Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism (Robert & Arlene Kogod Library Judaic Studies)

368 Pages·2008·43.06 MB·English

by  Moshe Idel

Other titles in the series:
Ben: Sonship
Judaism and the Challenges cif Modern Life
By Moshe Halbertal and Donniel Hartman (eds)
The Boundat:ies cif Judaism and Jevvish
Donniel Hartman
The Open Canon
Mysticislll
Avi Sagi
Traniforming Identity
Avi Sagi and Zvi Zohar
By
Moshe Idel
.~
continuum
Published by Continuum
To Yehuda
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SEl 7NX
Who opened new vistas
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any fonn or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any infonnation storage or retrieval system, without pennission in
writing from the publishers.
Copyright © Moshe Idel, 2007
First published 2007
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Idel, Moshe, 1947-
Ben: sonship and Jewish mysticism / By Moshe IdeI.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8264-9665-2 - ISBN 978-0-8264-9666-9 1. Mysticism-Judaism.
2. Cabala-History. 3. Son of God Qudaism) I. Title.
BM526.I2963 2007
296.3'1--dc22
2007025855
Typeset by Data Standards, Frome, Somerset, UK
Printed and bound in the USA
ISBN-l0: 0-8264-9665-2 (hardback)
0-8264-9666-0 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8264-9665-2 (hardback)
978-0-8264-9666-9 (paperback)
Table of Contents
'Whoever possesses My Mysterion [which is the Mishnah] is My Priface viii
son.' Pesiqta' Rabbati
Abbreviations x
'Whoever begets a righteous son, is considered as if he does not
die.' Genesis Rabba' 49.4 Introduction
'Israel are the sons of the Place [God] because they are the Chapter 1
offspring of His house because of their souls ... and are called Righteousness, Theophorism and Sonship in Rabbinic and Heikhalot
servants because of their body, in order to worship Him and serve Literatures 108
Him ... This is the reason for the descent of the divinity onto us
and He brought us in the tradition of the covenant, and to the Chapter 2
Torah and the commandments, which are the great entrance to The Son (cif God) in Ashkenazi Forms cif Esotericism 194
the unification and amendment of God ... And this is the reason
why we have been bound by the bonds of worship and service of Chapter 3
God, by a link that cannot be untied at all neither exit from the Son as an IntellectuallEschatological Entity in Ecstatic Kabbalah 276
domain of the Most High. We have been destined to be His
nation and He is our God, and He shall never change and displace Chapter 4
His nation.' The Sexualized Son cif God in the Theosophical-Theurgical Kabbalah 377
R. Meir ibn Gabbai, (Avodat ha-Qodesh
Chapter 5
'Ben: when [the word occurs] alone it refers to Tiferet, and it is Christological and Non-Christological Sons cif God in the Italian
understood so in the Zohar and in Tiqqunei Zohar, in innumerable Renaissance and their Reverberations 507
places.'
R. Moses Cordovero, Pardes Rimmonim Chapter 6
The Son of God as a Righteous in I:Iasidism 531
'The son has always the nature of the father.'
The Great Maggid of Medziretch, 'Or Torah Concluding Remarks 585
' .......................................... The son Appendix: Enoch the Righteous, and was there a Cult cif
Restores the father.' EnochlMetatron in the Middle Ages? 645
Wallace Stephens
Bibliography 671
Index 697
Priface ix
Preface conceptual backgrounds, and thus to show that they were not reticent in
dealing with a variety of understandings of the hypostatic son. I hope that by
this survey and the various distinctions it suggests, not only the mystical
forms of sonship in J udaism may be better understood, but the concept of
sonship in religio'n in general will be enriched in some way too.
In many of the following chapters, discussions which have more
The following pages are a first attempt to address the different categories of methodological dimensions are found in my analyses, especially reflections
sonship in Jewish mystical literatures as a whole. My interest in the topic on problems relating to the transmission of religious themes and literatures
started when preparing a section of my doctoral thesis on Abraham Abulafia, from late antiquity to the Middle Ages. They are part of what I call a
in 1976, and since then I have collected pertinent material, which becomes panoramic approach which strives to take into consideration as many
here a full-fledged monograph. Many aspects of sonship have already been possible sources as possible in order to better understand the emergence or
succinctly analyzed, and sometimes only touched on in a series of studies on the surfacing of themes that belong to the constellation of ideas that describe
Judaism, more conspicuously in Alon Goshen-Gottstein's monograph on sonship.
