Yeridat ha-dorot
Encyclopedia
Yeridat ha-dorot meaning literally "the decline of the generations", or nitkatnu ha-dorot (נתקטנו הדורות), meaning "the diminution of the generations", is a concept in classical Rabbinic Judaism
and contemporary Orthodox Judaism
expressing a belief of the intellectual inferiority of subsequent, and contemporary Torah
scholarship and spirituality in comparison to that of the past. It is held to apply to the transmission of the "Revealed" ("Nigleh") aspects of Torah study
, embodied in the legal and homiletic Talmud
, and other mainstream Rabbinic literature
scholarship. Its reasoning derives from the weaker claim to authoritative traditional interpretation of Scripture, in later stages of a lengthening historical chain of transmission from the original Revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai
, and the codification of the Oral Torah
in the Talmud. This idea provides the basis to the designated Rabbinic Eras from the Tannaim
and Amoraim of the Talmud, to the subsequent Gaonim, Rishonim
and Acharonim
. Additionally, it has an extra metaphysical
explanation in Kabbalah
, regarding lower levels of souls in succeeding generations.
However, Kabbalah limits the effect of Yeridat ha-dorot only to Nigleh. In contrast, the "Concealed" ("Nistar") aspects of Torah, embodied in Jewish mysticism, are identified with an opposite process of successively higher articulations of mystical thought as the process of history unfolds. The reasoning for this derives from the notion that Jewish mysticism progresses instead from successive new Divine revelations to supreme mystics
, as the only way to deepen its conceptual structures. This paradoxical dialectic
relates in Kabbalistic terminology to descending immanent "Vessels
", and successively higher transcendent "Lights
" through the history of Creation. In Jewish thought, deepening Talmudic and Rationalist
enquirey broadens the physical application of Torah (vessels), while deepening Jewish mysticism draws down higher levels of illumination (light).
The idea is found in many other classical Jewish sources, and underlies the reluctance of the Torah scholars in a particular generation to challenge the legal rulings of a previous generation. discusses the relationship between the principle of yeridat ha-dorot and the seemingly contrary principal of chate'u Yisrael ("Israel sinned," referring to a failure in transmission of the tradition), an idea invoked to explain cases where derash (exegetical interpretation) trumps peshat (plain reading) in order to restore original intent.
Rabbinic tradition divides its historical development into distinct eras. According to traditional interpretation, scholars in one era within Halachic development (legal codification of Jewish observance) do not challenge the rulings of previous-era scholars.
Chazal
is an acronym for "Chachameinu Zichronam Livracha" ("Our Sages may their memory be blessed"). In Rabbinic writings this refers to all Sages of the Talmud
and other Rabbinic literature
commentators, from the times of the Second Temple of Jerusalem until the 6th century. Up until the end of the Savoraim era, Chazal had the authority to commentate the Torah according to the Talmudical Hermeneutics
standards required by the law given to Moses at Sinai (The non written laws handed to Moses at Sinai). Nowadays, this authority is not delegated to the current generation's Sages, and thus the Torah can not be commentated on, in matters concerning the Halakha
, if it is in contradiction to Chazal's commentary. Earlier on, up until the midst of the Tannaim
era, when there was a Sanhedrin (a Jewish religious law court), Chazal had also the authority to decree predestinations and to enact new religious regulations, in any matter they saw fit, concerning issues that were not included in the written "Torah", or were not handed at Biblical Mount Sinai.
Rishonim
("the first ones") were the leading Rabbis and Poskim (Halachic decisors) who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law) and following the Geonim
. Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the Shulkhan Arukh are known as Acharonim
("the latter ones"). The distinction between Rishonim and Geonim is meaningful historically; in Halakha (Jewish Law) the distinction is less important. According to a widely held view in Orthodox Judaism
, Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of Rabbis of previous eras unless they find support of other Rabbis in previous eras. On the other hand, this view is not formally a part of Halakhah itself. Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading Rabbis and Poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present. The publication of the Shulkhan Arukh marks the transition from the era of the Rishonim to the Acharonim. The question of which prior rulings can and cannot be disputed has led to efforts to define which rulings are within the Acharonim era with precision. According to many Rabbis the Shulkhan Arukh is from an Acharon. Some hold that Rabbi Yosef Karo
's Beit Yosef has the Halakhic status of a work of a Rishon, while his later Shulkhan Arukh has the status of a work of an Acharon.
