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The Meaning of HaMaqom | The Place in Jewish Thought and Beyond

October 13, 2020 by Darren Kleinberg, Ph.D.

HaMaqom is an English transliteration of a Hebrew word that directly translates as ‘The Place.’ In the Jewish wisdom tradition, HaMaqom | The Place usually refers either to certain places where the divine is encountered or to the divine Itself.

When the patriarch Jacob sees a vision of angels and is called into the covenant by YHWH, he declares: “How awesome is this place (HaMaqom ha-zeh)!” (Gen. 28:17). Here HaMaqom | The Place is the Axis Mundi, as the great historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed it – the meeting point of heaven and earth.

As a divine name, HaMaqom | The Place is better translated as Omnipresent, or That Which Is Present In All. In the words of contemporary Jewish mystic Arthur Green, “There is only One… That One embraces, surrounds and fills all the infinitely varied forms that existence has taken and ever will take” (Judaism for the World, 3).

The apparent conflict between these two meanings of HaMaqom is hard to miss: does ‘The Place’ refers to specific places where the divine is encountered, or does it point to the presence of the divine in every place?

These and other questions related to the meaning of HaMaqom | The Place in the Jewish wisdom tradition and beyond will guide our discussions in this course. 

Join us!

The Meaning of HaMaqom | The Place in Jewish Thought and Beyond

Wednesdays, 10/14 thru 11/4
Led by Rabbi Darren Kleinberg
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
FREE!

Filed Under: Courses, Text Tagged With: Darren Kleinberg, HaMaqom, HaMaqom The Place, Jewish Community, Jewish Wisdom, Judaism, Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, The Place

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The Place
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    • Courses List
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    • Text Circles
    • Kevah Groups
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    ▼
    • 8 Days of Light and Learning
    • Lehrhaus Legacy Lecture
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    • Other Ways to Give
    • 2020-2021 Donor Support
  • About
    ▼
    • Mission | Story
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    • Our People: Educators
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    • Contact Us