Kefitzat Haderech
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kefitzat Haderech (Hebrew: קְפִיצַת הַדֶּרֶךְ, Standard Qəfiẓat haDéreḫ or Kfitzat haDérech Tiberian Qəp̄îṣáṯ hadDéreḵ) and means, verbatim, "jumping of the path/road/way", a Hebrew equivalent of the English expression "short cut".
In Torah study and Jewish folklore, kefitzat haderech is the ability to jump instantaneously from one place to another or travel with unnatural speed. The term is originally found in Midrashim to explain anomalies of travel in the Hebrew Bible. In East European Jewish folktales, especially those associated with the Hasidic movement, kefitzat haderech was utilized by various revered holy men.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon, an Israeli writer who won the 1966 Nobel Prize for literature, incorporates the ability in some of his work. In an Agnon story based on one of the above-mentioned Hasidic folktales, a righteous rabbi is given the gift of kfitzat haderech and uses it to "jump" into the treasuries of the Habsburg Empire, take sacks full of newly-minted gold coins, and jump back to his shtetl, unnoticed by anybody. He uses the money to help poor or persecuted Jews, and the story implies that the power would be taken away should he take any of the gold to himself.
Later, when the Emperor plans to make decrees harmful to the Jews, the Rabbi uses his power of kfitzat haderech in order to jump into the audience chamber and beat the Emperor with his stick - being visible (and tangible) to the Emperor himself but invisible to his councillors and guards.
The name Kwisatz Haderach from Dune universe (referred to as the "Shortening of the Way") is presumably derived from the term kefitzat haderech. The term "Haderach" is of Semitic origin: "ha" is a Hebrew prefix for "the," and "derech" means "way," "road" or "path." "Kwisatz" is related to "kfitzah", "the leap."
