2022/05/20

2] Mystical Tradition: Judaism

 Mystical Tradition: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam



Table of Contents


Professor Biography ....................................................................................i
0] Course Scope 1
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Judaism1]
Lecture One A Way into the Mystic Ways of the West 4
Lecture Two Family Resemblances and Differences 9
Lecture Three The Biblical Roots of Western Mysticism 14
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Judaism2]
Lecture Four Mysticism in Early Judaism 18
Lecture Five Merkabah Mysticism 22
Lecture Six The Hasidim of Medieval Germany 26
Lecture Seven The Beginnings of Kabbalah 30
Lecture Eight Mature Kabbalah—Zohar 34
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Judaism3]
Lecture Nine Isaac Luria and Safed Spirituality 38
Lecture Ten Sabbatai Zevi and Messianic Mysticism 42
Lecture Eleven The Ba’al Shem Tov and the New Hasidism 46
Lecture Twelve Mysticism in Contemporary Judaism 50
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Christian4]
Lecture Thirteen Mystical Elements in the New Testament 54
Lecture Fourteen Gnostic Christianity 58
Lecture Fifteen The Spirituality of the Desert 62
Lecture Sixteen Shaping Christian Mysticism in the East 66
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Christian5]
Lecture Seventeen Eastern Monks and the Hesychastic Tradition 70
Lecture Eighteen The Mysticism of Western Monasticism 74
Lecture Nineteen Medieval Female Mystics 78
Lecture Twenty Mendicants as Mystics 82
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Christian6]
Lecture Twenty-One English Mystics of the 14th Century 86
Lecture Twenty-Two 15th- and 16th- Century Spanish Mystics 89
Lecture Twenty-Three Mysticism among Protestant Reformers 93
Lecture Twenty-Four Mystical Expressions in Protestantism 96
Lecture Twenty-Five 20th-Century Mystics 100
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Islam7]
Lecture Twenty-Six Muhammad the Prophet as Mystic................. 104
Lecture Twenty-Seven The House of Islam........................................ 108
Lecture Twenty-Eight The Mystical Sect—Shi’a.............................. 112
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Islam8]
Lecture Twenty-Nine The Appearance of Sufism............................. 116
Lecture Thirty Early Sufi Masters.......................................... 120
Lecture Thirty-One The Limits of Mysticism—Al-Ghazzali ........ 123
Lecture Thirty-Two Two Masters, Two Streams............................ 127
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Islam9]
Lecture Thirty-Three Sufism in 12th–14th Century North Africa...... 131
Lecture Thirty-Four Sufi Saints of Persia and India....................... 134
Lecture Thirty-Five The Continuing Sufi Tradition....................... 137
Lecture Thirty-Six Mysticism in the West Today ........................ 141
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Timeline ................................................................................................... 145
Glossary ................................................................................................... 154
Bibliography............................................................................................ 163
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Lecture Four Mysticism in Early Judaism

 

 

Scope: During the Hellenistic period (c. 300 B.C.E.–200 C.E.), Judaism had not yet reached its eventual normative form, and Jews both in Palestine and in the Diaspora displayed a variety of ways of maintaining fidelity to the covenant while negotiating with the prevailing cultural influence of Greece and the political dominance of Rome. It is possible to detect three forms of mystical expression among Jews in this period. The first is found in apocalyptic literature, particularly in its emphasis on the ascent of the seer to heaven. The second occurs among the Essenes, the sectarian community at Qumran, where the form of community and forms of worship and writing all point to a mystical sensibility. The third is found among Hellenistic Jews, such as Philo of Alexandria, who interpret Scripture allegorically and conceive of Judaism in terms of a mystery.

 

Outline

I.      With this lecture, we begin consideration of mysticism in each of the three great monotheistic religions of the West. 

A.     For each of these units, it is important to remember that a great deal more mystical experience was going on than was written about, and a great deal more was written about than we’re able to deal with. 

B.     Mystics know their precedents well, but critical scholars have been slower to connect all the dots into a coherent historical picture. 