God and Israel concerning early rabbinic literature, in Jon Levenson's study Finally, I will note that most of the present work was written during
of sonship and sacrifice in ancient Judaism and early Christianity, in Yair 2004. Since then I have shifted my interests in other directions, but I have
Lorberbaum's Image cif God, in Avraham Elqayam's analyses of Nathan of updated the content herein as much as possible.
Gaza, in several of Yehuda Liebes's studies and in my own on Jewish Moshe Idel,
mysticism. Nevertheless, when engaging the topic as recurring in Jewish 'Erev Rosh ha-Shanah 5768
mystical literatures as a whole it turned out to be much vaster than I Jerusalem, 2007
originally imagined, and an initial modest effort turned into a much broader
project.
Some of the necessary research and most of the writing were carried
out over a number of years, but in a more intense manner during a leave of
absence from the Hebrew University, when I served as Amado Professor of
Sefardi Studies at the department of History at UCLA, and at the Shalom
Hartman Institute of Advanced Studies in Judaica in 2004. The Charles
Young Research Library at UCLA has been extremely helpful. My warmest
thanks go to these institutions.
I have benefited from the conversations and remarks of several scholars
and friends. First and foremost Yehuda Liebes, as well as Adam Afterman,
Harold Bloom, Brian Copenhaver, Jonathan Garb, Moshe Halbertal, Mark
Hirshman, Israel Knohl, Yair Lorberbaum, David Myers, Shlomo Naeh,
Ishai Rosen-Zvi, Adiel Shremer, Guy G. Stroumsa, and Philip Wexler.
}beir help has only diminished any errors in the work, and those that
eventually remain are my own.
This book is an attempt to examine the different subcategories of the
wide category of sonship as found in Jewish mysticism. The aim of this book
is to offer neither a theology, systematic or not, nor a proposal to find a new
comprehensive clue to understanding Jewish mysticism, even less for a new
understanding of Judaism as a whole. Its scope is much more limited and
modest: to point out the many instances where Jewish thinkers, especially
the mystics among them, resorted to concepts of sonship and their
Abbreviations xi
Abbreviations Jud. Judges
JBL Journal for Biblical Literature
J er. Jeremiah
JJS Joumal ofJ ewish Studies
Jn John
Jos. Asen. Joseph and Asenath
1QH Hymns JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
4Q369 Prayer of Enosh JSQ Jewish Studies Quarterly
1 Chron. 1 Chronicles JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
2 Chron. 2 Chronicles JTS Journal for Theological Studies
2 Cor. 2 Corinthians JSJT Jernsalem Studies in Jewish 77lOUght
tEn. t Enoch Lk. Luke
2 En. 2 Enoch Malac. Malachi
3 En. 3 Enoch Mt. Matthew
1 Kgs 1 Kings Mk Mark
2 Kgs 2 Kings Neh. Nehemiah
Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers
1 Sam. 1 Samuel PAAJR Proceedings of the American Academy ofJ ewish Research
2 Sam. 2 Samuel Phil. Philippians
1 Tim. 1 Timothy PT Palestinian Talmud
Acts Acts Prov. Proverbs
AHDMLA Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du Moyen Age Ps./s Psalm/Psalms
AJS review Association ofJ ewish Studies Review Rev. Revelation
Apoc. Elijah Apocalypse of Elijah Rom. Romans
BT Babylonian Talmud Theod. Theodotus
Col. Colossians QS Qiryat Sefer
Dan. Daniel REJ Revue des etudes juives
Eccles. Ecclesiastes VI' Vetus Testamentum
Est. Esther Wis. Wisdom of Solomon
Exod. Exodus Zech. Zechariah
Ezek. Ezekiel
Ezra Ezra
Gal. Galatians
, Gos. Thom. Gospel of Thomas
\
lHab. Habakkuk
Hos. Hosea
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
JAOS Journal of American Oriental Society
Isa. Isaiah
Josh. Joshua
Jub. Book ofJ ubilees
Introduction
1. Open channels: On theophanic and apotheotic vectors in Judaism
The continuous existence of an open circuit between the divine and the
human worlds is part and parcel of most religious worldviews. With
movement between these worlds achieved either by humans ascending to
the divine realm or by divine intervention in the earthly world below, the
belief in such open channels is vital in sustaining an intense religious life.
