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Ashkenazi Jews

Author’s Note: This post has mentions of Nazis, the Holocaust, & Nazi Germany. We completely understand if you wish to skip over this post. We’ll catch you in the next one!

Also known as Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazis, or Ashkenazim.

This is a form of distinct ethnic subdivision of the Jewish Diaspora. Emerging from the Jewish communities that consolidated during the 10th century in the Rhineland (Western Germany) & northern France. They migrated there from centers such as the Italian peninsula & the Southern Levant. This includes present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, & Jordan.

After numerous massacres of Jews during the Crusades (11th-13th centuries), they began a gradual eastward migration due to mounting restrictions within the Holy Roman Empire & the favorable policies of Casimir the Great & others.

This diaspora ramped up after the persecution during the Black Death of the 14th century. The bulk of the Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to the Kingdom of Poland (which includes modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, & parts of Russia). This area became the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until the Holocaust.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions, rites, & customs to Europe. They traditionally followed the German rite synagogue ritual & until the Holocaust primarily spoke Yiddish, an offshoot of Middle High German written in a variety of the Hebrew script, with significant Hebrew, Aramaic, & Slavic influences.

The Yiddish language progressively declined in prestige, in favor of national languages & Hebrew, being stigmatized by assimilationists & later also Zionists. Though it was spoken by over 11 million people worldwide before the Holocaust. The Yiddishist movement, which sought to preserve & revive the language, faded through the 20th century. Including Duolingo adding Yiddish as a language.

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930, near the population’s peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during WWII, which killed around 6 million Jews. Before WWII, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3-16.7 million, with 92% being Ashkenazi. As of 2023, the population of Ashkenazim was estimated to be around 10-13 million out of 15.8 million total Jews.

The name Ashkenazi comes from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz. He’s the 1st son of Gomer, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah, & a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. The name for Gomer has often been linked to the Cimmerians.

The Biblical Ashkenazis are usually derived from Assyrian Askuza, a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates. The name Askuza is identified with the Scythians.

In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as 1 of 3 kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni (or Mannaea), an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, & Arrat (corresponding to Urartu), called on by God to resist Babylon.

Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia (usually identified with Scandinavia), viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes, in the 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. In the 10th century, in the History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertci, Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia.

As it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene, Khazaria, Chimea, & areas to the east. They’re also identified with the Slavim or Slavs. In keeping with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was called Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (I Kings 17:9), & Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan.

Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France & Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany & France.

In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern & western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany & Poland. Thus, the prayer book of Isaiah Horowitz (a prominent rabbi & mystic), & many others, give the piyyutim (a Jewish liturgical poem), according to the Minhag of Ashkenaz & Poland. A Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition & synagogue ritual follow Ashkenazi practices (German rite). Until the Ashkenazi community 1st began to develop in the Early Middle Ages, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad & Islamic Spain. German Ashkenaz was so geographically distant that it developed a minhag of its own.

The counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic. Since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they’re ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic or Mizrahi (a.k.a. Oriental Jews; Jews who lived in the Muslim world) who married into an Orthodox or Haredi (a.k.a. ultra-Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her kids to be Ashkenazi Jews.

On the other hand, an Ashkenazi woman who married a Sephardi or Mizrahi is expected to take on Sephardic practices & the kids will “inherit” a Sephardic identity. Though in practice, many families do compromise. A “convert” usually follows the practice of the rabbinical court (beth din) that converted them.

Culturally, an Ashkenazi Jew can be identified by the concept of Yiddishkeit, which means “Jewishness” in the Yiddish language. Before the Haskalah (a.k.a. the Jewish Enlightenment) & the emancipation of Jews in Europe, this meant the study of the Torah & the Talmud for men, & communal life governed by the observance of Jewish Law for men & women.

From the Rhineland to Riga (the largest city in Latvia) to Romania, most Jews prayed in liturgical Ashkenazi Hebrew, & spoke Yiddish in their secular (worldly) lives. But with modernization, Yiddishkeit now includes not just Orthodoxy & Hasidism, but a broader range of movements, ideologies, practices, & traditions in which Ashkenazi have participated & somehow kept a sense of Jewishness. Although pockets of Jews still speak Yiddish, Yiddishkeit can be identified in manners of speech, styles of humor, & in patterns of association.

As Ashkenazi Jews moved away from Europe, mostly in the form of aliyah to Israel. Or immigration to North America, South Africa, Europe (particularly France), & Latin America, the geographic isolation has given way to mixing with other cultures, & with non-Ashkenazi Jews who, similarly, are no longer isolated in distinct geographic locales.

Hebrew has replaced Yiddish as the primary Jewish language for many Ashkenazi Jews. Although many Hasidic & Hareidi groups still use Yiddish in daily life. Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographic Land of Israel or the Palestine region, where the State of Israel was established.

France’s blended Jewish community is typical of the cultural recombination that’s going on among Jews throughout the world. Although France expelled its original Jewish population in the Middle Ages, by the time of the French Revolution, there were 2 distinct Jewish populations.

One consisted of Sephardic Jews, originally refugees from the Inquisition (which no one expects! Sorry, we’re Monty Python fans here.) & concentrated in the southwest. While the other community was Ashkenazi, concentrated in formerly German Alsace, & mainly speaking a German dialect similar to Yiddish.

The 3rd community of Provencal Jews living in Comtat Venaissin was technically outside France, & was later absorbed into the Sephardim. Comtat Venaissin (called Comtat, for short) was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791.

But after emancipation, a sense of a unified French Jewry emerged, especially when France was wracked by the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. (We’ll be doing a post about the Dreyfus Affair.) In the 1920s & 30s, Ashkenazi Jews from Europe arrived in large numbers as refugees from antisemitism, the Russian Revolution, & the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

By the 1930s, Paris had a vibrant Yiddish culture, & many Jews were involved in diverse political movements. After the Vichy years & the Holocaust, the French Jewish population was augmented once again, 1st by Ashkenazi refugees from Central Europe, & later by Sephardi immigrants & refugees from North Africa, many of them francophone. Francophone refers to people/organizations who use French (language) regularly.

Ashkenazi Jews didn’t transmit their traditions or achievements by text. Instead, these traditions were passed down orally from one generation to the next. The desire to maintain pre-Holocaust traditions relating to Ashkenazi culture has often been met with criticism by Jews in Eastern Europe.

In an ethnic sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is a descendant of the Jews who settled in the Central European region of “Ashkenaz.” For roughly 1,000 years, the Ashkenazim were a reproductively isolated population in Europe.

Despite living in many countries, with little inflow or outflow of countries from migration, conversion, or intermarriage with other groups, including other Jews. Since the mid-20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews have intermarried, both with members of other Jewish communities & non-Jews.

Religious persecution of the Jews in Western & Central Europe led to a significant migration of the Ashkenazi Jews into Eastern Europe. This resulted in a major cultural divide between Western/Central & Eastern Ashkenazi communities. In particular, this was reflected in the division of Yiddish into Western & Eastern Yiddish dialects. As well as in other cultural distinctions: traditions, food, dress, etc.

Initially, the Jews of Eastern Europe enjoyed relative freedom in terms of movement, being invited by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Over time, the situation was reversed. By the 19th century, the Jews in the West had gradually been integrated into the general society.

While the Eastern Ashkenazi maintained their strict Jewish traditions & were mostly confined to ghettos, especially in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, which incorporated a considerable amount of land where the Eastern Ashkenazi lived: Poland & Lithuania.

Well-known differences in practices include:

• Observance of Passover (Pesach)
  • Ashkenazi Jews traditionally refrain from eating legumes, grain, millet, & rice. Quinoa has become accepted as a food grain in North American communities. Sephardi Jews typically don’t prohibit these foods.
• Notwithstanding stricter requirements for the ACTUAL slaughter, Sephardi Jews permit the rear portions of an animal after proper Halakhic removal of the sciatic nerve. While many Ashkenazi Jews don’t.
• Ashkenazi Jews often name newborns after deceased family members, not after living relatives. Sephardi Jews often name their kids after their grandparents, even if those grandparents are still living. An exception to this is among Dutch Jews, where Ashkenazi for centuries used naming conventions otherwise attributed exclusively to Sephardim, such as Chuts. Chuts is the name given to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands in the 1850s-1860s.
• Ashkenazi tefillins are wound toward the body, not away from it. Ashkenazim put on the tefillin while standing up. Other Jews generally do so while sitting down. A tefillin(s) is/are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps having scrolls of parchment written with verses of the Torah inside.
• The prayer shawl (tallit/tallis) is worn by all Ashkenazi men AFTER marriage. Except for Western European Ashkenazi men who wear it from the bar mitzvah. In Sephardi or Mizrahi Judaism, the prayer shawl is commonly worn from early childhood.

The term Ashkenazi also refers to the Nusach Ashkenaz, the liturgical tradition used by Ashkenazi Jews in their siddur (prayer book). A nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition’s choice of prayers, the text of prayers & melodies used in the singing of prayers. 2 other major forms of nusach among Ashkenazi Jews are Nusach Sefard (not to be confused with the Sephardic ritual), which is the general Polish Hasidic nusach, and Nusach Ari, used by those in Chabad.

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Ashkenazi Jews

Author’s Note: This post has mentions of Nazis, the Holocaust, & Nazi Germany. We completely understand if you wish to skip over this post. We’ll catch you in the next one!

Also known as Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazis, or Ashkenazim.

