The Early Kabbalah

by Moshe Idel (Designer)

"Blessed and exalted is God, glorious in power. He is one, united in all His powers as the flame is united in its colors. The powers which emanate from his unicity are like the light of the eye which springs forth from the pupil." Sefer ha-lyyun Early Kabbalah, The edited and introduced by Joseph Dan texts translated by Ronald C. Kiener preface by Moshe Idel In the late twelfth century, at the height of the Middle Ages that saw the flowering of the mystical element in Christendom, the Rabbinic Judaism of southern Europe was transformed by the eruption of new, Gnostic attitudes and symbolism. This new movement, known as Kabbalah (literally the 'Tradition'), was characterized by the symbol of the ten sefirot. By means of the sefirotic imagery, virtually the whole of everyday life was linked to the cosmic dimension in a novel and highly original fashion that stressed the dynamic, evolutionary element of the Godhead and the synergistic relationship between the human will and the action of God on earth. During a century of creativity, a detailed system of symbols and concepts was created by the author of the Sefer ha-Bahir, the Kabbalists of Provence, the Iyyun circle, and the mystics of Provence and Castile that set the stage for the great Kabbalists of the Zohar generation.

Genres: Judaism, Religion, Esoterica, Mysticism, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality

205 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really wonderful little collection of primary texts in the early (pre-“Zohar generation”) Kabbalah, with a nice introduction that I think still benefits from a little pre-reading, since it just sort of throws out references like confetti. I know I found having read Scholem’s Major Trends helpful in reading both the introduction and the primary texts. A few standout texts in this book to me are Rabbi Azriel of Gerona’s Explanation of the Ten Sefirot and Rabbi Jacob ben Jacob Ha-Kohen’s Explanation of the Letters. The former is blissfully clear for the most part (and speaking relatively). The latter is a beautiful explanation of the mystical meanings of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, relying not only on numerical values as I expected but also on fascinating visual and other analyses. Overall, I recommend this volume to anyone who already has at least a small grasp of early Kabbalah, such as from Scholem’s or Dan’s introductory works, and wants to dip their toes into primary texts.

[Obbrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok maybe Fear is the root of Wisdom…

[Lauri Lumby · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent scholarly work

[Catholicus Magus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it cuts various Kabbalistic texts fairly arbitrary, this book is a wonderful introduction and one I always return to when I'm "brushing up" on a particular Kabbalistic motif as commonly found in the writings of one of the many Christians who took up the Zohar as their primary mode (quite rightly) of interpreting the Hebrew Bible, particularly the passages which deal with cosmological, theogonic, mystical, prophetic, or poetic themes. It would be better to spend the extra time going through each Kabbalist's work, the Zohar, and all of the various major books like the Sefer Yetzirah, the Sefer Bahir, and so on - but alas, to focus on one tradition invariably denies focusing on another. Moshe Idel and Joseph Dan are two of the three really, substantively good historians that deal with the Kabbalah, so the selection is trustworthy.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully thought-provoking collection of literature both spiritual and philosophical! I enjoyed it thoroughly. The content is a must-read for the subject in question. However, I get the impression that this specific edition is a book that would be assigned to a class as part of a course considering other works by this publisher, although I could be entirely wrong.