Middot: On the Emergence of Kabbalistic Theosophies

by Moshe Idel

This study examines the theories about divine attributes in Philo of Alexandria, and the different models in Rabbinic literature, as the background of the emergence of the variety of theories about ten sefirot as divine attributes in medieval Kabbalah. The existence of some statements about ten divine attributes (middot) unrelated to early Kabbalah, served as a structure that was combined with the ten sefirotic discussions in Sefer Yetzirah. Moreover, the interiorization of the divine attributes in ecstatic Kabbalah, as referring to psychological processes, serves as a dissenting development in the Kabbalistic literature, is analyzed, a development that preceded and influenced Hasidism.

Genres: Religion

298 pages, Hardcover

Published October 24, 2021