The 18th century Vilna Gaon
was one of the most influential Rabbinic authorities since the Middle Ages; although he is counted among the Acharonim, he is held by many authorities after him as belonging to the Rishonim.
tends to supports the Halachic notion of the Descent of the Generations, by relating it to a metaphysical
structure of descending levels of souls in each subsequent generation. Through processes such as Gilgul
(Reincarnation), all souls are held to derive from the original collective soul of Adam. As the Sephirot relate the powers of the soul metaphorically to the image of Man, so the souls of Israel derive from different aspects of Adam; supreme Tzadik
im who lead the community from his "head", down to simple souls of his "feet". In this way, the latter generations when the "Heels of the Messiah" can be heard approaching, relate to their low souls from the level of Adam's "Heel".
However, at the same time, Kabbalah tends to explains an opposite process of progressively increasing Divine Ohr
("Light"). This light may be said to increasingly illuminate creation in each subsequent generation. In relation to Jewish scholarship, this dialectic
process is connected to the mystical concept of the Tzadik
. While the en-mass community of souls of Israel in each generation are lower, the most supreme Tzadikim of the generations are unaffected by this limitation. In traditional view, Talmudic and Halachic study (Nigleh-"Revealed" aspects of Judaism) uncovers new interpretations of previously revealed Scriptural and Rabbinic texts. Consequently, this scholarship is affected by diminishing authority of latter generations to disagree with earlier codification. However, Kabbalistic (Nistar-"Concealed") scholarship advances with successive new descriptive articulations, through a progressive process of revelation of new doctrines by select supreme Tzadikim. In this picture, Nigleh, affected by Yeridot HaDorot, involves the ascent of human intellect up to God. The new articulations of Nistar by rare Tzadikim involve the descent of new, successively higher Divine intellect into man's conceptual understanding. Where Halacha descends generationally through time, Kabbalah
ascends generationally.
may be understood as three ascending levels of mystical perception and relationship to God in Kabbalah:
In ascending order:
While Lurianic Kabbalah completed the full, transcendent structure of traditional Jewish metaphysics, this explanation places the Hasidic philosophical focus on Omnipresent
Divine immanence as the culmination of Kabbalistic thought. Where Kabbalah remained restricted to elite circles, Hasidic Divine Unity could likewise offer the first popularisation of mysticism to both elite scholars and unlearned common folk, offering to each new soulful directions.
, which regards not only Halakha
but even customs
of old as possessing divine inspiration and wisdom which later generations cannot match. Modern Orthodox Judaism
has a somewhat ambivalent approach to the concept, believing that classical positions can sometimes be re-examined in light of modern circumstances but deferentially, and in accordance with classical rules of interpretation, while embracing modern science and secular learning.
The Conservative
movement is a pluralistic movement which accepts multiple positions about the degree of deference to tradition in contemporary thought and decision-making. The Conservative movement has not expressly rejected the concept of yeridat ha-dorot, though Conservative authorities may sometimes view modern concepts of morality as superior to ancient concepts.
Reform Judaism
and Reconstructionist Judaism
, as modern liberal movements, reject the whole idea as incompatible with progress, liberalism, and modernity.
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud...
and contemporary Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
expressing a belief of the intellectual inferiority of subsequent, and contemporary Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
scholarship and spirituality in comparison to that of the past. It is held to apply to the transmission of the "Revealed" ("Nigleh") aspects of Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
, embodied in the legal and homiletic Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, and other mainstream Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
scholarship. Its reasoning derives from the weaker claim to authoritative traditional interpretation of Scripture, in later stages of a lengthening historical chain of transmission from the original Revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai
Biblical Mount Sinai
The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...
, and the codification of the Oral Torah
Oral Torah
The Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...
in the Talmud. This idea provides the basis to the designated Rabbinic Eras from the Tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
and Amoraim of the Talmud, to the subsequent Gaonim, Rishonim
Rishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
and Acharonim
Acharonim
Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
. Additionally, it has an extra metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
explanation in Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, regarding lower levels of souls in succeeding generations.
However, Kabbalah limits the effect of Yeridat ha-dorot only to Nigleh. In contrast, the "Concealed" ("Nistar") aspects of Torah, embodied in Jewish mysticism, are identified with an opposite process of successively higher articulations of mystical thought as the process of history unfolds. The reasoning for this derives from the notion that Jewish mysticism progresses instead from successive new Divine revelations to supreme mystics
Tzadik
Tzadik/Zadik/Sadiq is a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q , which means "justice" or "righteousness", also the root of Tzedakah...
