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ABOUT THE SPRITUAL WORLD OF MADONNA
God-Beings In The Making!Jesus was sent to Earth to deliver a Message to mankind. A startling message from Outer Space - the third Heaven - .....
Pop singer Madonna came this week to Tel Aviv to take part in a
congress of Kaballa studies. According to press releases, she is
going to stay in Israel until Sunday night and will have on the
last day of her visit, the opportunity to visit the graves of
Jewish Tzaddikim (righteous holy people) near Safed, a small
town in northern Israel.
Why Safed? What does Kaballa mean? (Literally it means
"Receiving" in Hebrew). I am not so sure the press has given the
correct answers to these and other questions related to the
background of this visit. Here is my humble contribution.
Safed , one of the four "holy cities" in Israel, together with
Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias, is actually a small mountain
town (27,000 residents). As opposed to other historical cities
in Israel, it is not even mentioned in the Bible.
Its golden era was during the Middle Ages, when it functioned as
a Crusaders fortress and a Moslem administrative centre. But it
was only in the 16th century that Safed was a city of
international importance, as well as a Jewish cultural Capital.
What made Safed so special is linked to what Maddona is looking
A Strong AnchorStories have been told about the only thing that saved the lives of the people aboard a ship in a storm was a strong ..... in Israel for. The Jewish congregation of Safed is the oldest in
Israel. It has been there for the last 800 years. But during the
Crusaders time it was very small, because the Christian knights
did everything they could to massacre Jews (and Moslems).
The turning point was the conquest of the area by the Turkish
Sultanate. This Moslem empire gave shelter to the Spanish Jews
during their mass expulsion in the end of the 15th century. The
Turks, who were great warriors and administrators, did not
master commerce, industry and science. They understood the great
potential of Spanish Jews who were experts in these fields, and
gave them asylum.
Some of those Jews, a few thousands, came to Safed and settled
down there. Safed attracted them for two main reasons: The good
water sources and the closeness to the grave site of the founder
of the Kabbala, the Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
The water was needed for establishing a wool manufacturing
centre which became one of the biggest in the world, and made
Safed a flourishing city. The grave of Bar yochai, and an
ancient tradition according to which the Messiah will first come
out Safed, attracted some of the greatest Jewish religious
scholars of Spain, most of them Kabbalists.
In Safed of the 16th century settled down Rabbi Yosef Karo, of
Toledo, the greatest Jewish Law expert of the new era, who wrote
the codification book "Shulkhan Arukh", the third most important
Jewish book, after the Bible and the Talmud.
Another great Kabbalist was Shlomo Alkabetz, who is known today
more for his religious poetry. His most famous liturgical poem
is called "Lecha Dodi". It is used in every Synagogue to receive
Sabbath. His brother in law was Rabbi Moshe Kordoveiro, a
student of Rabbi Karo, who wrote the first book which explains
the Kabbala methodically.
The greatest student or Rabbi Kordoveiro was Rabbi Yizhak Luria,
who is more known as HaAri Hakadosh. Luria Died when he was only
38 years old. Only two and a half years he spent in Safed. But
it was in that short period of time that he created a Kabbalist
theoretical movement that has had an immense influence on the
life of almost every Jew since then.
What does Kabbala mean? If you have time and patience just go to
a site called http://kabbalaonline.org/ and start reading. It
will take you a few days. Otherwise, here is a somewhat
simplified explanation.
According to the Talmud, the world of Torah (the knowledge of
Judaism) is based on four layers: Pshat (Literal meaning, in
Hebrew), Remez (Implication), Drash (Interpretation) and Sod
(Secrecy). Every one of these layers is a different way of
weighing the same words of the Torah. The deepest layer is the
Secrecy. The Secrecy doctrine, which includes the Kabbala, is so
mysterious, deep, and special, that not everyone can understand
it. Therefore, it is recommended by Jewish scholars to start
studying it only at the age of 40. A younger person does not
have the spiritual maturity needed to cope with its depths.
