Sfat - City of Kabbalah andJewish Mysticism
Sfat (also spelled Sefad, Zfat and Tsfat) is one of the four Jewish holy cities along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron, and is the most mystical city in Israel. It is said that when the Messiah comes, he will pass through Sfat on his way to Jerusalem.
History: This historic city dates back over two thousand years, during which it has weathered plagues, battles and violent earthquakes which left the city in ruins. Most of the buildings in the Jewish Quarter had to be rebuilt after the Galilee earthquake of 1837. For hundreds of years, Arabs and Jews lived side by side in the city. The Jewish Quarter only accounted for about 10% of the population until the War of Independence.
On 16th April, 1948, when British troops pulled out of Sfat, it was feared that the Jewish community would be massacred. The Palmach's 3rd battalion joined by field corps and IZL took up positions in the Jewish Quarter. After several battles, they succeeded in taking control of the Arab Quarter and the conquest of Sfat was completed on 10th May, 1948. The next morning, all the Arab residents fled to surrounding Arab villages.Today, the population of Sfat is mostly Jewish with a large percentage of religious and Hassidic Jews.
Among the synagogues in the old Jewish Quarter are the Ha'Ari Ashkenazi synagogue and the Ha'Ari Sephardic synagogues. These are named after Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (also known as "Ha'Ari" or "Arizal"), a Torah scholar and mystic who lived in Sfat in the 16th century. He is famous for being one of the biggest contributers to the Kabbalah, along with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Today, his commentaries form the basis of Kabbalah study, together with the Zohar (Book of Splendor). His father was Ashkenazi and his mother Sephardi, which may explain why his teachings are accepted by all Jews, whatever their origins.
Until quite recently, Kabbalah was only studied by men over 40 years of age, according to Jewish tradition. Today, there are those that believe the world needs the wisdom of the Kabbalah, so the more people who study it the better. Since celebs like Madonna have helped to publicize it, it has become popular with men and women around the world, Jews and non-Jews alike. The International Center for Tzfat Kabbalah was established in Sfat in 2006, and offers local and international programs for the study of Kabbalah.
Kabala (hebrejsko קַבָּלָה, tiberijsko Qabbālāh, izraelsko Kabala) dobesedno pomeni »prejemanje«, včasih pa je prečrkovana kot Cabala, Kabbala, Kabbalah, Qabalah ali drugače. Kabala je z mistiko prežeta ezoterična smer oz. z okultno razlago prežet judovski filozofski in verski nauk, po katerem je iz desetih božanskih bitij nastal svet. Sam izraz kabala je pogosto povezovan tudi s pojmoma skrivnost ali nerazumljivost.
Kabalo od obdobja srednjega veka prakticira večina ortodoksnih Judov. Po njihovih trditvah intimno razumevanje in obvladovanje kabale človeško duhovnost približuje bogu, posledično pa človeku omogoči večji vpogled v skrivnosti božjih stvaritev.
Zohar
(hebrejsko זהר Zohar - sijaj, sij) je najpomembnejše kabalistično delo. Je okultno tolmačenje tore (petih Mojzesovih knjig), napisano v srednjeveški aramejščini in srednjeveški hebrejščini. Vsebuje mistično razpravo o naravi boga, izvor in zgradbo Vesolja, naravo duš, greha, odrešitve, dobrega in zlega ter sorodne teme.
Zohar ni le ena knjiga, temveč skupina knjig. Te knjige vsebujejo svetopisemske razlage, kakor tudi teozofsko teologijo, mistično kozmogonijo, mistično psihologijo in v nekem smislu tudi antropologijo.
Armageddon at Megiddo
"AND THEY ASSEMBLED THE KINGS AT THE PLACETHAT IN HEBREW IS CALLED ARMAGEDDON" Raz 16
The very same day I stood with 181 pilgrims at Megiddo, listening to Hal Lindsey teach Daniel chapter 11 about the end time, the discovery of a historic find was announced. Less than a mile from where we stood, inmates from the Megiddo prison had uncovered an elaborate, well-preserved mosaic which had adorned the floor of what may be the Holy Land’s oldest church.
Hal Lindsey teaching Daniel 11 at Armageddon
One of the most dramatic finds is an inscription mentioning a woman by the name of Ekeptos who donated a table for the sacred meal to commemorate the Last Supper. Another mosaic, a medallion decorated with fish, a very early Christian symbol predating the cross, suggests a third or early fourth century dating for the church. Until 313 AD, Christian rituals were prohibited in the Roman Empire and Christians had to pray secretly in catacombs or private homes.
The location of the church so close to Armageddon, the biblical battleground where the forces of good will finally triumph over the forces of evil, raises the question of whether the early church related to chapter 16 in The Book of Revelation as many Christians from around the world do today. Or, whether this very early church was deliberately located on the strategic pass of Megiddo, which dominated the Way of the Sea (called the Via Maris in the Roman period) connecting Egypt and Mesopotamia for thousands of years.
Mosaic uncovered at the Megiddo prison
Inscription in the third or fourth century church at Megiddo
It was at the Megiddo pass that we have the first recorded battle in history. The year was 1468 BC, when the great Egyptian imperialist Thutmose the Third tried to extend his sphere of influence up to the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia. Vital in his battle plan was the capture of Megiddo which he likened in importance to “the capture of one thousand towns.” After a seven month siege, Thutmose conquered the stronghold of Megiddo along with 924 chariots including two covered in gold. He proudly documented his conquest in hieroglyphics at his temple in Karnak, Egypt.
3,386 years later, General Edmund Allenby, commander of the Allied forces, defeated the Turks by the Megiddo pass, thus ending 400 years of Ottoman rule over the Holy Land. In between Thutmose and Allenby, the Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French, Russians, and even the Chinese (i.e. the Mongols) all fought here at Armageddon.
So was Megiddo chosen as the site of the final battle, based upon its bloody historical record? Or was it because it sits on a fault line vulnerable to devastating earthquakes of the like John of Patmos, presumed author of Revelation, may have been familiar with. Note that the dramatized account in Revelation 16, verses 18 through 20 could be uttered by a survivor of last year’s tsunami in the Far East:
“And there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed.…And every island fled away and no mountains were to be found.”
Whether you have an activist apocalypse now viewpoint, or prefer to observe events from a distance, there are many possible avenues of discussion at Megiddo.
One of my favorite tour leaders, who believed the Apocalypse would start at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in line with the prophecy of Zechariah, chose to speak at Megiddo about the untimely death of King Josiah. In fact, there are those who believe that Megiddo was chosen as the site of the last battle precisely to avenge the tragic fate of this righteous religious reformer who fell in battle right below us, in the Valley of Megiddo. (II Kings 23:29)
Megiddo is a very rich site. Over 36 centuries, from 4,000 BC to 400 BC, it boasted 20 different layers of civilization. In addition to speaking about Armageddon, when we climb up onto the tel (which is the biblical word for “mound”,) we’ll put our hands on King Solomon’s city gates, examine the enormous grain silo from the time of the prophet Amos, photograph the manger in the stables housing 450 horses, and then descend 183 steps to explore Ahab and Jezebel’s water shaft and tunnel.
Plan your next visit soon….Armageddon is approaching!
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SD_študenti Teof,julij 2012