II.    Judaism has roots in the biblical religion of ancient Israel but took its classical shape between roughly 350 B.C.E. and 200 C.E. Jews sought to define their religious and cultural identity in a context of conflict and division: How could they best observe Torah and obey God?

A.     Jews in Palestine—newly committed to the covenant with the Lord and dedicated to Torah as the law of the land—contended with the challenge of Greco-Roman culture and rule.

1.      Hellenism had been in Palestine since Alexander the Great (d. 323 B.C.E.) and offered a sophisticated culture and a more tolerant, polytheistic religion.

Rome had made Palestine a part of the empire under Pompey in 63 B.C.E. and governed through prefects, challenging Jewish sovereignty.

3.      Some Jews thought assimilation possible, while others who had political, as well as religious, convictions divided into sects.

4.      Jews who violently resisted foreign influence helped generate the war against Rome that ended with the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E.

B.     Jews in the Diaspora—more than twice as many as lived in Palestine—were more directly affected by the dominant culture.

1.      Already by the year 250 B.C.E., they had translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint) and used Hellenistic modes of interpretation. 

2.      Their religious devotion was that of an intentional community; loyalty to God was not identified with specific political and social institutions.

C.     Literary evidence points to a powerful religious spirit among Jews of the time, whether in Palestine or in the Diaspora.

1.      In Palestine, crowds made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and gathered at great feasts, such as the Passover.

2.      In Palestine and in the Diaspora, synagogues were centers for the study of Torah and prayer.

III.  In Palestinian Judaism, at least two manifestations of mysticism appear during this period of turmoil.

A.     Apocalyptic literature, such as the book of Daniel, gives us a view of history according to which God is in charge, will intervene, and will save his people so that they will be triumphant in the future. The religious message is that adherents must endure and God will prove faithful to the people.

1.      Among the earliest apocalyptic writings is I Enoch, ascribed to an ancient hero. Originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, it is extant in Ethiopic, and Aramaic fragments have been found at Qumran.

2.      It is an extraordinarily complex work, but at its heart are a series of visions experienced by Enoch. In the first of these (I Enoch 14:8–25), we find many elements drawn from the prophetic visions in the Bible.

3.      Why were such works written? To teach, comfort, exhort? Do they report actual experiences or imagine them? It is even possible that they were written as a means to induce mystical experience.

B.     The sectarian community of Essenes at Qumran reveals a Jewish commitment to God that anticipates many later features of Monasticism: a community separate from the world, living a common life that was dedicated to study and prayer, following a strict rule, and practicing rituals of purity.

1.      An intense personal piety is shown by the hymns (Hodayoth), possibly composed by the Teacher of Righteousness, the community’s founder.

2.      In Hodayoth 5, the Teacher of Righteousness is well aware of his loneliness before God, yet he retains the hope of standing among the holy ones.

3.      The Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice portrays community worship as participating in that of the angels.

4.      The vision of the Qumran community of itself as a replacement temple is a mystical construal of reality.

IV.   In the Diaspora, Philo of Alexandria, who read the Greek version of Scripture in the Septuagint in the style of Greek philosophers, had a thoroughly Platonic understanding of the world—he made Plato’s distinction between the phenomenal and the noumenal.

A.     How representative was Philo’s form of mysticism, what we might call biblical Platonism?

1.      An exaggerated position argues that Hellenistic Judaism was a mystical version of Judaism in contrast to that found in Palestine. 

2.      Some say that Philo’s view is completely anomalous, that there weren’t any Jews who read Scripture as he did.

3.      But some evidence, such as the writings of Pseudo-Orpheus, suggests that Philo was not alone.

B.     Three points in particular point to Philo’s mystical tendencies.

1.      He describes Moses in terms of a mystical ascent that can be followed by others (Life of Moses 1.158–159).

2.      He speaks of his own life in terms that strongly suggest a mystical path (On the Creation 71; On the Special Laws 3.6).

3.      Philo also speaks in glowing terms of Jewish monks, both in

Palestine (probably the Essenes) and some local Jews in


Egypt, whom he calls the Therapeutae (Every Good Man is Free; Hypothetica; On the Contemplative Life).

4.      What we see in Philo, the seeking in the text of Torah deeper meanings that can reveal realities about God, will be much more in evidence in the future of Jewish Mysticism.