Images of objects - buildings, ladders, columns, and pillars, clouds or cosmic
trees and, most often, altars, mountains and temples - as symbols for places
of communication with the divine permeate the mythology of many
religions, expressing the belief and animating the practices according to
which the channels between the worlds are held open. In instances where
I
more intellectualistic types of religion are concerned, the exchange between
the worlds is more a matter of two poles understood as intellects,
exchanging acts of cognition. Very rarely would religions operate with
assumptions of the existence of acoustic walls separating the supreme entities
from the lower ones, in an absolute manner.
The need to keep the cosmic channels open is sometimes grafted onto
another, more primal emotional urge: that of organic reproduction, or
procreation. I refer not only to the human propensity but to the divine one
as well, namely, the imagined desire of religious persons that the divine
realm itself should strive to reproduce and, by so doing, establish a sort of
relationship via a son or other sort of offipring with the lower creatures, by a
kind of theophany. At times, reproduction is effected through the imprint of
the image of the divine on some part of creation. One of the most obvious
examples of this form of reproduction is found in the first chapter of
Genesis, which describes the creation of man in the image and likeness of
God. This move is part of what can be called the theophanic vector.
Theophany may have a visual manifestation, or contain some form of verbal
proclamation or, as happens more often, consist in a combination of the
two.
The hypostatic Son of God can be conceived of as representing two of
these modes of revelation and mediation: a manifestation and a proclamation
of the Father's will or being. In principle, a son of the divine may fulfill a
variety of functions: sometimes he may play the role of creator of the world,
a cosmokrator or a pantokrator; he may be a revealer of divine truth, or a
messenger of the divine; or a door to the father, like the Philonic and
2 Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism Introduction
sometimes Gnostic concept of horos; or even a path to the divine, in whose anthropopathic, SInce it reflects the. philosopher's special interest in
image this son has been created, as in Christianity; he may constitute the seal depicting God in terms that reflect his own values.
or stamp of the divine; and last but not least, a redeemer sent by the divine However, just as God was sometimes imagined to reproduce Himself
father. In order to fulfill one or some of these functions, my assumption is in a cosmological and cosmogonical process, and by so doing to descend and
that some similarities between the Father and the Son are assumed on the produce the circuit described above, man too at times strove to join with
one hand, 'and between the Son of God and the recipients of the message or God, an urge that may be described as apotheotic. If the main narrative of
revelation on the other hand, a principle I shall describe as 'double sonship' the theophanic urge is cosmogonic (dealing with the creation of the world),
since in some cases the recipient is also conceived of to be a son of the Son. theogonic (describing the emergence of the deity) and theosophic (dealing
Those similarities, that define the connections between the three factors, with the inner structure of the divine realm), then the apotheotic urge is
will preoccupy us in an attempt to describe the concept of sonship. In a way concerned much more with rituals and mystical techniques designed to
this assumption can be described by the dictum 'as the father as the son'. ensure the mystic's ascent on high. It is the techniques of self-perfection
Thus, I assume that sonship in religion is not only a matter of mediation, and (rather than the unfolding of the divine realm and its perfection) that the
keeping the circuit between the worlds open, but also of imagining the ideal apotheotic vector elaborates. By achieving this ultimate goal, the mystic in
of human life, creating a paradigm to inspire a certain type of life. search of apotheosis may also serve as a sort of Son of God and thereby play a
Let me emphasize from the beginning that this theory of a double role in a theophanic event. Those travelling 'on high' in the divine realm
sonship should not be seen in terms of a static hierarchy, which only return with much hidden information which they subsequently disseme
subordinates the lower to the higher, but also as an invitation to the lower to nate, and this constitutes a kind of theophany. This anabatic-katabatic
ascend to the higher. In the main forms of double sonship to be discussed structure is, in my opinion, one of the most important models in the history
below, it is not only the resemblance of the lower to the higher that is of religion, especially as far as it can be the explanation for the manner in
emphasized, but also the possibility of sharing some essence either because of which religions emerge.
