Jews and Afterlife

[coldharvest]

Son et Lumière

[yorick]

Yep, here's one for the personal approach to help guide one through life:



Not sure what Heron means by kabbalist formulae "reserved for initiates" though, Jewish
extraction only? If so then decries the fact that Hebrews originally authored these
sacred texts were NOT Jews. Intelligent Rabbees admit to this fact with zero misgivings:
that Judaic tradition never actually wrote the tradition its sworn to preserve and carry
at all quarters.

Meanwhile Torah/Old Testament is fine and dandy with helacious prophets like Azekiel, Daniel
and Malachi, nevertheless quite new compared with Kabbalist works, Zoharic mysteries, Sepher
Ietzirah etc. Heck, Seph/Ietz been considered so holy throughout the centuries it haint even
been translated into another language other than Hebrew until mid/late 1800s, first into German
and then into English.

But yes, you're always wise to reconnoitre your path according to Kabbalist tree. Healthy
to reconnoitre your current position ther. And it's the truly impersonal operative shit, where
one navigates *external* aspects of world around em as Kabbala Moebius strip where most folks
get lost. Thats where occultism gets dangerous, following the likes of crowley who litterally
knew no limitations, earthbound or otherwise. Question of Kether/Kether progression that decries
Malkuth entirely.

On this forum, your travels through Israel are legendary Heron. Hiked couple hundred miles
didnt ye? As follow-up plan, I'd grow long beard and tackle the Hadj as well.



(:=

[michelle in alaska]

here I go, bumming everyone out, with the following post:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/Most-Holy-Trinity.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/concept_of_the_most_holy_trinity.htm&h=290&w=302&sz=12&hl=en&start=58&tbnid=uznCKzV0oqfvwM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bholy%2Btrinity%26start%3D54%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

[redharen]

Meanwhile Torah/Old Testament is fine and dandy with helacious prophets like Azekiel, Daniel
and Malachi, nevertheless quite new compared with Kabbalist works, Zoharic mysteries, Sepher
Ietzirah etc.

Sefer Yetzira (to each his own spelling), I believe, was written during the 2nd Temple era and is the oldest-known Kabbalistic work. Most of the others are pseudepigraphic and purport to be something they are not. Even the Zohar, most scholars now believe, was written in 14th-15th century Spain.

The Kabbalah is interesting, but when you read the accounts of the mystics who claim to have traversed the hechalot and "descended into the throne room," they describe all kinds of pitfalls and dangers -- whether the accounts themselves are true or not, I don't know, but to me there are many paths, including Kabbalah, that tend to obfuscate truth rather than reveal it.

Still, those who claim to have seen the throne room in visions describe scenes very similar to those described in Ezekiel and Isaiah, and their description of the mysterious Metatron figure are strangely similar to Christ mediating between God and Man. The Zohar even edges toward a Trinitarian understanding of God: "How can the three be one? This can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit."

If I were on a quest for the most ancient founts of Jewish understanding, I would dig into the arcana of the Mishnah, which formed the foundation for the Talmud and represented the first codification of the Oral Torah, which was supposedly passed down from pre-flood days. Interestingly, many of the famous passages of the New Testament are quotations of the Mishnah.

People don't realize the Jewishness of Paul, whose famous passage, "For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known." This comes from the Mishnah's commentary on Yom Kippur, which is easily the most mysterious and powerful of all of the Biblical feasts -- a symbol of the Last Judgment, whose symbols, again, edge toward affirming the Messiahship of that dusty Nazarene rabbi. If you want to understand the growth and development of Judaism, and indeed, Christianity, the Mishnah is fascinating.

On this forum, your travels through Israel are legendary Heron. Hiked couple hundred miles
didnt ye? As follow-up plan, I'd grow long beard and tackle the Hadj as well.

Thank you for the compliment, Yorick. Yes, three hundred miles, thousands of years, and a multitude of prayers to the old YHWH of the desert, Who few people seem to remember. A trip to Mecca would truly be intriguing, but then I would truly be a stranger in a strange land.[/i]

[Sri Lanky]

Thank you for this redharen.

I didn't find out I was part Jewish until roughly 8 years ago....when the Soviet Union allowed records to be accessable to the public and when my family was unafraid to acknowledge that part of themselves because of prejudice.

Unfortunately,the press thinks there are only 2 entities that can mediate between God and Man;George Bush and Osama bin Laden.

[Sri Lanky]

Jews have had to hide throughout Europe for the last 2500 years.

We are called Crypto-Jews.