Shekhinah

King David is one of the most colorful, complex, and controversial, personalities in Jewish lore. While numerous studies have focused on David's centrality to biblical literature and late antiquity, to date no comprehensive scholarly attempt has been made to investigate his image in the kabbalistic literature. This study contributes to the understanding of the connection between messianic thought, gender and mysticism. By focusing on the centrality of the figure of King David in Jewish culture the book discusses psychoanalytic perception of the self, and illuminating issues of identity, sexuality, and gender fluidity in Medieval kabbalistic literature.

SACRED IN ISLAM: INTERPRETING SAKĪNAH

The main goal in the article was to review the concept of “sakīnah” in
Koran, Sunnah and at-Tabari’s “History of prophets and kings”. The
author states that Sakīnah” could be understood as believer’s inner
quality (calmness) and at the same time as the result of the Allah’s
external influence and also draws attention to some contexts the notion
of “sakīnah” used in Islamic literature (cloud, basin, snake, cat).

THE CONCEPTS AND BELIEFS OF THE SAGES: JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEXTS AND CORPORA—CONSTRUCTIONS AND CONTEXTS: REFLECTIONS UPON URBACH’S OEUVRE

This article deals with the achievements of Ephraim E. Urbach’s seminal studies of the Sages’ concepts and beliefs and of Judeo-Christian polemics in antiquity, as well as the problems inherent in any construction of concepts and beliefs out of the diverse material scattered in rabbinic literature. Following Urbach, it is demonstrated in the present article that rabbinic aggadic assertions should be read together with the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period and ancient Christian writings. However, Urbach’s assumption that the development of the Sages’ concepts and beliefs can be explained on the basis of historical events is challenged.
The first section of the article sketches Urbach’s assumptions and the reservations embedded in his enterprise aiming at the depicting the historical development of the rabbis’ beliefs and elucidating the Judeo-Christian polemic. The second section of the article investigates three rabbinic concepts discussed in Urbach’s oeuvre: (1) Gevurah; (2) Shekhinah; (3) Jerusalem that is Above. Aspects of these concepts are studied afresh and the way they are construed by Urbach is considered. It may be seen time and again that these concepts are documented prior to the historical events or situations to which they are supposedly reacting, according to Urbach and other scholars. This is not surprising, since the statements of the rabbis often reflect earlier traditions. A comparative reading of rabbinic assertions and parallels in Jewish and Christian corpora demonstrates the complex interrelationship of terminology, the resolution of internal tensions of ideas, interreligious influence, and interreligious polemics. The meaning of the transmitted traditions is often transmuted according to their contexts in the various corpora.
Published in Jewish Studies 53 (2018)

After the resurrection, Yahoshua appeared many times and to many different people, although most of these accounts have not been included in the public Bible. On one of these occasions he appeared to the disciples and rebuked them for being so weak, unbelieving and offended at his Father. This reply is one our society desperately needs to hear.: "They excused themselves with the words, 'This aeon {age) of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who through the unclean spirits does not allow the true power of Elohim to be comprehended. Therefore I, they said to Yahoshua, reveal your righteousness now!'" The answer He gave is also astounding because it is an unabated myth that is believed by most people that ordinary individuals aren't obligated to continue the contact spiritually with the Heavens or the Father, instead priests, pastors, imams, avatars, rabbis, monks, etc. are appointed to carry on for them on their behalf. This is blasphemy according to the Holy Spirit who is the only appointed Comforter. "Messiah replied to them, the measure of the years of Satan's power is filled up but other fearful things draw near, also (for those) for whom I, turn back to the truth and sin no more in order to inherit the spiritual and imperishable glory of righteousness (preserved) in heaven." (New Testament Apocrypha 189) Yahshua's Wisdom Speech While I was coming from the Father of all passing by the heavens, I put on the wisdom of the Father and the power of his might. I was in the heavens, and I passed by the angels and archangels in their form, as if I was one of them among the orders, dominions and powers. I began possessing the measure of wisdom of the Father who sent me Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel followed 1M to the Jh heaven thinking in their hearts that I was one of them. But the Father Juul given me power t>f this nature. I adorned the archangels with a wondrous voice that might go up to the altar of the Father and serve and complete the service until I go to Him. I did it through the wisdom of the likeness. I became all things in everything that I might fulfill the plan of the Father and perfect the Glory." (N.T.A. Epistula Apostolorum 198) ''Truly I say to you, the resurrection of the flesh will happen while the soul and spirit are in it." (N. T.A. Epistula Apostolorum 206) "For my Father said to me, 'My Son, on the day of judgment you will neither fear the rich nor will you have pity on the poor, rather according to the sin or each one will you deliver him/her to eternal punishment. But those beloved ones who have done the commandments of my Father who sent me I will grant rest of life in the Kingdom of my Father who is in the Heavens." (N.T.A-EA 208-209) "Teach us what will happen after this, and he said to us, "In those years and days there shall be war upon war and the 4 corners of the world will be shaken and will make war upon each other. Then a disturbance of the clouds (meteorological) will take place and darkness, drought and persecution of those who believe In me, and of the elect.

