Kabbalistic Revolution: Reimagining Judaism in Medieval Spain

258 Pages·2014·2.246 MB·English

by  Hartley Lachter

KABBALISTIC
REVOLUTION
I
JEWISH CULTURES OF THE WORLD
Edited by Matti Bunzl, University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, and Jeffrey
Shandler, Rutgers University
Published in association with the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of
Jewish Life, Rutgers University
ADVISORY BOARD
Yoram Bilu, Hebrew University
Jonathan Boyarin, Cornell University
Virginia R. Dominguez, University of Illinois, Urbana-C hampaign
Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
Barbara Kirshenblatt- Gimblett, New York University
Jack Kugelmass, University of Florida
Riv-E llen Prell, University of Minnesota
Aron Rodrigue, Stanford University
Mark Slobin, Wesleyan University
Yael Zerubavel, Rutgers University
KABBALISTIC
REVOLUTION
I
Reimagining Judaism
in Medieval Spain
Hartley Lachter
rutgers university press
new brunswick, new jersey, and london
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Lachter, Hartley, 1974–
Kabbalistic Revolution : reimagining Judaism in Medieval Spain.
p. cm — (Jewish cultures of the world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978– 0– 8135– 6875– 1 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978– 0– 8135– 6876– 8
(e- book)
1. Judaism— Spain— History. 2. Judaism— History— 12th century.
3. Judaism— History— 13th century. 4. Mysticism— Judaism— History— 12th century.
5. Mysticism—J udaism— History—1 3th century. 6. Cabala. I. Title.
BM354.L38 2014
296.1'609460902— dc23
2014004942
A British Cataloging-i n- Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2014 by Hartley Lachter
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106
Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is
“fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our website: http:// rutgerspress .rutgers .edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Jessica

C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Kabbalistic Writing
in Late Thirteenth- Century Castile 1
1 Masters of Secrets:
Claiming Power with Concealed Knowledge 15
2 Secrets of the Cosmos:
Creating a Kabbalistic Universe 45
3 Secrets of the Self:
Kabbalistic Anthropology and Divine Mystery 69
4 Jewish Bodies and Divine Power:
Theurgy and Jewish Law 100
5 Prayer Above and Below: Kabbalistic
Constructions of the Power of Jewish Worship 130
Conclusion 159
Postscript— Cultural Logics:
Kabbalah, Then and Now 163
Notes 167
Bibliography 215
Index 241
vii

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
This book is the fruit of many years labor, and I have had the good fortune to
work with teachers and colleagues from whom I have benefitted immensely.
This project began in the form of my doctoral dissertation, written under the
guidance of Elliot Wolfson at New York University. Since completing my degree,
the project had taken new form, and Professor Wolfson has provided me with
invaluable mentorship and advice over the years, including reading a full draft
of this book before publication. I am deeply grateful. I would also like to thank
Shaul Magid, Joel Hecker, and Boaz Huss for reading through the manuscript
and offering me many helpful insights, and Irven Resnick, who provided helpful
suggestions for the first chapter. Conversations with colleagues over the years
have added in many great and small ways to the formulation of the arguments
of this book, and for that I would like to thank Daniel Abrams, David Biale,
Robert Chazan, Jonathan Dauber, Glenn Dynner, Marc Epstein, Pinchas Giller,
Joel Hacker, Harvey Hames, Yuval Harari, Moshe Idel, Ephraim Kanarfogel, Jef-
frey Kripal, Daniel Lasker, Tony Levy, Shaul Magid, Alan Mittleman, Elke Mor-
lok, David Myers, Yohanan Petrovsky-S htern, Jonathan Ray, Robert Sagerman,
Sandra Valabregue-P erry, and Kocku von Stuckrad. I also thank the participants
in the Departmental Seminar at Ben Gurion University where I was invited to
present some of the central claims of this book. Responsibility for all errors that
remain is exclusively my own.
Access to sources in manuscript was essential for researching this book. I
would like to thank Dr. Piet van Boxel, Hebrew curator at the Bodlian Library at
Oxford; Ilana Tahan, lead curator of Hebrew Manuscripts at the British Library;
Rabbi Jerry Schwarzbard, director of Special Collections at the Library of the
Jewish Theological Seminary; and the staff at the Institute of Microfilmed
Hebrew Manuscripts at the Jewish National Library at Hebrew University. Their
assistance and helpful advice was invaluable to me. My colleagues in the Religion
Studies department at Muhlenberg College, Sharon Albert, Jessica Cooperman,
ix