This is a form of distinct ethnic subdivision of the Jewish Diaspora. Emerging from the Jewish communities that consolidated during the 10th century in the Rhineland (Western Germany) & northern France. They migrated there from centers such as the Italian peninsula & the Southern Levant. This includes present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, & Jordan.

After numerous massacres of Jews during the Crusades (11th-13th centuries), they began a gradual eastward migration due to mounting restrictions within the Holy Roman Empire & the favorable policies of Casimir the Great & others.

This diaspora ramped up after the persecution during the Black Death of the 14th century. The bulk of the Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to the Kingdom of Poland (which includes modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, & parts of Russia). This area became the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until the Holocaust.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions, rites, & customs to Europe. They traditionally followed the German rite synagogue ritual & until the Holocaust primarily spoke Yiddish, an offshoot of Middle High German written in a variety of the Hebrew script, with significant Hebrew, Aramaic, & Slavic influences.

The Yiddish language progressively declined in prestige, in favor of national languages & Hebrew, being stigmatized by assimilationists & later also Zionists. Though it was spoken by over 11 million people worldwide before the Holocaust. The Yiddishist movement, which sought to preserve & revive the language, faded through the 20th century. Including Duolingo adding Yiddish as a language.

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930, near the population’s peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during WWII, which killed around 6 million Jews. Before WWII, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3-16.7 million, with 92% being Ashkenazi. As of 2023, the population of Ashkenazim was estimated to be around 10-13 million out of 15.8 million total Jews.

The name Ashkenazi comes from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz. He’s the 1st son of Gomer, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah, & a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. The name for Gomer has often been linked to the Cimmerians.

The Biblical Ashkenazis are usually derived from Assyrian Askuza, a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates. The name Askuza is identified with the Scythians.

In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as 1 of 3 kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni (or Mannaea), an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, & Arrat (corresponding to Urartu), called on by God to resist Babylon.

Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia (usually identified with Scandinavia), viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes, in the 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. In the 10th century, in the History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertci, Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia.

As it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene, Khazaria, Chimea, & areas to the east. They’re also identified with the Slavim or Slavs. In keeping with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was called Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (I Kings 17:9), & Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan.

Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France & Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany & France.

In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern & western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany & Poland. Thus, the prayer book of Isaiah Horowitz (a prominent rabbi & mystic), & many others, give the piyyutim (a Jewish liturgical poem), according to the Minhag of Ashkenaz & Poland. A Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition & synagogue ritual follow Ashkenazi practices (German rite). Until the Ashkenazi community 1st began to develop in the Early Middle Ages, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad & Islamic Spain. German Ashkenaz was so geographically distant that it developed a minhag of its own.

The counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic. Since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they’re ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic or Mizrahi (a.k.a. Oriental Jews; Jews who lived in the Muslim world) who married into an Orthodox or Haredi (a.k.a. ultra-Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her kids to be Ashkenazi Jews.

On the other hand, an Ashkenazi woman who married a Sephardi or Mizrahi is expected to take on Sephardic practices & the kids will “inherit” a Sephardic identity. Though in practice, many families do compromise. A “convert” usually follows the practice of the rabbinical court (beth din) that converted them.

Culturally, an Ashkenazi Jew can be identified by the concept of Yiddishkeit, which means “Jewishness” in the Yiddish language. Before the Haskalah (a.k.a. the Jewish Enlightenment) & the emancipation of Jews in Europe, this meant the study of the Torah & the Talmud for men, & communal life governed by the observance of Jewish Law for men & women.

From the Rhineland to Riga (the largest city in Latvia) to Romania, most Jews prayed in liturgical Ashkenazi Hebrew, & spoke Yiddish in their secular (worldly) lives. But with modernization, Yiddishkeit now includes not just Orthodoxy & Hasidism, but a broader range of movements, ideologies, practices, & traditions in which Ashkenazi have participated & somehow kept a sense of Jewishness. Although pockets of Jews still speak Yiddish, Yiddishkeit can be identified in manners of speech, styles of humor, & in patterns of association.

As Ashkenazi Jews moved away from Europe, mostly in the form of aliyah to Israel. Or immigration to North America, South Africa, Europe (particularly France), & Latin America, the geographic isolation has given way to mixing with other cultures, & with non-Ashkenazi Jews who, similarly, are no longer isolated in distinct geographic locales.

Hebrew has replaced Yiddish as the primary Jewish language for many Ashkenazi Jews. Although many Hasidic & Hareidi groups still use Yiddish in daily life. Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographic Land of Israel or the Palestine region, where the State of Israel was established.

France’s blended Jewish community is typical of the cultural recombination that’s going on among Jews throughout the world. Although France expelled its original Jewish population in the Middle Ages, by the time of the French Revolution, there were 2 distinct Jewish populations.

One consisted of Sephardic Jews, originally refugees from the Inquisition (which no one expects! Sorry, we’re Monty Python fans here.) & concentrated in the southwest. While the other community was Ashkenazi, concentrated in formerly German Alsace, & mainly speaking a German dialect similar to Yiddish.

The 3rd community of Provencal Jews living in Comtat Venaissin was technically outside France, & was later absorbed into the Sephardim. Comtat Venaissin (called Comtat, for short) was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791.

But after emancipation, a sense of a unified French Jewry emerged, especially when France was wracked by the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. (We’ll be doing a post about the Dreyfus Affair.) In the 1920s & 30s, Ashkenazi Jews from Europe arrived in large numbers as refugees from antisemitism, the Russian Revolution, & the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

By the 1930s, Paris had a vibrant Yiddish culture, & many Jews were involved in diverse political movements. After the Vichy years & the Holocaust, the French Jewish population was augmented once again, 1st by Ashkenazi refugees from Central Europe, & later by Sephardi immigrants & refugees from North Africa, many of them francophone. Francophone refers to people/organizations who use French (language) regularly.

Ashkenazi Jews didn’t transmit their traditions or achievements by text. Instead, these traditions were passed down orally from one generation to the next. The desire to maintain pre-Holocaust traditions relating to Ashkenazi culture has often been met with criticism by Jews in Eastern Europe.

In an ethnic sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is a descendant of the Jews who settled in the Central European region of “Ashkenaz.” For roughly 1,000 years, the Ashkenazim were a reproductively isolated population in Europe.

Despite living in many countries, with little inflow or outflow of countries from migration, conversion, or intermarriage with other groups, including other Jews. Since the mid-20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews have intermarried, both with members of other Jewish communities & non-Jews.

Religious persecution of the Jews in Western & Central Europe led to a significant migration of the Ashkenazi Jews into Eastern Europe. This resulted in a major cultural divide between Western/Central & Eastern Ashkenazi communities. In particular, this was reflected in the division of Yiddish into Western & Eastern Yiddish dialects. As well as in other cultural distinctions: traditions, food, dress, etc.

Initially, the Jews of Eastern Europe enjoyed relative freedom in terms of movement, being invited by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Over time, the situation was reversed. By the 19th century, the Jews in the West had gradually been integrated into the general society.

While the Eastern Ashkenazi maintained their strict Jewish traditions & were mostly confined to ghettos, especially in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, which incorporated a considerable amount of land where the Eastern Ashkenazi lived: Poland & Lithuania.

Well-known differences in practices include:

• Observance of Passover (Pesach)
  • Ashkenazi Jews traditionally refrain from eating legumes, grain, millet, & rice. Quinoa has become accepted as a food grain in North American communities. Sephardi Jews typically don’t prohibit these foods.
• Notwithstanding stricter requirements for the ACTUAL slaughter, Sephardi Jews permit the rear portions of an animal after proper Halakhic removal of the sciatic nerve. While many Ashkenazi Jews don’t.
• Ashkenazi Jews often name newborns after deceased family members, not after living relatives. Sephardi Jews often name their kids after their grandparents, even if those grandparents are still living. An exception to this is among Dutch Jews, where Ashkenazi for centuries used naming conventions otherwise attributed exclusively to Sephardim, such as Chuts. Chuts is the name given to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands in the 1850s-1860s.
• Ashkenazi tefillins are wound toward the body, not away from it. Ashkenazim put on the tefillin while standing up. Other Jews generally do so while sitting down. A tefillin(s) is/are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps having scrolls of parchment written with verses of the Torah inside.
• The prayer shawl (tallit/tallis) is worn by all Ashkenazi men AFTER marriage. Except for Western European Ashkenazi men who wear it from the bar mitzvah. In Sephardi or Mizrahi Judaism, the prayer shawl is commonly worn from early childhood.

The term Ashkenazi also refers to the Nusach Ashkenaz, the liturgical tradition used by Ashkenazi Jews in their siddur (prayer book). A nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition’s choice of prayers, the text of prayers & melodies used in the singing of prayers. 2 other major forms of nusach among Ashkenazi Jews are Nusach Sefard (not to be confused with the Sephardic ritual), which is the general Polish Hasidic nusach, and Nusach Ari, used by those in Chabad.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

Ashkenazi Jews

Author’s Note: This post has mentions of Nazis, the Holocaust, & Nazi Germany. We completely understand if you wish to skip over this post. We’ll catch you in the next one!

Also known as Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazis, or Ashkenazim.

This is a form of distinct ethnic subdivision of the Jewish Diaspora. Emerging from the Jewish communities that consolidated during the 10th century in the Rhineland (Western Germany) & northern France. They migrated there from centers such as the Italian peninsula & the Southern Levant. This includes present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, & Jordan.

After numerous massacres of Jews during the Crusades (11th-13th centuries), they began a gradual eastward migration due to mounting restrictions within the Holy Roman Empire & the favorable policies of Casimir the Great & others.

