Liber XX · Kabbalah
Introduction
From the chariot visions of Ezekiel to the Zohar, Safed and Hasidism.
Jewish mysticism is one of the oldest continuous contemplative traditions in the West. It begins with the Merkavah and Hekhalot literature of late antiquity, in which adepts ascend through heavenly palaces toward the divine throne, and continues through the Sefer Yetzirah, the Bahir and the Zohar to the Lurianic Kabbalah of sixteenth-century Safed and the Hasidic revival of eastern Europe. This section covers the texts, teachers, doctrines and debates of that history, and also traces how Christian Cabalists and later Hermetic occultists borrowed and transformed Kabbalistic ideas such as the ten sefirot and the Tree of Life.
10 min readWhat Is Kabbalah? History, Core Ideas and Key Texts ExplainedWhat is Kabbalah? A guide to Jewish mysticism: its history from Merkavah to Hasidism, Ein Sof, the sefirot, tikkun, and its Christian and Hermetic forms.8 min readGershom Scholem: Founder of the Academic Study of KabbalahGershom Scholem (1897–1982) turned Kabbalah into a field of history: his life, Major Trends, his theses on Zohar, Luria and Sabbateanism, and his critics.7 min readIsaac the Blind and the Birth of Kabbalah in Provence and GeronaIsaac the Blind and the first Kabbalists of Provence and Gerona: Ein Sof, contemplative prayer, Azriel, Ezra, Nahmanides and the debate over secrecy.
Forthcoming in this chapter
61- Akiva ben Joseph: Life, Works and Influence
- Shimon bar Yochai: Life, Works and Influence
- Azriel of Gerona: Life, Works and Influence
- Nachmanides: Life, Works and Influence
- Moses de León: Life, Works and Influence
- Joseph Gikatilla: Life, Works and Influence
- Moses Cordovero: Life, Works and Influence
- Isaac Luria: Life, Works and Influence
- Hayyim Vital: Life, Works and Influence
- Joseph Karo: Life, Works and Influence
- Sabbatai Zevi: Life, Works and Influence
- Nathan of Gaza: Life, Works and Influence
- Jacob Frank: Life, Works and Influence
- Moshe Chaim Luzzatto: Life, Works and Influence
- Israel ben Eliezer: Life, Works and Influence
- Dov Ber of Mezeritch: Life, Works and Influence
- Elijah ben Solomon: Life, Works and Influence
- Judah Loew: Life, Works and Influence
- Moshe Idel: Life, Works and Influence
- Aryeh Kaplan: Life, Works and Influence
- Abraham Isaac Kook: Life, Works and Influence
- Johann Reuchlin: Life, Works and Influence
- Pico della Mirandola: Life, Works and Influence
- Guillaume Postel: Life, Works and Influence
- Athanasius Kircher: Life, Works and Influence
- Sifra di-Tzeniuta: History, Contents and Meaning
- Idra Zuta: History, Contents and Meaning
- Ma'arekhet ha-Elohut: History, Contents and Meaning
- Pardes Rimonim: History, Contents and Meaning
- Etz Chaim: History, Contents and Meaning
- Tomer Devorah: History, Contents and Meaning
- Sha'are Orah: History, Contents and Meaning
- Tanya: History, Contents and Meaning
- Likutei Moharan: History, Contents and Meaning
- Kabbala Denudata: History, Contents and Meaning
- De Arte Cabalistica: History, Contents and Meaning
- Oedipus Aegyptiacus: History, Contents and Meaning
- Ein Sof: Meaning, History and Practice
- Tzimtzum: Meaning, History and Practice
- Shevirat ha-Kelim: Meaning, History and Practice
and 21 more.