A history of Kabbalah : from the early modern period to the present day / Jonathan Garb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Garb, Jonathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cabala--History.

Cabala.

Hasidism--History.

Hasidism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 322 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Summary:

This volume offers a narrative history of modern Kabbalah, from the sixteenth century to the present. Covering all sub-periods, schools, and figures, Jonathan Garb demonstrates how Kabbalah expanded over the last few centuries, and how it became an important player, first in the European, subsequently in global cultural and intellectual domains. Indeed, study of the Kabbalah can be found on virtually every continent and in many languages, despite of the destruction of many centres in the mid-twentieth century. Garb explores the sociological, psychological, scholastic and ritual dimensions of kabbalistic ways of life in their geographical and cultural contexts. Focusing on several important mystical and literary figures, he shows how modern Kabbalah is both deeply embedded in modern Jewish life, yet has become an independent, professionalized sub-world. He also traces how Kabbalah was influenced by, and contributed to the process of modernization.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title page

Copyright information

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Premodern and Modern Kabbalah: Breaks and Continuities

The Autonomy of Modern Kabbalah

Continuities: Exegesis, Gender, Theurgy and Magic

Chains of Textual Continuity

Comparative Reflections

Conclusion: Kabbalah in Transition to Modernity

2 The Safedian Revolution of the Sixteenth Century

Earlier Centers

Karo and His Circle

Cordovero and His Circle

Luria and His Circle

Safed in Europe

Conclusion: Safed as a Mystical Culture

3 The Kabbalistic Crisis of the Seventeenth Century

Sabbateanism: Theology, Ideology and Sociology

The Finalization and Triumph of the Safedian Canon

Philosophical and Cultural Reception

Critical Responses

The Nationalization of Kabbalah

Conclusion

4 Canonization: The Eighteenth Century

Messianism and the Residual Presence of Sabbateanism

Hasidism: Theology, Ideology and Sociology

The Near Eastern Hegemony of R. Shalom Shar'abi

R. Eliyahu of Vilna and His School

Lesser-Known Tributaries

Eighteenth-Century Kabbalah as Split Canonization

5 Beginnings of Globalization: The Nineteenth Century

Geopolitics and the Kabbalah: An Overview of the Century

The Changing of the Guard in Hasidism

The Moderation of the Vilna Gaon's School

The Eastern European Immigrations to Ottoman Palestine

Continuities and Diversities in the Near East

Kabbalah, Globalization and Culture

Kabbalah at the Turn of the Century

6 Destruction and Triumph: The Twentieth Century

Overview

The Kabbalah of the Land of Israel

The Last Days of European Kabbalah

The Modernization of Hasidism

The New Centers of Kabbalah

Kabbalah in Postwar Global Mysticism.

Kabbalah in the Early Twenty-First Century

7 Recurrent Themes: Gender, Messianism and Experience?

Some Shared Themes

Three Periods of Kabbalistic Modernity

Areas for Future Research

Coda

Appendix: Timeline

Glossary

Bibliography

Sources

Studies

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Jul 2020).

ISBN:

1-108-88297-8

1-108-88978-6

1-316-59707-5

OCLC:

1202451475