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Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the proto-orthodox teachings,traditions,and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme,hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently,Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil,and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity,attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance,but with illusion and enlightenment.
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge. The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism,where it signifies a spiritual knowledge or insight into humanity's real nature as divine,leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence.
Kabbalah or Qabalah 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.
A Rebbe or Admor is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement,and the personalities of its dynasties. The titles of Rebbe and Admor,which used to be a general honor title even before the beginning of the movement,became,over time,almost exclusively identified with its Tzadikim.
Metatron,or Matatron,is an angel in Judaism,Christianity,and Islam mentioned three times in the Talmud,in a few brief passages in the Aggadah,and in mystical Kabbalistic texts within Rabbinic literature. The figure forms one of the traces for the presence of dualist proclivities in the otherwise monotheistic visions of both the Tanakh and later Christian doctrine. In the Jewish kabbalistic tradition,he is sometimes portrayed as serving as the celestial scribe. The name Metatron is not mentioned in the Torah or the Bible,and how the name originated is a matter of debate. In Islamic tradition,he is also known as Mīṭaṭrūn,the angel of the veil.
Mandaeans,also known as Mandaean Sabians or simply as Sabians,are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They may have been among the earliest religious groups to practice baptism,as well as among the earliest adherents of Gnosticism,a belief system of which they are the last surviving representatives today. The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic,an Eastern Aramaic language,before they nearly all switched to Iraqi Arabic or Persian as their main language.
Satmar is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum,in the city of Szatmárnémeti,Hungary. The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty. Following World War II,it was re-established in New York.
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn,bordered by Greenpoint to the north;Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south;Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east;and the East River to the west. It was an independent city until 1855,when it was annexed by Brooklyn;around that time,the spelling was changed from Williamsburgh to Williamsburg.
Merkabah or Merkavahmysticism is a school of early Jewish mysticism,c. 100 BCE –1000 CE,centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature,concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God.
The Dybbuk,or Between Two Worlds is a play by S. Ansky,authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yiddish by Ansky himself. The Dybbuk had its world premiere in that language,performed by the Vilna Troupe at Warsaw in 1920. A Hebrew version was prepared by Hayim Nahman Bialik and staged in Moscow at Habima Theater in 1922.
Academic study of Jewish mysticism,especially since Gershom Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941),draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these,Kabbalah,which emerged in 12th-century southwestern Europe,is the most well known,but it is not the only typological form,nor was it the first form which emerged. Among the previous forms were Merkabah mysticism,and Ashkenazi Hasidim around the time of the emergence of Kabbalah.
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn,New York.
Mandaeism,sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism,is a Gnostic,monotheistic and ethnic religion with Greek,Iranian,and Jewish influences. Its adherents,the Mandaeans,revere Adam,Abel,Seth,Enos,Noah,Shem,Aram,and especially John the Baptist. Mandaeans consider Adam,Seth,Noah,Shem and John the Baptist prophets,with Adam being the founder of the religion and John being the greatest and final prophet.
The Maiden of Ludmir,Hannah Rachel Vermermacher,also known rarely as the Ludmirer Rebbe,was the only independent female rebbe in the history of Hasidic Judaism.
The Hekhalot literature from the Hebrew word for "Palaces",relating to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with Merkabah or "Chariot" literature,concerning Ezekiel's chariot,so the two are sometimes referred to together as "Books of the Palaces and the Chariot". The Hekhalot literature is a genre of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced some time between late antiquity –some believe from Talmudic times or earlier –to the Early Middle Ages.
Alan Franklin Segal was a scholar of ancient religions,specializing in Judaism's relationship to Christianity. Segal was a distinguished scholar,author,and speaker,self-described as a "believing Jew and twentieth-century humanist." Segal was one of the first modern scholars to write extensively on the influences of Judaism on Paul of Damascus.
In Mandaeism,manda is the concept of gnosis or spiritual knowledge. Mandaeans stress salvation of the soul through secret knowledge (gnosis) of its divine origin. Mandaeism "provides knowledge of whence we have come and whither we are going."
Mandaean cosmology is the Gnostic conception of the universe in the religion of Mandaeism.
A Fortress in Brooklyn:Race,Real Estate,and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg is a nonfiction book by Jewish studies professor Nathaniel Deutsch and historian Michael Casper,published by Yale University Press in May,2021. It has been favorably reviewed in NYBooks,The Jewish News of Northern California,and The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
References
- ↑ "Save the Gnostics" by Nathaniel Deutsch, October 6, 2007, New York Times.
