Les derniers kabbalistes d'Allemagne / The Last Kabbalists in Germany

In this short article the author tried to trace the history of the last kabbalists of Germany. It is well known that Germany was inhabited by many kabbalists in the Middle Ages, even if these were not as numerous as they were in Spain, for example. The idea is that the enlightenment explains the total absence of kabbalistic mysticism in Germany at the eve of the XVII-XVIIIth centuries. The new spirit that invaded Europe at the time made it impossible for kabbalists to survive as such in a thouroughly philosophic surrounding. We find however some familles of kabbalists that tried to sustain the mystic tradition, but they were living almost hidden. The major fact is that those who devoted themselves to kabbalah were also attracted by the zionist idea. So the revival of the Jewish State in the holy land was attached to the most ancient and genuine part of Jewish spirit

Ancient history · Art · Enlightenment · Jewish mysticism · Judaism · Kabbalah · Middle Ages · Mysticism · Theology · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Philosophy · Walter Benjamin Studies Compilation