 

Recommended Reading:

Goodenough, E. R. By Light, Light: The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism.

 

Questions to Consider:

1.      Discuss the ways that mystical literature appropriates and reconfigures symbols learned from earlier compositions.

2.      Consider the possible relationships between the “experience” of mysticism and its “literary” expression.

Lecture Five Merkabah Mysticism

 

 

Scope: The Judaism that emerged from the Mishnah of Judah the Prince and crystallized in the Babylonian Talmud and the Talmud of the Land of Israel was centered on the observance and study of God’s Law. Indeed, the study of the laws of sacrifice was regarded as the equivalent of actually carrying out sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple after its destruction in 70 C.E. Classical Judaism appears at first to be supremely legal and intellectual, yet at the heart of the rabbinic circles was a powerful form of mysticism centered in the spiritual “ascent” to the heavenly throne-chariot (merkabah). This form of mysticism had its dangers and was, therefore, restricted to the holiest and most learned among the rabbis.

 

Outline

I.      The classical form of Judaism that emerged from centuries of turbulence was firmly based on the community’s observance of God’s Law.

A.     The convictions of the Pharisees and the expertise of the scribes fused with a diaspora setting to shape a tradition that endured for 1,800 years.

1.      The Pharisees began as one of the first sects in Judaism, who made the observance of God’s Law, the Torah, their central commitment.

2.      The ancient laws written in Scripture (TaNaK) could be extended and contemporized through the use of “midrash” (interpretation) applied to legal material (Halakah) or nonlegal material (Haggadah). 

3.      This oral Torah (or second Torah) allowed a highly flexible form of life for a people forced to live among those not sharing their convictions.

4.      As it developed, this Jewish tradition placed equal emphasis on carrying out the Commandments and studying them; both equally honored God.

B.     The tradition expressed itself in an incremental body of literature focused on the Law of God.

1.      The Mishnah of Judah ha-Nasi (c. 200 C.E.), composed in classical Hebrew, codified an oral tradition based on interpretation of Scripture and provided the basis for all subsequent development.

2.      The Talmud of the Land of Israel (4th century) and The Babylonian Talmud (5th or 6th century) added commentary to the Mishnah in Aramaic (Gemara); the Babylonian version became the normative text for Jews over the next centuries.

3.      The conversations among these rabbis continued in collections of material that had not previously been anthologized and in further commentaries on the Talmud itself.

C.     Classical Judaism was a way of life shaped by the word of God as adapted to ever-changing circumstances.

1.      Obeying God’s Commandments was not only a matter of individual but also of community obligation: Torah showed adherents how to walk (Halakah).

2.      Community worship (for example, on the Sabbath) also focused on Torah. The Sabbath offered freedom from work to study Torah.

3.      The divine presence (Shekinah) is particularly felt among those who study Torah.

II.    The Babylonian Talmud shows us the early development of a mysticism centered on the heavenly throne-chariot (merkabah) in the heart of the rabbinic tradition.

A.     Under the rubric of forbidden relations (Lev. 18:6), the Mishnah passage in the Babylonian Talmud tractate Hagigah 11b shifts to esoteric teaching.

1.      Speculation on “the work of the creation and the work of the chariot” is restricted to sages.

2.      Speculation on “four things … what is above, what is beneath, what before, what after” is strictly forbidden.

B.     As the Talmud continues, we find that by no means was the prohibition or careful qualification of these subjects the only opinion. The Gemara discussion is much more open to the presence of this kind of mystical speculation.

1.      The Gemara discusses the meaning of the seventh heaven, the creatures around the throne, and the chambers in heaven.

2.      It also speculates on the size of the bodies of the heavenly creatures that appeared to Ezekiel.

3.      The Gemara notes, however, that its speculation on the thronechariot can be undertaken only by those who are most learned and most observant of the Torah.

4.      In the Talmud, speculation of this sort seems to give rise to miracles.

C.     The two characteristics of this mysticism as found in the Talmud, then, are that such speculation is forbidden to the many and is restricted to the most learned and pious.