This diaspora ramped up after the persecution during the Black Death of the 14th century. The bulk of the Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to the Kingdom of Poland (which includes modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, & parts of Russia). This area became the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until the Holocaust.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions, rites, & customs to Europe. They traditionally followed the German rite synagogue ritual & until the Holocaust primarily spoke Yiddish, an offshoot of Middle High German written in a variety of the Hebrew script, with significant Hebrew, Aramaic, & Slavic influences.

The Yiddish language progressively declined in prestige, in favor of national languages & Hebrew, being stigmatized by assimilationists & later also Zionists. Though it was spoken by over 11 million people worldwide before the Holocaust. The Yiddishist movement, which sought to preserve & revive the language, faded through the 20th century. Including Duolingo adding Yiddish as a language.

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930, near the population’s peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during WWII, which killed around 6 million Jews. Before WWII, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3-16.7 million, with 92% being Ashkenazi. As of 2023, the population of Ashkenazim was estimated to be around 10-13 million out of 15.8 million total Jews.

The name Ashkenazi comes from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz. He’s the 1st son of Gomer, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah, & a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. The name for Gomer has often been linked to the Cimmerians.

The Biblical Ashkenazis are usually derived from Assyrian Askuza, a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates. The name Askuza is identified with the Scythians.

In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as 1 of 3 kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni (or Mannaea), an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, & Arrat (corresponding to Urartu), called on by God to resist Babylon.

Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia (usually identified with Scandinavia), viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes, in the 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. In the 10th century, in the History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertci, Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia.

As it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene, Khazaria, Chimea, & areas to the east. They’re also identified with the Slavim or Slavs. In keeping with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was called Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (I Kings 17:9), & Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan.

Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France & Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany & France.

In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern & western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany & Poland. Thus, the prayer book of Isaiah Horowitz (a prominent rabbi & mystic), & many others, give the piyyutim (a Jewish liturgical poem), according to the Minhag of Ashkenaz & Poland. A Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition & synagogue ritual follow Ashkenazi practices (German rite). Until the Ashkenazi community 1st began to develop in the Early Middle Ages, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad & Islamic Spain. German Ashkenaz was so geographically distant that it developed a minhag of its own.

The counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic. Since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they’re ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic or Mizrahi (a.k.a. Oriental Jews; Jews who lived in the Muslim world) who married into an Orthodox or Haredi (a.k.a. ultra-Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her kids to be Ashkenazi Jews.

On the other hand, an Ashkenazi woman who married a Sephardi or Mizrahi is expected to take on Sephardic practices & the kids will “inherit” a Sephardic identity. Though in practice, many families do compromise. A “convert” usually follows the practice of the rabbinical court (beth din) that converted them.

Culturally, an Ashkenazi Jew can be identified by the concept of Yiddishkeit, which means “Jewishness” in the Yiddish language. Before the Haskalah (a.k.a. the Jewish Enlightenment) & the emancipation of Jews in Europe, this meant the study of the Torah & the Talmud for men, & communal life governed by the observance of Jewish Law for men & women.

From the Rhineland to Riga (the largest city in Latvia) to Romania, most Jews prayed in liturgical Ashkenazi Hebrew, & spoke Yiddish in their secular (worldly) lives. But with modernization, Yiddishkeit now includes not just Orthodoxy & Hasidism, but a broader range of movements, ideologies, practices, & traditions in which Ashkenazi have participated & somehow kept a sense of Jewishness. Although pockets of Jews still speak Yiddish, Yiddishkeit can be identified in manners of speech, styles of humor, & in patterns of association.

As Ashkenazi Jews moved away from Europe, mostly in the form of aliyah to Israel. Or immigration to North America, South Africa, Europe (particularly France), & Latin America, the geographic isolation has given way to mixing with other cultures, & with non-Ashkenazi Jews who, similarly, are no longer isolated in distinct geographic locales.

Hebrew has replaced Yiddish as the primary Jewish language for many Ashkenazi Jews. Although many Hasidic & Hareidi groups still use Yiddish in daily life. Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographic Land of Israel or the Palestine region, where the State of Israel was established.

France’s blended Jewish community is typical of the cultural recombination that’s going on among Jews throughout the world. Although France expelled its original Jewish population in the Middle Ages, by the time of the French Revolution, there were 2 distinct Jewish populations.

One consisted of Sephardic Jews, originally refugees from the Inquisition (which no one expects! Sorry, we’re Monty Python fans here.) & concentrated in the southwest. While the other community was Ashkenazi, concentrated in formerly German Alsace, & mainly speaking a German dialect similar to Yiddish.

The 3rd community of Provencal Jews living in Comtat Venaissin was technically outside France, & was later absorbed into the Sephardim. Comtat Venaissin (called Comtat, for short) was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791.

But after emancipation, a sense of a unified French Jewry emerged, especially when France was wracked by the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. (We’ll be doing a post about the Dreyfus Affair.) In the 1920s & 30s, Ashkenazi Jews from Europe arrived in large numbers as refugees from antisemitism, the Russian Revolution, & the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

By the 1930s, Paris had a vibrant Yiddish culture, & many Jews were involved in diverse political movements. After the Vichy years & the Holocaust, the French Jewish population was augmented once again, 1st by Ashkenazi refugees from Central Europe, & later by Sephardi immigrants & refugees from North Africa, many of them francophone. Francophone refers to people/organizations who use French (language) regularly.

Ashkenazi Jews didn’t transmit their traditions or achievements by text. Instead, these traditions were passed down orally from one generation to the next. The desire to maintain pre-Holocaust traditions relating to Ashkenazi culture has often been met with criticism by Jews in Eastern Europe.

In an ethnic sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is a descendant of the Jews who settled in the Central European region of “Ashkenaz.” For roughly 1,000 years, the Ashkenazim were a reproductively isolated population in Europe.

Despite living in many countries, with little inflow or outflow of countries from migration, conversion, or intermarriage with other groups, including other Jews. Since the mid-20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews have intermarried, both with members of other Jewish communities & non-Jews.

Religious persecution of the Jews in Western & Central Europe led to a significant migration of the Ashkenazi Jews into Eastern Europe. This resulted in a major cultural divide between Western/Central & Eastern Ashkenazi communities. In particular, this was reflected in the division of Yiddish into Western & Eastern Yiddish dialects. As well as in other cultural distinctions: traditions, food, dress, etc.

Initially, the Jews of Eastern Europe enjoyed relative freedom in terms of movement, being invited by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Over time, the situation was reversed. By the 19th century, the Jews in the West had gradually been integrated into the general society.

While the Eastern Ashkenazi maintained their strict Jewish traditions & were mostly confined to ghettos, especially in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, which incorporated a considerable amount of land where the Eastern Ashkenazi lived: Poland & Lithuania.

Well-known differences in practices include:

• Observance of Passover (Pesach)
  • Ashkenazi Jews traditionally refrain from eating legumes, grain, millet, & rice. Quinoa has become accepted as a food grain in North American communities. Sephardi Jews typically don’t prohibit these foods.
• Notwithstanding stricter requirements for the ACTUAL slaughter, Sephardi Jews permit the rear portions of an animal after proper Halakhic removal of the sciatic nerve. While many Ashkenazi Jews don’t.
• Ashkenazi Jews often name newborns after deceased family members, not after living relatives. Sephardi Jews often name their kids after their grandparents, even if those grandparents are still living. An exception to this is among Dutch Jews, where Ashkenazi for centuries used naming conventions otherwise attributed exclusively to Sephardim, such as Chuts. Chuts is the name given to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands in the 1850s-1860s.
• Ashkenazi tefillins are wound toward the body, not away from it. Ashkenazim put on the tefillin while standing up. Other Jews generally do so while sitting down. A tefillin(s) is/are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps having scrolls of parchment written with verses of the Torah inside.
• The prayer shawl (tallit/tallis) is worn by all Ashkenazi men AFTER marriage. Except for Western European Ashkenazi men who wear it from the bar mitzvah. In Sephardi or Mizrahi Judaism, the prayer shawl is commonly worn from early childhood.

The term Ashkenazi also refers to the Nusach Ashkenaz, the liturgical tradition used by Ashkenazi Jews in their siddur (prayer book). A nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition’s choice of prayers, the text of prayers & melodies used in the singing of prayers. 2 other major forms of nusach among Ashkenazi Jews are Nusach Sefard (not to be confused with the Sephardic ritual), which is the general Polish Hasidic nusach, and Nusach Ari, used by those in Chabad.

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The profound and multifaceted meaning of the Hebrew word for dust! https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/chullin-88/ #Jewish #Talmud

The profound and multifaceted meaning of the Hebrew word for dust! https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/chullin-88/ #Jewish #Talmud

The profound and multifaceted meaning of the Hebrew word for dust! https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/chullin-88/ #Jewish #Talmud

The profound and multifaceted meaning of the Hebrew word for dust! https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/chullin-88/ #Jewish #Talmud

Talmud 1

Rabbins Talmudistes👹🤬

Sur les Femmes :

Écoutez ce que disent ces Talmudos-Sionisto-Satanico.

Accrochez vous, ça pique les oreilles, enfin les yeux car vous avez la traduction en français.

Le guide Khamenei était quand même plus correct et sympathique hein💫💥

#iran
#rabbin
#talmud
#sioniste

Rabbins Talmudistes👹🤬

Sur les Femmes :

Écoutez ce que disent ces Talmudos-Sionisto-Satanico.

