Isaac Luria

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The tomb of Isaac Luria in Safed, Israel

Isaak Luria (* 1534 in Jerusalem , † August 5, 1572 in Safed in Galilee ) was a rabbi and the founder of the modern Kabbalah ( Lurian Kabbalah ).

Name variants and surnames

The Hebrew name יִצְחַק לוּרְיָאis usually rendered in German as Isaak Luria . In addition, there are also more rarely Hebrew-oriented transcriptions such as Jizchak (q) Lurja , also Lurje . The full name of Lurias is Rabbi Jizchaq ben Schlomo Aschkenasi Lurja ("Rabbi Isaak, son of Solomon Aschkenasi Luria"). The nickname Aschkenasi , already used by his father, indicates his origin from Poland or Germany. His mother was Sephardic .

In the Jewish tradition Luria is known by the honorable nickname ARI . There are different resolutions for this acronym:

  • (ha-) E lohi R abbi J izchaq ("the divine / heavenly Rabbi Isaac")
  • A shkenasi R abbi J izchaq ("The Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaak")
  • A donenu R abbi J izchaq ("Our Lord Teacher Isaac")

ARI means “lion” in Hebrew. Therefore Luria is also known as "The Lion" or "The Holy Lion".

Life

Isaak came from a family of rabbis and scholars who were named after Luria in northern Italy . He was born in Jerusalem in 1534. After his father's early death, his mother moved with him to Cairo , where his uncle, a landowner, raised him and provided for his Jewish education. At the age of 22 he began to study the Zohar and lived on a lonely island in the Nile for seven years . He only visited his family on the Sabbath and spoke Hebrew very rarely and exclusively . As an ascetic, he had numerous visions in which he conversed with the prophet Elijah .

In 1569 Luria returned to the Holy Land and after a short stay in Jerusalem settled in Safed . There he became a student of Moses Cordovero (1522–1570) and deepened his Kabbalistic studies. However, Luria's findings were only passed on orally in a very small circle. It was only after they were recorded in writing by Luria's most important student, Chajim Vital (Safed 1543 - Damascus 1620), that the teachings spread towards the end of the 16th century.

Teachings on Creation and Salvation

Luria reinterpreted the theoretical and practical Kabbalah. One speaks of Lurian light mysticism. Central points of his teaching are:

  • The Tzimtzum , literally contraction or withdrawal , is an act of divine self-restraint of the En Sof ( the infinite ). Only then is creation possible. This withdrawal from God is a metaphor for exile . After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, the terms exile and redemption gained new meanings in Judaism. For salvation, see Tiqqun below .
  • The Sefirot arise as ten dimensions of being, at the same time also the first spirit man, Adam Qadmon . The Kabbalistic Tree of Life contains this Sefirot.
  • Light pours from Adam Qadmon's face into the vessels of the Sefirot.
  • An accident occurs in the creation process: the light is too strong, the vessels break (breakage of the vessels, Hebrew swat ha-Kelim ), and creation gets into disorder as a result. From now on all creatures are in exile, from the microbe to the Shekhina as the female appearance of God.
  • The material world arises in which good and bad are mixed. The sparks of light are trapped in the qlipot ( shells ).
  • In the Tiqqun , a complex process of restoration , the light is released from the qlipot and brought back to the origin. Humans play a decisive role in this. In Tiqqun, Gilgul (transmigration of souls / reincarnation ) and Ibbur ( impregnation of a living soul by another soul) play a role as well as the Kawwana as a meditative prayer, but also asceticism and the fulfillment of the Mitzvot (commandments).

Tradition and Effect

Isaac Luria did not write down his teachings himself except for a few short tracts and three hymns on the Sabbath , which became extremely popular in Judaism. Most of the Lurian Kabbalah and Luria's life story were recorded by his student Chajim Vital.

There were many legends about Isaac Luria soon after his death. Even as a child he is said to have attracted attention due to its wonderful properties. His work in Safed earned him the title "Holy Man of God in the Land of Israel".

His life and work had an impact on the Kabbalists, such as the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zwi , but also impressed large circles in Judaism in the 17th to early 19th centuries. While on the one hand Moses Mendelssohn represented the philosophy of the Enlightenment , mystical currents developed on a Lurian basis, which are linked to Hasidism .

literature

  • Gerold Necker: Introduction to the Lurian Kabbalah . World Religions Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-458-71008-0 .
  • Chajim Bloch : The heavenly judgment. Kabbalistic legends . With an introduction edited by Manfred Baumotte. LVH, Hannover 2001, ISBN 3-7859-0841-5 .
  • Gershom Scholem : Jewish mysticism in its main currents . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-518-27930-0 .
  • Gershom Scholem: Sabbatai Zwi. The mystical messiah . Jüdischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-633-54051-2 .

Web links

Commons : Isaak Luria  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John F. Oppenheimer (Red.) And a .: Lexicon of Judaism. 2nd Edition. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh u. a. 1971, ISBN 3-570-05964-2 , col. 452.
  2. ↑ The letter "E" represents the Hebrew Aleph
  3. ↑ For these two abbreviations see G. Necker, Introduction to the Lurian Kabbalah , p. 32, note 7
  4. ↑ G. Scholem, Sabbatai Zwi , p. 45ff
personal data
SURNAME Luria, Isaac
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luria, Isaac ben Solomon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Rabbi and Kabbalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1534
PLACE OF BIRTH Jerusalem
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1572
Place of death Safed , Galilee