raz ("mystery"). It is one of the two main metaphors in Kabbalah for understanding Divinity, along with the other metaphor of the human soul-body relationship for the Sephirot. The metaphorical description of spiritual Divine creative-flow, using the term for physical "light" perceived with the eye, arises from analogous similarities. These include the intangible physicality of light, the delight it inspires and the illumination it gives, its apparently immediate transmission and constant connection with its source. Light can be veiled and reflected. White light divides into seven colours, yet this plurality unites from one source. Divine light divides into the seven emotional Sephirot, but there is no plurality in the Divine essence. The term Ohr in Kabbalah is contrasted with Ma'ohr, the "luminary", and Kli, the spiritual "vessel" for the light.
Atzmus/atzmut is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the divine essence.
Kochos/Kochot haNefesh, meaning "Powers of the Soul", are the innate constituent character-aspects within the soul, in Hasidic thought's psychological internalisation of Kabbalah. They derive from the 10 Sephirot Heavenly emanations of Kabbalah, by relating each quality to its parallel internal motivation in man. The Hasidic discussion of the sephirot, particularly in the Kabbalistically oriented system of Habad thought, focuses principally on the Soul Powers, the experience of the sephirot in Jewish worship.
Partzufim/Partsufim, meaning "Divine Personas", are particular reconfigured arrangements of the ten sefirot, divine attributes/emanations of Kabbalah. Each partzuf is thus a configuration of disparate entities into a harmonious unit. The names of the partzufim are derived from the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah. There, they are synonymous terms for the sefirot. Their full doctrinal significance emerged in 16th century Lurianic Kabbalah with reference to the cosmic processes of Tohu and Tikun, "Chaos and Rectification."
Arich Anpin or Arikh Anpin (Aramaic: אריך אנפין meaning "Long Face/Extended Countenance" is an aspect of Divine emanation in Kabbalah, identified with the sephirah attribute of Keter, the Divine Will.
Olam HaTohu and Olam HaTikun are two general stages in Jewish Kabbalah, in the order of descending spiritual worlds (Olamot). In subsequent creation they also represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. Their concepts derive from the new scheme of Lurianic Kabbalah by Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, based on his interpretation of classic references in the Zohar.
The realm known as Berudim/Verudim/Olam HaBerudim is one of the many spiritual worlds (Olamot) described by Kabbalah, as part of the order of development in Creation. Its significance emerges in Lurianic Kabbalah as a part of the process of Tohu and Tikun.
References
- ↑ "Basics in Kabbalah and Chassidut: Olam Ha'Akudim |". inner.org. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
- ↑ Afilalo, R. (2006). Kabbalah Concepts. Kabbalah Editions. p. 48. ISBN 9782923241111 . Retrieved 2015-07-03.