Accrochez vous, ça pique les oreilles, enfin les yeux car vous avez la traduction en français.

Le guide Khamenei était quand même plus correct et sympathique hein💫💥

#iran
#rabbin
#talmud
#sioniste

Talmud 1

Rabbins Talmudistes👹🤬

Sur les Femmes :

Écoutez ce que disent ces Talmudos-Sionisto-Satanico.

Accrochez vous, ça pique les oreilles, enfin les yeux car vous avez la traduction en français.

Le guide Khamenei était quand même plus correct et sympathique hein💫💥

#iran
#rabbin
#talmud
#sioniste

"Modern #textual #scholarship has shown that #ToledotYeshu never existed as a single, fixed #composition. Unlike the #Mishna or the #Talmud, whose textual traditions gradually stabilized through widespread printing, Toledot Yeshu remained fluid for centuries. #Scribes copied from whatever exemplars were available, frequently introducing additions, omissions, stylistic revisions, and entirely new #narrative episodes. Rather than preserving a single "original" version, the #manuscript tradition reflects a living #text continually reshaped by its transmitters.

The #Łomżamanuscript is especially noteworthy because it preserves a substantially expanded #recension. Its elaborate title-page introduction immediately distinguishes it from many simpler copies. Throughout the text, the #Hebrew is unusually polished, employing a consciously #biblical style that lends the narrative an air of #antiquity and #literary refinement."

https://jewishpress.com/a-medieval-jewish-counter-narrative-about-the-life-of-the-founder-of-christianity/

"Modern #textual #scholarship has shown that #ToledotYeshu never existed as a single, fixed #composition. Unlike the #Mishna or the #Talmud, whose textual traditions gradually stabilized through widespread printing, Toledot Yeshu remained fluid for centuries. #Scribes copied from whatever exemplars were available, frequently introducing additions, omissions, stylistic revisions, and entirely new #narrative episodes. Rather than preserving a single "original" version, the #manuscript tradition reflects a living #text continually reshaped by its transmitters.

The #Łomżamanuscript is especially noteworthy because it preserves a substantially expanded #recension. Its elaborate title-page introduction immediately distinguishes it from many simpler copies. Throughout the text, the #Hebrew is unusually polished, employing a consciously #biblical style that lends the narrative an air of #antiquity and #literary refinement."

https://jewishpress.com/a-medieval-jewish-counter-narrative-about-the-life-of-the-founder-of-christianity/

"Modern #textual #scholarship has shown that #ToledotYeshu never existed as a single, fixed #composition. Unlike the #Mishna or the #Talmud, whose textual traditions gradually stabilized through widespread printing, Toledot Yeshu remained fluid for centuries. #Scribes copied from whatever exemplars were available, frequently introducing additions, omissions, stylistic revisions, and entirely new #narrative episodes. Rather than preserving a single "original" version, the #manuscript tradition reflects a living #text continually reshaped by its transmitters.

The #Łomżamanuscript is especially noteworthy because it preserves a substantially expanded #recension. Its elaborate title-page introduction immediately distinguishes it from many simpler copies. Throughout the text, the #Hebrew is unusually polished, employing a consciously #biblical style that lends the narrative an air of #antiquity and #literary refinement."

https://jewishpress.com/a-medieval-jewish-counter-narrative-about-the-life-of-the-founder-of-christianity/

"Modern #textual #scholarship has shown that #ToledotYeshu never existed as a single, fixed #composition. Unlike the #Mishna or the #Talmud, whose textual traditions gradually stabilized through widespread printing, Toledot Yeshu remained fluid for centuries. #Scribes copied from whatever exemplars were available, frequently introducing additions, omissions, stylistic revisions, and entirely new #narrative episodes. Rather than preserving a single "original" version, the #manuscript tradition reflects a living #text continually reshaped by its transmitters.

The #Łomżamanuscript is especially noteworthy because it preserves a substantially expanded #recension. Its elaborate title-page introduction immediately distinguishes it from many simpler copies. Throughout the text, the #Hebrew is unusually polished, employing a consciously #biblical style that lends the narrative an air of #antiquity and #literary refinement."

https://jewishpress.com/a-medieval-jewish-counter-narrative-about-the-life-of-the-founder-of-christianity/

"Modern #textual #scholarship has shown that #ToledotYeshu never existed as a single, fixed #composition. Unlike the #Mishna or the #Talmud, whose textual traditions gradually stabilized through widespread printing, Toledot Yeshu remained fluid for centuries. #Scribes copied from whatever exemplars were available, frequently introducing additions, omissions, stylistic revisions, and entirely new #narrative episodes. Rather than preserving a single "original" version, the #manuscript tradition reflects a living #text continually reshaped by its transmitters.

The #Łomżamanuscript is especially noteworthy because it preserves a substantially expanded #recension. Its elaborate title-page introduction immediately distinguishes it from many simpler copies. Throughout the text, the #Hebrew is unusually polished, employing a consciously #biblical style that lends the narrative an air of #antiquity and #literary refinement."

https://jewishpress.com/a-medieval-jewish-counter-narrative-about-the-life-of-the-founder-of-christianity/

https://www.europesays.com/iran/220674/ The Blogs: Book review – The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel: Deuteronomy | Ben Rothke #Bible #Books #Egypt #Israel #JewishEducation #PARSHAPOSTS:DEVARIM #Talmud #Torah #UltraOrthodoxJews

A quotation from The Talmud

When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven began to break forth in songs of jubilation, but the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them: “My creatures are perishing — and ye are ready to sing!”
 
בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
Babylonian Talmud, Seder Moed, Megillah 10b.26 [Rosten (1972)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/talmud/4579/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #talmud #callousness #celebration #compassion #creation #creator #divineintervention #divinelove #divinewrath #God #grief #inappropriateness #mercy #sorrow #tragedy #war

A quotation from The Talmud

When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven began to break forth in songs of jubilation, but the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them: “My creatures are perishing — and ye are ready to sing!”
 
בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
Babylonian Talmud, Seder Moed, Megillah 10b.26 [Rosten (1972)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/talmud/4579/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #talmud #callousness #celebration #compassion #creation #creator #divineintervention #divinelove #divinewrath #God #grief #inappropriateness #mercy #sorrow #tragedy #war

A quotation from The Talmud

When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven began to break forth in songs of jubilation, but the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them: “My creatures are perishing — and ye are ready to sing!”
 
בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
Babylonian Talmud, Seder Moed, Megillah 10b.26 [Rosten (1972)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/talmud/4579/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #talmud #callousness #celebration #compassion #creation #creator #divineintervention #divinelove #divinewrath #God #grief #inappropriateness #mercy #sorrow #tragedy #war

A quotation from The Talmud

When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven began to break forth in songs of jubilation, but the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them: “My creatures are perishing — and ye are ready to sing!”
 
בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה

The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
Babylonian Talmud, Seder Moed, Megillah 10b.26 [Rosten (1972)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/talmud/4579/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #talmud #callousness #celebration #compassion #creation #creator #divineintervention #divinelove #divinewrath #God #grief #inappropriateness #mercy #sorrow #tragedy #war

La paix du judaïsme

Dans le judaïsme, le shalom est pour beaucoup d’autres sans doute l’un des concepts les plus riches et les plus mal traduits par le mot français paix, car il ne désigne pas d’abord l’absence de conflit, mais une plénitude, un état d’accomplissement où rien ne manque. Dans cet état un état, toutes les parties d’un être, d’une relation ou d’une société sont en juste relation les unes aux autres.

Le Talmud dit que le Nom de Dieu lui-même est Shalom, une parenté frappante avec As-Salām (Paix) dans le soufisme que nous avons vu plus tôt cette semaine. Mais ici, la paix divine n’est pas seulement contemplée ou reçue par soumission, elle est un modèle éthique à imiter activement dans les rapports humains.

Contrairement à certaines conceptions purement intérieures de la paix, la tradition juive refuse de séparer shalom de tzedek (justice) et de mishpat (droit). La paix n’est donc jamais un vernis apaisant posé sur une injustice non résolue, elle en est plutôt le fruit nécessaire. C’est une différence importante avec certaines paix issues de traditions purement contemplatives, ici, la paix a une exigence sociale et politique irréductible.

L’idéal se décline aussi à l’échelle domestique avec la paix du foyer, considérée comme le lieu premier où se construit où se détruit la paix du monde. Les sages enseignent que la paix conjugale et familiale a une valeur presque cosmique, certains textes rabbiniques vont jusqu’à autoriser un léger mensonge pour la préserver, signe de l’importance qu’on lui accorde.

Un trait distinctif du judaïsme est le caractère actif, presque impératif, de la paix. Hillel enseigne : « Sois de la lignée d’Aaron : aime la paix et poursuis la paix ». On ne se contente pas d’aimer ou d’espérer la paix, on court après elle, on la traque comme une proie précieuse. La paix n’est pas donnée d’emblée, elle demande un effort continu.

Dans la mystique juive, en particulier la Kabbale lourianique, l’idée de la réparation du monde inscrit la paix dans une cosmologie de la rupture et de la restauration. La paix devient alors une tâche cosmique, chaque acte de justice participe à la restauration de l’harmonie originelle du monde. On retrouve ici un écho à votre exploration du Tikkoun dans les traditions précédentes.

Enfin, le judaïsme porte un idéal messianique de paix universelle, par exemple l’image d’Isaïe du loup habitant avec l’agneau. Cette paix future n’est pas seulement une absence de guerre entre nations, mais une réconciliation de l’ordre naturel lui-même, où la violence structurelle du monde créé serait elle-même guérie.