a primordial affinity, or because of the development of the lower entity, Let me emphasize that the following discussions relating to the
which strives to assimilate to the higher. Thus to become a son is not only to concepts of the Son of God in Jewish mystical literatures do not assume that
be subordinated to the higher but to become close to it or, ideally, to unite this concept is fundamentally a Christological one, or that its appearances in
with it, thus transcending one form of sonship for another, higher one. Or, various types of Jewish mysticism stem automatically from Christianity.
to formulate it in a simpler manner, the human son aspires to assimilate Some form of implicit divine sonship is attributed to certain figures in the
himself as much as possible with the higher son, and thus become a Son of Hebrew Bible, as in Ps. 2.7, 72.2 and Isa. 9.5, or in Deut. 14.1. In the
God himself Hebrew Bible, concepts of royal sonship and of national sonship have been
To be sure, the specific nature of the open circuit depends on the transposed to visions of hyothesia in early Christianity, namely Jesus's sonship
character of God in the religious system and consequently, on the nature of of God (or sometimes his adoption) and the sonship of the believing
the offspring. In archaic religiosity, for example, the anthropomorphic mode Christians. However, unlike the view of the Christian thinkers, who
is dominant, and therefore descriptions of God, of the Son and of humans understood the new forms of sonship as superseding the older ones, as part
accentuate the morphe, the external form and its manifestations, through of the Verus Israel claim, the Jews did not conceive those older forms of
characteristics such as beauty, size, power, face, and speech. In the sonship as obsolete. Thus, two main forms of sonship have competed in
philosophers' descriptions however, God is sometimes characterized as an various religious writings over the generations. However, while the primary
intellect, while the Son of God, the perfected man, is imagined as Sources dealing with the concepts of sonship in the Hebrew Bible, in pagan
embodying human intellect. In such cases, the term eidos - in the way in sources in late antiquity, and even more so in the Greek Bible, have been
which the Greek philosophers used the term - is used, rather than morphe. In analyzed time and again in much detail by a long series of scholars, the post
descriptions that emphasize man as active, with a body conceived of as biblical Jewish discussions of this topic remain to this day at the margin of
performing religious activities, God too is imagined as both anthropo scholarship concerning the later forms of Judaism. The extent of the
morphic and dynamic. Even when God and his mode of mediation are phenomenon of sonship of God in these sources, their basic contours and
described in philosophical terms accentuating the importance of the their main categories, seem to be dealt with in a concentrated manner here
intellect, the basic urge that gave rise to the conception is still for the first time. The disproportion between the huge investment of
4 Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism Introduction 5
scholarship in pre-ChristianJewish documents, or in those contemporary to Jewish mystIcIsm and, from the phehomenological point of view,
nascent Christianity, like the Qumran literature, on the one hand, and the homogenous understandings of its contents that are basically conc~rned
post-biblical documents, especially the medieval ones, on the other hand, is with theosophies, and are either represented in the conceptualization of
conspicuous, and has much to do with the search for the sources of Gershom Scholem and his school on the one hand, or in simplistic historicist
Christianity. Here, we are not concerned with this issue, but with approaches that anchor specific developments beyond what the evidence
conceptuai developments that primarily took place from the early Middle shows in particular circumstances, on the other.
