Thursday 16 December 2010

The Shekinah, the presence of God

The Shekhinah, the prescence or dwelling of God. This is grammatically feminine and therefore represents the female aspects of God. It was the cloud (Shakhan) in which God represented his/her self to the Hebrews, it was used in the standard Jewish blessings each sabbath in the Temple of Jerusalem

"May he who causes His name to dwell (shochan) in this house, cause to dwell among you, love and brotherliness, peace and friendship"

The place that housed the Shekinah, was seen as a direct communication to the divine (much like the function of the Egyptian Pyramids)


This was the basis of Solomon wanting to create a Temple worthy of housing the presence of God, to finish what his father David wanted to construct (but could not, as he was a warrior king and his hands were stained with blood)

The Shekhinah did not have to dwell in a physical location, but in the Talmud it was stated that "where 10 gathered together in prayer - the Shekinah would appear as well" - much like Jesus proclaiming "Where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name, there I shall be also"

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