Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism

Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161456794
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Includes text of Maaseh merkavah in English translation.

Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism

Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161456794
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book Here

Book Description
Includes text of Maaseh merkavah in English translation.

Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism

Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783161587108
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


The Mechanics of Providence

The Mechanics of Providence PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161550021
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
The phenomena we call magic and mysticism had a profound effect on the shaping of Judaism in late antiquity. In this volume, Michael D. Swartz offers a wide-ranging study of the purposes, world-views, ritual dynamics, literary forms, and social settings of ancient Jewish magic and mysticism and their function in religion and history. Based on the author's studies over the past few decades, he proposes innovative methods for the study of these two phenomena. The author focuses especially on the rituals of early Jewish magic and mysticism, their social contexts, and the textual dimension of this complex literature. He also offers introductions to these phenomena. Michael D. Swartz argues that the authors of these texts employed intricate technologies, literary and artistic forms, and physical practices to negotiate between the values and world-views of their cultures and the texture of everyday life.

Filling Words with Light

Filling Words with Light PDF Author: Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1580235824
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Breathe New Life into Your Prayer with the Wisdom of Kabbalah and the Hasidic Masters Jewish mystics teach that every word a person utters in prayer should radiate light. Even the letters of the words of prayer carry sparks of the Divine that yearn to join together in holiness. In this inspiring spiritual companion, Reform rabbi Lawrence Kushner and Orthodox rabbi Nehemia Polen join together to provide a window into the liturgy for people of all backgrounds by offering fresh insights and meditations that bring the traditional prayerbook to life. Drawing from the Torah, Zohar, and ancient and contemporary Hasidic masters, Kushner and Polen reflect on the joy, gratitude, compassion, mystery, and awe embedded in traditional prayers and blessings, and show how you can imbue these familiar sacred words with your own sense of holiness. Insightful, fresh, and wise, Filling Words with Light will enrich your understanding of the prayer book and guide you on how to put more of yourself into the holy words of the Jewish tradition.

On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel

On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel PDF Author: Mika Ahuvia
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520380118
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Introduction : angelic greetings or Shalom Aleichem -- At home with the angels : Babylonian ritual sources -- Out and about with the angels : Palestinian ritual sources -- No angels? early rabbinic sources -- In the image of God, not angels : rabbinic sources -- In the image of the angels : liturgical sources -- Israel among the angels : Late rabbinic sources -- Jewish mystics and the angelic realms : early mystical sources -- Conclusion : angels in Judaism and the religions of late antiquity -- Appendix A : table -- Appendix B : description of table.

Scholastic Magic

Scholastic Magic PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400864410
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
In exploring the social background of early Jewish mysticism, Scholastic Magic tells the story of how imagination and magic were made to serve memory and scholasticism. In the visionary literature that circulated between the fifth and ninth centuries, there are strange tales of ancient rabbis conjuring the angel known as Sar-Torah, the "Prince of the Torah." This angel endowed the rabbis themselves with spectacular memory and skill in learning, and then taught them the formulas for giving others these gifts. This literature, according to Michael Swartz, gives us rare glimpses of how ancient and medieval Jews who stood outside the mainstream of rabbinic leadership viewed Torah and ritual. Through close readings of the texts, he uncovers unfamiliar dimensions of the classical Judaic idea of Torah and the rabbinic civilization that forged them. Swartz sets the stage for his analysis with a discussion of the place of memory and orality in ancient and medieval Judaism and how early educational and physiological theories were marshaled for the cultivation of memory. He then examines the unusual magical rituals for conjuring angels and ascending to heaven as well as the authors' attitudes to authority and tradition, showing them to have subverted essential rabbinic values even as they remained beholden to them. The result is a ground-breaking analysis of the social and conceptual background of rabbinic Judaism and ancient Mediterranean religions. Offering complete translations of the principal Sar-Torah texts, Scholastic Magic will become essential reading for those interested in religions in the ancient and medieval world, ritual studies, and popular religion. Originally published in 1996. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Keter

Keter PDF Author: Arthur Green
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400864607
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Keter is a close reading of fifty relatively brief Jewish texts, tracing the motif of divine coronation from Jewish esoteric writings of late antiquity to the Zohar, written in thirteenth-century Spain. In the course of this investigation Arthur Green draws a wide arc including Talmudic, Midrashic, liturgical, Merkavah, German Hasidic, and Kabbalistic works, showing through this single theme the spectrum of devotional, mystical, and magical views held by various circles of Jews over the course of a millennium or more. The first portion of the work deals with late antiquity, emphasizing the close relationship between texts of what is often depicted as "normative" Judaism and their mystical/magical analogues. The mythic imagination of ancient Judaism, he suggests, is shared across this spectrum. The latter portion of the work turns to the medieval Jews who inherited this ancient tradition and its evolution into Kabbalah, where keter plays a key role as the first of the ten divine emanations or sefirot. The nature of these sefirot as symbols and the emergence of a structured and hierarchical symbolism out of the mythic imagery of the past are key themes in these later chapters. As a whole, Keter takes the reader on an exciting tour of the interior landscapes of the Jewish imagination, offering some remarkable insights into the nature of mystical and symbolic thinking in the Jewish tradition. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Schocken Book of Jewish Mystical Testimonies

The Schocken Book of Jewish Mystical Testimonies PDF Author:
Publisher: Schocken
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
For the first time, this book brings together the few accounts that exist of the Jewish mystics' encounters with the Divine. The sources span 2,000 years and are drawn from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. They include depictions of peak religious experiences and visions, examples of ecstatic prayer, and counsel on how to keep company with the Divine.

Judaism and Hebrew Prayer

Judaism and Hebrew Prayer PDF Author: Stefan C. Reif
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521483414
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
A scholarly but readable guide to the history of Jewish prayer from biblical times to the modern period.

Filling Words with Light

Filling Words with Light PDF Author: Lawrence Kushner
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
ISBN: 9781683360551
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An inspiring spiritual companion that provides fresh insights and meditations into traditional Jewish liturgy for people of all backgrounds. Brings the prayerbook to life and shows how to put more of yourself into the holy words of the Jewish tradition.