Isaac Louria

Rabbi Isaac Ashkenazi de Louria or Loria (Jerusalem 1534 - Safed 1572), Rabbi and kabbalist, is regarded as the deepest thinker of Jewish mysticism among largest and most famous, and the founder of the kabbalistic school of Safed. It was even identified by some Sages as being the Machia `H Ben Yossef .

One also knows it under the name of Ari zal hakadosh, the saint lion, of blessed memory. ( Ari means " lion" in Hebrew, but it is here about the acrostic of ha' E' loqi R abbi Y i' tshaq, the divine Rabbi Isaac. Za" L means " its memory is in bénédiction".)

Biography

Isaac Luria is born with Jerusalem. His/her father, Ashkénaze of Central Europe, would have immigrant there after his marriage with a Séfarade. With the untimely death of this one, the Isaac young person is raised by his mother, who emigrates in Egypt where his/her brother, Mordekhaï Frances, negotiating rich person, are installed.
L' year of this removal is dubious. According to its clean témoignagne, he would have studied with Jerusalem near the kabbalist Kalonymos. However, the oral tradition locates its arrival in his/her uncle at the seven years age. Louria studied in a yéchiva under the direction of David Ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra and its successor. It was shown there exceptionally gifted, occurring with its needs thanks to the trade and the trade.
is 15 years old, it married the girl of its uncle, after which the husbands withdrew themselves in a deserted island on the the Nile which belonged to his/her uncle and father-in-law. Isaac Louria was devoted to it mainly to the Zohar and to former kabbalistic works, a life of asceticism led and started to have visions.
In 1569, following an interior call, it settled with Safed. Enjoying quickly a strong reputation of mystical poet, it started to teach the Cabal in academy, and to preach in the synagogs. Being interested particularly in the ideas of Brace Cordovero, he studied the Cabal with him until the death of this one.
Lui-même died in Safed, during an epidemic, two years later.

Isaac Louia was extremely révéré, its disciples credited it with many miracles, and regarded it as a saint (elohi, “divine”, is not a frequent honorary term in the Judaïsme. It actually appears only for him.)

Its life with Safed

Louria organized there the life of its disciples who were established in isolated districts.

The morning of the Shabbat, it organized processions to go to collect the éthéré spirit of the queen of Chabbat in the close fields.

After those, Louria in general gave explanations on its doctrines.

Its doctrines

Its design of the world is extremely influenced by the questions which cross the community at the time, is traumatisée by expulsions of Spain and the misdeeds of the Inquisition. Isaac Louria there finds explanations astonishing but coherent, and foresees the end of the sufferings of the Jewish people, which explains the success of its theses, and the speed to which they were propagated.
Aux massacres, it answers that physical death is only one stage and that the life of each one on ground has a goal.
Il explains why the faults of the men sully the Messiah and delay his arrival. Subsequently, a rite of purification will make it possible to hasten it.

One can retain three key concepts of his doctrines:

the Tsimtsoum or withdrawal (rather contraction ): withdrawal of God of a part of the world to leave room to a vacuum where the Eternal via a ray will carry out creation by supplying ten receptacles called sefirot which will be with the origin of life and of creation.

the Chevira T hakelim or crack of the vases : With this initial perfect creation was added a ray in straight line called paramount man that could not contain the réceptables divine light. They thus broke releasing the divine light in the form of sparks, of chips which were distributed in the world.

the Tiqoun or repair: it is with the man that falls the task to repair the vases. With this intention, the man must act inside him to even make the sorting, to gather the sparks and that people of Israel the original crack

Its lesson largely ifluencé Sabbataï Tsevi at the 17th century.

Its Work

Isaac Louria did not write anything itself, all that one knows of him was consigned by his disciples, often contradictory and not very reliable reports being. One regards most convincing as being those of Haïm Vital (1542-1620).

Among its works, let us mention:

Book of the Tree of Life ( Sefer Ets Hayyim )
Book of the visions ( Sefer haHetionot )
Books of the transformations ( Sefer haGilulim )
Choulhan Aroukh Shell haRav Yitzhak Louria , comment on the work of Yossef Karo
Gold' hot Tsaddikim
Patora de Abba

Its teaching quickly crosses the borders initially those of the Middle-East then of Euope of the West by the Italy for finally arriving at the communities of Central Europe.

Many a popularizing work of its Work flowered until the 17th century.

Comments of the lourianic thought

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