III.  In the production of Hekaloth literature (edited in the 5th through 6th centuries), there is evidence for a vigorous practice of mysticism centered in ascent to the divine presence.

A.     This literature (III Enoch, The Lesser Hekaloth, The Greater Hekaloth) describes the heavenly halls or palaces through which the visionary passes. In the seventh heaven is the throne-chariot on which God sits.

1.      The mystical ascent is always preceded by ascetical practices over a period of 12 to 40 days.

2.      Angelic gatekeepers seek to prevent the ascent and must be placated by prayers, seals, or passwords, such as proper verses from the Torah.

3.      The higher the ascent, the greater the dangers grow. Of course, the ascent is an internal rather than an external one.

4.      The dangers include gazing on the waters, passing through fire, and experiencing suspension in bottomless space.

B.     Certain recurrent elements appear in the Hekaloth literature, distinguishing it from the midrashic tradition.

1.      The visions of the throne-chariot and heavenly chambers are imaginative expansions of the clues given by Scripture.

2.      The emphasis on God’s transcendence is mitigated by Shiur Koma (measure of the body), speculation on the body of God (perhaps derived from the Song of Songs).

3.      The “garment of light” serves both to reveal and to conceal the presence of God.

4.      Heavenly hymns are low on specific content but rhetorically rich and constitute the distinct prayer component in this mysticism.

IV.   In a tradition that seems totally exoteric—completely focused on keeping the Law—there appears an esoteric teaching, a sod, a secret, practiced by those who had the greatest stake and expertise in the external forms.

A.     The literature and social setting alike require us to think in terms of a school tradition.

B.     The spiritual (internal) ascent of the mind and heart, together with the ascetical preparation, reveal that the point of the Law is a relationship of the individual person with God.

C.     The emphasis in this scholastic circle remains on the mind more than on the heart; the language is speculative more than affective.

D.     There is a strong possibility that the writing of this literature is itself a medium by which the experience is sought. 

 

Recommended Reading:

Scholem, G. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp. 40–79.

 

Questions to Consider:

1.      How does the rabbinic practice of Merkabah Mysticism illustrate the relationship between the esoteric and exoteric in religion?

2.      Discuss the theme of “danger” posed by mystical ascent to those uninitiated or uninstructed.

Lecture Six The Hasidim of Medieval Germany

 

 

Please be advised that parts of this lecture contain some explicit discussion of sexual matters and may be unsuitable for children.

 

Scope: Life for Jews in the Christendom of medieval Europe was not easy. For Jews in Germany from 1150–1250, dedication to the keeping of Torah was particularly perilous, because Christian Crusade fever could extend itself easily to Jewish neighbors. In these constrained circumstances and under the threat of persecution, a form of mysticism developed that appealed even to Jews who were not great scholars. The Sefer Hasidim (Book of the Devout) affirmed the centrality of Torah and had connections with the earlier Merkabah tradition but was characterized by commitment to a deep personal piety that eschewed messianic speculation and emphasized altruistic love as the essence of obedience to God.  

Outline

I.      This lecture explores a form of Jewish Mysticism that is quieter, more grounded in common life, less speculative, and more rooted in the heart than the Merkabah tradition—the mysticism of the Hasidim in medieval Germany.

A.     In the period of the ascendance of Christendom in Europe,

Christianity pervaded all social and political structures, and various laws ensured that Jews remained separate within society and, thus, at risk.

1.      Jews were not legally able to own land, and in a feudal society based in landowning, this meant that their livelihood was restricted to trade and finance.

2.      Economically, therefore, Jews were both necessary (Christians were forbidden to practice usury) and resented.

B.     Although there were moments of cooperation (as between the biblical scholars Rashi and Hugh of St. Victor in the 11th century), the dominant atmosphere was hostile and oppressive.

1.      Popular anti-Semitism, fed by Christian preaching, broke out in times of stress, as in the First Crusade (1096–1099).

2.      States could expel Jews at will, as France did in 1182 and Spain in 1492. Further, the church issued controlling laws, as did the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, and sponsored the burning of the Talmud on many occasions.

