Early Life
| Part of a series on |
| Kabbalah |
|---|
|
Concepts
Ein Sof · Tzimtzum · Ohr Ayin and Yesh · Sephirot Four Worlds · Seder hishtalshelut Tree of Life · Merkavah Jewish angelic hierarchy Shekhinah · Partzufim Qliphoth · Tohu and Tikun Sparks of holiness Messianic rectification Gilgul · Kabbalistic astrology Gematria · Notarikon · Temurah Names of God in Judaism Shemhamphorasch Tzadik · Tzadikim Nistarim Anthropomorphism in Kabbalah Panentheism |
|
History
Early Sefer Yetzirah Tannaim · Heichalot Medieval Bahir · Toledano tradition Chassidei Ashkenaz Prophetic Kabbalah · Zohar Kabbalistic commentaries on the Bible Mainstream displacement of Rationalism with Kabbalah Rennaisance Selective influence on Western thought Mysticism after Spanish expulsion Mystics of 16th-century Safed Cordoveran Kabbalah Lurianic Kabbalah Maharal's thought Popular Kabbalistic Mussar Early modern Baal Shem-Nistarim Sabbatean mystical heresies Emden-Eybeschutz controversy Immigration to the Land of Israel Traditional Oriental Kabbalists Beit El Synagogue Eastern European Judaism Hasidic Judaism / philosophy Lithuanian Jews Hasidic-Mitnagdic schism Modern Hasidic dynasties Mysticism in Religious Zionism Academic interest in Jewish mysticism Non-Orthodox interest in Jewish mysticism |
|
Practices
Torah study · Mystical exegesis Mitzvot · Minhag Customery immersion in Mikveh Meditative Kabbalah Kavanot · Teshuvah Deveikut · Prayer · Nusach Tikkun Chatzot · Tikkun Leil Shavuot Pilgrimage to Tzadik Pilgrimage to holy grave Lag BaOmer at Meron Asceticism · Practical Kabbalah |
|
People
100s Four Who Entered the Pardes Simeon bar Yochai 1100s Isaac the Blind · Azriel 1200s Nahmanides · Abraham Abulafia Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla Moses de Leon Menahem Recanati 1300s Bahya ben Asher 1500s Meir ibn Gabbai · Joseph Karo Shlomo Alkabetz · Moshe Alshich Moshe Cordovero Isaac Luria · Chaim Vital Judah Loew ben Bezalel 1600s Isaiah Horowitz · Abraham Azulai 1700s Chaim ibn Attar · Baal Shem Tov Dov Ber of Mezeritch Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Shalom Sharabi · Vilna Gaon Chaim Joseph David Azulai Nathan Adler Schneur Zalman of Liadi Chaim Volozhin 1800s Nachman of Breslov Ben Ish Chai · Shlomo Eliyashiv 1900s Abraham Isaac Kook Yehuda Ashlag · Baba Sali Menachem Mendel Schneerson |
|
Role
History Torah · Tanakh · Prophecy Ruach HaKodesh Pardes exegesis Talmudical hermeneutics Midrash Jewish comentaries on the Bible Oral Torah Eras of Rabbinic Judaism Generational descent in Halacha Generational ascent in Kabbalah Rabbinic literature Talmudic theology Halakha · Aggadah · Hakira Classic Mussar literature Ashkenazi Judaism Sephardi Judaism Modern Jewish philosophies Jewish studies Topics God in Judaism Divine transcendence Divine immanence · Free will Divine providence Kabbalistic reasons for the 613 Mitzvot Jewish principles of faith Jewish eschatology |
Luria was born in 1534 in Jerusalem in what is now the Old Yishuv Court Museum to an Ashkenazi father, Solomon, and a Sephardic mother.
Sefer HaKavanot U'Ma'aseh Nissim records that one day Luria's father remained in the Beth kneset alone, studying, when Eliyahu HaNavi appeared to him and said, "I have been sent to you by the Almighty to bring you tidings that your holy wife shall conceive and bear a child, and that you must call him Yitzchak. He shall begin to deliver Israel from the Klipot . Through him, numerous souls will receive their tikkun. He is also destined to reveal many hidden mysteries in the Torah and to expound on the Zohar. His fame will spread throughout the world. Take care therefore that you not circumcise him before I come to be the Sandak ."
While still a child, Luria lost his father, and was brought up by his rich maternal uncle Mordechai Frances, a tax-farmer out of Cairo, Egypt. His uncle placed him under the best Jewish teachers, including the leading rabbinic scholar David ibn Zimra. Luria showed himself a diligent student of rabbinical literature and under the guidance of another uncle, Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi (best known as the author of Shittah Mekubetzet), he became proficient in that branch of Jewish learning.
At the age of fifteen, he married a cousin and, being amply provided for financially, he was able to continue his studies. Though he initially may have pursued a career in business, he soon turned to asceticism and mysticism. Around the age of twenty-two he became engrossed in the study of the Zohar (a major work of the Kabbalah that had recently been printed for the first time) and adopted the life of a recluse. Retreating to the banks of the Nile for seven years, he secluded himself in an isolated cottage, giving himself up entirely to meditation. He visited his family only on the Shabbat. But even at home, he would not utter a word, even to his wife. When it was absolutely necessary for him to say something, he would say it in the least possible number of words, and then, only in Hebrew. Hassidism attributes to him that he had frequent interviews with the prophet Elijah through this ascetic life, by whom he was initiated into sublime doctrines.
Read more about this topic: Isaac Luria
Famous quotes containing the words early life, early and/or life:
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)
“Our instructed vagrancy, which has hardly time to linger by the hedgerows, but runs away early to the tropics, and is at home with palms and banyans—which is nourished on books of travel, and stretches the theatre of its imagination to the Zambesi.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Nominee. A modest gentleman shrinking from the distinction of private life and diligently seeking the honorable obscurity of public office.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)