Isaac the Blind (in Hebrew Yitzhak Sagi-Naor ) ( 1160 - 1235 , Provence , France ) - the famous Kabbalist of the Gerona school . He was the son of the famous Talmudist Abraham bin David from Posquiera (Ravad). Some scholars believe that Isaac the Blind is the author of the Book of Bahir , the most important text on Kabbalah . The student of Isaac the Blind was Azriel of Gerona .
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The Bahir book appeared around 1200 in France. This book reflected many ideas that later became important for the development of Kabbalah. Isaac was the founder of the first academic school of Kabbalists in Europe.
He argued that all things and events in the universe are the product of combinations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet . "Their root is in the name, because the letters are like branches that appear like flickering fire, moving, but still nevertheless connected with coal."
Isaac considered the 10 Sefirot as entities, originating in the abysses of the Ein Sof . He believed that from Ein Sof the Mahshava (Divine Thought) emanated , which became the first supernatural attribute. The remaining Sefirot came from the Divine Thought. Individual beings in the world are a material manifestation of the Sefirot, although at a lower level of reality.
An important contribution of Isaac to Kabbalah was the introduction of the practice of meditation (kavannah) - a mental focus on the Sefirot, or "ten aspects of God." Isaac believed that the mind, trying to reflect on the Sefirot, rises and permeates the heavens, uniting ultimately with God. The Kabbalist in his mystical experience ascends to the levels of divine emanations to unite with the Divine Thought. Subsequent Kabbalists continued to use Isaac the Blind's approach to thinking about the Sefirot in search of mystical communications with God.
Literature
- Scholem, Gershom G. Origins of the Kabbalah. Philadelphia, 1987.