En somme, le shalom juif se distingue nettement des deux paix précédentes. Là où le soufi trouve la paix par soumission amoureuse et le bouddhiste par dissolution de l’attachement, le judaïsme refuse de dissocier la paix intérieure de la justice sociale et de l’action historique, c’est une paix qui s’exige autant qu’elle se reçoit qui se construit par l’étude, le droit et la réparation plutôt que par le seul retrait contemplatif. C’est peut-être la tradition, parmi celles que nous avons vues, où la paix est la plus résolument tournée vers l’histoire et la cité, plutôt que vers l’extinction du moi ou la fusion mystique.

Dans un monde où tout le monde parle de paix, est-ce que nous avons la même conception de celle-ci? Est-ce que les écarts expliqueraient en partie les conflits qui perdurent?

Une chanson de Michel Legrand – Les Moulins de mon coeur signée et chantée en Français, Ukrainien, Arabe, Hébreu, Langue des signes

Les paroles sur https://www.musixmatch.com/fr/paroles/Charles-Aznavour/Les-moulins-de-mon-coeur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q33gmlxQ3I

Par Daniel Jean dans Voies (x) de passage

COPYRIGHT – DROIT DE REPRODUCTION – La reproduction de cet article sur un blogue ou un site est autorisé à condition de respecter :   * L’intégralité du texte — Vous ne devez pas modifier, transformer ou adapter ce texte. * Le droit d’auteur — Vous devez citer le nom de la source (avec un hyperlien vers l’article original de préférence). * La finalité sans but lucratif — Vous n’avez pas le droit d’utiliser cette création à des fins commerciales. Si j’ai utilisé vos textes/photos et que vous souhaitez que je les retire, merci de me contacter en commentaire, ce sera fait rapidement.

Retracing the history of Talmudic sage Rashi from Germany to France

The 29th of Tamuz marks the yahrzeit of Rashi, the greatest commentator on the Torah and the Talmud.…
#Germany #DE #Europe #EU #Europa #France #Talmud #Torah
https://www.europesays.com/germany/53088/

Ja, @1alterBommer - genau gelesen versprach Gott in der biblischen Noah-Geschichte, dass er (!) keine globale Sintflut mehr schicken werde.

Dass wir Menschen durch unsere eigene Gier kein Feuer 🔥 & Verderben über die Menschheit & Mitwelt bringen würden, wird nicht ausgeschlossen…

@hsmolin @no_brainer @angeldruckt @silberspur

#Sintflut #Symbol #Bibel #Noah #Noahbund #Judentum #MichaelBlume #BneiNoach #Rabbiner #Talmud #ORD #Stuttgart

https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/der-noahbund-fuer-frieden-und-mitwelt-vortrag-bei-der-orthodoxen-rabbinerkonferenz-deutschland-ord/

Ja, @1alterBommer - genau gelesen versprach Gott in der biblischen Noah-Geschichte, dass er (!) keine globale Sintflut mehr schicken werde.

Dass wir Menschen durch unsere eigene Gier kein Feuer 🔥 & Verderben über die Menschheit & Mitwelt bringen würden, wird nicht ausgeschlossen…

@hsmolin @no_brainer @angeldruckt @silberspur

#Sintflut #Symbol #Bibel #Noah #Noahbund #Judentum #MichaelBlume #BneiNoach #Rabbiner #Talmud #ORD #Stuttgart

https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/der-noahbund-fuer-frieden-und-mitwelt-vortrag-bei-der-orthodoxen-rabbinerkonferenz-deutschland-ord/

Ja, @1alterBommer - genau gelesen versprach Gott in der biblischen Noah-Geschichte, dass er (!) keine globale Sintflut mehr schicken werde.

Dass wir Menschen durch unsere eigene Gier kein Feuer 🔥 & Verderben über die Menschheit & Mitwelt bringen würden, wird nicht ausgeschlossen…

@hsmolin @no_brainer @angeldruckt @silberspur

#Sintflut #Symbol #Bibel #Noah #Noahbund #Judentum #MichaelBlume #BneiNoach #Rabbiner #Talmud #ORD #Stuttgart

https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/der-noahbund-fuer-frieden-und-mitwelt-vortrag-bei-der-orthodoxen-rabbinerkonferenz-deutschland-ord/

Ja, @1alterBommer - genau gelesen versprach Gott in der biblischen Noah-Geschichte, dass er (!) keine globale Sintflut mehr schicken werde.

Dass wir Menschen durch unsere eigene Gier kein Feuer 🔥 & Verderben über die Menschheit & Mitwelt bringen würden, wird nicht ausgeschlossen…

@hsmolin @no_brainer @angeldruckt @silberspur

#Sintflut #Symbol #Bibel #Noah #Noahbund #Judentum #MichaelBlume #BneiNoach #Rabbiner #Talmud #ORD #Stuttgart

https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/der-noahbund-fuer-frieden-und-mitwelt-vortrag-bei-der-orthodoxen-rabbinerkonferenz-deutschland-ord/

Ja, @1alterBommer - genau gelesen versprach Gott in der biblischen Noah-Geschichte, dass er (!) keine globale Sintflut mehr schicken werde.

Dass wir Menschen durch unsere eigene Gier kein Feuer 🔥 & Verderben über die Menschheit & Mitwelt bringen würden, wird nicht ausgeschlossen…

@hsmolin @no_brainer @angeldruckt @silberspur

#Sintflut #Symbol #Bibel #Noah #Noahbund #Judentum #MichaelBlume #BneiNoach #Rabbiner #Talmud #ORD #Stuttgart

https://scilogs.spektrum.de/natur-des-glaubens/der-noahbund-fuer-frieden-und-mitwelt-vortrag-bei-der-orthodoxen-rabbinerkonferenz-deutschland-ord/

1/6
The full story is “The Lame Man and the Blind Man.”

A Jewish parable about two people who each looked powerless alone.

One could see, but could not walk.
One could walk, but could not see.

Together, they became dangerous.

#JewishLegend #Talmud #Parable #Justice #Ethics #Responsibility #Folklore #Conspiracy #Law #Wisdom

1/6
The full story is “The Lame Man and the Blind Man.”

A Jewish parable about two people who each looked powerless alone.

One could see, but could not walk.
One could walk, but could not see.

Together, they became dangerous.

#JewishLegend #Talmud #Parable #Justice #Ethics #Responsibility #Folklore #Conspiracy #Law #Wisdom

1/6
The full story is “The Lame Man and the Blind Man.”

A Jewish parable about two people who each looked powerless alone.

One could see, but could not walk.
One could walk, but could not see.

Together, they became dangerous.

#JewishLegend #Talmud #Parable #Justice #Ethics #Responsibility #Folklore #Conspiracy #Law #Wisdom

1/6
The full story is “The Lame Man and the Blind Man.”

A Jewish parable about two people who each looked powerless alone.

One could see, but could not walk.
One could walk, but could not see.

Together, they became dangerous.

#JewishLegend #Talmud #Parable #Justice #Ethics #Responsibility #Folklore #Conspiracy #Law #Wisdom

1/6
The full story is “The Lame Man and the Blind Man.”

A Jewish parable about two people who each looked powerless alone.

One could see, but could not walk.
One could walk, but could not see.

Together, they became dangerous.

#JewishLegend #Talmud #Parable #Justice #Ethics #Responsibility #Folklore #Conspiracy #Law #Wisdom

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRJPN3BRPN2DFM?v=sm

#Hebrew #language #linguistics #Judaism #Duolingo #Talmud :flan_book:

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRJPN3BRPN2DFM?v=sm

#Hebrew #language #linguistics #Judaism #Duolingo #Talmud :flan_book:

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRJPN3BRPN2DFM?v=sm

#Hebrew #language #linguistics #Judaism #Duolingo #Talmud :flan_book:

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRJPN3BRPN2DFM?v=sm

#Hebrew #language #linguistics #Judaism #Duolingo #Talmud :flan_book:

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRJPN3BRPN2DFM?v=sm

#Hebrew #language #linguistics #Judaism #Duolingo #Talmud :flan_book:

From Pardes: Online Weekly Study

How it Works
Register once and receive access to all sessions. Come when you can!

TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM Pacific / 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00-6:00 PM UK / 7:00-8:00 PM Israel

Join any week - We encourage live participation to keep the Orchard Sessions dynamic and interactive.

Recordings aren’t posted publicly, but if you miss a session or want to review one, contact us and we’ll share the recording on request.

Weekly Reminders - You’ll receive a weekly reminder email with the Zoom link.

Register: https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/orchard-weekly-learning

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Talmud

From Pardes: Online Weekly Study

How it Works
Register once and receive access to all sessions. Come when you can!

TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM Pacific / 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00-6:00 PM UK / 7:00-8:00 PM Israel

Join any week - We encourage live participation to keep the Orchard Sessions dynamic and interactive.

Recordings aren’t posted publicly, but if you miss a session or want to review one, contact us and we’ll share the recording on request.

Weekly Reminders - You’ll receive a weekly reminder email with the Zoom link.

Register: https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/orchard-weekly-learning

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Talmud

From Pardes: Online Weekly Study

How it Works
Register once and receive access to all sessions. Come when you can!

TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM Pacific / 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00-6:00 PM UK / 7:00-8:00 PM Israel

Join any week - We encourage live participation to keep the Orchard Sessions dynamic and interactive.

Recordings aren’t posted publicly, but if you miss a session or want to review one, contact us and we’ll share the recording on request.

