514) Kabbalah: From Obscurity to the Defining Essence of Judaism

First printing of the Zohar, Cremona 1558.

Introduction

This article—based extensively on the research by Professor David Malkiel[1]—explores the thirteenth-century rise of Kabbalah in Spain and its subsequent peaking in sixteenth-century Safed. Since the Safed period, Kabbalah has come to be widely regarded as embodying the very essence and greatest depths of Judaism in the popular imagination. How did this transformation take place? Some would suggest that this is a natural progression towards messianic times. But any study of Jewish messianism shows that we have always believed we've been living in imminent messianic times. There may be additional ways of tracking the development of Kabbalah.

Malkiel introduces an unusual history of the rise of Kabbalah from a cultural perspective connecting it to the Rennaissance and the emerging preoccupation with ‘realism,’ which (ironically for a study on mysticism) avoids fantasy and idealism in favour of concrete reality. 

455) The three-pronged mystical revolution of the 16th century

 

Seventeenth century manuscript of Eitz Chaim by R. Chaim Vital

Introduction

This article – based extensively on the research by Professor Rachel Elior[1] and Professor Zvi Werblowsky^[2] − examines the three-pronged mystical revolution of the sixteenth century that changed the face of much of subsequent Judaism. 

In general terms, it is true that despite the calamitous events of the fifteenth century which saw the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492: 

“[t]he majority of exiles rehabilitated themselves by pursuing a normal life, conducted according to usual mundane considerations” (Elior 2000:187). 

On the other hand, a smaller but very influential number of Jewish mystics saw the world of the sixteenth century as anything but normative. They turned to Kabbalah and mysticism as the only way to explain the trauma of the expulsion. They believed and taught that the world was on the cusp of an imminent messianic redemption. Instead of engaging with the normative world like the majority of their co-religionists which included scholars and rabbis, they sought to detach themselves from reality as they experienced what they believed were the messianic birthpangs. These circles of mystics were known as Mechashvei Kitzim (Calculators of the End). 

311) THE EMERGENCE OF CHARISMATIC JUDAISM:

 

The Pledge of Allegiance to R. Chaim Vital effectively making him the keeper of the secrets of the Ari Zal.

INTRODUCTION:

From around the sixteenth century, rabbinic leadership experienced a dramatic change. No longer were the credentials of leadership solely based on knowledge and erudition. Now leadership became largely defined by personal charisma.

This does not mean that knowledge played no role at all, but it does mean that it was no longer the main criterion.

In this article, based extensively on the work by Professor Morris Faierstein[1], we shall explore some of the effects of this change in the style of rabbinic leadership.