The Great Arousal - The Divine Impetus for Creation in Lurianic Kabbalah

The episode continues a discussion about Lurianic Kabbalah and its teachings on how the world was created. It looks at the philosophical debate between Aristotle's view of an eternal universe versus the Jewish view that God created the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing).

According to Lurianic Kabbalah, before creation there was only the Or Ein Sof, the infinite divine light that is incomprehensible to humans. At some point, there was an "arousal" within the divine masculine aspect for the feminine, even though feminine did not yet exist. This led to the emanation of divine energy and a chain reaction that resulted in the physical world being created.

The episode grapples with philosophical questions around whether this implies some kind of dualism within the divine, and how we can conceive of a "moment in time" when discussing something beyond time. It also looks at the language around God's "simple will" to create the world, and what caused this will to come to fruition when it did.

The next episode will explore the Lurianic concept of "tzimtzum" or divine contraction, which was the mechanism God used to allow for the creation of the universe once the divine will arose. This episode provides important philosophical background and context to understand these mystical ideas within Lurianic Kabbalah.

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Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.