Unraveling Religion, Judaic Edition

Part 1 'Creation' In Torah; The Four Rivers, Formation, Creation, and What Is Made, An Examination and Orientation to Existence: Conversation with Rabbi Gedaliah Gurfein from Jerusalem

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This two Part talk was a previously archived conversation from 2014, the second Unraveling Religion, Judaic Edition with Rabbi Gedaliah Gurfein from Jerusalem, and it surveys:

  • Who is Kabbalah meant for? 
  • What is Torah? 
  • The word 'kabbalah' means 'receive' 
  • An examination of the influence of the Ba'al Shem Tov
  • A synopsis of Jewish history pre-Ba'al Shem Tov
  • There are four rivers out of the Garden of Eden, these four rivers are the way to a secret return to Eden
  • These Four Rivers and the rectification of the world
  • North, East, South, and West are impoverished and need the Waters of Life to infuse them 
  • Torah as a Schematic of Creation
  • Purpose of darkness and evil
  • Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad
  • Adam and Eve, pre-sin Choice, itself, was 'true' or 'false'
  • Post-sin became good or bad (i.e., subjective) 
  • Snake as a messenger programmed to challenge Adam and Eve (i.e., test the mettle to resist the snake)
  • Genuine speech is the rebellion against the ego
  • What was the snake's seduction, 'I can be like G-d?' what does that mean? 'I call the shots'
  • the world as it is supposed to be already exists we need time to perefct the world to understand how that is possible 
  • What is G-d's Kabbbalah? Not the ultimate High Worlds, but the worlds where there is no way to know God and people who are surrounded by evil and still do acts of kindness, who choose to be kind, that is G-d's Kabbalah

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    Biography:

    Gedaliah has been a teacher of Jewish wisdom for over 45 years. His experiences have included a range from traditional yeshivot to Pueblo Indians, Igbo Tribes, China, Netherlands, Mexico and, of course, Israel. Gedaliah has also been involved in the Israeli High-Tech industry since 1995. His classic work - free to the public - is The People's Talmud.

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    Unraveling Religion, Judaic EditionBy Rabbi Jessica Minnen and Joel David Lesses