Rabbi Jeremy Tibbetts on Jewish Mysticism

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The opening of this shiur, in 18Forty’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Rabbi Jeremy Tibbetts, it is such a privilege and pleasure to be sitting with you here in the heart of Jerusalem, the co-director of the OU-JLIC Jerusalem, founding one, an amazing teacher, scholar, a personal teacher of mine in these mystical journeys, and now we're sharing a conversation together. Thanks so much for joining us. Baruch Hashem, what a zechut [honor]. Thanks for having me. It’s great to be here. So, let's start at the beginning. What is Jewish mysticism? Well, starting with the good questions at the beginning. Jewish mysticism, as I like to think of it, Pnimiyut HaTorah [inner dimensions of Torah], it's really about turning inwards. So much of Pnimiyut HaTorah is about finding the deep spiritual rules of Judaism. There are so many elements that are important for living a Jewish life. Jewish ritual, Jewish law, Jewish belief. A lot of Pnimiyut HaTorah, the internality of Torah, another name for Jewish mysticism, is about turning inwards, not only as an individual but trying to find the inner heart of Jewish faith. And so, how were you introduced to this inner heart? How did your journey begin? Yeah, it's funny. You look back and it was all on purpose, but in the moment there were struggles. I didn't grow up in an Orthodox household or family like that, but I had a Jewish education and I was always very connected to Jewish learning and to Torah. And as part of that journey, I ended up coming to Israel when I was eighteen and learning in a yeshiva, an institution of learning. And for the first time I was exposed to Chasidut [Hasidism].

Jump to a moment

1. 0:03Rabbi Jeremy Tibbetts, it is such a privilege and pleasure to be sitting with you here…
2. 3:23a young age to find my area, to find my piece of Torah that really speaks…
3. 7:09to always find in an ever-changing world what's the stable point that reveals divinity, what's the…
4. 10:57zachar and nekeiva. Their interest is less in gender and how we understand gender today and…
5. 14:43So that's how we take stock of and infuse our own worlds. Why did God create…
6. 18:57There is going to be a Messianic Era. But it won't be done. It won't be…
7. 22:45There are academics who see the emergence in some ways of many of these teachings of…
8. 26:29sense. There's a halacha, a Jewish ruling, for everything. Two Jews, three opinions, we say. And…
9. 30:11you set up, I think, the most important safeguards. [You] prevent yourself from lapsing into some…
10. 33:54that inspires you or that you've thought about recently? Yes. So like I mentioned, what I…

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