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Merkabah
(redirected from Merkavah)

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Merkabah

 or Merkava

Throne or chariot of God, as described by Ezekiel. It became an object of visionary contemplation for Jewish mystics in Palestine in the 1st century AD; in the 7th–11th century, Merkabah mysticism was centered in Babylonia. Merkabah mystics courted ecstatic visions that involved a dangerous ascent through celestial hierarchies to the throne of God. Hostile angels guarded the gates to the seven “heavenly dwellings,” and a successful journey required magical formulas. The Talmud warns that of four men who engaged in Merkabah, only one had a true vision; of the others, one died, one went mad, and one became an apostate.
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Zohar's Hekhalot differ from the mystics' experience of Merkavah by the lack of personal details.
Unknown Author of the Zohar by Iaroslav Ratyshni, Pavel Shapoval / News, opinion and commentary community
The ambiguity of his explication followed the Talmudic injunction: the Account of the Beginning, Ma'ase Bereshis (Genesis 1/Physics) may not be expounded to two people, nor may the Account of the Chariot, Ma'ase Merkavah (Ezekiel 1 and 10/Metaphysics) be expounded "even to one person, except if he be wise and able to understand by himself, in which case only the chapter headings may be transmitted to him.
Maimonides, then and now by Birnbaum, Ruth / Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought
These views turn out to be the science of the Torah in its true sense which, in turn, is ma'aseh bereshit and ma'aseh merkavah, physics and metaphysics.
Anything Goes? by WOLF, ARNOLD JACOB / Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought
 
 
 
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