flour dumpling normally stuffed with mashed potato and onion, chopped liver, or cheese.
Kasha. Kasha or kasha varnishkes is a mixture of buckwheat and bow-tie macaroni noodles.
Kugel. Kugel is either served as a casserole of potatoes, eggs, and onions or as a dessert made with noodles, fruits, and nuts in an egg-based pudding.
Kishkas. Parchment paper or plastic filled with either meat or celery and carrots, onions, flour, and spices.
Gefilte fish. Originally, gefilte fish was stuffed fish, but today it looks more like fish cakes or fish loaf. Gefilte fish may be made from a variety of fish, though it’s most often made of carp. The fish is chopped or ground, then mixed with eggs, salt, onions, and pepper, or a vegetable mix.
Stuffed cabbage. You can prepare stuffed cabbage in a number of ways, one of which is to fill it with beef and then serve in a sweet-and-sour sauce.
ABULAFIA
Father of the Mystical Tradition
Abraham Abulafia (1240–1291) is by far the most influential Kabbalist in the school of Ecstatic (or Prophetic) Kabbalah. In fact, he essentially founded this kabbalistic orientation. His personality was powerful, his ideas were radical and controversial, and his influence has been long lasting.
Abulafia was born in Saragossa, Spain. He spent his first twenty years in Spain before beginning a life that was often characterized by wandering. His rabbinical education was good, but far from outstanding. On the other hand, his knowledge of philosophy was quite extensive.
Abulafia’s father died when Abraham was only eighteen, and two years later, he journeyed to the land of Israel in search of the mythical river Sambatyon, beyond which, according to legend, the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel dwelled. From Israel he took a boat from Acco to Greece and spent the next ten years in Greece and Italy. Scholars speculate as to whether he made contact with Sufis (Islamic mystics) in the Land of Israel because some of his meditational methods seemed comparable to those of Sufis. Abulafia also focused on breathing techniques during meditation and scholars wonder whether he may have been indirectly influenced by Yoga via Sufism.
In 1271, at the age of thirty-one, Abulafia had his first transformative experience. He understood the experience as that of attaining prophetic inspiration and he began teaching his methods and insights to a small number of chosen students.
Prolific Author
Abulafia wrote close to fifty works. A little more than half were kabbalistic texts of various sorts. In addition to commentaries on Sefer Yetzirah ( The Book of Creation ) and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides’s Moreh Nevukhim ( Guide for the Perplexed ), he wrote numerous books in which he explains his meditation techniques, teaches the secrets of the various names of God, and writes his insights into the Torah and the mitzvot (commandments).
Abulafia also wrote another type of work, which he called his prophetic books. Of the more than twenty that he wrote, only one has survived, Sefer HaOt ( The Book of the Sign ; the word Ot , however, also means “letter”). These emerge more out of his immediate experiences.
Going to See the Pope
In the summer of 1280, Abulafia went to Rome to see Pope Nicholas III, to speak on behalf of the Jewish people and to persuade the pope to improve the difficult conditions under which they lived. Nicholas, however, was suspicious of him and ordered him arrested and put to death by burning. However, the night of his arrest the pope suddenly died. Abulafia was kept for a month in the College of the Franciscans and was subsequently freed.
After his release, Abulafia went to Sicily and remained there for most of the rest of his life. During this period of time he composed the majority of his books. Abulafia believed that his meditative use of the Hebrew language could give you a deeper understanding of reality than philosophy could. Contemplating the letters and meditating with them would unlock secrets
Kasha. Kasha or kasha varnishkes is a mixture of buckwheat and bow-tie macaroni noodles.
Kugel. Kugel is either served as a casserole of potatoes, eggs, and onions or as a dessert made with noodles, fruits, and nuts in an egg-based pudding.
Kishkas. Parchment paper or plastic filled with either meat or celery and carrots, onions, flour, and spices.
Gefilte fish. Originally, gefilte fish was stuffed fish, but today it looks more like fish cakes or fish loaf. Gefilte fish may be made from a variety of fish, though it’s most often made of carp. The fish is chopped or ground, then mixed with eggs, salt, onions, and pepper, or a vegetable mix.
Stuffed cabbage. You can prepare stuffed cabbage in a number of ways, one of which is to fill it with beef and then serve in a sweet-and-sour sauce.
ABULAFIA
Father of the Mystical Tradition
Abraham Abulafia (1240–1291) is by far the most influential Kabbalist in the school of Ecstatic (or Prophetic) Kabbalah. In fact, he essentially founded this kabbalistic orientation. His personality was powerful, his ideas were radical and controversial, and his influence has been long lasting.
Abulafia was born in Saragossa, Spain. He spent his first twenty years in Spain before beginning a life that was often characterized by wandering. His rabbinical education was good, but far from outstanding. On the other hand, his knowledge of philosophy was quite extensive.
Abulafia’s father died when Abraham was only eighteen, and two years later, he journeyed to the land of Israel in search of the mythical river Sambatyon, beyond which, according to legend, the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel dwelled. From Israel he took a boat from Acco to Greece and spent the next ten years in Greece and Italy. Scholars speculate as to whether he made contact with Sufis (Islamic mystics) in the Land of Israel because some of his meditational methods seemed comparable to those of Sufis. Abulafia also focused on breathing techniques during meditation and scholars wonder whether he may have been indirectly influenced by Yoga via Sufism.
In 1271, at the age of thirty-one, Abulafia had his first transformative experience. He understood the experience as that of attaining prophetic inspiration and he began teaching his methods and insights to a small number of chosen students.
Prolific Author
Abulafia wrote close to fifty works. A little more than half were kabbalistic texts of various sorts. In addition to commentaries on Sefer Yetzirah ( The Book of Creation ) and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides’s Moreh Nevukhim ( Guide for the Perplexed ), he wrote numerous books in which he explains his meditation techniques, teaches the secrets of the various names of God, and writes his insights into the Torah and the mitzvot (commandments).
Abulafia also wrote another type of work, which he called his prophetic books. Of the more than twenty that he wrote, only one has survived, Sefer HaOt ( The Book of the Sign ; the word Ot , however, also means “letter”). These emerge more out of his immediate experiences.
Going to See the Pope
In the summer of 1280, Abulafia went to Rome to see Pope Nicholas III, to speak on behalf of the Jewish people and to persuade the pope to improve the difficult conditions under which they lived. Nicholas, however, was suspicious of him and ordered him arrested and put to death by burning. However, the night of his arrest the pope suddenly died. Abulafia was kept for a month in the College of the Franciscans and was subsequently freed.
After his release, Abulafia went to Sicily and remained there for most of the rest of his life. During this period of time he composed the majority of his books. Abulafia believed that his meditative use of the Hebrew language could give you a deeper understanding of reality than philosophy could. Contemplating the letters and meditating with them would unlock secrets
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