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Isaiah Horowitz: A Jewish Sage. Isaiah Horowitz (1570-1626). Jewish spirituality is to lead to two things: Cleaving to God and uniting the Divine Name. Two Tablets of the Covenant. The two tablets refer to the Jewish tradition that there is a written torah and an oral torah.
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Isaiah Horowitz (1570-1626) • Jewish spirituality is to lead to two things: Cleaving to God and uniting the Divine Name.
Two Tablets of the Covenant • The two tablets refer to the Jewish tradition that there is a written torah and an oral torah.
Two Tablets of the Covenant • The two tablets refer to the Jewish tradition that there is a written torah and an oral torah. • Isaiah’s book is a commentary on both the Torah and the Talmud from the mystical perspective of the Kabbalah
The Ten Utterances • 1. God is one. • Therefore, the religious goal is to realize and experience this oneness in one’s heart.
The Ten Utterances • 2. Israel is one entity. • Today is the day of salvation. Today God makes his covenant with you. What will you do about it?
The Ten Utterances • 3. Inner fear and love. • Isaiah teaches that there are four levels of adherence to God’s laws.
The Ten Utterances • 4. Divine service for the need above. • The command-ments become a way of increasing awareness and contemplative abilities.
The Ten Utterances • 5. Eternal service. • All we do needs to be done in constant worship of God. This is unceasing prayer.
The Ten Utterances • 6. The essence of service in the heart. • The heart of all mystical prayer is gratefulness. When we are grateful we are in a state of joy.
The Ten Utterances • 7. Gate of the attributes. • The goal is not simply to do what God asks, but to become like God.
The Ten Utterances • 8. Cleaving of the heart ot God in all ways. • This quality is associated with the verse in the Bible: “In all your ways know him.”
The Ten Utterances • 9. Purity of thought in the heart. • Isaiah emphasizes the need to bring our thoughts into alignment with God as well as our actions.
The Ten Utterances • 10. Shekhinah (Divine Presence) in the heart. • The practice of the constant presence of God.
1. Isaiah taught the kabbalistic understanding of a holistic universe. The world has no independent existence apart from God. The universe is an emanation of God that is continually being created and held in being. Conclusion
1. A holistic universe. 2. Isaiah emphasized that Hebrew was a holy language. Even the letters of the alphabet have spiritual energies associated with them. Conclusion
1. A holistic universe. 2. Isaiah emphasized that Hebrew was a holy language. 3. Isaiah includes “the evil urge.” You don’t find holiness by separating from the world, but rather by embracing the world. Conclusion