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 Nine
Isaac Luria and Safed Spirituality
Scope: The expulsion of Jews from Spain
in 1492 had a profound influence on Jewish Mysticism. Kabbalism went from being
confined to small groups to the dominant expression of Judaism, shaped by a
more profound sense of loss and exile and incorporating a strong sense of
Messianism. The small town of Safed in Galilee became the new center for
Kabbalistic teaching, above all, through the influence of the visionary Isaac
Luria, and this new form of Kabbalism was spread by Israel Sarug. This lecture
considers the important contributions made by the Lurianic school to the
Kabbalistic tradition, including the doctrines of tsimtsum (“concentration”) and shevirrath
ha-kelim (“breaking of the vessels”) and the specific practices involved in
tikkun ha-olam (“mending the world”).
Outline
I.
Though the Zohar was read as authoritative,
Kabbalism was not inflexible. In this lecture, we touch on one of the major
developments in this form of mysticism with Isaac Luria and Safed
spirituality.
A.
In the 16th and
17th centuries, Kabbalism underwent dramatic changes as a result of
external and internal factors.
1.
In Spain and Provence,
Kabbalism had flourished among small groups of scholars, but as a result of
historical factors, it spread across Judaism in every country.
2.
Externally, the experience
of exile under the Catholic emperor of Spain in 1492 forced Jews from their
former place of security.
3.
Jews emigrated to lands,
such as Egypt and Palestine, that were dominated by Muslim rule rather than
Christian and found greater tolerance there.
4.
The small town of Safed in
upper Galilee became a new center for Jewish Mysticism; its prestige was
enhanced because the Mishnah by Judah
ha-Nasi was thought to have been composed there, along with the Zohar.
B.
This disruption and relocation
encouraged a form of Kabbalism that embraced the realities of history.
1.
The theme of transmigration
of souls, metempsychosis (in Hebrew, gilgul),
had existed in earlier Kabbalism, but now the notion of souls leaving one body
at death and entering another body could be fused with the notion of the
people’s exile and restoration.
2.
Messianism as the hope for
the restoration of the people entered into the mythology of Kabbalism.
II.
It was not geography alone
that made Safed the new center of
Kabbalism but the
concurrent presence of three great mystical teachers, two of them also
visionaries.
A.
Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim
Karo (1488–1575) was a great authority on Jewish Law and author of the Shulchan Arukh (the standard code of
Law), but he was also a mystic who received revelations about Torah and
Kabbalah from his heavenly maggid (messenger
or mentor).
1.
Extant testimony from a
student of Karo, Solomon Alkabetz (c. 1505–1576), gives a firsthand account of
one such experience.
2.
Karo himself also kept a
journal, in which he recorded his mystical experiences.
B.
Rabbi Moses ben Jacob
Cordovero (1522–1570) was a prolific writer and scholar, whose works include a
massive commentary on the Zohar.
1.
Cordovero was a philosopher
of Kabbalah and was concerned with the question of the simultaneous
transcendence and immanence of God.
2.
For Cordovero, this
relationship is stated in the profoundly paradoxical proposition: “God is all
reality, but not all reality is God.”
C.
Isaac Luria (also called
Ari, “the Lion,” 1534–1572) proved to be the most influential figure in the
future shaping of mysticism.
1.
He was a scholar but wrote
only one book that we know of; his teaching was mainly conveyed through
disciples. Luria was a visionary and regarded souls as residing in all things. 2. His
most important interpreter was Hayyim Vital (1543– 1620), who recorded his own
mystical experiences in Sefer
ha-Chezyonot (the Book of Visions).
3. The Lurianic version of
Kabbalah was propagated especially by Israel Sarug, who traveled in Europe
between 1592–1598, spreading the message.
III. Lurianic Kabbalism shaped the Kabbalistic tradition in a manner that
had far-reaching implications.
A.
It is perhaps closer to the
Prophetic Kabbalism of Abraham Abulafia in its emphasis on personal asceticism
and the practice of mysticism. For our study, the term “Practical Mysticism”
has two meanings.
1.
As might be expected in a
group with such visionary experiences, there is an emphasis on the ways of
achieving such states, although technique is mostly handed on orally rather
than in writing.
2.
Practical Kabbalism can
also mean theurgy, or magic, the manipulation of symbols in order to bring
about certain results. A fascinating aspect of this in Safed spirituality is
the practice of phrenology.