, as the only way to deepen its conceptual structures. This paradoxical dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
relates in Kabbalistic terminology to descending immanent "Vessels
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
", and successively higher transcendent "Lights
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
" through the history of Creation. In Jewish thought, deepening Talmudic and Rationalist
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
enquirey broadens the physical application of Torah (vessels), while deepening Jewish mysticism draws down higher levels of illumination (light).
In Classic Rabbinic literature
One of the first expressions of the idea appears in the Talmudic adage found in Shabbos 112b (Soncino):The idea is found in many other classical Jewish sources, and underlies the reluctance of the Torah scholars in a particular generation to challenge the legal rulings of a previous generation. discusses the relationship between the principle of yeridat ha-dorot and the seemingly contrary principal of chate'u Yisrael ("Israel sinned," referring to a failure in transmission of the tradition), an idea invoked to explain cases where derash (exegetical interpretation) trumps peshat (plain reading) in order to restore original intent.
Eras of Rabbinic Judaism
Chazal
Chazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...
is an acronym for "Chachameinu Zichronam Livracha" ("Our Sages may their memory be blessed"). In Rabbinic writings this refers to all Sages of the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and other Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
commentators, from the times of the Second Temple of Jerusalem until the 6th century. Up until the end of the Savoraim era, Chazal had the authority to commentate the Torah according to the Talmudical Hermeneutics
Talmudical Hermeneutics
Talmudical Hermeneutics is the science which defines the rules and methods for the investigation and exact determination of the meaning of the Scriptures, both legal and historical...
standards required by the law given to Moses at Sinai (The non written laws handed to Moses at Sinai). Nowadays, this authority is not delegated to the current generation's Sages, and thus the Torah can not be commentated on, in matters concerning the Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, if it is in contradiction to Chazal's commentary. Earlier on, up until the midst of the Tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
era, when there was a Sanhedrin (a Jewish religious law court), Chazal had also the authority to decree predestinations and to enact new religious regulations, in any matter they saw fit, concerning issues that were not included in the written "Torah", or were not handed at Biblical Mount Sinai.
Rishonim
Rishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
("the first ones") were the leading Rabbis and Poskim (Halachic decisors) who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law) and following the Geonim
Geonim
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
. Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the Shulkhan Arukh are known as Acharonim
Acharonim
Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
("the latter ones"). The distinction between Rishonim and Geonim is meaningful historically; in Halakha (Jewish Law) the distinction is less important. According to a widely held view in Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of Rabbis of previous eras unless they find support of other Rabbis in previous eras. On the other hand, this view is not formally a part of Halakhah itself. Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading Rabbis and Poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present. The publication of the Shulkhan Arukh marks the transition from the era of the Rishonim to the Acharonim. The question of which prior rulings can and cannot be disputed has led to efforts to define which rulings are within the Acharonim era with precision. According to many Rabbis the Shulkhan Arukh is from an Acharon. Some hold that Rabbi Yosef Karo
Yosef Karo
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities...
's Beit Yosef has the Halakhic status of a work of a Rishon, while his later Shulkhan Arukh has the status of a work of an Acharon.
The 18th century Vilna Gaon
Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kramer, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra or Elijah Ben Solomon, , was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries...
was one of the most influential Rabbinic authorities since the Middle Ages; although he is counted among the Acharonim, he is held by many authorities after him as belonging to the Rishonim.
Generational ascent in Kabbalah
KabbalahKabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
tends to supports the Halachic notion of the Descent of the Generations, by relating it to a metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
structure of descending levels of souls in each subsequent generation. Through processes such as Gilgul
Gilgul
Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot describes a Kabbalistic concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgul means "cycle" and neshamot is the plural for "souls." Souls are seen to "cycle" through "lives" or "incarnations", being attached to different human bodies over time...
(Reincarnation), all souls are held to derive from the original collective soul of Adam. As the Sephirot relate the powers of the soul metaphorically to the image of Man, so the souls of Israel derive from different aspects of Adam; supreme Tzadik
Tzadik
Tzadik/Zadik/Sadiq is a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q , which means "justice" or "righteousness", also the root of Tzedakah...
im who lead the community from his "head", down to simple souls of his "feet". In this way, the latter generations when the "Heels of the Messiah" can be heard approaching, relate to their low souls from the level of Adam's "Heel".
However, at the same time, Kabbalah tends to explains an opposite process of progressively increasing Divine Ohr
Ohr
Ohr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
("Light"). This light may be said to increasingly illuminate creation in each subsequent generation. In relation to Jewish scholarship, this dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
process is connected to the mystical concept of the Tzadik
Tzadik
Tzadik/Zadik/Sadiq is a title given to personalities in Jewish tradition considered righteous, such as Biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ṣ-d-q , which means "justice" or "righteousness", also the root of Tzedakah...