This chapter makes makes the case for a positive rabbinic visuality, in this case through the creation of rabbinic “icons.” If direct access to the sight of God’s face and a reciprocal vision of the deity marked as a nostalgic loss by late ancient Jews, how was the sacred visible in the here and now? Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, the rabbis invited this searching gaze to behold their own persons. Perhaps it is predictable that the quest for beholding the divine face should come full circle and end in viewing the face  of  the  rabbi. But  what  might  be  unexpected  is  the  degree  to  which rabbis invested the visible sage not only with ritual but also with pedagogic, scholastic, and mnemonic power. That is, seeing the radiant face of the sage was bound up with the transmission of Torah knowledge itself.

This essay shows, at least in my opinion, when we peel back the various symbolisms and specific language, mystical traditions speak about similar experiences. If that were proven, wouldn't that require us to take a bit more seriously the potential for a positive answer for at least one of the "forsaken" questions? Even if revisited, it would be worthwhile.

The Temple of Solomon was home to the Ark of the Covenant and the goddess Shekhinah, (synonymous with emanation (NHI)) who dwelt in the Tabernacle. (Ex 40: 38.) This pre–exilic period included shrines and temples of gods and goddesses where various non–Yahwistic Pagan rites and rituals were practiced. Women were in attendance as sacred prostitutes and in other cultic capacities. Female deities included Asherah, Anath, and Ishtar. When Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, the Jews were exiled to Babylon. Under Ezra and Nehemiah and via the benevolence of Cyrus, King of Persia (Iran) they returned to Palestine in 538 BCE, but without Shekhinah, the feminine [female] presence of Yahweh. The temple was rebuilt in 515 - [538] BCE, and later restored by Ezra, c. 458 BCE. Judaism followed with the completion of Laws and The Prophets (of Israel) in the Hebrew Bible and the reconstruction of the second temple. (MG: 449-454, 640-1; BFV; VH: 6; TET.)

This two-part exploratory essay identifies Kabbalistic contexts, motivations, and themes in John Donne's Metempsychosis, including an explication of the stanza form and allusions to the Sefirot, Kabbalistic understandings of gilgul or transmigration, the Shekhinah or indwelling of God, and Kabbalistic hermeneutical principles. It also suggests the relevance of Donne's religious identity to his choice of imagery, and his skeptical attitude to the extravagant claims of the Christian Kabbalists.
*Author’s Note (2018)*: This is a draft that became my article Conceiving Bodies, Intertextuality, and Censorship in Metempsychosis (John Donne Journal 31, 2012). The JDJ was not particularly convinced by the discussion of Kabbalah, and this element was abandoned in favour of a deeper analysis of the poem’s structure and a more contextual interpretation. On rereading this draft years later, I would reframe many things and retract some of the interpretive claims. However, having left the academy and lacking the time to revise or pursue publication, I leave this as ground work for others interested in Kabbalistic motivations and ideas in Donne’s poem.

The present chapter traces how the rabbis in the tractate of Hagigah developed the biblical commands concerning cultic pilgrimage into laws for a bygone Jerusalem temple pilgrimage to see and be seen by God. Our investigation points to how the desire for, and loss of, the sight of God’s face punctuates and centers the Babylonian Talmud tractate of Hagigah. The biblical commandment to "see the face of God three times a year" allowed the rabbis to conjure forms and narratives of pilgrimage in an age of Greek and Roman "visual piety" but without the Jerusalem temple. The chapter shows how in varying ways earlier and later rabbis construct a pilgrimage of reciprocal vision (in which pilgrim and god mutually behold and are beheld), particularly in the Babylonian Talmud which emphasizes "homovisuality."