Ages, most predominandy in the writings of Jewish mystics. By ascribing importance to these two vectors, my working hypothesis
Eventually, in some forms of post-biblical Jewish literature, new is not that the history of Jewish mysticism is a closed development that
conceptual understandings of divine sonship have been advanced over the ignores the possible impact of the spiritual environments in which Jews
centuries in many cases, most of which will concern us in this study. lived. On the contrary: both the theophanic and the apotheotic vectors
Though no one should exclude the likely possibility of a lateral Christian adopted much, both terminologically and conceptually, from encounters
impact in some of these cases, to be discussed in the following chapters, I with majority and sometimes also minority cultures. It is not simply a matter
assume that additionally many non-Christological forms of sonship of God of drawing from such cultures isolated themes or disparate concepts but,
were found in late antiquity. Some of them found expression in the Hebrew rather, also a question of drawing much more comprehensive structures of
Bible, and a Jewish author could, at least in principle, have had access to thought.2 These two vectors reflect adopted and adapted material from a
them. In any case, as we shall see in Chapter 5, even Christian thinkers variety of sources over centuries, and their special religious concern caused
distinguished rather explicidy between their specific theology of the Son as them to change, though some of their elements remain nevertheless
identical with God, and the different pagan categories of sonship. In my recognizable both terminologically and conceptually after long periods of
opinion, Christianity is not so much the religion of the Son, but rather that development. In away, I opt for a version of long duree in matters of
of the one and ultimate incarnate Son, while in some forms ofJ udaism more traditional forms of mystical literatures. This is a matter of understanding not
democratic conceptions of sonship are prevalent, which rarely include the only the vitality of religious traditions, traditions which include elements
element of divine embodiment, and almost never of incarnation as we shall transmitted orally over long periods of time, but also the relative
see below in this Introduction. To be sure, in Christianity it is also possible cohesiveness of these cultures and the geographical areas that hosted many
to find discussions of sonship that are not related to the hypostatic son, as in of the developments to be addressed below. Many of the traditions,
the case of I Jn 3.2-3. Indeed this declaration has been chosen as the motto transitions, developments, and tensions took place in what was described by
to one of W.R. Inge's books, entided Christian Mysticism, indirecdy Fernand Braudel as the Mediterranean World, and the topic under scrutiny
pointing to the affinity between sonship and mysticism. here, sonship, either human or hypostatic, was shared by influential
The present study is to be seen as part of a broader scholarly project civilizations, like the Mesopotamian, the Egyptian, the Roman, the Jewish
which attempts to explain various important developments in the history of and the Christian ones. When seen from a distance, namely when compared
Jewish mysticism as an ongoing competition and synthesis between two with Chinese, Japanese or Hindu traditions, the big differences between
main vectors: the apotheotic and the theophanic. The former represents the them appear to be much less crucial than imagined beforehand.
impulses of a few elite individuals to transcend the human mortal situation To return to the two religious vectors described above. In previous
through a process of theosis, by ascending on high, to be transformed into a publications I have had the opportunity to describe them succincdy.3 Those
more lasting entity, an angel or God. In contrast to this upward aspiration is short expositions, the present description and I hope a future analysis4 aspire
the theophanic vector, which stands for the revelation of the divine in a to treat various developments affecting the entire realm of Jewish mystical
direct manner or via mediating hierarchies. I thereby suggest a dynamic traditions as expressing, inter alia, certain major tendencies, thereby
approach to the history ofJ ewish mysticism, one that assumes a multiplicity transcending the compartmentalization of the different mystical schools
of separate developments and cross-currents, and recognizes the importance conceived by scholars as self-sufficient or solely influenced by immediate
of tensions, frictions, even sharp antagonisms and, more rarely, syntheses cultural or religious circumstances. More complex approaches requiring the
between these vectors, rather than a theological approach that finds the creation of a more comprehensive scheme may help foster a better
defining moments of religion or mysticism in static concepts. In so doing, I understanding of some of the main developments in Jewish mysticism, while
. attempt to avoid subscribing to extreme forms of unilinear histories of
6 Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism Introduction
the more historicistic approach, which may at times clarify specific details, is also the case with the divine name: in some instances it serves as a
may supplement an understanding of various other developments. revelation of something in the nature of God, while in others it is u~ed as
The apotheotic vector is totally marginal in the Hebrew Bible and it part of a technique intended to facilitate an apotheotic experience.
appears solely in the brief descriptions of the ascent to heaven by Enoch and Significantly, angels played an even more vital role in both vectors.
Elijah.5 The Hebrew Bible as a whole represents the theophanic vector in The emergence of an elaborated angelology in the apocalyptic, apocryphal
which G~d reveals Himself in history and in the specificity of rituals He and Qumranic literatures is well known. So too is its proliferation in the
dictates. It is God's will and His imprint on the commandments and history various types of Gnostic literature, which adopted certain Jewish
that constitute a prime value dominating the worldview of the Sacred angelological elements. In Heikhalot literature this development is even
Scriptures. Human will is supposed to subordinate itself and become as more conspicuous, and it impacted on many later developments in Judaism.
