Zoharitic hints at the historical development of the Sefirot
2006; Equinox Publishing; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1558/rsth.2006.25.2.125
ISSN1747-5414
Autores Tópico(s)Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
ResumoCiting references in the Zoharitic literature (compiled in the late thirteenth century) to the historical development of the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Sefirot (Divine Emanations), I argue that these references indicate historical consciousness on the part of the Kabbalists that pre-dates the nineteenth century historians of the Wissenschaft des Judentums. These references may also be indicative of a process of debate and of refinement of that doctrine, as well as an eff ort to shield this process from Jewish and Christian critics by camouflaging it under general discussions of the Shem Hameforash, the Ineffable Divine Name, a term that in and of itself was a lightening rod to some critics, who would have associated it with magic and superstition.
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