Yehuda Ashlag

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Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag

Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag , ( Hebrew רַבּי יְהוּדָה לֵיבּ הַלֵּוִי אַשְׁלַג; born on September 24, 1884 in Warsaw ; died 1954 in Jerusalem ) was an Orthodox rabbi and Kabbalist .

Ashlag systematically reinterpreted Kabbalah . He is the author of the "Talmud Eser Sefirot" (Commentaries on the writings of Isaac Lurias ) and an extensive commentary on the Book of Zohar , the Sulam Commentary (Steps of the Ladder). Therefore Ashlag is also called Baal HaSulam (בַּעַל הַסּוּלָם, "Master of the Ladder").

Life

Ashlag reportedly began studying Kabbalah at the age of seven after a Kabbalistic book fell on his head while lying in bed. His father told him that "this book was written for angels, not for people." Ashlag read these scriptures anyway and hid torn pages of Luria's "Tree of Life" between those of the Talmud he was supposed to be studying. At the age of nineteen he was ordained a rabbi in Warsaw . During this time he also studied German and read original texts by Hegel , Marx , Nietzsche and Schopenhauer .

In 1918, Ashlag met an unidentified businessman who showed himself to be a Kabbalist. Ashlag studied with him every night for three months until his pride came between him and the teacher, who then disappeared. Two months later, he met the visibly weakened teacher one last time. After revealing another Kabbalistic secret, Teacher died the next day.

1921 moved Ashlag to Eretz Israel , a trip that lasted several months. For the first few years he lived there anonymously and provided his family with regular work during the day and wrote his comments at night. Eventually his work found recognition and in 1924 he was appointed rabbi of Givat Shaul, an Orthodox community in west Jerusalem .

Ashlag was friends with Abraham Isaak Kook , the chief rabbi of Palestine , which was under British mandate . However, Ashlag's hope of meeting Kabbalists in Jerusalem who agreed with his views on Kabbalah was disappointed. In 1926 Ashlag went to London , where he wrote Panim Meirot Umasbirot , his commentary on Luria's Tree of Life . In 1928 he returned to Palestine.

Apart from the works published by Ashlag himself, the book "Shamati" can also be assigned to him. These are direct transcriptions of Ashlag's statements by his son and successor Baruch Ashlag (1907–1991).

Fonts

  • Sefer matan Torah. Research Center of Kabbalah, Jerusalem and New York 1982, ISBN 0-943688-30-2 (Hebrew)
  • Ten Luminous Emanations. Kabbalah Learning Center, 1991, ISBN 0-943688-90-6 (English)
  • Entrance to the Zohar. Kabbalah Learning Center, 1974, ISBN 0-943688-04-3 (English)
  • An Entrance to the Tree of Life of Rabbi Isaac Luria. The Kabbalah Learning Center, 1977, ISBN 0-943688-35-3 (English)

literature

  • Avraham Mordechai Gottlieb: HaSulam - Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag & Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag. Biography of Ashlag and his son from his student Mordechai Gottlieb. Hebrew.

Web links

Commons : Yehuda Ashlag  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) , accessed April 6, 2012
  2. a b c d Micha Odenheimer: Latter-day luminary: Part 2. Haaretz , December 16, 2004, archived from the original on October 1, 2007 ; Retrieved October 16, 2006 .