Jewish mysticism can be quite a puzzle to the uninitiated. For example, does the term "mysticism" mean the same thing here as in other contexts? Also, in what sense are the various phenomena that come under this heading really "Jewish"? In a thorough historical overview of the movements and trends in Jewish mysticism, Dutch scholar J.H. Laenen takes us step by step through the centuries of development to the present day, explaining how the various currents of tradition are related. We are introduced to Hekhaloth mysticism, classical Kabbalah, Lurianic Kabbalah, and the messianism of Shabbetai Zevi, as well as Hasidism, and we are given explanations of the Doctrine of the Sephiroth, reincarnation, language mysticism, numerology, and symbolism.

Foreword

ix

Translator's Note

xii

Preface

xiii

Introduction

Scholarly research into Jewish mysticism

1

(6)

The historical background of the Jewish people and its traditional literature

7

(7)

Biblical history

7

(2)

The Second Temple period

9

(1)

The emergence of rabbinic Judaism

10

(2)

Rabbinic literature

12

(2)

What is (Jewish) mysticism?

14

(4)

Ancient Jewish Mysticism

Merkavah mysticism and Hekhaloth literature

18

(1)

The problem of the extant material

19

(2)

Esoteric traditions

21

(5)

Ma`aseh Merkavah

22

(1)

Ma`aseh Bereshith

23

(1)

Magic: theory and practice

24

(1)

Physiognomy

25

(1)

From esoteric speculation to mystical activity

26

(3)

The heavenly journey and the vision of the divine throne

29

(8)

Prerequisites and preparations

29

(1)

Ascent through the heavenly palaces

29

(2)

The vision of the celestial throne

31

(1)

Basic ideas

32

(3)

The literature of ascent

35

(2)

The relationship between ancient Jewish mysticism and other religious currents

37

(8)

Merkavah mysticism and apocalypticism

38

(1)

Merkavah mysticism and gnosticism

39

(3)

Merkavah mysticism and rabbinic Judaism

42

(1)

Mysticism moves to Western Europe

43

(2)

Classical Kabbalah

Basic concepts in classical Kabbalah

45

(39)

Introduction

45

(1)

The doctrine of the sefiroth

46

(8)

Kabbalah and myth

54

(2)

Kabbalah and symbolism

56

(3)

A psychological approach

59

(3)

Kabbalah and Jewish philosophy: a controversy

62

(3)

Allegory versus symbol

65

(3)

The unity of God versus the multiplicity of creation

68

(2)

Anthropomorphisms

70

(2)

The commandments

72

(4)

Philosophy and myth

76

(3)

Neo-Platonism

79

(3)

Concluding remarks: Kabbalah and philosophy

82

(2)

Historical overview of the movements

84

(59)

The problem of the emergence of Kabbalah

84

(2)

The Book Bahir

86

(6)

The first kabbalists in Provence

92

(7)

The kabbalistic school in Gerona

99

(5)

Intermezzo

104

(1)

Jewish mysticism: A linear development?

105

(1)

The writings of the Iyyun circle

106

(5)

The Ashkenazi hasidim

111

(4)

The spread of Kabbalah over the Iberian peninsula

115

(2)

The Book of the Figure

117

(3)

Ecstatic Kabbalah and Abraham Abulafia

120

(4)

The kabbalists of the Castilian school

124

(5)

The Zohar

129

(12)

Kabbalah from the Zohar to 1492

141

(2)

Lurianic Kabbalah

Intermezzo: Messianism

143

(14)

Future expectation in the Hebrew Bible

143

(4)

Jewish apocalypticism and eschatology

147

(3)

Messianism in the rabbinic period

150

(3)

Messianism in Jewish philosophy and classical Kabbalah

153

(4)

Messianism after 1492 and the rise of Safed

157

(8)

Joseph Caro

160

(2)

Moses Cordovero

162

(3)

The Kabbalah of Isaac Luria

165

(24)

Luria's life

165

(1)

Lurianic doctrine

166

(1)

God withdraws

167

(2)

The breaking of the vessels

169

(2)

The cosmic restoration

171

(5)

Reincarnation

176

(3)

Practical Kabbalah: mystical and magical techniques

179

(3)

Isaac Luria's disciples

182

(3)

The transmission of Lurianic Kabbalah

185

(1)

Lurianic Kabbalah up to Shabbetai Zevi

186

(3)

The Kabbalah of Shabbetai Zevi

The life of Shabbetai Zevi

189

(4)

The role of Nathan of Gaza

193

(2)

The rise of the sabbatian movement and its teaching

195

(6)

Nathan of Gaza as the movement's theologian

196

(2)

The contribution of Abraham Cardozo

198

(1)

Sabbatian exegesis

199

(2)

Radical sects within sabbatianism

201

(9)

The Donme sect

202

(3)

Jacob Frank and Frankism

205

(1)

The disputation of Kamieniec

205

(1)

The teaching of Jacob Frank

206

(2)

The Lvov disputation---the conversion to Christianity

208

(1)

The Frankist community and the end of the movement

209

(1)

Shabbetai Zevi: a controversy

210

(5)

Hasidism

Introduction

215

(2)

Early hasidism

217

(4)

The Ba`al Shem Tov and the first generation of hasidim

217

(2)

Views of the emergence of hasidism

219

(1)

Dov Baer and the second generation of hasidim

220

(1)

The third generation: the tsaddikim and their communities

221

(1)

Hasidic doctrine

221

(16)

The sources

222

(2)

The relation between hasidism and earlier mystical currents

224

(2)

The hasidic interpretation of Lurianic Kabbalah

226

(2)

Devequth

228

(5)

The tsaddik

233

(3)

The role of magic in hasidism

236

(1)

Opponents of hasidism: the mitnagdim

237

(3)

Third-generation hasidism

240

(7)

The hasidic story

243

(1)

Developments in hasidism to the present day

244

(1)

The Lubavitsch hasidim: the doctrine of habad

245

(2)

Controversies in scholarly research

247

(4)

Language Mysticism

Hebrew as a sacred language

251

(1)

The connection between word and content

252

(2)

From views of language to language mysticism

254

(1)

Language in Jewish mysticism

254

(4)

Gematria

258

(5)

Popular Literature on ``Kabbalah''

263

(10)

Bibliography

273

(12)

Index

285

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Jewish Mysticism

9780664224578

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