Hebrew                  Hashra'ah

Sima Gottesfeld

No concept closely corresponding to "inspiration" in the familiar modern sense exists in the Jewish  tradition. A modern Hebrew speaker seeking a translation equivalent generally uses the word "Hashra’ah".

What other religions call “Divine Inspiration” was according to Judaism the word of God, transmitted and recorded by Moses. This was a unique, one-time event: God did not subsequently communicate directly with persons. Judaism recognizes, indeed, centers itself on, there having been an inspiration, one all-important inspiration, but only one: God’s transmission of the Torah to Moses. And since the Jewish tradition does not recognize other sources for divine communication than God, there would then be no point in having a generic term referring to such communication generally. Because of this reason, Jewish tradition, even in translations to languages other than Hebrew, refer to this “Divine Inspiration” by the Hebrew term “Ruach Hakodesh”, literally meaning the spirit of holiness. "Ruach" combines the notion of spirit and wind. "Kodesh" means "holy”. Nevertheless, Hebrew speakers must take into account that others will likely see the matter differently.

To provide for a term of translation for "inspiration" as used by others, the term "Hashra’ah" is used both by scholars and lay people. However, in modern Hebrew it is used only as a noun. There is no verb derived from it to be used, for instance, as a translation of “I was inspired”. "Hashra’ah", although not a Biblical word, has been in use a very long time, and so has acquired secondary layers of meaning. So, for example, it is the term called upon, in Hebrew, by physicists, to make reference to the power by which magnetic fields do their work. Modern Hebrew has reached into its own Biblical and rabbinical past, where possible, to come up with terms for such modern concepts. In doing so, it sometimes reminds us that these modern notions carry traces of their own very ancient origins.

Modern physics calls upon entities which exert force "at a distance" by way of a "field". In calling upon an ancient term which directly implied "beyond human powers," including "beyond human powers to understand," "Hashra’ah" for "influence of a magnetic field" contains a bit of irony and a reminder that humility remains appropriate where, in actual fact, our powers of explanation fall far short of the mark, notwithstanding centuries of human (merely human) effort.


 

Interview Questions

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 Edwin: Do you know of any artwork the illustrates HASHRA'AH?

Sima: It may sound funny, but the only thing that comes to my mind is the statue of Moses by Michelangelo, or perhaps one of the Jewish painter Mark Chagall's so called "Illustration of the Exodus" paintings, very spiritual. There are three pictures by that name, all seem fine (I think). You can look at them at the first page of the following website:

 http://europeanworldgallery.com/chagall.html

http://europeanworldgallery.com/images/artists/chagall/ChagallExodus1.jpg

http://europeanworldgallery.com/images/artists/chagall/ChagallExodus3.jpg

http://europeanworldgallery.com/images/artists/chagall/ChagallExodus4.jpg
http://europeanworldgallery.com/images/artists/chagall/ChagallIllustrationMoses1.jpg

Also, do you have any comments about your own personal inspiration?

The only inspiration I personally experienced has been in the regular meaning. This happened to me
several times during my life when I thought that I am the most unlucky & suffering person in the
whole world and could not find the power within me to overcome, and then I saw people ten times
less fortunate being heroes.