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Nan Goodman
Research Article|April 01 2018
Mystical Reflections on the Primordial Torah
Zvi Ish-Shalom
zvi ish-shalom is associate professor of religious studies at Naropa University and is founder of the Kedumah Institute.
English Language Notes (2018) 56 (1): 67-82.
Zvi Ish-Shalom; Mystical Reflections on the Primordial Torah. English Language Notes 1 April 2018; 56 (1): 67–82. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00138282-4337453
This essay examines select teachings from Kedumah, a contemporary mystical path in the lineage of the Primordial Torah. Kedumah, a Hebrew word that means "ancient" or "primordial," points to the nonconceptual ground that eternally abides at the heart of all our experiences, prior to all the labeling and processing of our conceptual mind. The contemporary mystical path of Kedumah is interested in accessing and including this primordial nature as an integral part of our everyday experience. Kedumah thus calls for a more integrative appreciation of all reality—including the ordinary and mundane as equally sacred expressions of the whole. In this sense, Kedumah posits a mysticism that entails the normalization of the spiritual and the equalization of the sacred and profane. In this essay ancient Kabbalistic principles and biblical texts are examined to demonstrate this radical vision.
Kabbalah, mysticism, Torah, Judaism
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