C.     Despite such external pressures, life in the Jewish community remained faithful to its religious roots.

1.      With the schools (yeshivah) held in local synagogues, generations of scholars continued the reading of Torah in Hebrew and Aramaic and passed on mystical traditions.

2.      In his last will and testament, Eleazar of Mainz (d. 1357), an ordinary Jewish businessman, testifies to the widespread practice of piety.

II.    In medieval Germany a distinctive form of mysticism developed from

1150–1250 called the Hasidei Ashkenazi (the “Devout” or “Pious of Germany”).

A.     This strain of mysticism was shaped by three generations of teachers from the same family, the Kalonymides.

1.      Samuel the Hasid was the son of Kalonymus of Speyer and lived in the middle of the 12th century; little of his writing remains.

2.      His son was Jehudah the Hasid of Worms, who died in Regensburg in 1217; his many writings are now known only through his disciples, although he was regarded virtually as a prophet.

3.      Eleazar ben Jehudah of Worms (1160–1238) has left the greatest body of literature and is the main source of our knowledge about this form of Jewish Mysticism.

B.     Among Eleazar ben Jehudah’s works, the most influential is Sefer Hasidim (the Book of the Devout, or the Book of the Pious).

1.      Its teaching shows lines of continuity with earlier Jewish traditions, including Merkabah and the writings of the 10thcentury scholar Saadia Gaon, who stressed the analogy between divine and human love.

2.      It is also possible to find the influence of Christian Mysticism in Jehudah’s work, for example, in the emphasis on penitence.

III.  This German Mysticism was both more popular than Merkabah and less speculative, focusing on the shaping of individuals as pious.

A.     Mysticism became a practice for ordinary Jews, not only for those in small scholarly groups.

1.      The hasid need not be a person of towering intellect or a scholar but simply a humble searcher after holiness.

2.      The hasid can, nevertheless, become a guide to others on the path of piety and can accomplish astounding deeds, as in the creation of the golem.

3.      The pious person can even receive by direct inspiration the solution to legal problems that confound scholars.

B.     Mysticism is focused not on the outer world of history but on the inner life of the devout individual.

1.      Messianic speculation is discouraged if not forbidden; it is a distraction from personal transformation.

2.      Thinking about the end time concerns not the Messiah but the personal destiny of the individual.

3.      There is a great focus on prayer, which involves a concern for the motives of the Commandments and the precise words (including their numerical values) used in prayer.

C.     Three aspects of such personal piety in the Book of the Devout resemble the stages of mystical progression in other traditions.

1.      The hasid practices physical asceticism that takes the form of a renunciation of the pleasures offered by the world. This can involve a pervasive commitment to penitence.

2.      The hasid practices serenity of mind in all circumstances, even those of persecution.

3.      The hasid practices an altruism—justice toward other humans—that goes beyond the demands of the Law.

IV.   The theosophy (speculation about the divine realm) among the Hasidim is not systematically coherent but emphasizes the human relationship to an immanent God.

A.     God remains the transcendent one of the earlier tradition, but now, we see a development of God’s attributes as aspects of divine immanence.

1.      The Pious Ones of Germany interpret the traditional attributes of God—that he is wise, is holy, has glory, and has a presence—as ways of bringing God closer to us.

2.      Heavenly archetypes exist for all created things, including humans, who can work to realize their heavenly ideal.

B.     Corresponding to the closeness of the divine is an emphasis on love even more than knowledge.

1.      Human erotic love may be an expression of the love between humans and God; there is no sexual asceticism in this form of piety.

2.      This form of mysticism affirms human erotic love, and it is an analogy to the love between God and humans but only an analogy.

 

Recommended Reading:

Scholem, G. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp. 80–118.

 

Questions to Consider:

1.      How does German Hasidism broaden our understanding of what mysticism can include?

2.      Discuss how a “spirit of penitence” can be compatible with a robust and joyful celebration of human sexuality.

Lecture Seven The Beginnings of Kabbalah

 

 

Scope: In this lecture, we begin to trace the development of Kabbalism, the form of mysticism that is most identified with Judaism and has had a remarkable longevity, extending down to the present.

