cover next page > title : Kabbalah : New Perspectives author : Idel, Moshe. publisher : Yale University Press isbn10 | asin : print isbn13 : 9780300046991 ebook isbn13 : 9780585375892 language : English subject Cabala--History. publication date : 1988 lcc : BM526.I338 1988eb ddc : 296.1/6 subject : Cabala--History. cover next page > < previous page page_iii next page > Page iii Kabbalah New Perspectives Moshe Idel < previous page page_iii next page > < previous page page_iv next page > Page iv Copyright © 1988 Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Designed by Nancy Ovedovitz and set in Garamond No. 3 type by The Publishing Nexus Incorporated, Guilford, Connecticut. Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., Binghamton, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Idel, Moshe, 1947 Kabbalah: new perspectives Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. CabalaHistory. I. Title. BM526.1338 1988 296.1'6 87-12137 ISBN 0-300-03860-7 (cloth) 0-300-04699-5 (pbk.) The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 < previous page page_iv next page > < previous page page_v next page > Page v To Shoshanah, Sarit, Ofrah, and Hemdah * with love < previous page page_v next page > < previous page page_vi next page > Page vi Contents Preface ix Introduction xi 1. Remarks on Kabbalah Scholarship 1 2. Methodological Observations 17 3. Varieties of Devekut in Jewish Mysticism 35 4. Unio Mystica in Jewish Mysticism 59 5. Mystical Techniques 74 6. Kabbalistic Theosophy 112 7. Ancient Jewish Theurgy 156 8. Kabbalistic Theurgy 173 9. Kabbalistic Hermeneutics 200 10. From Jewish Esotericism to European Philosophy: An Intellectual Profile of Kabbalah as a Cultural Factor 250 Abbreviations 273 Notes 279 Sources 399 Indexes 401 < previous page page_vi next page > < previous page page_ix next page > Page ix Preface Habent sua fata libelli. This work enjoyed a special fate even before it became a book. The idea of my writing a comprehensive study on Kabbalah emerged in a midnight discussion with my friends Professor Ivan Marcus of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Professor David Ruderman of Yale University. Since that discussion, which took place at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1984, the initial idea underwent several substantive changes until it took the present form. A first draft of this book was submitted at a colloquium organized by the Jewish Theological Seminary in the summer of 1986 as part of that institution's centennial events. Owing to the kind interest of Professor Gershon Cohen, the former chancellor of the seminary, and Professor Ray Scheindlin, the provost of the seminary, and Professors Marcus and Ruderman, the colloquium was designed to include about thirty American scholars of Judaica and general mysticism who discussed and argued the content of this work. Both their criticism and their encouragement contributed greatly to the final draft. The hospitality of the seminary community, the careful organization of the colloquium, and the interest of the participants came together in a way that was, at least for me, a unique experience. Especially helpful were the remarks and suggestions I received from Professors Ewert Cousins, Louis Dupré, Michael Fishbane, Arthur Hyman, and Bernard MacGinn. Two well-known scholars were kind enough to undertake a meticulous perusal of the manuscript, suggesting important corrections and improvements of both style and the content. The late Professor Alexander Altmann devoted much energy and wisdom to proposing numerous suggestions < previous page page_ix next page > < previous page page_x next page > Page x concerning all the chapters of the book; Professor Morton Smith kindly contributed his vast knowledge regarding most of the chapters. Helpful discussions with Professor Geoffrey Hartman, Professor Yehuda Liebes, Professor Shelomo Pines, and Professor Isadore Twersky contributed to the formulations of several issues. For any mistakes still occurring in the presentation, I alone am responsible. The writing of this book would have been impossible without the constant and generous assistance of the Institute of Microfilms of Hebrew Manuscripts, which is part of the National and University Library in Jerusalem. The institute, which became my second home and whose staff is famous for its efficiency, helped me in numerous ways, for which I would like to thank them. The National Library in Jerusalem, the Widener and Andover libraries in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York provided indispensable material for my researches. Part of the research was performed with the generous assistance of grants from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. The time needed for studying and writing was diverted from the members of my family, and my dedication of this book to them is only a feeble recognition of their contribution. Jonathan Chipman kindly undertook the task of typing two drafts and improving my English; his devotion to this work contributed to its accomplishment. Finally, Yale University Press, and especially Charles Grench, changed what could have been a frustrating experience into a very pleasant cooperation whose fruit is now accessible to the reader. < previous page page_x next page > < previous page page_xi next page > Page xi Introduction This study is based upon the assumption that there are two major trends in Kabbalah: the theosophical-theurgical and the ecstatic. This distinction is confirmed both by a phenomenological analysis of the Kabbalistic material and by the Kabbalists' own self-awareness. The first type encompasses two central subjects: theosophya theory of the elaborate structure of the divine worldand the ritualistic and experiential way of relating to the divinity in order to induce a state of harmony. This is a highly theocentric form of religiousness that, while not ignoring the needs of the human being, tends to conceive of religious perfection as instrumental for exerting effective influence on high. On the other hand, ecstatic Kabbalah is highly anthropocentric, envisioning the mystical experience of the individual as itself the summum bonum, regardless of the possible impact of this mystical status on the inner harmony of the Divine. This distinction involves different types of religiousness, transcending the question of interest in various themes or clusters of themes. The major issues discussed in ecstatic Kabbalahsuch as devekut, the importance of isolation, or the centrality of letter combinationare far more than themes treated in a scholastic manner. Rather, they are cardinal matters that strongly molded the via mystica of the ecstatic Kabbalist; he was practically oriented to mystical goals other than those of his fellow, the theosophical-theurgical Kabbalist. I now turn to the evidence of the Kabbalistic sources. According to the characterization of the Kabbalah by an early fourteenth-century Kabbalist, 1 the topics dealt with by this lore are the nature of the < previous page page_xi next page > < previous page page_xii next page > Page xii ten Sefirot and the mystical meaning of the commandments, which is an excellent definition of theosophical- theurgical Kabbalah. On the other hand, Abraham Abulafia, the main representative of ecstatic Kabbalah, described his Kabbalah as focused upon the divine names, in contradistinction to what he considered to be a lower type of Kabbalah, referred to by him as "the way of the Sefirot," evidently a reference to the theosophical Kabbalah. 2 The differences between the two kinds, however, are not merely a matter of self-perception or a scholar imposing his own categories on the material; the historical development of the two trends itself confirms the necessity for a clear distinction between them. From the very beginning, the ecstatic Kabbalah was attacked by a major representative of theosophical-theurgical Kabbalah; the first clash between Kabbalists was a sharp criticism of Abulafia's prophetic and messianic activity, as well as of his Kabbalistic theory, issued by R. Solomon ben Abraham ibn Adret, a leading figure of theosophical Kabbalah.3 This attack generated a sharp reaction on the part of Abulafia, who noted the theological danger inherent in the doctrine of the ten Sefirot as divine potencies and compared some Kabbalists, probably including Adret, to the Christians who believed in the Trinity.4 The result of this controversy was the exclusion of ecstatic Kabbalah from Spain, which became from the 1280s onward the scene of the most important developments within theosophical-theurgical Kabbalah. The ecstatic trend migrated to Italy and the Orient, where it developed in a Muslim ambience,5 strikingly different in its mystical conceptions from the Christian environment of the theosophical-theurgical Kabbalah. Thus, the broad domain of Kabbalistic experiences comprised two major types of religiousness, each with its own particular focus. For a better understanding of the Kabbalistic phenomena, it will be helpful to deal with the two types separately before reconstructing the basic elements of each. Rather than concentrate upon the Kabbalistic schoolsor trends, as