Kabbalistic Revolution

Hartley Lachter argues that thirteenth-century Castilian Kabbalah reimagined Judaism in response to the social and religious pressures facing Iberian Jews. Kabbalists portrayed Jewish practice as cosmically powerful at a time of political vulnerability. A Rutgers study suited to readers interested in the historical context of the Zohar's emergence. Its historical approach complements more theological studies of early Kabbalah and the circle of Moses de León.