Although the 13th-century composition called the Zohar (Book of Splendor) is correctly regarded as the normative text of this tradition, it was preceded by at least a century of spectacular developments in mysticism. This lecture traces some of these efforts and seeks the possible connections among them. The lecture concludes with consideration of the work of Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, who represents a form of mysticism that has been called Prophetic Kabbalism. 

 

Outline

I.      The complexity and creativity in medieval Judaism stemmed partly from external challenges and partly from internal factors.

A.     As noted in the last lecture, the mysticism of the Hasidei Ashkenazi can be seen as both a response to the threat of Christian oppression and as an integration of some Christian themes. 

B.     Moses Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon or Rambam, 1135–1204) sought to preserve the truth, integrity, and vibrancy of Judaism in response to the intellectual challenges of Muslim philosophy.

1.      Like the Christian thinker Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides was controversial because of his rational engagement with Arabic thought. Some attacked him, but others, including the scholar Nachmonides (also called Moses ben Nachman Gerondi, c. 1194–1270), defended him.

2.      The Guide of the Perplexed by Maimonides was an attempt to work out a defense for Jewish belief and Jewish practice in light of Arabic intellectual currents.

C.     The earliest stages of Kabbalism reveal an intense desire to respect the past (Kabbalah means “tradition”), together with an intense creativity generated by the socio-religious context and the concentration of imagination in small groups of Talmudic scholars in Provence and Spain.

1.      Although the 13th-century Zohar is correctly regarded as the normative text of this tradition, it was preceded by at least a century of spectacular developments in mysticism.

2.      It is possible that some cross-influence took place between Christian dualistic movements, such as those found among the

Albigensians and the Cathars, and the development of Jewish Kabbalism, but it’s not necessary to posit such influence. The elements of Kabbalism were already present in such movements as Merkabah Mysticism.

II.    The assumptions and antecedents to 12th-century developments in Kabbalism help us grasp its many subsequent permutations.

A.     The fundamental assumptions concern the way in which God is present in the world and the human means of engaging that presence.

1.      For Talmudic scholars, Torah is not only a text that speaks of God, but it is God speaking. It is not simply a text that speaks of the world; the inspired word of God is the world.

2.      Scripture contains something of God in every individual word and letter: Everything reveals God at some level.

3.      Words and letters have significance numerically, as well as semantically, through the practice of gematria.

4.      A mystical connection exists between the world of Scripture and the human person. 

B.     The earlier mystical tradition in Judaism anticipated later developments.

1.      In Merkabah, we saw the practice of Shiur Koma, speculation on God in all of his transcendence in terms of the human body. 

2.      The Book of Creation (Sefer Yesirah), a short work written before the 10th century, speaks of the emanations of God as sefirot.

III.  The first manifestations of Kabbalah in Provence and Spain reveal the contributions of many scholars in a cooperative effort.

A.     The Sefer ha-Bahir (The Book of Brilliance) is an anonymous work that has pivotal significance.

1.      It uses the ancient style of midrash on Scripture to communicate new ideas.

2.      The book introduces the notion of a female component in the divinity through the symbol of the Shekinah.

3.      It speculates on the workings of evil, connecting it especially to material reality.

4.      It organizes the 10 sefirot and studies them in great detail.

B.     Other scholars also made important contributions to this developing form of mysticism.

1.      Rabbi Isaac the Blind (c. 1160–1235) contributed further speculation on the sefirot, creating a panoramic understanding of God and world and introducing the possibility of union (devequt) through Kabbalistic study.

2.      The Gerona circle in Catalonia included Moses ben Nachman and Rabbi Azriel, who expounded the relationship between the sefirot (emanations from the divine into the world) and Eyn Sof (God in God’s self). 

3.      The pseudepigraphic work of the Kohen brothers of Castile developed a connection of evil to demons and an understanding of the Messiah in terms of a battle with evil.

IV.   Another form of Kabbalism, associated with Rabbi Abraham Abulafia (1240–c.1291), is Prophetic Kabbalism.

A.     In contrast to the tight circles of scholars who focused on the esoteric study of Torah, Abulafia lived an active, itinerant life and produced both speculative and ecstatic (prophetic) writings.

