RT Article
T1 Isaac the Blind's Letter and the History of Early Kabbalah
JF The Jewish quarterly review
VO 111
IS 3
SP 414
OP 443
A1 Bar-Asher, Avishai
LA English
PB Penn Press
YR 2021
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1772107468
AB No document is more central to the scholarly historiography of kabbalah's "origins" than a unique letter written by R. Isaac the Blind. Since its discovery, scholars have made it the foundation for an elaborate narrative about the transmission of kabbalistic traditions from Provence to Gerona at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Scholars have not only used the letter to help reconstruct the ties between these two centers, but even to reconstruct their purported theological concerns about the transmission, composition, and dissemination of esoteric lore., The present study offers a fresh and thorough explication of this cryptic, and partly encrypted, document, which is here translated and critically edited. Whereas previous scholars focused on its exoteric opening, neglecting the esoteric central portion that spans nearly half of the letter, the author elucidates this difficult section, with the assistance of traditions attributed to Isaac and the writings of his own trustworthy nephew, Asher b. David. Particular attention is paid to Isaac's quotations from Sefer yetsirah, which reveal the central pillar of theology supporting Isaac's doctrine of mystical intentions (kavanot). This decipherment yields a new understanding of the exoteric section and of the entire correspondence between the kabbalists: they were debating the mystical-contemplative significance of certain liturgical kavanot and religious rituals (especially taking an oath by the Tetragrammaton).
K1 Tetragrammaton
K1 Sefer Yetsirah
K1 Nahmanides
K1 History of Early Kabbalah
K1 kavanot
K1 Cutting the Saplings
K1 Jewish Esotericism
K1 Isaac the Blind
K1 Medieval Kabbalah
K1 Kabbalah
K1 Jewish Mysticism
DO 10.1353/jqr.2021.0024