Chapter excerpt from "The Evolution of the Shekinah: From Archetype to Kabbalistic Metaphysics"  Previously published as "The Transcendent Feminine".  This is an examination of the divine feminine archetype in Jewish mysticism and Kabbalistic philosophy

This book would be incomplete without a chapter devoted to God,
the one existence that ontologizes placelessness. God does not occupy
space, but provides and governs space, as indicated by the midrashic
translation of the verse “The eternal God is a dwelling place” (Deut
33:27): “He is the dwelling place of the world, but His world is not His
dwelling place” (Gen Rabbah 68:9; quoted in GP I:70, 172–73).2 The locus
of God is pure perfection, and His place in the prophetic texts, for Maimonides, always signifies “His rank and the greatness of His portion in
existence” (GP I:8, 33). As such, there is no greater model for the kind of
place man must ultimately stake out for himself. Imitatio dei would consist
of striving for, and eventually achieving, a place of rank and perfection.
Man’s destination is God, and the road he travels is thought; as he gets
closer to his goal (as discussed in the case of the sage), he merges with
placelessness. Since Maimonides’ entire body of work can be said to be
about God, in this chapter I limit myself to God as shekhinah (Indwelling),
a “manifestation” of God particularly problematic for its later emergence
in the mystical tradition as an actual divine hypostasis.

A photo essay on the abundant attestation of the Lion-Throned Goddess in ancient Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Canaan/Israel/Palestine. Phoenician scarabs and  stone thrones, Canaanite ivories, the Lady of Galera.  Cherubim and the Mercy Seat in the Bible.

Author: S. SCHECHTER,  NEW YORK: 1909

Excellent source for more positive Wisdom based teachings, application of Divine Names to show that each is an action or event that affects time and humanity.  Vast array of Rabbinic sources and doctrines are examined and presented for anyone to read and appreciate.

Scholem sought textual evidence of the evolution of the feminization of the Shekhinah, starting with the earliest Kabbalistic text, the Bahir.  His conclusion that myth was neither employed nor preserved in rabbinic Judaism led him to seek origins for the Kabbalah in Merkabah mysticism and Gnostic cosmology, rather than in ancient or contemporary myth and ritual. In this paper, five images of the feminine were examined for possible similarities to the feminine Shekhinah: Lilith, Wisdom, the Gnostic Sophia, the Virgin Mary and Asherah.  Each of these appears to influence one or two of the feminine qualities of the Shekhinah, but none of them convey a majority of attributes.  This may support Scholem’s premise that mythic images are used by mystics to clothe mystical insight, rather than evolving through an historical progression that can be traced textually or ritually; however, his silence on the tree symbolism of Asherah, in particular, seems to indicate an a priori rejection of survival myth and ritual in favor of revival mystical symbolism.

Malkah is just a little kid when her father tries to teach her to read Torah. But they don't get very far. As Malkah reads aloud, her questions multiply. They take her on a lifelong journey deeper and deeper into Jewish mystical texts, the aleph-bet, far of off places, archaeological digs, and ultimately into the nature of existence itself. Malkah discovers an earlier, completely different creation story hidden right inside the one offered on the surface of Genesis. A door opens.  Welcome to the day before creation.

The second face of Eros is presence—or perhaps better said, the fullness of presence. This is not a quality that is distinct and different from the erotic quality of being on the inside. Presence flows naturally with, and even overlaps, interiority. And yet it is not quite the same. Of course, being on the inside requires the fullness of presence. But we can experience full presence even when we have not merged with the moment or crossed over to the inside. Presence is about showing up. You can show up and be fully present in a conversation without necessarily losing yourself in the encounter’s flow. Full presence at work can mean you derive joy, satisfaction, and self-worth from your vocation. It means you feel full and not empty. Presence means you are fully showing up right here. You are not anywhere else in this moment.

In this paper I consider the way in which divinity is realized through an imaginary locus in the mystical thought of Jewish kabbalah and Hindu tantra. It demonstrates a reflective consciousness by the adept or master in understanding the place of God’s being, as a supernal and mundane reality. For the comparative assessment of these two distinctive approaches I shall use as a point of departure the interpretative strategies employed by Elliot R. Wolfson in his detailed work on Jewish mysticism. He argues that there is an androcentric bias embedded in the speculative outlook of medieval kabbalah, as he reads the texts through a psychoanalytic lens. In a similar way, I will argue that there is an androcentric bias to the speculations presented in medieval Shaiva tantra, in particular that division known as the Trika. Overall, my aim is to suggest some functional and perhaps structural similarities to the characterization of divinity in these two traditions, through brief analyses of the erotic understanding of the nature of the Godhead.

