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Isaac Ben Samuel Of Acre
Isaac ben Samuel of Acre (fl. 13th–14th century) (Hebrew: יצחק בן שמואל דמן עכו, ''Yitzhak ben Shmuel d'min Akko'') was a Jewish kabbalist from Acre who fled to Spain. According to Chaim Joseph David Azulai, Isaac ben Samuel was a pupil of Nachmanides. View of the Zohar Isaac ben Samuel was at the Crusader-controlled town of Acre when town was taken by a Mamluk army led by Al-Ashraf Khalil. He was arrested and thrown into prison with many other Jews, but escaped the massacre, and in 1305 went to Spain. Abraham Zacuto states in his ''Yuḥasin,'' that Moses de Leon discovered the Zohar in the time of Isaac of Acre. However, Isaac doubted the authenticity of the Zohar and made inquiries about it of Naḥmanides' pupils, without, however, any satisfactory result. When Isaac met Moses of Leon at Valladolid, the latter took an oath that he had a copy of the Zohar written by Shimon bar Yochai himself in his house at Ávila. However, de Leon died before he cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floruit
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicating the time when someone flourished. Etymology and use is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of the Latin verb ', ' "to bloom, flower, or flourish", from the noun ', ', "flower". Broadly, the term is employed in reference to the peak of activity for a person or movement. More specifically, it often is used in genealogy and historical writing when a person's birth or death dates are unknown, but some other evidence exists that indicates when they were alive. For example, if there are Will (law), wills Attestation clause, attested by John Jones in 1204 and 1229, as well as a record of his marriage in 1197, a record concerning him might be written as "John Jones (fl. 1197–1229)", even though Jones was born before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkopolski), Grand Duchy of Posen, in Prussia (now in Poland), he attended Breslau University, but since Jews at that time were barred from receiving Ph.D.s there, he obtained his doctorate from the University of Jena.''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (2007, 2nd ed.) entry on "Graetz, Heinrich," by Shmuel Ettinger and Marcus Pyka After 1845 he was principal of the Jewish Orthodox school of the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This action introduced death and sin into the world. This sinful nature infected all his descendants, and led humanity to be expelled from the Garden. Only through the crucifixion of Jesus, humanity can be redeemed. In Islam, Adam is considered '' Khalifa'' (خليفة) (successor) on earth. This is understood to mean either that he is God's deputy, the initiation of a new cycle of sentient life on earth, or both. Similar to the Biblical account, the Quran has Adam placed in a garden where he sins by taking from the Tree of Immortality, so loses his abode in the garden. When Adam repents from his sin, he is forgiven by God. This is seen as a guidan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefer HaTemunah
''Sefer HaTemunah'' () (lit. "Book of the Figure", i.e. shape of the Hebrew letters) is a 13–14th century kabbalistic text. It is quoted in multiple sources on ''Halakha'' (Jewish religious law). Origins ''Sefer HaTemunah'' was probably written anonymously in the 13th or 14th century, but it is pseudepigraphly attributed to Nehunya ben HaKanah and Rabbi Ishmael, tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries. According to ''Hebrew Manuscripts in the Vatican Library Catalog'', the work was composed in the 1270s. The first extant edition was published in the city of Korzec in Poland in 1784. Aegidius of Viterbo, a 15th-century cardinal, was influenced by ''Sefer HaTemunah'', as can be seen in his writings ''Shekhinah'' and ''On the Hebrew Letters''. Concepts Sabbatical cycles One of the main concepts in ''Sefer HaTemunah'' is that of the connection of the Sabbatical year (Hebrew: ''Shmita'') with ''sephirot'' and the creation of more than one world. The author of ''Sefer HaTemunah'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his The Living Torah and Nach, Living Torah edition of the Torah and extensive Kabbalah, Kabbalistic commentaries. He became well-known as a prolific writer and was lauded as an original thinker. His wide-ranging literary output, inclusive of introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs, and Jewish philosophy, philosophy written at the request of NCSY are often regarded as significant factors in the growth of the Baal teshuva movement, ''baal teshuva'' movement. Early life Aryeh Kaplan was born in the Bronx, New York City, to Samuel and Fannie () Kaplan of the Sephardic Jews, Sefardi Menahem Recanati, Recanati family from Salonika, Greece. His mother died on December 31, 1947, when he was 13, and his two younger sisters, Sandra and Barbara, were sent to a foster home. Kaplan was expelled from public school after acting out, leadi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefer Yezirah
''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is a work of Jewish mysticism. Early commentaries, such as the '' Kuzari'', treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory, as opposed to one about Kabbalah. The word ''Yetzirah'' is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word ''B'riah'' is used for "Creation". The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, although others attribute its writing to Rabbi Akiva or Adam. Modern scholars have not reached consensus on the question of its origins. According to Saadia Gaon, the objective of the book's author was to convey in writing how the things of our universe came into existence. Conversely, Judah Halevi asserts that the main objective of the book, with its various examples, is to give humans the means to understand the unity and omnipotence of God, which appear multiform on the one hand, and yet, are uniform. The famous opening words of the book are as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses Botarel