B.
Three elements of theosophy
in particular were developed in Lurianic Mysticism in a more powerfully mythic,
even Gnostic direction.
1.
Tsimtsum (“concentration” or
“withdrawal”) is the notion that creation becomes possible because of a
withdrawal of Eyn Sof; creation is real
(against Pantheism), but there is an ebb and flow of the sefirot, which can be imagined as God’s self-exile.
2.
Sherivath ha-Kelim (“breaking the
vessels) is a highly anthropomorphic alignment of the disruption caused by the
primordial man (Adam
Kadmon) when overwhelmed by the three chief sefirot
with a disturbing effect on empirical humans: The origin of evil is cosmic
disruption and separation.
3.
Tikkun (“mending” or “uniting”) points
to the cosmic role of humans. By keeping the Commandments of Torah and by
adherence (devequt) to the body of
Torah through strict intention (kawwanah),
the mystic helps mend the world.
4.
In short, the mystic plays
a crucial part in a great cosmic drama of God’s self-emptying and return, of
rays scattered into creation and gathered again through human effort, of the bringing
about of the Messianic Age through the efforts of faithful Israel and the work
of mystics.
IV.
Safed spirituality moved
Kabbalah into the mainstream of Jewish life everywhere it was practiced.
A.
It made certain ascetical
practices, such as fasting, standard for the Jewish community, and Luria’s
prescriptions for penitents replaced those of the German Hasidim for Jews
everywhere.
B.
It contributed a mystical
element to the standard Jewish liturgy by the addition of prayers and hymns for
individuals and the community.
C.
It provided a unifying
vision for Jews everywhere of their participation in the divine drama of loss
and redemption.
D.
Even writings of a
fundamentally ethical character, such as the
Sheney Luhot ha-Berit (The Two Tablets of the Covenant) by Isaiah
ben Abraham Horowitz (1570–1626), were suffused with the sensibility of
Lurianic Kabbalah.
1.
A short quotation from
Horowitz’s The Generations of Adam
speaks of the relationship between external observance and internal mysticism.
2.
As he continues his work,
Horowitz tells readers that he stands in the long tradition of Simeon ben Yohai
and his associates, the Zohar, and
Isaac Luria, but he will add his own thinking to theirs.
Recommended Reading:
Fine, L., trans. and ed.,
Safed Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality.)
Questions to Consider:
1.
Reflect on the notion of
“Practical Mysticism” and its theurgic aspects; when does mysticism become
“magical thinking”?
2.
Consider the impact of
external events on the development of mystical movements, taking as an example
the Jewish experience of exile from Spain.
Lecture Ten
Sabbatai Zevi and Messianic Mysticism
Scope: The elements of mysticism and
Messianism that had gathered in Lurianic mysticism found an explosive and
paradoxical expression in the figure of Sabbatai Zevi. Zevi’s self-proclamation
as Messiah and subsequent apostasy from Judaism in 1665–1666 caused a mass
movement of excitement among Jews in Europe. A sectarian movement
(Sabbatianism) emerged that combined elements of Kabbalism with antinomian
tendencies, in sharp contrast to the halachic piety of all previous Jewish
Mysticism. This lecture traces the career of Sabbatai Zevi and his chief
propagandist, Nathan of Gaza, as well as the subsequent shape of the movement
that took his name.
Outline
I.
The Jewish mystical
tradition developed over the centuries, slowly, quietly, and in circles of
intense textual analysis, but when we turn to Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) and
Messianic Mysticism, we find something new and dangerous, both for Jewish
Mysticism and for Judaism as a whole.
A.
There were many messianic
pretenders in the 1st century.
1.
Jesus of Nazareth was
thought by some to be a Messiah but was rejected by the majority of Jews.
2.
Bar Kochba had been
proclaimed Messiah by Rabbi Akiva in the revolt of 135 but was discovered not
to have restored the people.
B.
Mysticism always tests
exoteric traditions by its emphasis on inner devotion more than external
observance, and each religious tradition has an example of mysticism becoming
heretical.
1.
In Christianity, Gnosticism
was rejected for its denial of central truths concerning Jesus.
2.
In Islam, Hallaj is
repudiated by the majority of Muslims because he is thought to have compromised
the oneness of Allah.
3.
In Judaism, the Sabbatian
movement was declared heretical because of its principled antinomianism. That
is, it took a
stand against the observance
of Torah in a fundamental way, while claiming to be Jewish.
