Shabbatian Versus Beshtian Hasidism (Kabbalah)
Shabbatian Versus Beshtian Hasidism (Kabbalah)
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JUS 435
The Lurianic concept of Tikkun will be briefly analyzed and comparisons will be drawn to address the influence of said concept on Jewish religious practice among the Shabbatian movement and Beshtian Hasidism.
Following centuries of flourishing political, cultural, and social life in Spain, the Jews were expelled in 1492 CE; tens of thousands of Jews seeking refuge migrated to Muslim countries of North Africa, to Italy, and to various parts of the Ottoman Empire.1 In 1517 CE, the Turks succeeded in extending their territory in the East by gaining control over Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula, as a result Jews were able to settle in the land of Israel under highly favorable and secure conditions.2 For a variety of reasons Safed, located high in the Galilean hills, experienced the largest increase in population, in part, on account of the far greater economic opportunities there than in Jerusalem.3
The region around Safed was the burial place of numerous Talmudic sages, including the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, traditionally ascribed as author of the Zohar.4 “Under these relatively stable conditions, a rather extraordinary community began to develop from about 1530 CE forward. Safed attracted an unusual array of scholars and rabbis. Religious life took on a vitality the Jewish community in the land of Israel had not experienced for centuries, as Safed emerged as a great spiritual center…academics, piety and learning flourished.”5 The mystics of this community were activists who were convinced they held in their hands the power to alter history and heal the cosmos, this espoused the Safed world view of the bitterness of exile and the dread of sin on the one hand, and the anticipated redemption and joy of serving G-d on the other.6
Tikkun Ha-Olam
It is this tension between death and rebirth, between exile and redemption which results in the ingenious
XXXXX X XXXXX
JUS 435
The Lurianic concept of Tikkun will be briefly analyzed and comparisons will be drawn to address the influence of said concept on Jewish religious practice among the Shabbatian movement and Beshtian Hasidism.
Following centuries of flourishing political, cultural, and social life in Spain, the Jews were expelled in 1492 CE; tens of thousands of Jews seeking refuge migrated to Muslim countries of North Africa, to Italy, and to various parts of the Ottoman Empire.1 In 1517 CE, the Turks succeeded in extending their territory in the East by gaining control over Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula, as a result Jews were able to settle in the land of Israel under highly favorable and secure conditions.2 For a variety of reasons Safed, located high in the Galilean hills, experienced the largest increase in population, in part, on account of the far greater economic opportunities there than in Jerusalem.3
The region around Safed was the burial place of numerous Talmudic sages, including the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, traditionally ascribed as author of the Zohar.4 “Under these relatively stable conditions, a rather extraordinary community began to develop from about 1530 CE forward. Safed attracted an unusual array of scholars and rabbis. Religious life took on a vitality the Jewish community in the land of Israel had not experienced for centuries, as Safed emerged as a great spiritual center…academics, piety and learning flourished.”5 The mystics of this community were activists who were convinced they held in their hands the power to alter history and heal the cosmos, this espoused the Safed world view of the bitterness of exile and the dread of sin on the one hand, and the anticipated redemption and joy of serving G-d on the other.6
Tikkun Ha-Olam
It is this tension between death and rebirth, between exile and redemption which results in the ingenious