The divinity as place and time and the holy place in Jewish mysticism

Place and time are the two primary forms which fashion our comprehension of reality. One of the main aspects of what Kant described as his “Copernican revolution” lies in the understanding of place and time, not as objective concepts in themselves, but as patterns of a priori perception found in the consciousness of the observer. One might say that these forms of a priori perception are understood in mystical religious thought not merely as intuitions of time and space, but as mirrors reflecting the objective-ideal perception of reality Images and stories about divine time and place serve as ideals that guide the act of gazing upon the world — by concretizing the relative nature of the rhythms of time and place in earthly reality; by sharpening consciousness of the distinction between the way things are perceived and their existence in themselves; by emphasizing the dissonance or correspondence between supernal and earthly reality; or by indicating the ladder of ascent between them. From these, we may gain an understanding of the concepts of time and supernal time, and the corresponding concepts of place and supernal place, in Jewish mysticism.