Seven Beggars
Work
The Seven Beggars
"In the allegorical tale, seven beggars, each with a different handicap, save from starvation a wandering boy and girl and bless them. Years later, at the children's wedding, the beggars reappear and bequeath the couple with the qualities of each individual beggar's handicap.; the handicaps are only apparent defects. The magic of the story is that the beggar's defects are perceived externally as faults, but together they make a perfect human. This comes from the kabbalistic doctrine (developed from the Biblical verse that man was created in God's image) which links each external organ with each of the ten Sefirot, or divine manisfestations.
The children have historically been viewed as symbolic of jews at large, representing the children of Israel. The moral, then, is that man should perfect himself by re-creating himself in the divine image and by doing so, redeem the world. So each beggar represents a step in the jews' enlightenment that will lead to the ultimate redemption. The Rabbi deliberately left the tale unfinished at his death, since the time of redemption had not come."
press release (1997)
The children have historically been viewed as symbolic of jews at large, representing the children of Israel. The moral, then, is that man should perfect himself by re-creating himself in the divine image and by doing so, redeem the world. So each beggar represents a step in the jews' enlightenment that will lead to the ultimate redemption. The Rabbi deliberately left the tale unfinished at his death, since the time of redemption had not come."
press release (1997)
circa 1993
Hebrew, English
WORK.1993.0006
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