The diploma thesis "The Influence of Non-Lurianic Kabbalah on East-European Hasidism of Modern Age" deals with the impact of non-Lurianic kabbalah on the origin and development of East-European Hasidism. The first chapter consists of short survey aimed on the academic research of Hasidism including the contribution of the most important figures in this particular field of research. The second chapter is focused on defining and demonstrating of Lurianic and non-Lurianic influences followed by illustrating of these influences on the example of few particular Jewish scholars. The third chapter includes the translation of chosen texts related to the topic of previous chapter, and their commentary. The aim of this diploma thesis is to introduce the complex topic of the sources forming Hasidism and to show their diversity.

This thesis deals with the person of rabbi Avraham Abulafia with intention express his unique mystical system with respect to events of his life and his personal experiences which he had during his journeys. The first chapter follows the various mystical and philosophical systems and strives for introducing some major Jewish movements and personalities which may have been sources of Abulafia's conceptions and methods. Also it provides the information about the eschatological and millennial conceptions of that time, that may have been known to this scholar and affect him as well. The second chapter follows the life journey of Abulafia and tries to show the most important events of his life. It intends to provide the information about works which he had written as well as about his social contacts (his teachers and his pupils). The third chapter provides the information about his successors and tries to describe the various form of perception of his works, as well as it provides some interesting remarks about their censorship. There is also an intention to state the transformation of reception of his authority in last decades whether it is by contemporary kabbalists or artists. The last chapter is the apex of this work. It is focused on the description and interpretation of major conceptions of...

Šio darbo tikslas nagrinėti ir aprašyti žydų mistikoje atsiskleidžiančią sielų transmigracijos idėją, remiantis XVI a. veikusio pagrindinio šios koncepcijos plėtotojo Izaoko Lurijos (1534–1572 m.) ir jo mokinio Chaimo Vitalio (1543–1620 m.) mokymu. Sielų transmigracijai nusakyti tuo metu naudotas terminas gilgul. Ši samprata atsiranda ir formuojasi ieškant sprendimo į dieviškojo teisingumo arba teodicėjos problemą, kuri lieka atvira tradiciniame judaizme. Ankstyvojoje kabaloje sielų transmigracijos koncepcija atsiranda kontekste, kuris nurodo į Jobo knygos problemą: kodėl kai kurie teisieji džiaugiasi malonėmis, kai kiti tuo tarpu kenčia? Jau nuo to laiko susiformuoja tipiškas kabalistinis aiškinimas remiantis sielų transmigracijos samprata: Jobas kenčia už ankstesniame gyvenime padarytas nuodėmes. Tyrimo metu gilgul atsiskleidžia kaip viena svarbiausių XVI a. kabalos sampratų, kuriai tenka reikšmingas vaidmuo lurianiškos kabalos triadoje: cimcum–šebirath ha-Kelim–tikkun. Gilgul tampa svarbia visuotinio restitucijos tikkun proceso dalimi, iš esmės tikkun neįmanomas be nuolatinio sielų grįžimo į žemę, siekiant sugrąžinti po sfirų šviesą rinkusių indų sudužimo žemesniuose sluoksniuose pažirusias šviesos kibirkštis. Taip gilgul atsiskleidžia ne tik kaip individualus, bet ir kaip visuotinis procesas. Šia prasme gilgul tampa įrankiu interpretuoti žydų tremties istoriją ne kaip Dievo bausmę, o kaip misiją. / In Master’s thesis the concept of soul transmigration in Jewish mysticism analyzed and described on the basis of XVI century teaching of Jewish mystics Isaac Luria (1534–1572 m.) and his scholar Hayyim Vital (1543–1620 m.). At that time already specific term gilgul was used to define transmigration of souls. Gilgul helps to solve question of divine justice or teodicy problem, which is left unsolved in traditional Judaism. In early kabbalah concept of the transmigration of souls appears in context, which refears to Book of Job and problem, why some righteous enjoy their lives and the others must suffer? Already from that time usual kabbalistic answer to this question was found in the concept of transmigration of souls: Job suffers because of sins which were done in previous life. Gilgul in this study is revealed as one of the main definitions of XVI centrury’s kabbalah playing an important role in lurianic triada: cimcum–shebirath ha-Kelim–tikkun. Specifically tikkun – process of cosmic restitution is even impossible without permanent gilgul. Souls must come back into this world so that they could peace by peace gather sparks of the divine light which scattered into the lower worlds after the breaking of the vessels. Thus gilgul develops not only as individual but also as cosmic process. This understanding leads to a possible interpretation of Jews exile not as God’s punishment, but as the specially designated mission.

