Re: [asa] Sefer Yetzirah

So, Randy, the bottom line is that it depends upon the particular sector
of this particular community how these writings are regarded. Much as is
the case in the Christian community with the extrabiblical writings, it
looks like the Kabbalist writings are enjoying broader interest these
days. JimA

RFaussette@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 8/29/2006 9:01:08 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> randyisaac@adelphia.net writes:
>
> I just came across some interesting references to some Talmudic
> works on creation. Do any of you know whether the Sefer Yetzirah
> is taken seriously in the Jewish community or is it a rather
> esoteric document that is easily ignored? It is claimed to
> be written by Abraham. Following is an excerpt from Wikipedia. I
> just wondered what role this played in the typical Jewish view of
> creation.
>
> Randy
>
>
>
>
>
> Randy,
>
> The Sefer Yetzirah is the more ancient of the kabbalistic books. It
> contains an ancient cosmogony with many Chaldean phrases but no Latin
> or Greek. The Zohar, the other major kabbalistic work is younger and
> more important and contains discussions of the composition of the
> human soul which broaden your understanding of the biblical text by
> fleshing out the theology of the fall and the return from the fall.
> Gershom Scholem was considered the master scholar of the kabbalah and
> has some good books, one which is enlightening for Christology is his
> The Messianic Idea in Judaism, a collection of essays.
> The rebbes who created modern rabbinical Judaism were steeped in the
> kabbalah. The kabbalah is considered a mysterious science approachable
> only by those with the necessary wisdom:
> "The teachers taught; 4 persons entered the garden of delight namely
> ben Azai, ben Zoma, Aher and R. Akiba. Ben Azai looked around and
> died. To him may be applied the verse of the scriptures: Precious in
> the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (PS 116:15).
> Ben Zoma also looked around and lost his reason. The scriptures say of
> such as him, "Hast thou found honey, eat so much as is sufficient for
> thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit
> it (Proverbs 25:16). Aher made ravages in the plantations. Akiba
> entered in peace and came out in peace." Adolphe Franck, The Kabbalah.
>
> My paper True Religion which contains a biological explanation of the
> nature of the fall, is in accord with the theology of the Zohar which
> states: " the supreme wisdom, the divine word by which creation
> was accomplished, the principal of all intelligence and of all life,
> is designated as the true Eden, the higher Eden." p. 46 Franck
>
> rich faussette

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Received on Wed Aug 30 11:18:03 2006