In shul a friend explained to me the moniker Ari actualy stands for Eloki Rav Yitzchak, meaning the Godly Rabbi Yitzchak (Luria). The appellation Godly struck me as odd. How is such a thing permissible? I understand the English connotation is pious, but in Hebrew it would seem to have heretical implications.
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1It could also stand for Adoneinu or Ashkenazi– AryehSep 3, 2013 at 15:53
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3@Aryeh I guess it could stand for anything beginning with aleph, but that was the one I was told :)– please remove my accountSep 3, 2013 at 15:55
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1From The Sages of Our Tradition by Cyril Mazansky: "His family originated in Germany and had previously the name Ashkenazi, thus the initials of Ari (Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaac)"– AryehSep 3, 2013 at 16:34
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1@Aryeh, I'm unfamiliar with that source but if it's reliable then I think you have an answer (disproving a necessary assumption of the question).– msh210 ♦Sep 3, 2013 at 18:45
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1I've seen Hatana HaEloki Rabi Shimon Bar Yohai.– Hacham GabrielSep 4, 2013 at 2:53
1 Answer
Hokhmah Elohit is the term coined by translators like the ibn Tibbon's to translate the Arabic "al-'ilm al-ilaahiy", which, in turn, was coined by Arab translators from the Greek to translate Aristotle's term for metaphysics/theology. An 'elohi' is therefore a practitioner of metaphysics or theology. See Philosophical Terms in the Moreh Nebukim by Israel Efros, page 49.
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That's really interesting! Can you document this etymology or that this is the title that was applied to the Ari?– Isaac Moses ♦Sep 4, 2013 at 19:08
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Ahh, I think I know what you're referring to. IIRC the Zohar refers to Kabbalah as Hochma Elohit and therfor some Kabbalists got the name "Elohi". Sep 4, 2013 at 19:24
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@Hacham Are you suggesting the author of the Zohar read Ibn Tibbon?– Double AA ♦Sep 4, 2013 at 21:10
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1I could document the etymology as it applies in philosophical literature and ibn Tibbon-style Hebrew. I can't prove and don't know whether this is what everybody had in mind when they applied it to the Ari. I do think though that the the term first entered the Hebrew language with the meaning 'metaphysician'.– paqudaSep 8, 2013 at 2:57