consonant as possible with the divine will. Even the few apotheotic Important here is the centrality of the linguistic understanding of the nature
moments described above in the Bible are presented as initiated by God, of angels, which informs some discussions found in this literature.7 Rabbinic
rather than as an initiative of the two biblical figures. However, ancient literature, reticent in general insofar as matters of angels are concerned, did
material that is related to the apotheotic vector and omitted from the not explicitly oppose this development. Jewish magical literature, which is
canonical writings, like the various Enochic materials, started to move more difficult to date in a precise manner, contributed significantly to the
toward the center of Jewish literature during the inter-testamental period, appropriation of new names and concepts.
contributing substantially to the emergence of the apotheotic elements in While the traditions dealing with these various topics differ, they
nascent Christianity. The special status of the Son of Man, the Son of God, overlap and even converge from time to time in specific writings. No one
the Great Angel, Adam, the Anthropos, Glory, the divine Wisdom or Jesus, single development is presupposed in the following pages, nor do I
as supernal beings, sometimes understood as hypostatic entities, is in some presuppose the preponderance of one development over others. However I
cases related to theories dealing with ascensions on high in which such would like to survey one particular development, among others, that served
figures attained a special divine status. Especially important in this context as the background for medieval discussions that I address in the following
are various discussions found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which scholars have chapters. Late antiquity Judaism - its nature full of cross-currents;
detected apotheotic elements that may parallel themes already identified in multiform, as Robert Kraft put it; or consisting of 'Judaisms' as Jacob
the earliest strata of Enochic literature. Thus the oldest presumed Enochic Neusner would say - as well as Jewish-Christianity, Gnosticism and early
documents - namely the Ethiopian Enoch, 1 Enoch, the Aramaic remnants Christianity preserved a number of traditions that are far from representing a
of part of the book at Qumran and various Dead Sea discussions, certain systematic articulation or monolithic view. As the occurrence of each of the
Christian documents, and various passages in Heikhalot literature - issues above in ancient Judaism and late antiquity is treated in numerous
represent the initial stages of the ascent of the apotheotic vector, which other studies, it would be difficult to mention all of the relevant discussions,
grew over time and was elaborated in certain Jewish circles from the Middle yet those that make the most important contributions to the present
Ages up to eighteenth-century Basidism, while in Christianity they declined endeavor are mentioned in the following pages and in the footnotes.
after the triumph of the theory of the apotheosis of Jesus. However, I would like to emphasize that it is not my intention to claim that
Certain developments in matters of theophany are grafted on another Jewish sources had a binitarian or ditheistic approach as their central
interesting development in post-biblical J udaism: the growing importance of theology, since I assume that ancient Judaism was, theologically speaking,
median entities in the religious worldviews that emerged after late much less monolithic than the theological approach that many scholars in
antiquity.6 The median structures, simple or more complex, served both the field assume. My approach in general is that in matters of spirit and belief
the theophanic and the apotheotic vectors. The former makes use of median there is hardly any agreement among individuals considering these matters
realms as modes of revelation, while the latter resorts to techniques in order through the centuries, and sweeping statements about theories or theologies
to reach some form of identification between the aspirant and median that were embraced unanimously even in a specific culture may often be
structure. For example, the concept of the supernal man or the divine Son misleading.
could invite a more theophanic understanding, namely that His perceptions
serve as modes of divine revelation to humans. However in other cases,
forms of ascent toward and adherence to those beings are emphasized. This
8 Ben: Sonship and jewish Mysticism Introduction 9
2. Literary corpora and their historical, linguistic and conceptual Abner ofBurgos, alias Alfonso da Valladolid, a convert to Christianity, who
concatenations combined Kabbalah and philosophy in his polemical exchanges with R.
[saac Pulgar.
