Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah

by Ginsburg, Elliot K.

• ISBN13: 9781904113430
• ISBN10: 1904113435
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-24
• Publisher: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press

Summary

This now classic study is concerned with the richly imagined world of kabbalistic myth concerning the sabbath as it developed from the late twelfth century to the early sixteenth century and with its activation in religious life via ritual.
The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah combines the close textual readings of traditional scholarly enquiry with more innovative approaches drawing on symbolic anthropology and the like. The presentation is coherent, cohesive, and accessible. It makes a contribution to the history of Jewish spirituality and, more broadly, to the understanding of myth and ritual.

Author Biography

Elliot K. Ginsburg is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration and Orthography
Introduction. Classical Kabbalah, Its History and Symbolic Universe	p. 1
An Historical Outline of Classical Kabbalah	p. 5
The Sefirot and Their Symbolism	p. 24
Reading a Zoharic Text	p. 36
The Symbolism of the Kabbalistic Sabbath: Motif Studies	p. 59
Aspects of Meaning in Kabbalistic Ritual: With Special Reference to the Case of Shabbat	p. 186
Rituals of Preparation	p. 217
Rituals of Separation: The Drama of Sabbath's Departure in Zoharic Kabbalah	p. 256
Some Further Thoughts on the Transformation of the Person during Shabbat	p. 285
Sabbath-Ritual as a Means of Furthering the Divine-Human Nexus: Two Examples from Zoharic Kabbalah	p. 289
Bibliography	p. 297
Index	p. 319
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