Talmudic Readings Israel Lectures (in Hebrew)

These lectures were given by Marc Gafni to students in the Integral Holistic Ordination program, which he initiated in Israel. They were intended to develop a system of study which allowed for the “non-dual erotic merger” of the student with the text, which gives birth to new Torah. Marc Gafni discusses this idea in more depth in his three-volume work on Izbica. See our section called Liberation Halacho where we will be posting some of that teaching.

When the student penetrates the text or fully receives the text, a sacred union is achieved which creates new Torah. This new Torah is not only an unfolding but an evolution of Torah. In Kabbalah, God and Torah are co-extensive. What this teaching is truly revealing is that the spiritual intellectual embrace of the divine through the act of study is the direct cause of the evolution of God. In our Dialogue section we will have a Marc Gafni Dialogue with Christian theologian Jim Marion, in which Marc Gafni and Jim Marion discuss and “evolve” this Kabbalistic idea.

This idea was also discussed at great length in a dialogue between Marc Gafni and Integral Philosopher Ken Wilber. This was part of a series of some ten public dialogues that Marc Gafni and Ken Wilber engaged in between 2004 and 2006.

The Ordination process that Marc Gafni initiated in Israel is one that he remains fully committed to in every sinew of his being. Sometimes an idea needs to be refined, deepened, and evolved. Sometimes the teacher is not yet ready. Sometimes the students are not yet ready.

The core idea of the Process is described in a group of documents―all raw and incomplete in form―which may be found at the end of the Tikkun Olam/Social Activism and Integral Kabbalahsections of this website. Marc Gafni is committed to the larger vision of Holistic Integral Ordination which views Ordination as a path towards genuine spiritual and psychological evolution, a kind of path towards prophecy. Marc Gafni hopes, together with Gabriel Cousens, to unfold this vision in different form in the Liberation School that Gabriel Cousens and Marc Gafni are presently envisioning and founding, together with other teachers. For more about the Liberation School click on Gabriel Cousens in the Dialogues section.

Prophecy in ancient Israel was regarded as the potential birthright of every human being and therefore it was considered the obligation of every human being to reach for prophetic enlightenment. That which is possible―by its very nature and being―creates obligation. By prophecy we do not mean the ability to predict the future here, we rather refer to the prophet as the realized being who acts with audacity, laughter and compassion―in partnership with God―to heal and transform the world. The prophets seeks to mend shattered hearts, to speak truth to power, and to seek with humility his or her own purification.

Provided by Marc Gafni

Stream the audios here:

Talmudic Readings Israel Lecture Part 1

Talmudic Readings Israel Lecture Part 2

Talmudic Readings Israel Lecture Part 3

Talmudic Readings Israel Lecture Part 4

Talmudic Readings Israel Lecture Part 5