Jerusalem Seminar Presents Ancient Kabbalah in Bold, New Light
This summer, in Jerusalem, a new pathbreaking seminar teaches Kabbalah from academic, traditional, and experiential perspectives. Students learn kabbalistic philosophy with leading scholars, meet with local mystics and spiritual teachers, experience Jewish meditation, and tour mystical sites around Israel (July 3-22).
Jerusalem, Israel (PRWEB) May 12, 2005 -- The recent explosion of interest in
Kabbalah – from Hollywood superstars to quantum physicists – has demonstrated
the contemporary relevance and appeal of this ancient Jewish mystical tradition.
With a new and unique summer study program in Jerusalem, the walls that
surrounded this hidden body of knowledge continue to fall.
Kabbalah –
traditionally defined as the secret “received” wisdom of Judaism – has long been
studied by elitist groups of orthodox male scholars, who regard it as an
esoteric path with little or no relevance to contemporary life. On the other
hand, academic scholars of Kabbalah, though modern and egalitarian, have often
failed to view it as a living spiritual tradition, focusing instead on the
historical and analytical approach to the subject.
“We are trying to
bridge both approaches – to fuse authentic kabbalistic practice with
contemporary scholarship and relevance. This is an entirely new approach,” says
Rabbi Dr. Yakov Travis, the program’s director. Travis runs Ruach: A New Center
for Spirituality and Learning at Siegal College in Cleveland, Ohio, and the
Tiferet Institute for Integral Kabbalistic Spirituality. “Tiferet” is a
kabbalistic word signifying harmony and integration of opposites, and “Ruach”
means “spirit.” Travis identifies himself as a “post-denominational Jew.”
“Though I follow the traditional path of observance, I am always searching for
the point of unity that transcends the denominations. Perhaps that is what
mystical experience is all about.”
According to Travis, the academic,
historical perspective is necessary for students who want to maintain an honest,
critical view of the texts. At the same time, they must see that these texts are
the essence of Jewish spiritual practice. “There is an amazing crossover
occuring today” he states. “Kabbalah scholars, such as Professors Moshe Idel and
Boaz Huss – both of whom will be teaching on our program – are much more aware
of the living Kabbalistic tradition than were their predecessors. On the other
hand, many of today’s foremost traditional Kabbalah teachers have also studied
secular subjects, and are interpreting its wisdom in terms of science,
philosophy and psychology. They are faithful to the Kabbalah as a spiritual
path, but want to see its broader implications.”
Rabbi Eliezer Shore, the
seminar’s other principal lecturer, began his study of Judaism in college: “I
graduated college in 1982 with a major in comparative religion, and then
followed a spiritual search that eventually took me to yeshiva. Yet, I never
felt my Kabbalistic studies contradicted my secular or ecumenical interests;
rather, the two compliment each other.” Shore, who publishes widely on Jewish
themes, has just completed his doctoral work at Bar-Ilan University, having
written on language and mystical experience in the work of the famous Hasidic
master, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. He will be teaching a class on mystical
experience and techniques in classic Kabbalistic texts.
In addition, the
seminar will feature several women teachers of Kabbalah. Some, like Dr. Melila
Hellner-Eshed, author of the recent work A River Issues Forth from Eden: On the
Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar, are non-observant Jews at the
forefront of an Israeli movement to open up the study of mystical texts to all
Jews, regardless of religious affiliation. Others, like Sarah Yehudit Schneider,
author of Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine, are
fully observant in their religious practice, yet have studied with and received
approbations from the leading Kabbalistic masters of today. These women break
the stereotype that Kabbalah study is forbidden to women, and bring a fresh
approach to the texts that is unique to their feminine voices.
“I know a
Jewish woman who was spiritually searching in the late 1960s,” says Shore. “She
visited the great scholar, Gershom Scholem in Jerusalem, and expressed her
interest in learning Jewish mysticism. Scholem was the father of all academic
studies of Kabbalah, but he did not believe that it was a living tradition. He
told her his opinion, and she promptly traveled to India to spend the next
fifteen years in a Hindu ashram. Eventually, she did find what she was looking
for in Judaism, and today lives in the Old City of Jerusalem with her family.
However, I do not think contemporary scholars would have given her that same
answer.”
“This program will show both sides,” says Travis. “Students will
engage both their hearts and their minds. Isn’t that the unity experience
itself?”
The seminar runs from July 3 to 22, and will be held at the
Yakar Learning Center in Jerusalem. It is accredited by Siegal College, and
students can earn up to six transferable credits. For more information, visit http://www.siegalcollege.edu/spirituality or contact Dr. Yakov
Travis, 216-464-4050, Ext. 112.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb239269.htm