The two main religious vectors mentioned above are investigated here
Two of the literary corpora most pertinent to this discussion, the Dead
insofar as they are found in the specific cultures reflected in mystical
Sea scrolls and the Heikhalot, are part of complex religious phenomena that,
literatures 'in Judaism, to be understood in their traditional and other
each in its unique way, considered itself to be the paramount expression of
complex intellectual contexts. The main documentation is found in texts,
Judaism. While the latter has been accepted as such in many Jewish circles,
which are sometimes part oflarger bodies of literatures (called corpora) that
the former has been marginalized conceptually and has virtually disappeared
are the major tradents of this culture. The better the literary documentation,
sociologically. The Gnostic writings of Nag Hammadi, which reveal some
the more accurate they make possible the picture of a culture. At the same
anti-Jewish views, nevertheless supplied additional material in which
time, the more variegated the tools used to interrogate these bodies of
scholars began to discover more and more affinities with ancient Jewish
literature, the richer our understanding of them will be. While major
theologoumena.8 Recent studies have been published dealing with the
changes in scholarship take place only rarely, new methods of interrogation
affinities between other corpora, like Samaritan and Mandaean literatures,
no doubt trigger significant turns in scholarly thought. Yet more important
and Jewish esoteric literature.9
for the development of scholarship are, in my opinion, changes that emerge
In addition to these corpora, the renewal of interest in ancient Jewish
from the discovery of a massive new literary corpora. In the last 50 years, the
Christian literature became more prominent in scholarship, as revealed by
discovery of three main literary corpora has enriched scholarship dealing
the writings of Joachim Schoeps, Jean Danielou, Marcel Simon, Shlomo
with late antiquity Judaism and early Christianity. Two of these, namely the
Pines, Gilles Quispel and Larry W. Hurtado.Io Especially important for the
Dead Sea (Qumran) scrolls and the Nag Hammadi library, were made
following discussion are the writings of the latter two scholars, who where
available gradually and only since the late 19 50S, after they were first
interested in aspects ofJewish esoterica found in the literature they analyzed.
recovered from oblivion by the original comprehensive surveys. Though
Furtheml0re, a strong interest in apocalyptic and pseudepigraphic literature
scholars knew of some of the content of these bodies of literature prior to
by Jewish authors in the inter-testamental period is exemplified in the
that period - either because of the Damascus Covenant or quotes from
studies of Michael Stone, John Collins, Martha Himmelfarb, James
Gnostic authors found in Patristic literature - the sheer quantity of new
VanderKam, Andrei Orlov, James Kugel, and Hindi Najman, among
material discovered caused a qualitative leap in understanding. The third and
many others. Through these bodies of literature, visions of Judaism and of
later corpus, the Heikhalot literature, was introduced into scholars' circles
the meaning of Jewish figures emerged that differ from both biblical and
earlier due to the publication of studies by Adolph J ellinek in the nineteenth
rabbinic literature. Especially significant is the cardinal role that has been
century, and by Hugo Odeberg in the twentieth century, and especially due
played by a variety of angels, biblical heroes and other mediators in the
to the insightful analyses of Gershom Scholem. Yet a new impetus was
general economy of such writings. At this time, the study ofJ ewish esoterica
created through the studies of a younger generation of scholars like Ithamar
is conducted in a comparative manner, which takes into consideration
Gruenwald, Peter Schafer, David Halperin, Michael Swartz, Martin Cohen,
similar elements that are found in the literature mentioned above, as well as
Yehuda Liebes, Philip S. Alexander, and Rachel Elior, among many others.
in that of Philo of Alexandria. Though scholars are reluctant to draw
Furthemlore, the ongoing development of scholarship dealing with the
material from different corpora in a single more comprehensive analysis,
magical literatures in late antiquity may contribute to a much more
such a cautious approach is at times excessive, and actually impedes the
variegated understanding of the broader phenomenon ofJ udaism. Especially
eme~gence of a better understanding of developments in late antiquity
interesting is the more recent surfacing of a large number of magical bowls
JudaIsm and, as I claim below, of various esoteric forms of Judaism in the
dating from the fifth and sixth century, which have been investigated mainly
Mid~e ~ges. This reluctance is the reason why, despite immense scholarly
by Shaul Shaked. At the same time, investigations of the Jewish polemical
contnbutlOns to the understanding of late antiquity Jewish esoterica, little
literature found in David Berger's The jewish-Christian Debate and Daniel
has changed in research dealing with the sources of the various fOm1s of
Lasker's jewish Philosophical Polemics allow for comparison between various
medieval Jewish esotericism. It could also be said that it is the reason why
views of sonship in Jewish medieval philosophy and those found in Jewish
scholars oflate antiquity did not take an interest in medieval material, driven
mystical literatures. I shall nevertheless resort in Chapter 3 to the views of
as they were by a strong historicistic tendency that is still obvious in the