Weekly Reminders - You’ll receive a weekly reminder email with the Zoom link.

Register: https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/orchard-weekly-learning

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Talmud

From Pardes: Online Weekly Study

How it Works
Register once and receive access to all sessions. Come when you can!

TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM Pacific / 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00-6:00 PM UK / 7:00-8:00 PM Israel

Join any week - We encourage live participation to keep the Orchard Sessions dynamic and interactive.

Recordings aren’t posted publicly, but if you miss a session or want to review one, contact us and we’ll share the recording on request.

Weekly Reminders - You’ll receive a weekly reminder email with the Zoom link.

Register: https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/orchard-weekly-learning

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Talmud

From Pardes: Online Weekly Study

How it Works
Register once and receive access to all sessions. Come when you can!

TIME: 9:00-10:00 AM Pacific / 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00-6:00 PM UK / 7:00-8:00 PM Israel

Join any week - We encourage live participation to keep the Orchard Sessions dynamic and interactive.

Recordings aren’t posted publicly, but if you miss a session or want to review one, contact us and we’ll share the recording on request.

Weekly Reminders - You’ll receive a weekly reminder email with the Zoom link.

Register: https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/orchard-weekly-learning

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Talmud

Kabbalah, Part 1

Also spelled Qabalah or Qabbala. It literally means the act of receiving, acceptance.

This is an esoteric method, discipline, & school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (“receiver”).

Jewish Kabbalists originally developed transmissions of the primary texts of Kabbalah within the realm of Jewish tradition. Often using classical Jewish scriptures to explain & demonstrate their mystical teachings.

Kabbalah came out of earlier forms of Jewish mysticism in 12th-13th century Occitania, specifically in Languedoc, among Hakhmei Provence.

Following the movement of Jews from Southern France & Spain, it was found in the Rhineland school of Judah the Pious, al-Andalus, L& was reinterpreted during the Jewish mystical Renaissance in the 16th-century Ottoman Palestine.

The Zohar was authored in the late 13th century, likely by Moses de Leon. Isaac Luria (16th century) is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah. Lurianic Kabbalah was popularized in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards.

The primary texts of the major lineage in medieval Jewish tradition are the Bahir, Zohar, Pardes Rimonim, & Et Chayim (‘Ein Sof’). The early Hekhalot literature is recognized as ancestral to the sensibilities of this later flowering of the Kabbalah, & more especially, the Sefer Yetzirah is acknowledged as the forerunner from which many of these books draw their formal inspiration.

The Sefer Yetzirah is a brief document of only a few pages, written many centuries before the high & late medieval works (sometime between 200-600 CE), detailing an alphanumeric vision of cosmology & may be understood as a kind of prelude to the major phase of Kabbalah.

The history of Jewish mysticism encompasses various forms of esoteric & spiritual practices aimed at understanding the divine & the hidden aspects of existence. This mystical tradition has evolved greatly over millennia, influencing & being influenced by different historical, cultural, & religious contexts.

Among the most prominent forms of Jewish mysticism is Kabbalah, which developed in the 12th century & has since become a central component of Jewish mystical thought. Other notable early forms include prophetic & apocalyptic mysticism, which are evident in biblical & post-biblical texts.

The roots of Jewish mysticism can be traced back to the biblical era, with prophetic figures such as Elijah & Ezekiel experiencing divine visions & encounters. This tradition continued into the apocalyptic period, where texts like 1 Enoch & the Book of Daniel introduced complex angelology & eschatological themes.

The Hekhalot & Merkabah literature, dating from the 2nd century to the early medieval period, further developed these mystical themes. This focuses on visionary ascents to the heavenly palaces & the divine chariot. Hekhalot literature (from the Hebrew word for “Palaces”) relates to visions of entering Heaven alive.

Merkabah (or Merkavah) mysticism is a school of Jewish mysticism, centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1, or in the hekhalot literature, concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces & the Throne of God.

According to the Zohar, Torah study can proceed along 4 levels of interpretation (exegesis). These 4 levels are called pardes from their initial letters (PRDs, “orchard”):

• Peshat (“simple”): The direct interpretations of meaning.
• Remez (“hints”): The allegoric meanings (through allusion).
• Derash (from the Hebrew darash, “inquire” or “seek): Midrashic (rabbinic) meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses.
• Sod (“secret” or “mystery”): The inner, esoteric (metaphysical) meanings, expressed in kabbalah.

Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a necessary part of the study of the Torah. The study of the Torah (the Tanakh & rabbinic literature) is an inherent duty of observant Jews.

There are 3 different types of Kabbalah: Lurianic Kabbalah, Meditative-Ecstatic Kabbalah, & Practical Kabbalah. These 3 types can be distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God:

• The Theosohical/Theosophical-Theurgic tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah (the main focus of the Zohar & Luria) seeks to understand & describe the divine realm using the imaginative & mythic symbols of human psychological experience. Its theosophy also implies the innate, centrally important theurgic influence of human conduct on redeeming or damaging the spiritual realms, as man is a divine microcosm. The purpose of traditional theosophical kabbalah was to give the whole of normative Jewish religious practices this mystical metaphysical meaning.
• The Meditative tradition of Ecstatic Kabbalah strives to achieve a mystical union with God, or nullification of the meditator in God’s Active intellect. Abraham Abulafia’s “Prophetic Kabbalah” was the supreme example of this. Though marginal in Kabbalistic development. His alternative to the program of theosophical Kabbalah. Abulafian meditation built upon the philosophy of Maimonides, whose followers remained a rationalist threat to theosophical Kabbalists.
• The Magico-Talismanic tradition of Practical Kabbalah endeavours to alter both the Divine realms & the World using practical methods. While theosophical interpretations of worship see its redemptive role as harmonizing heavenly forces, Practical Kabbalah properly involved Practial Kabbalah properly involved white-magical acts, & was censored by Kabbalists for only those completely pure of intent, as it relates to lower realms where purity & impurity are mixed. Consequently, it formed a separate minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. Practical Kabbalah was prohibited by the Arizal until the Temple is rebuilt & the required state of ritual purity is attainable.

According to Kabbalistic belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was imparted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, & sages. Eventually, to be “interwoven” into Jewish religious writings & culture. According to this view, early kabbalah was, around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel.

Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge & make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.

From the Renaissance onward, Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish (Gentile) spaces. Where they studied & translated by Christian Hebraists & Hermetic occultists. Christian Hebraists are scholars of Hebrew texts who approach the works from a Christian perspective.

The syncretic traditions of Christian & Hermetic Kabbalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah. They read Jewish texts as universalist ancient wisdom preserved from Gnostic traditions of “the olden days.” Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Jewish understanding. This made it possible to merge with multiple other theologies, religious traditions, & magical associations. In the time of the Age of Reason, Christian Kabbalah declined. Hermetic Kabbalah took a much different route, a route that some secretive “societies” went: they went underground.

The technical definition of Kabbalah varies according to sect & the aims of those following it. In its earliest & original usage in ancient Hebrew, it means “reception” or “tradition.” In this context, it tends to refer to any sacred writing written after (or otherwise outside of) the 5 books of the Torah. (This is the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament.)

After the Talmud was written, it refers to the Oral Law. In the much later writings of Eleazar of Worms (circa 1350), it refers to theurgy or the conjuring of demons & angels by the invocation of their secret names.

The nature of the divine prompted kabbalists to envision 2 aspects to God: 1.) God is essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless divine simplicity beyond revelation, & 2.) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which He creates, sustains, & relates to humankind.

Kabbalists speak of the 1st as the Ein Sof (“the infinite/endless,” literally “there is no end”). Of the impersonal Ein Sof, nothing can be grasped.

However, the 2nd aspect of divine emanations, accessible to human perception, dynamically interacting throughout spiritual & physical existence, reveals the divine immanently, & is bound up in the life of man. Kabbalists believe that these 2 aspects aren’t contradictory but complement 1 another, emanations mystically revealing the concealed mystery from within the Godhead.

As a term describing the Infinite Godhead beyond Creation, Kabbalists viewed the Ein Sof itself as too sublime to be referred to directly in the Torah. It’s not a Holy Name in Judaism. No name could contain a revelation of the Ein Sof.

The structure of emanations has been described in various ways: Sephirot (divine attributes) & Partzufim (divine “faces”), Ohr (spiritual light & flow), Names of God & supernal Torah, Olamot (spiritual worlds), a Divine Tree & Archetypal Man, Angelic Chariot & Palaces, male & female, enclothed layers of reality, inwardly channels (“limbs” of the King) & the divine Souls of Man.

These symbols are used to describe various levels & aspects of Divine manifestation, from the Pnimi (inner) dimensions to the Hitzoni (outer). It’s solely in relation to the emanations, certainly not the Ein Sof Ground of all Being, that Kabbalah uses anthropomorphic symbolism to relate psychologically to divinity.

The Sephirot/Sefirot/Sefirah are the 10 emanations & attributes of God with which He continually sustains the existence of the universe. These emanations are viewed as parts of God’s divine nature, which reveal themselves in different ways.

The Zohar & other Kabbalistic texts elaborate on the emergence of the sephirot from a state of concealed potential in the Ein Sof until their manifestation in the mundane world. In particular, Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (known as “the Ramak”) describes how God emanated the myriad details of finite reality out of the absolute unity of Divine Light via the 10 sephirot, or vessels.

