Шехина: Божественное Присутствие в Иудаизме

In Jewish theology, the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God
the Hebrew word

Shekhinah is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God in a place. This concept is found in Judaism and the Torah, as mentioned in Exodus 25:8. The word "Shekhinah" is not found in the Bible. It appears in the Mishnah, the Talmud, and Midrash.

The word shekhinah is first encountered in the rabbinic literature. The Semitic root from which shekhinah is derived, š k n, means "to settle, inhabit, or dwell". In the verb form, it is often used to refer to the dwelling of a person or animal in a place, or to the dwelling of God. Nouns derived from the root included shachen ("neighbor") and mishkan (a dwelling place, whether a secular home or a holy site such as the Tabernacle).

In classic Jewish thought, the shekhinah refers to a dwelling or settling in a special sense, a dwelling or settling of divine presence, to the effect that, while in proximity to the shekhinah, the connection to God is more readily perceivable. While shekhinah is a feminine word in Hebrew, it primarily seemed to be featured in masculine or androgynous contexts referring to a divine manifestation of the presence of God, based especially on readings of the Talmud. Contemporary interpretations of the term shekhinah commonly see it as the divine feminine principle in Judaism.

The 17th blessing of the daily Amidah prayer concludes with the line "[Blessed are You, God,] who returns His Presence (shekhinato) to Zion" (הַמַּחֲזִיר שְׁכִינָתוֹ לְצִיּוֹן). The Liberal Jewish prayer book for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Machzor Ruach Chadashah) contains a creative prayer based on Avinu Malkeinu, in which the feminine noun shekhinah is used in the interests of gender neutrality.

The concept of shekhinah is also associated with the concept of the Holy Spirit in Judaism (ruach ha kodesh).

Kabbalah associates the shekhinah with the female. The "feminine Jewish divine presence, the shekhinah, distinguishes Kabbalistic literature from earlier Jewish literature." "In the imagery of the Kabbalah the shekhinah is the most overtly female sefirah, the last of the ten sefirot, referred to imaginatively as 'the daughter of God'. The harmonious relationship between the female shekhinah and the six sefirot which precede her causes the world itself to be sustained by the flow of divine energy. She is like the moon reflecting the divine light into the world."

The Zohar, a foundation book of kabbalah, presents the shekhinah as playing an essential role in the conception and birth of Moses. Later during the Exodus on the "third new moon" in the desert, "Shekhinah revealed Herself and rested upon him before the eyes of all."

In Kabbalah, the shekhinah is identified with the tenth sefirah (Malkuth), and the source of life for humans on earth below the sefirotic realm. The Shekhinah is seen as the feminine divine presence of God descended in this world, dwelling with the people of Israel and sharing in their struggles. Moses is the only human considered to have risen beyond shekhinah into the sefirotic realm, reaching the level of Tiferet, or the bridegroom of the shekhinah.

The concept is similar to that in the Gospel of Matthew 18:20, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in their midst."

Lois Roden, whom the original Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Church acknowledged as their teacher/prophet from 1978 to 1986, laid heavy emphasis on women's spirituality and the feminine aspect of God. She published a magazine, Shekinah, often rendered SHEkinah, in which she explored the concept that the shekhinah is the Holy Spirit. Articles from Shekinah are reprinted online at the Branch Davidian website.

Sakīnah (سكينة) signifies the "presence or peace of God". As "support and reassurance" it was "sent by God into the hearts" of Muslims and Muhammad, according to John Esposito. A modern translator of the Quran, N. J. Dawood, states that "tranquility" is the English word for the Arabic meaning of sakīnah, yet it could be "an echo of the Hebrew shekeenah (the Holy Presence)." Another scholar states that the Arabic sakīnah derives from the Hebrew/Aramaic shekhinah. In the Quran, the Sakīnah is mentioned six times, in surah al Baqara, at Tawba and al Fath. Sakīnah means "tranquility", "peace". "calm", from the Arabic root sakana: "to be quiet", "to abate", "to dwell". In Islam, Sakīnah "designates a special peace, the "Peace of God". Although related to Hebrew shekhinah, the spiritual state is not an "indwelling of the Divine Presence" The ordinary Arabic use of the word's root is "the sense of abiding or dwelling in a place". A story in Tafsir and Isra'iliyyat literature relates how Ibrahim and Isma'il, when looking for the spot to build the Kaaba found sakīnah. Newby writes that it was like a breeze "with a face that could talk", saying "build over me." In Mandaeism, a škina is a celestial dwelling where uthra, or benevolent celestial beings, live in the World of Light (alma d nhūra). In Mandaean priest initiation ceremonies, a škina refers to an initiation hut where a novice and his initiator stay for seven days without sleeping. The hut is called a škina since priests are considered to be the earthly manifestations of uthras, and the initiation hut represents the abode of the uthra on earth.

In the work by anthropologist Raphael Patai entitled The Hebrew Goddess, the author argues that the term shekhinah refers to a goddess by comparing and contrasting scriptural and medieval Jewish Kabbalistic source materials. Patai draws a historic distinction between the shekhinah and the Matronit. She may also be derived from Shekhmet, the most common and oldest of Egyptian goddesses. In his book Patai also discusses the Hebrew goddesses Asherah and Anat Yahu.

American poet Gustav Davidson listed shekhinah as an entry in his reference work A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels (1967), stating that she is the female incarnation of Metatron.