. While the en-mass community of souls of Israel in each generation are lower, the most supreme Tzadikim of the generations are unaffected by this limitation. In traditional view, Talmudic and Halachic study (Nigleh-"Revealed" aspects of Judaism) uncovers new interpretations of previously revealed Scriptural and Rabbinic texts. Consequently, this scholarship is affected by diminishing authority of latter generations to disagree with earlier codification. However, Kabbalistic (Nistar-"Concealed") scholarship advances with successive new descriptive articulations, through a progressive process of revelation of new doctrines by select supreme Tzadikim. In this picture, Nigleh, affected by Yeridot HaDorot, involves the ascent of human intellect up to God. The new articulations of Nistar by rare Tzadikim involve the descent of new, successively higher Divine intellect into man's conceptual understanding. Where Halacha descends generationally through time, Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
ascends generationally.
A Hasidic point of view
According to one Hasidic author, the three successive stages of mid-16th century Cordoveran Kabbalah, latter-16th century Lurianic Kabbalah, and 18th century Hasidic philosophyHasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement...
may be understood as three ascending levels of mystical perception and relationship to God in Kabbalah:
"There are three distinct stages in the historical revelation of KabbalahKabbalahKabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
. Each represents a conceptual approach to understanding Kabbalistic tradition. Each is identified with a particular historical figure. Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, also known as the Ramak; Rabbi Isaac LuriaIsaac LuriaIsaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
, popularly referred to as the holy Ari; and Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. Each system of thought served to advance the evolution of Kabbalistic theory by providing new and more illuminating frameworks within which to organize the totality of Kabbalistic doctrine existing up to their time."
In ascending order:
| Stage of Kabbalistic teaching: | Date: | Relative level: | Divine characteristic: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cordoveran Kabbalah | Mid 1500s | Olamot Four Worlds The Four Worlds , sometimes counted with a prior stage to make Five Worlds, are the comprehensive categories of spiritual realms in Kabbalah in the descending chain of Existence.... -Worlds |
Hishtalshelut Seder hishtalshelus Seder hishtalshelus means the "order of development" or "order of evolution", where the word Hishtalshelus is derived from the reduplicated quadriliteral root ŠLŠL "to chain", and so literally means "the chain-like process"... -Evolution |
| Lurianic Kabbalah | 1570s and after | Neshamot Gilgul Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot describes a Kabbalistic concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgul means "cycle" and neshamot is the plural for "souls." Souls are seen to "cycle" through "lives" or "incarnations", being attached to different human bodies over time... -Souls |
Hitlavshut Tohu and Tikun Olam HaTohu and Olam HaTikun are the two general stages, and states of being in Creation, in the Kabbalistic system of Isaac Luria , the father of modern Kabbalah.... -Enclothement |
| Hasidic philosophy Hasidic philosophy Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement... |
18th century and after | Elokut Atzmus Atzmus/Atzmut meaning "essence", is the descriptive term referred to in Kabbalah, and explored in Hasidic thought, for the Divine essence.... -Divinity |
Hashra'ah-Omnipresence |
While Lurianic Kabbalah completed the full, transcendent structure of traditional Jewish metaphysics, this explanation places the Hasidic philosophical focus on Omnipresent
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
Divine immanence as the culmination of Kabbalistic thought. Where Kabbalah remained restricted to elite circles, Hasidic Divine Unity could likewise offer the first popularisation of mysticism to both elite scholars and unlearned common folk, offering to each new soulful directions.
Yeridot HaDorot in contemporary Judaism
The concept of Yeridat ha-dorot is particularly influential in Haredi JudaismHaredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
, which regards not only Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
but even customs
Minhag
Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach , refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers...
of old as possessing divine inspiration and wisdom which later generations cannot match. Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
has a somewhat ambivalent approach to the concept, believing that classical positions can sometimes be re-examined in light of modern circumstances but deferentially, and in accordance with classical rules of interpretation, while embracing modern science and secular learning.
The Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
movement is a pluralistic movement which accepts multiple positions about the degree of deference to tradition in contemporary thought and decision-making. The Conservative movement has not expressly rejected the concept of yeridat ha-dorot, though Conservative authorities may sometimes view modern concepts of morality as superior to ancient concepts.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
and Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
, as modern liberal movements, reject the whole idea as incompatible with progress, liberalism, and modernity.