In this chapter, I continue with Maimonides’ radical deconstruction of God’s presence in the world. As a direct corollary of
the sort of austere presenceless shekhinah explored in chapter 6,
Maimonides had to deal with a host of biblical terms commonly
used with reference to God. On their face, they undermine his
project to “banish” God from the human domain because they
pose seductive lures for drawing Him back in. At the very heart of
Aristotelian physics is the principle of motion, the operative feature of the cosmos. Associated with properties such as potentiality
and actuality endemic to the workings of the natural world, the literal application of motion to God constitutes an offence of capital
proportions. Leading up to the chapter on shakhon, Maimonides
rationalized the biblical use of numerous terms connoting motion,
such as “approach,” “coming,” “going,” and “going out” with respect to God. While doing so, he also constructed an intricate
preface to his avowedly anti-mythological conception of the shekhinah. What follows is an attempt to reconstruct that preface in
pursuit of the acutely outsider God advocated by Maimonides.

This essay explains how the "poetics of divinity" - the means of using poetic language to signify divine presence - that I developed for "Shekhinah Speaks," a book of poems through which the Shekhinah, the Jewish mystical name for the female aspect of the Divine, speaks, through analysis of divine monologues in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, other contemporary Shekhinah poems, and Whitman's "Song of Myself." Included are two poems from the sequence, both published, like the essay, in Poetry magazine.

While I have always intuitively seen Mary as more than Theotokos, my training in orthodoxy came to overshadow my orthopraxis of Mary. But today I hold a different stance because I have come to view my Marian practice as indeed worship of the Divine Godd/ess.

At a surprisingly early age, perhaps ten or eleven years old, I became the author of my own religious narrative, meaning, I took it upon myself to initiate and pursue the deep mysteries of my Catholic faith. Weekly Mass became an event, not an obligation, and something to which I attended independent of my large, Irish-American Catholic family. The singleness of my worship at such a young age drew stares and whispers from those families that arrived intact. And while I was not unaware of their curiosity, I found it easier to lose myself in the absolute wonder of my environment. This environment of the tangible and non-tangible is what Andrew Greeley has since come to identify as “the Catholic Imagination,” where a Catholic sensibility is manifested in cathedrals and high art, but is also awash in the mundane of our daily lives. Additionally, our family’s dependence on Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, was a close second to a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. By this I mean to suggest that she was our go-to heavenly figure when in need, and I, the appointed family petitioner. Through the years I would take each family crisis directly to Mary through the recitation of the Rosary. The thought never occurred to me that doctrinally Mary functioned as mediator between the Father and Son and not as Godd/ess. While I never identified her as the personification or manifestation of Godd/ess, that is exactly how my practice or devotion to her played itself out, until I left the church in my early twenties, certain my emerging feminism could not include the sexism and androcentrism of an all male priesthood. But twenty years later, when I discovered my husband had been involved in a five-year affair, I immediately ran for my childhood rosary beads, which I had not used or thought about since my youth.

... below, 250 Page 267. Eric Selinger/Shekhinah in America 251 the estranged heavenly couple reconcile above in the realm of God's attributes, the ten Kabbalistic sef1rot. I will come back to Luria's hymn of marital reunion. For ...

She changes everything She touches and everything She touches changes. The world is Her body. The world is in Her and She is in the world. She surrounds us like the air we breathe. She is as close to us as our own breath. She is energy, movement, life, and change. She is the ground of freedom, creativity, sympathy, understanding, and love. In Her we live, and move, and co-create our being. She is always there for each and every one of us, particles of atoms, cells, animals, and human animals. We are precious in Her sight. She understands and remembers us with unending sympathy. She inspires us to live creatively, joyfully, and in harmony with others in the web of life. Yet choice is ours.

What does it mean to talk of the power of God in relation to the human self? The discourses generated by the Jewish and Christian tradition about the capacity for divinity have been mainly promulgated by men, and have more often than not served to exclude women cognitively, practically, and spiritually. As a result they have been made powerless in the face of God's presence. It is possible to look to ideas developed in Hindu Tantra for comparative notions of power (shakti) which can redeem the place of God for women. The path of divine consciousness is effectively illustrated by an imaginary and somatic awareness, by a devout attention to the play of light in the soul. In this paper I propose to read the assignment of energy and force within conceptions of divinity through the lens of a poststructuralist realization, using the work of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, and Luce Irigaray.