Master thesis "The Elements of New Age in Contemporary Judaism (so called Jewish Renewal)" deals with mutual relationship between Judaism and New Age movement. In the first part it describes their main mutual elements such as holism, monism, environmentalism, tender issues and esotericism. The second part is focused on Jewish Renewal movement, which aroused in 60's of 20th century in the United states of America. This movement is transdenominational neoschasidic movement, which tries to renew Judaism through Chasidic and kabalistic thoughts adapted to present days, it emphasizes personal spirituality. The third part talks about the Jewish elements within new Age, which are mainly kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. The fourth part describes the phenomenon of dual religious identity, whose the best known groups are Messianic Jews, Jews for Allah, Jewbus and Hinjews.

Thesis with title The Vision of Merkabah and its Reflexion in Rabbinical Judaism deals with jewish's mysticism. The work has point evidence, that jewish's mysticism starts yet in early medieval times. During centuries extends further and its line achieves until today's time. It compares most old mysticism texts with their occurrence at a later literature. It focus on mystical groups and theirs incidence. The work attends to difference mystic of jewish in different geographical regions in course of time. Keywords Ezekiel, prophets, mysticism, kabbalah, merkabah, sefirot, God

The objective of my dissertation is an analysis of selected passages from the Book of Zohar. The selected texts are analyzed from the synchronic and diachronic point of view. The synchronic approach consists of detailed grammatical study of all contained lexical units and its result is a Czech translation that reflects the interpretative variations as well. The diachronic approach incorporates Czech translation of important rabbinical commentaries and scientific discourse on analyzed themes. My dissertation gives a discussion of the nature of zoharic Aramaic and its literary sources. The scientific question is an evaluation of Moses de-Le'on's success rate in his endeavor to imitate the Aramaic of Targum Onkelos.

Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot: The Influence of Non-Lurianic Kabbalah on East-European Hasidism of Modern Age Mgr. Antonín Šedivý This dissertation thesis consists of Introduction, three chapters, and Conclusion. Furthermore, it includes name index, list of traditional Jewish sources used in the second chapter, list of sources, literature and other relevant resources, and four supplements. The Introduction of this dissertation deals with several issues important for its research. First of all, the East-European Hasidism is introduced, then follows very thorough overview of current state of knowledge of Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot, and the definition of goals, hypothesis, and methods of this dissertation, and finally, it also contains technical notes about the dissertation thesis. The first chapter "Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH ve-hanhagot yesharot" is devoted solely to Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH, which is the central point of my dissertation. It is divided into chapters that are dedicated to fundamental information about Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH, to its content, to its place within Hasidic literary collection, and to its reflexion by the opponents of Hasidism. The second chapter "Translation and Commentary of Selected Texts of Tzava'at Ha-RIBaSH" contains translation and short commentary of fifty-one selected...

Thesis In the Light of Kabbalah: Jewish Mystique in Polish Literature in the Interwar Period deals with different models of reflection of Jewish religious and mystical tradition in the Polish interwar literature (on the example of three authors representing different ways of perceiving their own Jewish roots as well as the processing of themes based on the tradition of Jewish mysticism). Aleksander Wat, originally a futurist, was critical of the Jewish religious tradition - but still cannot his own "Jewishness" escape; prose writer Bruno Schulz offers an unique vision of cosmogony and eschatology reminiscent of - besides other things - selected concepts of Kabbalah; Bolesław Leśmianʼs relationship to this tradition is the looses, but on the other hand his method of working with motives which can interpreted in the context of the Jewish religious tradition is very original. Literary work of all three - as the heirs to the "people of the Book" - is marked by a specific relationship to language and the written word. In addition to this theme we deal with e.g. the Golem motive, the idea of the creation of the world or the idea of God. These analytical chapters are preceded by a theoretical and methodological introduction based on the traditions of literary hermeneutics, but also on selected concepts of...

This thesis deals with the intellectual heritage of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague and with his affiliation to the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah sprang up amongst Jewish scholars of 12th century Spain and reached its apex in the composition of the Zohar. This study shows the ways the Maharal used the Zohar and to what end. First chapter deals with the life and writings of the Maharal. The second summarises previous attempts to describe the Maharal's affinity for Jewish mysticism. The third chapter describes how the Zohar was written. It includes a textological comparison, which aims to find which edition or group of manuscripts of the Zohar the Maharal used. It also makes note of the special form of zoharic Aramaic that is present in the Maharal's writings. The fourth chapter raises the question of halakhic authority of the Zohar in the 15th and 16th centuries. Three main chapters of this thesis provide analysis and commentary of chosen zoharic texts (Zohar III,152a, Zohar III,40a, Zohar I,18a a Zohar I,33b) quoted by the Maharal in his writings and with their theological reflection. Zohar III,152a speaks about different layers of meaning implied in the text of the Torah. This chapter deals with the basic development of Jewish hermeneutics and attempts to find Maharal's place in it....