C.
Judaism in the 17th
century was primed for the explosion caused by Zevi by a number of internal and
external factors.
1.
The 17th century
was a time of external repression for Judaism. The establishment of the ghetto
in Venice in 1516 was a disturbing portent of things to come, such as the
Chmielnitzki pogrom in 1648.
2.
In England, Christian
millenarian speculation identified 1666 as the apocalyptic year, when the
Messiah would appear.
3.
Lurianic Kabbalism had
fused notions about the transmigration of souls, exile, and restoration (tikkun) with a messianic expectation connected to the efforts of mystics.
4.
Some Kabbalists had
identified 1648 as the year when the Messiah would appear to restore the
people.
II.
The sequence of events in
the rise of Sabbatai Zevi is fairly clear; more difficult is assessing his
character.
A.
He was born in present-day
Turkey, and his father worked for an English company in Smyrna. As a young man,
Zevi studied Talmud and Kabbalah according to the teaching of Isaac Luria.
1.
He was married twice, but
his wives were granted divorces as a result of his extreme asceticism. He
experienced swings between ecstasy and melancholy.
2.
He first claimed to be
Messiah in 1648 in Smyrna and pronounced the divine name (the tetragrammaton),
leading to his excommunication by the college of rabbis and his banishment,
along with his followers, in 1651.
B.
Zevi embarked on a life of
wandering through the Mediterranean world, arriving in Constantinople in 1653.
There, Abraham haYakini produced a forged document claiming that Zevi was the
Messiah.
C.
In Salonica, Zevi declared
himself married to Eyn Sof and was
again banished.
1.
He traveled to Cairo,
Jerusalem, and back to Cairo.
2.
In Cairo, he married Sarah,
a survivor of a pogrom who had worked as a prostitute and was convinced that
she was to be the bride of the Messiah.
D.
A young man named Nathan of
Gaza became Zevi’s advocate and announced in 1665 that the Messianic Age would
begin the next year.
1.
With his followers, Zevi
reached Smyrna in the fall of 1665 and, on the New Year, proclaimed himself
Messiah.
2.
This announcement caused
incredible excitement throughout
Europe, leading many Jews
to place their faith in Zevi as the Messiah and disrupt their lives in
preparation for the coming age.
3.
Zevi began to issue decrees
concerning observance, changing fast days into days of celebration; those who
did not obey were suppressed.
E.
He was eventually arrested
by the Muslim ruler of Istanbul and brought before Sultan Mehmed IV on
September 16, 1666. Instead of martyrdom, Zevi chose conversion to Islam.
1.
Between the time of his
apostasy and his death in 1676, Zevi maintained that he was actually in service
to God in both traditions.
2.
He succeeded in bringing
some Muslims to his Kabbalistic views and some Jews to Islam, creating a
Judeo-Turkish sect based on faith in him.
F.
Evaluating the character of
Sabbatai Zevi is difficult: Was he a sincere if sick individual or a
manipulative charlatan?
1.
In Gershom Scholem’s
reading, Zevi was a manic-depressive who was mainly the passive instrument of
Nathan of Gaza.
2.
In another reading, he was
a notoriety seeker who manipulated events to secure his own fame.
III. The movement called Sabbatianism did not end with Sabbatai Zevi’s
apostasy from Judaism.
A.
In a classic case of
cognitive dissonance resolved, the fact of Zevi’s apostasy was reinterpreted
according to the tenets of Lurianic Kabbalism.
1.
His apostasy was actually a
form of self-exile, an entering into the abyss of evil.
2.
Restoration will be in the
future, with the return of Zevi as the triumphant Messiah.
B.
Although rejected by other
Jews, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Sabbatians continued as believers and
practiced the ritual breaking of the Commandments.
Recommended Reading:
Scholem, G. Sabbatai Zevi: The Mystical Messiah
(1626–1676).
Questions to Consider:
1.
Identify the points of
similarity and dissimilarity in the messianic careers of Sabbatai Zevi and
Jesus of Nazareth.
2.
Discuss the concept of
“cognitive dissonance” and its usefulness in analyzing powerful social
movements.
Lecture Eleven The
Ba’al Shem Tov and the New Hasidism
Scope: In the 18th century, a
new form of Jewish Mysticism arose in
Eastern Europe, beginning
with the charismatic career of Israel Ba’al Shem Tov (“Master of the Good
Name”), around whom were collected many tales of wisdom and wonder-working.
