- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration and Conventions Used in the Text
-
Part I Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter One Three Themes in Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Two On Dating Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Three Piety, Pietism, and German Pietism: Sefer Ḥasidim I and the Influence of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz -
Chapter Four Pietists and Kibbitzers -
Chapter Five The Midrash, Sefer Ḥasidim, and the Changing Face of God -
Chapter Six Two Notes on the Commentary on the Torah of R. Yehudah he-Ḥasid -
Chapter Seven Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh - Methodological Issues
-
Chapter Eight On Reading Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Nine Sefer Ḥasidim and the Social Sciences -
Chapter Ten Ravad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay -
Chapter Eleven The Literary Remains of the Gedol ha-Mefarshim -
Chapter Twelve A Response to R. Buckwold’s Critique of ‘Rabad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay’, Part I -
Chapter Thirteen A Response to R. Buckwold’s Critique of ‘Rabad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay’, Part II -
Chapter Fourteen Jewish and Roman Law: A Study in Interaction -
Chapter Fifteen The Riddle of Me’iri’s Recent Popularity -
Chapter Sixteen Printing and the History of Halakhah -
Chapter Seventeen Angle of Deflection - Bibliography of Manuscripts
- Source Acknowledgments
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Subjects
Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh
Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh
- Chapter:
- (p.161) Chapter Seven Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh
- Source:
- Collected Essays
- Author(s):
Haym Soloveitchik
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
This chapter focuses on Ibn 'Ezra's Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh. Conflicting reports are to be found in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh as to the origin of the soul. At times it is described as originating from the holy spirit via a process of inbreathing. On other occasions it is said to have been lit from the flames of the Kavod or of the heavenly throne. Other passages speak vaguely of its having been created from the place of the heavenly spirit. Whether any of these processes, or all of them, are genuine acts of creation or only emanations cannot be determined from the text. A prominent place in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh is occupied by demuyot, mirror-images of man fashioned at the beginning of Creation and which stand in endless array before the Kavod, drawing their sustenance from the absorption of the heavenly light that streams forth from the Kavod, and in turn transferring this vitality to their earthly counterparts. The demut is a counter-shape and plays no role in the religious experience of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz.
Keywords: Ibn 'Ezra, Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh, soul, Kavod, heavenly spirit, demuyot, Creation, demut, Ḥasidei Ashkenaz
Liverpool Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration and Conventions Used in the Text
-
Part I Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter One Three Themes in Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Two On Dating Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Three Piety, Pietism, and German Pietism: Sefer Ḥasidim I and the Influence of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz -
Chapter Four Pietists and Kibbitzers -
Chapter Five The Midrash, Sefer Ḥasidim, and the Changing Face of God -
Chapter Six Two Notes on the Commentary on the Torah of R. Yehudah he-Ḥasid -
Chapter Seven Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh - Methodological Issues
-
Chapter Eight On Reading Sefer Ḥasidim -
Chapter Nine Sefer Ḥasidim and the Social Sciences -
Chapter Ten Ravad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay -
Chapter Eleven The Literary Remains of the Gedol ha-Mefarshim -
Chapter Twelve A Response to R. Buckwold’s Critique of ‘Rabad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay’, Part I -
Chapter Thirteen A Response to R. Buckwold’s Critique of ‘Rabad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay’, Part II -
Chapter Fourteen Jewish and Roman Law: A Study in Interaction -
Chapter Fifteen The Riddle of Me’iri’s Recent Popularity -
Chapter Sixteen Printing and the History of Halakhah -
Chapter Seventeen Angle of Deflection - Bibliography of Manuscripts
- Source Acknowledgments
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Subjects