Merkabah mysticism
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Merkabah or Merkavah mysticism is a school of early Jewish mysticism, centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature, concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly
Copy of Matthäus Merian's engraving of Ezekiel's vision (1670)
Ezekiel's Wheel in St. John the Baptist Church in Kratovo, North Macedonia. Fresco from the 19th century.
Tomb of Yohanan ben Zakkai in Tiberias
Talmud on the Knesset Menorah. References in rabbinic Talmud and Midrash to merkabah mysticism are brief, avoiding explanation.
Ophanim
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The ophanim, alternatively spelled auphanim or ofanim, and also called galgalim, refer to the wheels seen in Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in Ezekiel 1:15–21. One of the Dead Sea Scrolls construes t
Merkabah mysticism
…of the hayyot angels are other angels that are shaped like wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called "ophanim" אופנים (lit. wheels, cycles or ways). These wheels are not directly under the chariot but are nearby and along its perimeter. The angel with the face…
Paradiso Canto 31