This New Hasidism was a more popular form of mysticism. It pervaded the
community as a whole rather than just a small group of scholars and was focused
on the spirit-filled tzaddik, the
popular leader and center of the community, more so than the learned rabbi. The
basic conceptions of this Hasidism remained similar to those of Kabbalism, but
the ideas were rendered in more popular form. This lecture considers the life
of the founder of the New Hasidism, the progression of the movement, and the
character of its literature and piety.
Outline
I.
The rise and fall of
Sabbatai Zevi, the mystical Messiah, created a severe crisis for Jewish
Mysticism.
A.
The Lurianic form of
Kabbalism that had spread so widely across the synagogues of Europe now
appeared as potentially dangerous. Nonetheless, mysticism did not disappear
entirely, and in this lecture, we consider the last great development in Jewish
Mysticism with the Ba’al Shem Tov and the New Hasidism.
B.
Hasidism arose in Eastern
Europe in the 18th century amid both new and old challenges for
Jews. For example, the persecution of Jews through pogroms continued sporadically
during this period.
C.
Jewish traditional
observance was also threatened by the Haskalah, the Enlightenment, which was
taking place in Europe at this time and called into question the entire
symbolic world of Torah.
1.
Baruch Spinoza (16321677)
was one of the first influential critics of the Bible. He tested the stories in
the Bible against the measure of the Enlightenment and found those stories to
be either historically or scientifically impossible. For Spinoza, the Bible was
not true, but it was still meaningful.
2.
At the same time, Spinoza’s
pantheistic view of reality echoed the vision of Kabbalism.
D.
Sabbatianism continued to
divide Jewish communities, particularly with the rise of Jacob Frank
(17261791), a follower of Sabbatai Zevi and another false Messiah who also
apostasized, this time, to Christianity.
E.
While Judaism thrived in
its Talmudic form in urban centers that offered stable conditions, in the
Ukraine, where Hasidism arose, Jews were scattered in rural villages with no
centers of learning.
F.
Hasidism emerged in these conditions
as a powerful form of popular mysticism that was centered in the transformation
of individuals more than the study of texts, focused on ecstatic joy more than
penitential sorrow.
II.
The Hasidic movement was
deeply marked by the charismatic nature of its founder, Rabbi Israel ben
Eliezer, the Ba’al Shem Tov (also called Besht, 16981760).
A.
Besht was a simple and poor
man, a lover of nature, and not a scholar.
1.
His poverty was acute, and
he held a series of simple jobs throughout his life, including minding a
village tavern. He and his wife, Chana, had two children.
2.
He served as a sexton in
the synagogue and a mediator in the Jewish community but gained fame as a
healer, inscribing amulets and prescribing herbs for the sick. He had the gift
of controlling the divine name; thus, he was known as Ba’al Shem Tov, “Master
of the Good Name.”
B.
Besht began gathering
followers and started teaching in Medzhybizh around 1740; even members of the
educated elite came to hear him.
1.
He wrote no scholarly
works, and his teaching did not take the typical form of rabbinic commentary on
Torah.
2.
He assumed the symbolic
world of Kabbalah but taught by means of stories and pointed sayings.
C.
The salient elements of
Besht’s teaching make clear the distinctive development in mysticism he
represents.
1.
For Besht, all things are
filled with God and can reveal God, especially, the human person. This view is
known as Panentheism (“There is a presence of God in all things”), which is
distinct from Pantheism (“God is all things”).
2.
Besht expressed great
optimism about the human capacity to know and love God and to grow in holiness.
3.
In contrast to the Lurianic
tradition, he downplayed asceticism and penitence, emphasizing instead the
positive feeling of great joy (simcha)
to be found in worship.
4.
Adherence to God (devequt) is accomplished more by prayer
than by study, and prayer can express itself fully in joyful ecstasy (hitlahavut).
III. The Hasidic form of mysticism spread rapidly in Eastern Europe and
took on distinct characteristics.
A.
Disciples, including the
Talmudic scholar Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezritch (17041772), joined the movement,
which then gained credibility and moved toward the mainstream.
1.
Tales centering on the life
and character of the Ba’al Shem Tov—his simplicity, compassion, awareness of
God, and even his miracles—began to be shaped and disseminated.
2.
