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What is the difference between Ruach haKodesh and Shekinah?

Is there a difference between the two concepts or are they exactly the same?

b a
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eliyah
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  • I don't know, but the concept of "Ruach haKodesh" can be quite revealing in the following passage in Yesha'yahu 63, for which I would appreciate what is the proper translation into English, וַיִּזְכֹּר יְמֵי-עוֹלָם, מֹשֶׁה עַמּוֹ; אַיֵּה הַמַּעֲלֵם מִיָּם, אֵת רֹעֵי צֹאנוֹ--אַיֵּה הַשָּׂם בְּקִרְבּוֹ, אֶת-רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ. – ninamag Aug 21 '17 at 19:28
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    @RibbisRabbiAndMore I took out the line you added because it's a summary of an existing answer to this question, and it doesn't make the question clearer. – b a Jun 06 '18 at 15:27
  • @ ba If someone asks "whats the difference between ..." and someone cites a source which says "I dont know the difference", in other words "I dont know the answer to your question". Can that be put in as an answer? – RibbisRabbiAndMore Jun 06 '18 at 17:18
  • @RibbisRabbiAndMore Yes, but the answer given (at least in its current revision) isn't "I don't know." In any case it doesn't belong in the question, at least in my opinion. – b a Jun 06 '18 at 18:30

2 Answers2

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Shekinah is the Divine Presence - meaning how God reveals himself in this world, while as Ruach HaKodesh is divine state of a PERSON who can reach higher spirituality than general public.

Don't be confused and DO NOT translate Ruach HaKodesh as Holy Spirit to get something like 1/3 of the Trinity in Christianity.

havarka
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  • Thank you for your wisedom, great answer, ....so is it not applicable to say that Ruach HaKodesh is somewhat like "buddhahood" in judaism? Forgive me for my lack of knowledge and the comparison. – eliyah Dec 21 '14 at 04:58
  • I don't know what exactly is buddahood. – havarka Dec 21 '14 at 11:39
  • so is Ruach HaKodesh a higher spirtual state of being similar to enlightenment? – eliyah Dec 21 '14 at 21:17
  • something like that – havarka Dec 21 '14 at 21:29
  • so would you say that you have Ruach HaKodesh? – eliyah Dec 23 '14 at 01:49
  • no, me personally not, but there are rabbis nowadays that I heard about that they possess this feature – havarka Dec 23 '14 at 02:49
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    This answer could be greatly improved by citing sources to support it. – Lee Feb 13 '17 at 11:28
  • Lee, I cannot give you source for what I said that's like general knowledge in rabbinic schools, I believe everybody agree with this definition. – havarka Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
  • Does the following passage in Yesha'yahu 63 support your definition of Ruach HaKodesh ("divine state of a PERSON who can reach higher spirituality than general public")? וַיִּזְכֹּר יְמֵי-עוֹלָם, מֹשֶׁה עַמּוֹ; אַיֵּה הַמַּעֲלֵם מִיָּם, אֵת רֹעֵי צֹאנוֹ--אַיֵּה הַשָּׂם בְּקִרְבּוֹ, אֶת-רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ. – ninamag Aug 21 '17 at 19:30
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Jewish Encyclopedia ('Ruach HaKodesh') says:

What the Bible calls "Spirit of Yhwh" and "Spirit of Elohim" is called in the Talmud and Midrash "Holy Spirit" ("Ruaḥ ha-Ḳodesh." never "Ruaḥ Ḳedoshah," as Hilgenfeld says, in "Ketzergesch." p. 237). Although the expression "Holy Spirit" occurs in Ps. li. 11 (LXX. πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον) and in Isa. lxiii. 10, 11, it had not yet the definite meaning which was attached to it in rabbinical literature: in the latter it is equivalent to theexpression "Spirit of the Lord," which was avoided on account of the disinclination to the use of the Tetragrammaton (see, for example, Targ. to Isa. xl. 13). It is probably owing to this fact that the Shekinah is often referred to instead of the Holy Spirit. It is said of the former, as of the Holy Spirit, that it rests upon a person.

Clifford Durousseau
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