Shekhinah
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Related Terms
Kabbalah > Age of Redemption, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur, Breaking of the Vessels, Descent to the Chariot, Messiah, Mitzvah, Nejuda Reshima, Sefirot, Shekhinah, The Correction, The Withdrawal, Tikkun, Treatise on the Emanations on the Left
Notes
A concept found in the Kabbalah literature, and one that distinguishes the Kabbalah from other Jewish worldviews.[1]
The term itself is not found in the bible. "...it was formulated in talmudic literature from the biblical verb designating the residence (shkn) of God in the temple in Jerusalem and among the Jewish people. “Shekhinah” is used in rabbinic literature as one of the many abstract titles or references to God, which replaced in their language the proper names of God used in the Bible. Like “the Holy one Blessed Be He” (ha-kadosh baruch hu), “heaven” (shamayim), “the name” (ha-shem), “the place” ( ha-makom), and others, it has been used to designate God without naming him, and the terms are interchangeable."[2]
Seems in the Kabbalah the term was turned into a sexist representation of divine emanation.
"The Book Bahir, the first work of the kabbalah, is the earliest source we have that might imagine the shekhinah as a feminine power."[3]
"The Zohar, and other kabbalistic works from the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth, made the myth of the feminine shekhinah a central element in their descriptions of the divine world, made her the purpose of rituals and religious experiences, and established this as one of the most prominent components of the kabbalistic worldview."[4]
"In kabbalistic literature she is designated by many scores, if not hundreds, of names and titles, and numerous biblical verses have been interpreted as relating to her. The employs of the shekhinah are described in great detail in the Zohar, and coming into spiritual contact with her is a main component of kabbalistic rituals. She is the tenth and lowest power in the divine realm, and therefore closest to the 45 K A B B A L A H material, created world and to human beings. She is the divine power that is envisioned by the prophets, and after their death the righteous reside in her realm. As the lowest sefirah she is closest to the sufferings of the people of Israel, and is most exposed to the machinations of the evil powers, who constantly try to establish dominion over her. Being feminine, she is the weakest among the divine powers, and the satanic forces can achieve a hold and draw her away from her husband (the male divine figure, often the totality of the other nine sefirot, or, sometimes specifically the sixth sefirah, tiferet), thus disrupting the harmony of the divine world. She is dependent on divine light, which flows from above; she is like the moon, which does not have light of its own, only the reflection of the sun’s light. The redemption of the shekhinah from her exile and suffering and reuniting her with her husband is the main purpose of many kabbalistic rituals."[5]
Footnotes
- ↑ Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- ↑ Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (Kindle Locations 715-719)
- ↑ Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (Kindle Locations 739-740)
- ↑ Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (Kindle Locations 745-747)
- ↑ Dan, Joseph. Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (Kindle Locations 702-712)