Hasidic Jews could be found
throughout Poland, Russia,
Byelorusse, Lithuania,
the Ukraine, even in Palestine, in Galilee.
B.
The movement also
experienced resistance from Jews who regarded it with suspicion and resulted in
some excommunications.
1.
Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon,
the Gaon of Vilna, or the “Great One” of Vilna (1720–1797), although himself a
mystic of Kabbalah, fiercely opposed Hasidism.
2.
Objections were made, above
all, to the relative freedom of the movement from the study of Torah.
C.
The focus on the person of
Besht led to the emergence of the tzaddik
in the Hasidic tradition.
1.
The tzaddik became the center of a community’s life as a result of his
personality and prayer, rather than his expertise in Law.
2.
He was regarded as an
exemplar of virtue (and even of the divine life) and considered to have
extraordinary qualities.
3.
The position of the tzaddik was handed down dynastically, at
times taking on a messianic coloration.
4.
Distinct branches of
Hasidism arose because of these dynastic lines, such as the Chabad
Lubavitcher.
IV.
As it developed
historically, both in Europe and in America, the Hasidic movement maintained
its distinctive features but also moved closer to the mainline Rabbinic
tradition.
A.
The Tzaddik Nachman of
Breslav (1772–1810) provides an example of the use of the tale as a teaching
instrument.
B.
With Rabbi Menachem Nahum
of Chernobyl (1730–1797), we see the cultivation of a life of piety and virtue
in Hasidism and the use of the sermon as a means of teaching mystical doctrine.
Recommended Reading:
Buber, M. Tales of the Hasidim: The Later Masters.
Questions to Consider:
1.
How does the historical
development of Hasidism demonstrate the powerful hold of Torah at the center of
Jewish consciousness?
2.
Discuss the role of stories
throughout the Jewish mystical tradition.
Lecture
Twelve Mysticism in Contemporary Judaism
Scope: The last 100 years have been
tumultuous and tragic for Jews. Conflicts over emancipation and the nature of
Jewish identity in the face of modernity led to distinct movements: Reform,
Orthodox, and
Conservative. Zionism emerged as a secular form of Messianism. The Shoah
threatened the very existence of the people, while the State of Israel offered
a form of resurrection. What elements of mysticism persist in such an altered
tradition? This lecture considers Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook at the start of this
period and touches on contemporary Hasidic communities, popular Kabbalism, and
the mystical dimensions in the writings of Abraham Heschel and Martin Buber.
Outline
I.
The 19th and 20th
centuries severely challenged the capacity of Judaism as a religious tradition
to respond to threats, leaving us with, at best, only elements of mysticism in
contemporary Judaism. We should note, in particular, four of the threats faced
by Judaism.
A.
The emancipation that
resulted from the European Enlightenment was a mixed blessing.
1.
Jews were freed from the
ghetto and could be citizens but at the cost of assimilation and continuing
anti-Semitism.
2.
The Haskalah
(Enlightenment) threatened the sacred text of Torah even more profoundly than
the Christian Bible because of the premise of Kabbalism with respect to the
world and Torah: God and Torah are closely intertwined. The Bible is not simply
a text, but it is the world.
B.
The rise of modernity
created divisions within Judaism concerning religious identity and practice.
1.
Reform Jews abandoned the
Talmudic tradition entirely, focusing instead on the prophets and on social
change; temple worship in modern languages resembled Protestantism more than
traditional Judaism.
2.
Orthodox Jews insisted on
maintaining all traditions but tended to equate religious values with cultural
ones, not only studying Hebrew for worship but adopting Yiddish as the language
of everyday communication and wearing the clothing of the European ghetto,
where the Hasidic movement began.
3.
Conservative Jews sought a
middle ground, continuing the observance of Torah and Talmud as the basis for
Jewish life but accepting elements of contemporary culture.
C.
Many Jews responded to
continuing persecution by embracing Zionism, the hope for a Jewish homeland,
which began with Moses Hess (1812–1875).
1.
The religious dimension of
Zionism was mixed; at times, it appeared to be a completely secular enterprise.
2.
Return to Eretz Israel by political means affected
messianic expectations.
D.
The most fundamental
challenge was posed by the Shoah
(Holocaust), which took
place in Nazi Germany between 1932 and 1945, affecting the foundation of Jewish
conviction with the systematic murder of 6 million Jews.
1.
For some, like Richard
Rubenstein, religious belief and messianic hope were destroyed.