According to Lurianic cosmology, the sephirot correspond to various levels of creation. 10 sephirot are in each of the 4 Worlds. 4 Worlds within each of the larger 4 Worlds, each containing 10 sephirot, which themselves contain 10 sephirot, which themselves contain 10 sephirot, to an infinite number of possibilities.

They emanated from the Creator for the purpose of creating the universe. The sephirot are considered revelations of the Creator’s will (ratzon), & they shouldn’t be understood as 10 different “gods” but through the Emanations. It’s not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.

Divine creation through the 10 Sephirot is an ethical process. They represent the different aspects of Morality. Loving-Kindness is a possible moral justification found in Chessed, & Gevurah is the Moral Justification of justice, & both are mediated by Mercy, which is Rachamim.

However, these pillars of morality become immoral when taken to extremes. When Loving-Kindness becomes extreme, it can lead to sexual depravity & a lack of Justice to the wicked. When Justice becomes extreme, it can lead to torture & the Cain-ing of innocents & unfair punishment.

The tzadikim or “righteous” ascend these ethical qualities of the 10 sephirot through righteous action. If there were no tzadikim, the blessings of God would become completely hidden, & Creation would cease to exist.

While real human actions are the “Foundation” (Yesod) of this universe (Malkuth), they must be accompanied by the conscious intention of compassion. Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith (Emunah), meaning trusting that God seems hidden.

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Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

Kabbalah, Part 1

Also spelled Qabalah or Qabbala. It literally means the act of receiving, acceptance.

This is an esoteric method, discipline, & school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (“receiver”).

Jewish Kabbalists originally developed transmissions of the primary texts of Kabbalah within the realm of Jewish tradition. Often using classical Jewish scriptures to explain & demonstrate their mystical teachings.

Kabbalah came out of earlier forms of Jewish mysticism in 12th-13th century Occitania, specifically in Languedoc, among Hakhmei Provence.

Following the movement of Jews from Southern France & Spain, it was found in the Rhineland school of Judah the Pious, al-Andalus, L& was reinterpreted during the Jewish mystical Renaissance in the 16th-century Ottoman Palestine.

The Zohar was authored in the late 13th century, likely by Moses de Leon. Isaac Luria (16th century) is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah. Lurianic Kabbalah was popularized in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards.

The primary texts of the major lineage in medieval Jewish tradition are the Bahir, Zohar, Pardes Rimonim, & Et Chayim (‘Ein Sof’). The early Hekhalot literature is recognized as ancestral to the sensibilities of this later flowering of the Kabbalah, & more especially, the Sefer Yetzirah is acknowledged as the forerunner from which many of these books draw their formal inspiration.

The Sefer Yetzirah is a brief document of only a few pages, written many centuries before the high & late medieval works (sometime between 200-600 CE), detailing an alphanumeric vision of cosmology & may be understood as a kind of prelude to the major phase of Kabbalah.

The history of Jewish mysticism encompasses various forms of esoteric & spiritual practices aimed at understanding the divine & the hidden aspects of existence. This mystical tradition has evolved greatly over millennia, influencing & being influenced by different historical, cultural, & religious contexts.

Among the most prominent forms of Jewish mysticism is Kabbalah, which developed in the 12th century & has since become a central component of Jewish mystical thought. Other notable early forms include prophetic & apocalyptic mysticism, which are evident in biblical & post-biblical texts.

The roots of Jewish mysticism can be traced back to the biblical era, with prophetic figures such as Elijah & Ezekiel experiencing divine visions & encounters. This tradition continued into the apocalyptic period, where texts like 1 Enoch & the Book of Daniel introduced complex angelology & eschatological themes.

The Hekhalot & Merkabah literature, dating from the 2nd century to the early medieval period, further developed these mystical themes. This focuses on visionary ascents to the heavenly palaces & the divine chariot. Hekhalot literature (from the Hebrew word for “Palaces”) relates to visions of entering Heaven alive.

Merkabah (or Merkavah) mysticism is a school of Jewish mysticism, centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1, or in the hekhalot literature, concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces & the Throne of God.

According to the Zohar, Torah study can proceed along 4 levels of interpretation (exegesis). These 4 levels are called pardes from their initial letters (PRDs, “orchard”):

• Peshat (“simple”): The direct interpretations of meaning.
• Remez (“hints”): The allegoric meanings (through allusion).
• Derash (from the Hebrew darash, “inquire” or “seek): Midrashic (rabbinic) meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses.
• Sod (“secret” or “mystery”): The inner, esoteric (metaphysical) meanings, expressed in kabbalah.

Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a necessary part of the study of the Torah. The study of the Torah (the Tanakh & rabbinic literature) is an inherent duty of observant Jews.

There are 3 different types of Kabbalah: Lurianic Kabbalah, Meditative-Ecstatic Kabbalah, & Practical Kabbalah. These 3 types can be distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God:

• The Theosohical/Theosophical-Theurgic tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah (the main focus of the Zohar & Luria) seeks to understand & describe the divine realm using the imaginative & mythic symbols of human psychological experience. Its theosophy also implies the innate, centrally important theurgic influence of human conduct on redeeming or damaging the spiritual realms, as man is a divine microcosm. The purpose of traditional theosophical kabbalah was to give the whole of normative Jewish religious practices this mystical metaphysical meaning.
• The Meditative tradition of Ecstatic Kabbalah strives to achieve a mystical union with God, or nullification of the meditator in God’s Active intellect. Abraham Abulafia’s “Prophetic Kabbalah” was the supreme example of this. Though marginal in Kabbalistic development. His alternative to the program of theosophical Kabbalah. Abulafian meditation built upon the philosophy of Maimonides, whose followers remained a rationalist threat to theosophical Kabbalists.
• The Magico-Talismanic tradition of Practical Kabbalah endeavours to alter both the Divine realms & the World using practical methods. While theosophical interpretations of worship see its redemptive role as harmonizing heavenly forces, Practical Kabbalah properly involved Practial Kabbalah properly involved white-magical acts, & was censored by Kabbalists for only those completely pure of intent, as it relates to lower realms where purity & impurity are mixed. Consequently, it formed a separate minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. Practical Kabbalah was prohibited by the Arizal until the Temple is rebuilt & the required state of ritual purity is attainable.

According to Kabbalistic belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was imparted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, & sages. Eventually, to be “interwoven” into Jewish religious writings & culture. According to this view, early kabbalah was, around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel.

Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time (the Sanhedrin) to hide the knowledge & make it secret, fearing that it might be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.

From the Renaissance onward, Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish (Gentile) spaces. Where they studied & translated by Christian Hebraists & Hermetic occultists. Christian Hebraists are scholars of Hebrew texts who approach the works from a Christian perspective.

The syncretic traditions of Christian & Hermetic Kabbalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah. They read Jewish texts as universalist ancient wisdom preserved from Gnostic traditions of “the olden days.” Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Jewish understanding. This made it possible to merge with multiple other theologies, religious traditions, & magical associations. In the time of the Age of Reason, Christian Kabbalah declined. Hermetic Kabbalah took a much different route, a route that some secretive “societies” went: they went underground.

The technical definition of Kabbalah varies according to sect & the aims of those following it. In its earliest & original usage in ancient Hebrew, it means “reception” or “tradition.” In this context, it tends to refer to any sacred writing written after (or otherwise outside of) the 5 books of the Torah. (This is the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament.)

After the Talmud was written, it refers to the Oral Law. In the much later writings of Eleazar of Worms (circa 1350), it refers to theurgy or the conjuring of demons & angels by the invocation of their secret names.

The nature of the divine prompted kabbalists to envision 2 aspects to God: 1.) God is essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless divine simplicity beyond revelation, & 2.) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which He creates, sustains, & relates to humankind.

Kabbalists speak of the 1st as the Ein Sof (“the infinite/endless,” literally “there is no end”). Of the impersonal Ein Sof, nothing can be grasped.

However, the 2nd aspect of divine emanations, accessible to human perception, dynamically interacting throughout spiritual & physical existence, reveals the divine immanently, & is bound up in the life of man. Kabbalists believe that these 2 aspects aren’t contradictory but complement 1 another, emanations mystically revealing the concealed mystery from within the Godhead.

As a term describing the Infinite Godhead beyond Creation, Kabbalists viewed the Ein Sof itself as too sublime to be referred to directly in the Torah. It’s not a Holy Name in Judaism. No name could contain a revelation of the Ein Sof.

The structure of emanations has been described in various ways: Sephirot (divine attributes) & Partzufim (divine “faces”), Ohr (spiritual light & flow), Names of God & supernal Torah, Olamot (spiritual worlds), a Divine Tree & Archetypal Man, Angelic Chariot & Palaces, male & female, enclothed layers of reality, inwardly channels (“limbs” of the King) & the divine Souls of Man.

These symbols are used to describe various levels & aspects of Divine manifestation, from the Pnimi (inner) dimensions to the Hitzoni (outer). It’s solely in relation to the emanations, certainly not the Ein Sof Ground of all Being, that Kabbalah uses anthropomorphic symbolism to relate psychologically to divinity.

The Sephirot/Sefirot/Sefirah are the 10 emanations & attributes of God with which He continually sustains the existence of the universe. These emanations are viewed as parts of God’s divine nature, which reveal themselves in different ways.

The Zohar & other Kabbalistic texts elaborate on the emergence of the sephirot from a state of concealed potential in the Ein Sof until their manifestation in the mundane world. In particular, Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (known as “the Ramak”) describes how God emanated the myriad details of finite reality out of the absolute unity of Divine Light via the 10 sephirot, or vessels.