1.      Born in Saragossa, he traveled to the Near East, Greece, and Spain.

2.      He had a strong messianic consciousness and, in 1280, traveled to Rome and confronted Pope Nicholas III in the hope of bringing on the Messianic Age. 

3.      An admirer of Maimonides, Rabbi Abulafia wrote a mystical supplement to that philosopher’s work and considered his Kabbalism to be a combination of Maimonides and the Book of Creation.

B.     Rabbi Abulafia’s words of encouragement to his followers reveal his form of Prophetic Mysticism.

1.      Prophesy, he says, is an expression of the love of God. Objections his followers might raise to the mystical path are representations of an “evil inclination” that will “seduce you to die without wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge of God.”

2.      For Abulafia, this form of mysticism is not optional. It is a way of participating in the life of the world to come.

C.     Abulafia’s writings contain practical directions for the achievement of ecstasy, what he called the “loosening of the knots.”

1.      Without using the technical language concerning sefirot, he shared the perception of Scripture as a web of divine significance in every letter and number.

2.      Psychic release is accomplished through speaking, writing, and recombining words, letters, and numbers. The mind is released through concentration and associative leaps.

 

Recommended Reading:

Dan, J., ed., The Early Kabbalah.

 

Questions to Consider:

1.      What logically follows from the premise that the words of Torah form a world that one might inhabit?

2.      Discuss the implications of the practice of gematria: assigning numerical values to letters of the alphabet.

Lecture Eight Mature Kabbalah—Zohar 

 

 

Scope: For the Jewish practitioners of Kabbalah, the Zohar (Book of Splendor) has a status next to that held by Torah and Talmud. Presenting itself as “tradition” (Kabbalah) from the period of the early rabbis, the Zohar is actually the astonishing literary creation of a Spanish Jewish mystic, Moses de León, between the years 1275–1286. This lecture takes up the fascinating tale of the Zohar’s production, describes the discrete parts of this massive composition, provides a sample of its language (in translation), and offers a brief sketch of its vision of God and the world and the place of humans within God’s creation. 

 

Outline

I.      This lecture looks at mature Kabbalah as expressed in the Book of Splendor, the Zohar. Like some of its Kabbalistic predecessors, the Zohar, the canonical text of Jewish Mysticism, hides its origin in a specific time and author.

A.     The Sefer ha-Bahir and the works of the Kohen brothers imitated the style of ancient midrash and were ascribed to earlier authors.

B.     The Zohar presents itself as a work from the age of the Tannaim

(the first generation of rabbinic teachers), especially Simeon ben Yohai; this attribution is still accepted by many orthodox Kabbalists.

1.      In the Zohar, the sage Simeon ben Yohai wanders Palestine with his son and his disciples, but it is a fictional Palestine.

2.      He discourses on Scripture in the style of midrash in Aramaic, but it is an artificial Aramaic.

C.     Critical scholarship, particularly that of Gershom Scholem, has established that the author of the Zohar was a Spanish Jew named Moses de León (d. 1305).

1.      León studied Maimonides in 1264 but also immersed himself in classical sources (Torah, Talmud) and earlier Kabbalistic literature.

2.      In the city of Guadalajara from 1275–1280, he began to produce a mystical midrash concerning parts of Torah and the book of Ruth. Then, he began to distribute his commentaries but not as his own work.

3.      Between 1280 and 1286, León wrote the remainder of the Zohar, a commentary on Torah consisting of a number of discrete compositions.

4.      From 1286 to his death in 1305, he composed a rather large number of other writings in his own name while continuing to distribute copies of the Zohar.

II.    Analysis of the Zohar reveals some of its complexity and distinctive character.

A.     It is a work of great length (in Aramaic, more than 2,400 printed pages), and only relatively small portions have been translated into English.

B.     It is made up of 22 distinct compositions, plus a few scattered fragments.

1.      Several significant compositions take the form of commentaries on Torah, such as the lengthy untitled opening section, the Sifra di-Tseniutha (Book of Conciliation), and the Sithre Torah (Secrets of the Torah). 

2.      Also included are romantic tales, such as “The Old Man” and “The Child,” that contain mystical teachings on Torah, the soul, and prayer.

