Tag Archives: Jewish Mysticism

Jew of the Week: Sarmad

The Persian Jew Who Inspired India

18th century illustration of Dara Shikoh (right) learning with Sarmad

Sa’id Sarmad Kashani (c. 1590-1661) was born in Armenia to a religious Persian-Jewish family of merchants. At a young age, he translated the Torah into Farsi. He later took up studies under Muslim scholars and mystics like Mulla Sadra and Mir Findiriski. Some believe he nominally converted to Islam at this time, but remained a practicing Jew. On one merchant trip to Mughal India, Sarmad met a Hindu scholar called Abhay Chand. The two learned about each other’s faiths, and it is believed Chand converted to Judaism. Sarmad eventually gave up his wealth and became an ascetic wandering mystic. He and Chand traveled and taught together all across India, eventually settling in Delhi. Sarmad made a great name for himself as a poet and philosopher. Over 300 of his short poems have survived to this day. He also wrote the entry for “Judaism” in the 17th-century Dabistan, an anthology explaining all of the world’s religions. The Mughal crown prince Dara Shikoh (whose father built the Taj Mahal) was so impressed by Sarmad’s wisdom that he became a disciple, too. Sarmad went on to devise a new mystical system, drawing on Judaism, Sufi Islam, and Hinduism. Countless followers and disciples across India learned from him. However, when Dara Shikoh was deposed by his brother, the new Mughal emperor executed Shikoh and all of his associates, including Sarmad. The emperor demanded that Sarmad recite the Shahadah (proclaiming “there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet”), but Sarmad refused and was beheaded. According to legend, Sarmad then picked up his own head and walked away—and the new emperor never had a peaceful night’s sleep ever again! Sarmad’s tomb became a popular pilgrimage site and is still revered as a holy place in India today. His story inspired numerous Indian leaders, including Abul Kalam Azad, a colleague of Gandhi (and his predecessor as president of the Indian National Congress). Azad once described himself as a modern-day Sarmad. Scholars see “Sarmad the Jew” as a key figure in the history of religions; a mystic that influenced the development of Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism; as well as an early pioneer of interfaith dialogue.

Passover Begins Monday Night – Chag Sameach!

Those We Are Still Missing

Secrets of the Ten Plagues & the Passover Seder

Words of the Week

In the chronicles of world history, no question has managed to capture the world’s interest for very long; a few decades seems to be the outer limit for consideration of even the most pressing global problems. But the world has been busy trying to figure out the question of the Jews for thousands of years – and they have not tired of the discussion! In every generation, the old questions arise anew: Are the Jews good or bad? Do the Jews bring benefit to the world or do they cause problems? Why, it is as if we have just appeared on the scene – as if the world has never before known what a Jew looks like!
– Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz (1875-1936)

Jew of the Week: Isaac Judaeus

The Caliph’s Doctor and the Father of Kabbalah

A 13th-century illustration of Isaac Israeli from a Latin translation of his “Book of Fevers”

Itzhak ben Shlomo (c. 832-932) was born to a religious Jewish family in Egypt. He became renowned as the greatest physician in the country, and in 904 was hired by Prince Ziyadat Allah III. Several years later, he became court physician to Caliph Al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid Dynasty, based in Kairouan, Tunisia. Recognizing his immense wisdom, the Caliph made Itzhak (known in Arabic as “Abu Yaqub Ishaq ibn Suleiman al-Israili”, and in Europe as “Isaac Judaeus”) his leading advisor and tutor. Itzhak wrote numerous medical, astronomical, and mathematical treatises which transformed the scientific knowledge of the day. For instance, he is the first person in history to mention performing a tracheostomy. His works were widely distributed for centuries afterwards, and made up much of the medical curriculum of the Middle Ages. Itzhak was also a great philosopher, kabbalist, and mystic. He fused together Greek Neoplatonism with traditional Jewish mysticism, paving the way for the forthcoming explosion of Kabbalistic texts and Jewish mystical circles. His main disciple, Dunash ibn Tamim, wrote a profound commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, the most ancient of Kabbalistic texts. In addition to inspiring many rabbis, he was studied and quoted by great non-Jewish scholars like Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. Among his many other writings is a deeply philosophical commentary on Genesis. In his day, Isaac Judaeus was the world’s leading sage, doctor, and scientist, and Arabic texts of the time refer to him as “master of the seven sciences” and “more valuable than gems”.

Why Did Muslims Rule the Holy Land for 1300 Years?

Words of the Week

We do not have to accept theories as certainties, no matter how widely accepted, for they are like blossoms that fade. Very soon science will be developed further and all of today’s new theories will be derided and scorned and the well-respected wisdom of our day will seem small-minded.
– Rav Kook, First Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

Jew of the Week: Rabbi Yosef Karo

Code of Jewish Law

19th Century Illustration of Rabbi Yosef Karo

Yosef ben Ephraim Karo (1488-1575) was born in Toledo, then in the Spanish kingdom of Castile. The infamous 1492 Spanish Expulsion of the Jews took place when he was just four years old. The family first fled to Portugal, and were then expelled from there as well in 1497. They eventually settled in Nikopolis, in the Ottoman Empire, which had opened its doors to Sephardic Jewish refugees. (The Ottoman Sultan at the time, Bayezid II, reportedly said: “They tell me that Ferdinand of Spain is a wise man, but he is a fool, for he takes his treasure and sends it all to me.”) Karo was tutored by his rabbi father and soon became a rabbi himself. He also studied under the great Rabbi Yosef Taitazak in Salonica. For a couple of years, he served as a rabbi in Adrianople, and eventually resettled in Tzfat. At the time, Tzfat was experiencing a resurgence of Jewish life and a renaissance in Jewish scholarship, thanks mainly to an influx of Sephardic Jewish refugees. It soon became the “capital” of Jewish mysticism, and Rabbi Karo was one of its most famous mystics and scholars. It was in Tzfat that he composed the Shulchan Arukh, to this day the standard code of Jewish law worldwide. (Tzfat boasted one of the first printing presses in the Middle East, helping to spread the Shulchan Arukh far and wide and making it extremely popular and accessible.) The Shulchan Arukh was itself only a summary of the far broader and more complex Beit Yosef, which was Rabbi Karo’s true magnum opus that he worked on for over twenty years. Rabbi Karo opened his own yeshiva, with 200 students including the renowned “Ramak”, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero. Karo also served as the chief rabbi on the Tzfat beit din. In fact, he was one of the main leaders in a rabbinic attempt to re-establish the ancient Sanhedrin. Rabbi Karo was recognized as the preeminent authority for all Sephardic Jewry worldwide, and was deeply respected by Ashkenazi Jews as well who, on several occasions, asked him to intervene in local European disputes. Among his other noted publications are Kesef Mishneh, a commentary on the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, along with a textbook for Talmudic study. One of his most intriguing works is Maggid Meisharim, a personal journal which records his prophetic experiences and the teachings he received from an angel over a period of fifty years. Rabbi Karo is often referred to simply as Maran, “Our Master”.

Words of the Week

Today, what is demanded of the Jewish people is mesirut nefesh, self-sacrifice, and this is particularly true with regard to chinuch, education. The resources for which we have labored must be dedicated to the education of children – both our own, and the children of others.
– Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe