The Text and Context of the Zohar Sulzbach Edition

The Zohar, a compilation of Kabbalistic texts which were written in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, was bestowed an authoritative and sacred status in many Jewish communities. Together with its central role in Jewish culture, the Zohar stimulated considerable interest in Christian Kabbalistic and Western esoteric circles. In recent years, a newly awakened interest in the Kabbalah and the Zohar has been evident in many circles both in Israel and all over the world. The interest in the Zohar stimulated its translation into different languages, each created according to different motivations and within diverse theological and ideological frameworks. This article offers a review of the history of translations of the Zohar and discusses the historical contexts and ideological frameworks in which these were created.

Volume 4 of Correspondences

2016

This essay is supplemented by “Notes on the Study of Later Kabbalah in English,” which contains a bibliography covering Lurianic kabbalah. "Which Lurianic Kabbalah?" should be considered a work in progress and a call for more in-depth research.

CONTENTS: - INTRODUCTION & OUTLINE OF STANDARD LITERATURE - FOUR HISTORIANS OF CHRISTIAN CABALA (Waite, Blau, Yates, Beitchman) - CHRISTIAN INTERPRETERS OF KABBALAH - SOME SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PRINTED WORKS ON CHRISTIAN CABALA - THE CONTENTS OF KABBALA DENUDATA - NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOOKS ON KABBALAH - THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN - TWENTIETH-CENTURY BOOKS ON KABBALAH/CABALA/QABALAH

Addendum A: Items of Interest: books, chapters, and articles concerning the influence of kabbalah on Christian thought, i.e., Christian Kabbalah, the Hermetic-Cabalist tradition, the Western Esoteric tradition, Hermetic Kabbalah, etc. Addendum B: Reviews: Sheila Spector’s “Wonders Divine” and “Glorious Incomprehensible,” Robert Wang’s Rape of Jewish Mysticism by Christian Theologians, Giacomo Corazzol’s edition of Menahem Recanati – Commentary on the Daily Prayers, and Annett Martini’s edition of Yosef Giqatilla – The Book of Punctuation.

In the early twentieth century, certain elements of the Kabbalah were transformed by being given new interpretations and uses in the context of what I term the “programmatic syncretism” of modern, fin de siècle occultism. In so doing I focus specifically on one text by Aleister Crowley, which I consider the full-blown example of the phenomenon in question. The text demonstrates how the occultists' Kabbalah functions first and foremost as a classificatory tool and a mnemonic system, mainly for practical use in magical rituals. That use is part of a reinterpretation of the Kabbalah in the modern occult revival, mainly from Eliphas Levi through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, culminating in the works of Aleister Crowley. It is my intention that this focus will not only shed light on a process of reinterpretation peculiar to fin de siècle occultism, but also on the processes characteristic of religious innovation in the modern age in general.

The Christian Kabbalah and Jewish Universalism // От Библии до постмодерна. Статьи по истории еврейской культуры. М.: Книжники; Текст, 2009. С. 150-176.