3.      Treatises on traditional subjects of mysticism, including the Hekhaloth, “Palaces”; Raza de-Razin, “Secret of Secrets”; and Sithre Othioth, “Secrets of the Letters,” also find a place in the compilation.

4.      It’s important to note that mystics find mysticism wherever they look; in other words, the mystical character of texts is not determined by their subject matter but by the manner in which they are read. The parts of the Zohar that appear to be ordinary and down to earth can be as powerfully mystical to their readers as those parts that seem to be strange. 

C.     In contrast to the ecstatic or Prophetic Kabbalism of Abraham Abulafia, the Zohar is scholarly rather than popular.

1.      The length and complexity of the work resist easy or quick appropriation.

2.      The complex symbolic language creates its own world and requires initiation.

3.      The doctrine (theosophy) of the composition is indirect, clothed by simple-appearing tales, sayings, and comments.

D.     Two passages from the Zohar provide a taste of its style and sensibility, even in English translation.

1.      “How to Look at Torah” offers a glimpse at the esoteric presuppositions of Kabbalistic reading.

2.      “Male and Female” illustrates the Zohar’s strong sense of gender and sexual complementarity.

III.  The Zohar is not a practical manual on how to practice mysticism but, rather, expresses a theosophy, an understanding of God and world. This theosophy is expressed indirectly, through the reading of Torah.

A.     In agreement with earlier Kabbalah, the Zohar’s understanding of God is at once transcendent and immanent.

1.      God in Godself (Eyn Sof) is utterly unknowable and can be approached only through negation.

2.      God in the world, in Torah, is in humans through these divine emanations. 

B.     In the Zohar, the system of sefirot is at once systematic and dynamic; each sefirah can be diagrammed spatially.

1.      At the top is keter (“the crown”), which is equivalent to Eyn Sof and is without differentiation; through it comes hokhmah (“wisdom”). The third of the sefirot is binah (“womb”).

2.      In this triad—keter, hokhmah, and binah—hokhmah is male, and binah is female. Binah receives the seed of hokhmah, and they conceive the seven lower sefirot. 

3.      Binah gives birth, first, to din (“judgment”), also called gevurah (“power”), and, then, to chesed (“mercy”); they are the left and right arms or hands of God. Their balance is symbolized by the central siferah, namely, tif’eret (“balance”) or rachamim (“compassion”). If din is overemphasized, the results are imbalance and evil. Tif’eret is the trunk of the divine body.

4.      Nezah (“endurance”) and hod (“majesty”) are the right and left legs of the body, corresponding to Moses and Aaron. Yesod (“foundation”) is the phallus, symbolizing the procreative power of creation.

5.      The final sefirah is called most often Shekinah (“presence”) or malkuth (“kingdom”). Ideally, this is where Israel dwells.

C.     The flexibility of this system is found in two factors: First, the sefirot represent dynamic forces and enter into diverse combinations. Second, each of the sefirah uses a biblical word, so that when we read the Bible, we will constantly discover God’s self-revelation.

IV.   Corresponding to this theosophy is a distinct understanding of the human situation and vocation.

A.     Humans are created in the image of God, and ideally, the divine sefirot are also found in humans.

B.     Just as imbalance among the sefirot introduces evil into the cosmos, so does an imbalance within humans, causing the separation of what should be united. This understanding is found in the concept of tikkun ha-olam (“mending the world”).

1.      By keeping the Commandments of God, each individual Jew and Israel as a whole work to mend the world.

2.      The constant study of Torah as the body of God enables the mystical adherence to God (devequt) but also accomplishes in the life of the mystic what the cosmos still lacks.

C.     Given the sexual symbolism of the system, marriage is highly valued as a symbol of divine marriage; Sabbath Eve is the weekly celebration of the sacred wedding and the ideal time for mystics to make love.

 

Recommended Reading:

Scholem, G. Origins of the Kabbalah. 

 

Questions to Consider:

1.      Discuss how the sefirot help mystics grasp the tension between the otherness of God and God’s immanence.

2.      In what manner does Kabbalah provide a sense of cosmic mission for the practice of mysticism?