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1.8.20

issue of Jesus

The issue of Jesus is difficult because I think no one gets it right. Or perhaps the Muslims are the closest. But they also I think get it slightly off.
The issue really fits well with the way most sages were thinking in Neo-Platonic terms until the Aristotelian revolution occurred in the 1200's. 
So with all the mystics of the Middle Ages you have this distinction between higher world of Emanation and lower worlds. [Though they will not call it by that name.] 
The problem is loaded vocabulary. Christians say either you believe Jesus equals God; or if not, then you believe he is a "mere man". 
They discount the possibility of someone being not God;-- but also not "mere man".
This comes up in the mystics of the Middle Ages. There are souls of Emanation like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph.

[In short the idea is that of there being higher spiritual worlds. (That would be עולם המלבוש. אדם קדמון, עקודים ,ברודים, נקודים, אצילות, בריאה, יצירה, עשיה.) So souls that have their root in Emanation or above would be thought to be "divine" in that their souls receive from the infinite divine light with no screen. 
And sometimes these souls merit to bring some sort of blessing into the world for the benefit of others as we see with Moses. This kind of approach would apply to Jesus also  being from Foundation [that is the light of Kindness in the vessel of Foundation]


The difference between Emanation [Azilut] is as the name implies the world of Emanation receives the light of God without a screen  ("מסך"). 

And the idea that the sepherot of Azilut (Emanation) are divine is straight from all the mystics of the Middle Ages. And that means that any soul of Azilut (Emanation) would be divine. Not God, but rather an overflow of the light of God.