Moses Botarel was a Spanish scholar who lived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was a pupil of Jacob Sefardi (the Spaniard), who instructed him in the Kabbala. Moses studied medicine and philosophy; the latter, he regarded as a divine science which teaches the same doctrines as the Cabala, using a different language and different terms to designate the same objects. He extolled Aristotle as a sage, applying to him the Talmudic sentence, "A wise man is better than a prophet," and he censured his contemporaries for keeping aloof from the divine teachings of philosophy. He believed in the efficacy of amulets and cameos, and declared that he was able to combine the names of God for magical purposes, so that he was generally considered a sorcerer. He stated that by means of fasting, ablution, and invocation of the names of God and of the angels prophetic dreams could be induced. He also stated that the prophet Elijah had appeared to him and appointed him as Messiah. In t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Solomon Delmedigo
Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (or Del Medigo), also known as Yashar Mi-Qandia (; 16 June 1591 – 16 October 1655), was a rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theory, music theorist. Born in Heraklion, Candia, Crete, a descendant of Elia del Medigo, Joseph Solomon or Yashar Mi-Qandia is a member of Del Medigo de'Candia lineage from the Geiger (other), Geiger family of Germany that settled first in Crete and then in Italy. Eventually, he moved to Padua, Italy, studying medicine and taking classes with Galileo Galilei in astronomy. After graduating in 1613 he moved to Venice and spent a year in the company of Leon de Modena and Simone Luzzatto. From Venice he went back to Candia and from there started traveling in the near East, reaching Alexandria and Cairo. There he went into a public contest in mathematics against a local mathematician. From Egypt he moved to Istanbul, there he observed the comet of 1619. After Istanbul he wandered along the Karaite communitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentateuch
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () or the Five Books of Moses. In Rabbinical Jewish tradition it is also known as the Written Torah (, ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll ( ''Sefer Torah''). If in bound book form, it is called '' Chumash'', and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (). In rabbinic literature, the word ''Torah'' denotes both the five books ( "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah (, "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. Rabbinic tradition's understandi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaim Yosef David Azulai
Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (; 1724 – 1 March 1806), commonly known as the Hida (also spelled Chida, the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings. He is considered "one of the most prominent Sephardi rabbis of the 18th century".Lehmann, M. B. (2007). " Levantinos" and Other Jews: Reading HYD Azulai's Travel Diary. ''Jewish Social Studies'', 2 Azulai embarked on two extensive fundraising missions for the Jewish community in Hebron. His first journey, spanning 1753–1757, crossed Italy and German lands, reaching Western Europe and London. A second trip, between 1772–1778, saw him travel through Tunisia, Italy, France, and Holland. Following his travels, Azulai settled in the Italian port city of Livorno, a major center of Sephardic Jewish life. He remained there until his death in 1806. The Hida's intact and published travel diaries, similarly to thos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayyim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Julian calendar) / October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master's teachings. After Vital's death, his writings began to spread and led to a "powerful impact on various circles throughout the Jewish world." Fine 2003, p2/ref> Early life Born in Safed, as a young boy Hayyim Vital was educated by the scholar Moshe Alshich. Joseph Karo is said to have paid special attention to Vital's early talents and in 1557 requested that Alshich take special care in his education as he was destined to succeed his teacher in the world of Torah study. That same year, Vital first became acquainted with the kabbalist Isaac Luria, who would have a lasting influence on him. Vital apparently married at a young age. It was an unhappy marriage, and when he left his wife, the prophet Elijah appeared to him in a dream and led him to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliyahu De Vidas
Eliyahu de Vidas (; 1518–1587, Hebron) was a 16th-century rabbi in Ottoman Palestine. He was primarily a disciple of Moses ben Jacob Cordovero and Isaac Luria. Fine 2003, pp81 "Cordovero was the teacher of what appears to have been a relatively loose knit circle of disciples. The most important Elijah de Vidas, Abraham Galante, Moses Galante, Hayyim Vital, Abraham ben Eliezer ha-Levi Berukhim, Eleazar Azikri, Samuel Gallico, and an important kabbalist who studied with Cordovero for a short while in the 1560s, Mordechai Dato." De Vidas is known for his expertise in the Kabbalah. He wrote '' Reshit Chochmah'' "Beginning of Wisdom," a pietistic work that is still widely studied by Orthodox Jews today. Just as his teacher, Moses Cordovero, created an ethical work according to kabbalistic principles in the '' Tomer Devorah'', de Vidas created an even more expansive work on the spiritual life with his ''Reshit Chochmah''. This magnum opus is largely based on the ''Zohar'', but also r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