The Secrecy doctrine exists since the 2nd century, but did not
appear in any book until the end of the 14th century, when a
Spanish Jewish scholar named Rabbi Moshe de Leon rewrote and
edited it in a book called "Seffer Hazohar" (The book of Glow,
in Hebrew). The contents of the book is attributed to the Rabbi
Shimon Bar Yochai (mentioned above) who had lived 1300 years
before the time of de Leon. Believers claim that Bar Yochai
wrote the book, but Kabbala researchers say that the text was
written much later, in the middle ages.
"Seffer Hazohar" is not a text book. It is a collection of ideas
and Torah material. Only in the end of the 15th century, another
Spanish Rabbi, Moshe Cordoveiro, who later moved to Safed, wrote
structured lessons which enabled a systematic studying of
Kabbala.
As opposed to the other three layers of Torah world, dealing
primarily with the Jewish religious laws, the Secrecy doctrine
deals with the philosophical side of Judaism: For example, the
eternal question of "Why do righteous people suffer in our
world, and why are wicked people so successful?"
The Kabbala, developed in Safed by a genius nicknamed "HaAri
Hakadosh" in the 16th century, uses abstract concepts which are
incomprehensible to outsiders: "Elohut" (Divinity) and
"Tzimtzum" (Reduction), for instance. The Divinity filled in the
past the whole universe. It was later reduced to make room for
the present world. Following this Reduction, the lights of
Divinity were accumulated into "Sefirot", the vessels which
contain the immense Divine lights. The three upper "Sefirot" did
their job. But the lower six broke into many pieces and
scattered. This is called in Hebrew: "Shevirat Hakelim"
(Breaking of Vessels). Because of this breaking of vessels, good
and evil were mixed with each other in the whole universe. The
splinters of the divine lights, called "Nitzotzot" (sparks),
fell into the depths of "Clippot", the evil powers of impurity.
The broken "Divinity" went into exile among the "Clippot".
According to Kabbala, the fate of the Jewish people is similar
to that of the "Divinity". The Jews are still in exile amongst
the nations. The salvation depends on every person. If people
succeed in collecting all the "Nitzotzot", the salvation of
humanity will come. The collection of "Nitzotzot" will be done
by good deeds, such as obeying the Jewish religious rules. When
someone does so, he collects "Nitzotzot" and puts them back in
place. He then deals with "Tikun Olam", correction of the world.
The Kabbala has a great influence on Judaism, especially on the
Hasidim movement. Kabbalic concepts, developed mainly in 16th
century Safed, have penetrated the Jewish liturgy. One of them
is the "Holy matching". Philosophically, this concept has
another meaning, but in the popular cognition it is perceived as
a holy marriage treaty between God and the Jewish people.
For example, the "Shavuot" holiday, in which the Holy Torah was
given by way of a pact between God and the Jews, has been
compared to such a holy marriage. Also the customs of "Kabbalat
Shabbat", (receiving Sabbath), were changed following the Safed
notion of "Holy matching". The Kabbala followers in Safed
started in the 16th century the custom of going Friday before
sunset out of town, wearing white clothes, to receive the bride,
Shabbat. Friday night was the link between God (the king) and
Shabbat (the queen). Following the mystical marriage, souls of
righteous people were born. This custom of going out of town
Fridays was abolished after the fall of the Safed centre in the
beginning of the 17th century, but its influence is felt until
today the Alkabetz poem "Lecha Dodi", mentioned above. HaAri
Hakadosh said that "the Shechinah (the presence of God) rests
above Safed". You can feel it even today. Its clear air and
serenity helps visitors to contemplate about the philosophical
subjects I have just mentioned, and others. It is worth visiting
this place even if you do not have the faintest idea what you
are going to do there.
COPYRIGHT 2004: MOSHE REINFELD
written:
9/17/2004
About the author:
The Author is a freelance journalist and a tour guide in Israel
Websites:
http://israel.electrical-contractor.net/
http://pr4u.bravehost.com/
http:// tourisrael.friendpages.com
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