The Emergence of the Kabbalah

Early Sefirotic Theosophy as a Response to Contemporary Theological Challenges

Bibliographic Data

ID11573167
AuthorsTzahi Wei (0000-0002-6601-6334, Department of Literature, Language, and the Arts, The Open University of Israel Ra’anana Israel, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume69
Issue5-6
Pages433-459
Publication date2022-02-18
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNumen (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0029-5973 • E-ISSN: 1568-5276
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685276-12341646
OpenAlexW4213057287
LanguageEN
References cited13

This study offers a fresh view on one of the fundamental problems concerning the history of Jewish thought and religious discourse, namely, the cause for the sudden appearance of the Kabbalistic theosophy of the sefirot in the turn of the 13th century. Based on testimonies of 13th-century Kabbalistic and non-Kabbalistic authors, I show that the wide reception and rapid development of the sefirotic system in this period were due to the fact that it provided theological solutions to two acute difficulties with which contemporary believers and theologians struggled: first, rejection of the notion of divine providence over individuals, and second, enhancement of the Jewish worship of divine mediators

History of religions · Judaism · Kabbalah · Theology · Theosophy · Worship · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Medicine · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies

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