Cabbalism
Full Name: Cabbalism AKA Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה Qabbālā, literally "reception, tradition"
Language: Hebrew
Time: 12th and 13th centuries
Location: Spain
Field & Discipline: Religion; Judaism; Mysticism
Details:
Cabbala arose through an attempt by some Jewish rabbis to define the relationship between God and man and to reconcile the infinite with the finite. The Cabbalists came to believe that there were esoteric and mystical values in the Bible, in Jewish law, and in Jewish practice. They devoted themselves to seeking out these sources of enlightenment on the premise that reason alone cannot provide all the answers to speculation about God and the physical world.
The origins of Cabbala date back to antiquity and the beginnings of Judaism, when scholars began to speculate on the mysteries of God and the universe. In first-century Palestine, the Merkavans engaged in mystical meditation about the chariot seen by the prophet Ezekiel. The first known mystic text was "Sefer Yetzira" ("Book of Creation") which appeared between the third and sixth centuries and later provided an introduction to Cabbala for the 12th century Spanish mystic, [major figure was] Abulafia*. The "Yetzira" introduced the concept of the "sefirot", the 10 divine numbers of God which are combined with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to produce the 32 Paths of Secret Wisdom.
Over the centuries, Cabbala spread from the Middle East to Germany, Italy, and France. Around the middle of the 12th century, two Jewish mystic movements sprang up in the Provence, Languedoc, and Roussillon districts of France. The first, like the [similar inspiration to] Cathars* of that region, was heavily influenced by Gnosticism. Out of this movement came a major Cabbalist text called the "Sefer ha-bahir" ("Book of Brightness").
The "Bahir" held that the "sefirot" was part of the divine power and had been used in the creation of the universe. It also introduced the concept of transmigration of souls ("gilgul") to Judaism. The second movement flourished in Languedoc late in the 12th century. Its chief spokesman was Isaac ben Abraham, also known as Isaac the Blind. In this movement, contemplative mysticism was emphasized.
The "sefirot", instead of being an instrument of divine power, was seen as a hierarchic system linking the finite and the infinite. At the end of the 13th century, this move to rationalism was strongly opposed by the Spanish Talmudic scholar, [great teacher was] Crescas*.
Early in the 13th century, members of the Cabbalist movement crossed the Pyrenees into Spain. In the thriving Jewish community of Gerona, in Catalonia, Isaac and other leading Cabbalists constructed a synthesis of the two movements, which remains the foundation of Cabbala today. The biblical-rabbinical tradition which supported the "Sefer ha-bahir" was merged with the Neo-Platonism of Greek-Arab philosophy.
These scholars also fixed the identities of the 10 "sefirot". Three of the numbers, "Keter" (highest thinking or striving), "Hokmah" (wisdom) and "Binah" (understanding), represented the manifestations of the power of God.
Three others, "Hesed" (kindness), "Gevurah" (inner strength and discipline) and "Tiferet" (a sense of worth), were the moral qualities that operate in the natural world.
Another three, "Nezah" (fruition), "Hod" (beauty) and "Yesod," were the natural foundations of the tangible world. All nine were brought together by the first number of the "sefirot": "Malkhut" (the kingship of God).
During the 13th century, in Spain a breakaway movement was formed, led by the visionary Abulafia. At the end of the century, [great teacher was] de Leon* was the driving force behind the "Sefer ha-zohar" ("Book of Splendor"), a compilation of works from various writers that was given almost holy status in Cabbala circles. Leon was influenced by the 12th century Cabbalists who saw Cabbalism as an unbroken tradition from ancient times and he claimed that the "Zorah" was based on revelations divinely made to a second-century rabbi, Simon ben Yohai. Although its authenticity was doubted almost immediately, the "Zorah" remains a rich source of Jewish mysticism to the present day.
Cabbala is not accepted by all Jews, though elements of Jewish mysticism are found in all branches of Jewish thought, particularly the Hassidic. Cabbalism and Catharism represented new radical social and religious views embodied to some extent in the troubador roots of the poetry of [influenced work of] De Troyes*
Assessment: Practiced by interpreters of Cabbala, an occult Jewish philosophy based on a mystical interpretation of the scriptures, which flourished in Spain in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Oneliner: Cabbalism, a medieval; Jewish mystic system
Bibliography:
- Idel, Moshe, Cabbalah, New Perspectives, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1988.