Visual Imagery in the Thought of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

In his philosophical essays and tales, Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (1772-1810) presents Kabbalistic notions in concrete imagery. Notable among these is the emphasis on the creation of the world using the concept of painting (tsiur) and of being an artist (‘aman). He makes the distinction between the idea of a man (an extrapolation of the concept of the Torah), its visual representation, and the living being. He relates to the letters as visual images (temunat ha’ot), such as the form of the sixth letter, vav, to a stick. The world of flora and fauna, and the domestic environment - the house with its windows, doorways, and furnishings, are alive with meaning of a spiritual nature. Rabbi Nahman relates to colors, such as sky-blue or purple-blue (techelet), to which he attributes a combination of dark and light shades. Physical objects such as a chair he received in 1808 form a platform for theosophical consideration. He analyzes physical acts such as dancing or eating in mystical terms.

Also examined is the use of visual imagery by other Hasidic masters such as Rabbi Baruch of Medzhibozh (1753-1811) and Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847-1905), and the graphic representation of Kabbalistic concepts by Rabbi Avraham Shimshon of Rashkov (c. 1739-1799) in his Lurianic Siddur (1759-1760), within the framework of the Hasidic notion of Worship through Corporeality.