2.
For others, such as Emil
Fackenheim, the State of Israel itself is envisaged as the Messianic Age, the
resurrection of the people.
3.
For some, such as Holocaust
survivor Elie Wiesel, the experience of the Shoah demanded a response of silent
witness and the cautious recovery of the threads of meaning.
II.
Traditional forms of Jewish
Mysticism continue to be represented in the contemporary world.
A.
Familiar to many Americans
(especially through the work of Chaim Potok) is the Hasidic dynasty known as
Chabad Lubavitch, based primarily in Brooklyn and distinguished by its unique
customs.
1.
With more than 200,000
adherents, it is among the largest sects deriving from the movement begun by
the Ba’al Shem Tov. Its origins can be traced to the Russian town of Lyubavichi
and the figure of Scneur Zalman of Liadi. This movement follows the principles
of Lurianic Kabbalism and the piety of the Ba’al Shem Tov.
2.
The acronym Chabad
represents “wisdom” (chochmah),
“understanding” (binah), and “knowledge” (da’at);
while
maintaining the emotional
fervor of Hasidism, it emphasizes the role of the mind and learning.
3.
The seventh rebbe in the
dynasty, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was leader from 1950–1994, is
particularly important, regarded by some as a messianic figure.
4.
The sect is energetically
missionary, seeking in a variety of ways to bring other Jews into Orthodox
observance.
B.
A great 20th-century
mystic in the classical mold was Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935), the
chief rabbi of Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel.
1.
Born in the Latvian village
of Grieve, he served congregations in Latvia, Gaza, and London before becoming
chief rabbi of the entire Jewish community in Palestine, a position recognized
by Jews throughout the world.
2.
In a distinctive fashion,
he combined orthodoxy, Orthodox Mysticism, Zionism, and liberalism, including
an openness to contemporary thought.
3.
His Lights of Penitence shows his appropriation of a deeply traditional
theme in a fresh fashion.
4.
Similarly, he makes available
in a clear and attractive manner the insights of Kabbalah.
III. In both popular and scholarly forms, Jewish Mysticism continues to
exercise influence even outside the Jewish community.
A.
Kabbalism has taken on a
life of its own as one version of contemporary spirituality, attractive to
those searching for meaning in a secular culture.
1.
Kabbalism centers offer
instruction in meditation and prayer, without any necessary connection to the
observance of the Law or even Jewish convictions.
2.
Kabbalah.com is an Internet
site that perfectly represents the world of pop spirituality: The site’s main
attraction is that it sells the red string worn around the wrist to ward off
the evil eye.
B.
The scholarly study of
Jewish Mysticism has generated intense interest in the riches of this spiritual
tradition.
1.
In 1938, Gershom Scholem
delivered the lectures that became Major
Trends in Jewish Mysticism, opening a field of investigation into an area
earlier critical scholars had scorned.
2.
The research of many
successors has led to the editing, publication, and translation of mystical
texts of great significance and power.
C.
Martin Buber and Abraham
Heschel are two Jewish thinkers who are, perhaps, more famous in the Gentile
world than among their fellow Jews; both were deeply marked by the mystical
tradition.
1.
Martin Buber (18781965) was
a philosopher and Zionist who broke from Jewish life and studied continental
philosophy; he edited and translated Hasidic tales. In I and Thou, he develops an understanding of human existence as an
experience of encounter and dialogue, as well as one of calculation and
manipulation.
2.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
(19071972) received Talmudic training and a secular doctorate from the
University of Berlin. A Conservative Jew, he taught Jewish Ethics and Mysticism
at the Jewish Theological Seminary. A civil rights activist, he wrote works
that brought Jewish insight to the larger world, including The Prophets, The Sabbath,
and God in Search of Man.
D.
The present is a time when
the “sparks of light” of the Jewish mystical tradition are scattered in many
directions; the question of whether or how they can be gathered again into a
unified form remains unclear.
E.
What seems certain is that
if mysticism is to be authentically, genuinely Jewish, it must involve deep
study and devotion to the world of Torah and the God therein.
Recommended Reading:
Bokser, B. Z., trans. Abraham Isaac Kook (Classics of Western Spirituality.)
Questions to Consider:
1.
What sense is there to a
Kabbalism disconnected from the study of Torah and the observance of the
Commandments?
2.
How do the qualities shown
by a figure such as Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook offer a way forward for Jewish spirituality?