According to Lurianic cosmology, the sephirot correspond to various levels of creation. 10 sephirot are in each of the 4 Worlds. 4 Worlds within each of the larger 4 Worlds, each containing 10 sephirot, which themselves contain 10 sephirot, which themselves contain 10 sephirot, to an infinite number of possibilities.

They emanated from the Creator for the purpose of creating the universe. The sephirot are considered revelations of the Creator’s will (ratzon), & they shouldn’t be understood as 10 different “gods” but through the Emanations. It’s not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.

Divine creation through the 10 Sephirot is an ethical process. They represent the different aspects of Morality. Loving-Kindness is a possible moral justification found in Chessed, & Gevurah is the Moral Justification of justice, & both are mediated by Mercy, which is Rachamim.

However, these pillars of morality become immoral when taken to extremes. When Loving-Kindness becomes extreme, it can lead to sexual depravity & a lack of Justice to the wicked. When Justice becomes extreme, it can lead to torture & the Cain-ing of innocents & unfair punishment.

The tzadikim or “righteous” ascend these ethical qualities of the 10 sephirot through righteous action. If there were no tzadikim, the blessings of God would become completely hidden, & Creation would cease to exist.

While real human actions are the “Foundation” (Yesod) of this universe (Malkuth), they must be accompanied by the conscious intention of compassion. Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith (Emunah), meaning trusting that God seems hidden.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

A Historic Celebration of Women’s Torah

Once every 7.5 years, the global Jewish community marks a monumental milestone. Hadran invites you to be a part of the largest women’s Torah gathering in history, the global Siyum HaShas for Women in 2027.

More Info: https://hadran.org.il/siyum-hashas-2027/

This is a statement of achievement, community, and the transformative power of Talmud study. The main program will dynamically blend Hebrew and English, ensuring that every woman, regardless of background or location, feels entirely at home.

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishWomen #Talmud

A Historic Celebration of Women’s Torah

Once every 7.5 years, the global Jewish community marks a monumental milestone. Hadran invites you to be a part of the largest women’s Torah gathering in history, the global Siyum HaShas for Women in 2027.

More Info: https://hadran.org.il/siyum-hashas-2027/

This is a statement of achievement, community, and the transformative power of Talmud study. The main program will dynamically blend Hebrew and English, ensuring that every woman, regardless of background or location, feels entirely at home.

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishWomen #Talmud

A Historic Celebration of Women’s Torah

Once every 7.5 years, the global Jewish community marks a monumental milestone. Hadran invites you to be a part of the largest women’s Torah gathering in history, the global Siyum HaShas for Women in 2027.

More Info: https://hadran.org.il/siyum-hashas-2027/

This is a statement of achievement, community, and the transformative power of Talmud study. The main program will dynamically blend Hebrew and English, ensuring that every woman, regardless of background or location, feels entirely at home.

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishWomen #Talmud

A Historic Celebration of Women’s Torah

Once every 7.5 years, the global Jewish community marks a monumental milestone. Hadran invites you to be a part of the largest women’s Torah gathering in history, the global Siyum HaShas for Women in 2027.

More Info: https://hadran.org.il/siyum-hashas-2027/

This is a statement of achievement, community, and the transformative power of Talmud study. The main program will dynamically blend Hebrew and English, ensuring that every woman, regardless of background or location, feels entirely at home.

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishWomen #Talmud

"What would happen if you treated the #DeclarationofIndependence the way #Jewish tradition treats its own foundational texts — as documents to be pored and argued over, and put in conversation with ancient sources?

That’s the idea of “#Talmud of #America,” a collection of four #essays #published by the #PardesInstitute of #JewishStudies, and #Faith250, the brainchild of #Rabbi #MichaelHolzman of Northern #Virginia.

“The #Torah is a living document,” Rabbi #LeonMorris, president of #Pardes, told me recently. “Classic Jewish texts have something fresh and relevant to say about everything — including the Declaration of Independence.”

The four essays in “#TalmudofAmerica” — on equality, on “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” on the right of rebellion and on ideas of sacrifice and civic engagement — are written by Pardes #faculty members #YiscahSmith, #LeahRosenthal, #DavidIBernstein and Rabbi #RahelBerkovits."

https://www.jta.org/2026/06/07/ideas/as-america-turns-250-a-talmud-of-america-reads-u-s-history-through-a-jewish-lens

"What would happen if you treated the #DeclarationofIndependence the way #Jewish tradition treats its own foundational texts — as documents to be pored and argued over, and put in conversation with ancient sources?

That’s the idea of “#Talmud of #America,” a collection of four #essays #published by the #PardesInstitute of #JewishStudies, and #Faith250, the brainchild of #Rabbi #MichaelHolzman of Northern #Virginia.

“The #Torah is a living document,” Rabbi #LeonMorris, president of #Pardes, told me recently. “Classic Jewish texts have something fresh and relevant to say about everything — including the Declaration of Independence.”

The four essays in “#TalmudofAmerica” — on equality, on “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” on the right of rebellion and on ideas of sacrifice and civic engagement — are written by Pardes #faculty members #YiscahSmith, #LeahRosenthal, #DavidIBernstein and Rabbi #RahelBerkovits."

https://www.jta.org/2026/06/07/ideas/as-america-turns-250-a-talmud-of-america-reads-u-s-history-through-a-jewish-lens

"What would happen if you treated the #DeclarationofIndependence the way #Jewish tradition treats its own foundational texts — as documents to be pored and argued over, and put in conversation with ancient sources?

That’s the idea of “#Talmud of #America,” a collection of four #essays #published by the #PardesInstitute of #JewishStudies, and #Faith250, the brainchild of #Rabbi #MichaelHolzman of Northern #Virginia.

“The #Torah is a living document,” Rabbi #LeonMorris, president of #Pardes, told me recently. “Classic Jewish texts have something fresh and relevant to say about everything — including the Declaration of Independence.”

The four essays in “#TalmudofAmerica” — on equality, on “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” on the right of rebellion and on ideas of sacrifice and civic engagement — are written by Pardes #faculty members #YiscahSmith, #LeahRosenthal, #DavidIBernstein and Rabbi #RahelBerkovits."

https://www.jta.org/2026/06/07/ideas/as-america-turns-250-a-talmud-of-america-reads-u-s-history-through-a-jewish-lens

"In #medieval #Europe, #Jewish scholars were summoned before #Christian authorities and forced to defend the #Talmud against claims that it said things it didn’t. The proceedings, called disputations, were rarely fair and not exactly voluntary.

#HenryRaz, 17, is a #highschool junior in #MarinCounty trying to counter a flood of online videos that claim the Talmud exposes secrets Jewish leaders want to keep hidden and permits #Jews to deceive and kill non-Jews. To #Raz, it looks like the same dynamic as the medieval disputations, adapted to the age of social media algorithms. That’s why he started a #YouTube channel called “#Disputations.”

https://jweekly.com/2026/06/04/marin-teen-is-debunking-lies-about-the-talmud-on-youtube/

"In #medieval #Europe, #Jewish scholars were summoned before #Christian authorities and forced to defend the #Talmud against claims that it said things it didn’t. The proceedings, called disputations, were rarely fair and not exactly voluntary.

#HenryRaz, 17, is a #highschool junior in #MarinCounty trying to counter a flood of online videos that claim the Talmud exposes secrets Jewish leaders want to keep hidden and permits #Jews to deceive and kill non-Jews. To #Raz, it looks like the same dynamic as the medieval disputations, adapted to the age of social media algorithms. That’s why he started a #YouTube channel called “#Disputations.”

https://jweekly.com/2026/06/04/marin-teen-is-debunking-lies-about-the-talmud-on-youtube/

"In #medieval #Europe, #Jewish scholars were summoned before #Christian authorities and forced to defend the #Talmud against claims that it said things it didn’t. The proceedings, called disputations, were rarely fair and not exactly voluntary.

#HenryRaz, 17, is a #highschool junior in #MarinCounty trying to counter a flood of online videos that claim the Talmud exposes secrets Jewish leaders want to keep hidden and permits #Jews to deceive and kill non-Jews. To #Raz, it looks like the same dynamic as the medieval disputations, adapted to the age of social media algorithms. That’s why he started a #YouTube channel called “#Disputations.”

https://jweekly.com/2026/06/04/marin-teen-is-debunking-lies-about-the-talmud-on-youtube/

"#Judaism has long had an ambivalent and at times contradictory approach to #astrology, the practice of discerning the influence of celestial bodies on human destiny.

On the one hand, the claim that the stars exert a direct influence on individuals and world events would seem to cut against the core #Jewish belief in #freewill. The #Torah also forbids efforts to foretell the future. However, #Jews throughout history have believed that the heavenly bodies influence events on earth. References to astrology are found throughout the #Talmud, and several works of astrology were subsequently penned by major #rabbinic figures. Jewish thinkers across history have tried to reconcile these two beliefs, while others have rejected astrology outright."

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-astrology/

"#Judaism has long had an ambivalent and at times contradictory approach to #astrology, the practice of discerning the influence of celestial bodies on human destiny.

On the one hand, the claim that the stars exert a direct influence on individuals and world events would seem to cut against the core #Jewish belief in #freewill. The #Torah also forbids efforts to foretell the future. However, #Jews throughout history have believed that the heavenly bodies influence events on earth. References to astrology are found throughout the #Talmud, and several works of astrology were subsequently penned by major #rabbinic figures. Jewish thinkers across history have tried to reconcile these two beliefs, while others have rejected astrology outright."

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-astrology/