The Books of Contemplation

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The Books of Contemplation
Medieval Jewish Mystical Sources

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Mark Verman - Author

SUNY series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion

N/A
Hardcover - 282 pages

Release Date: February 1992

ISBN10: 0-7914-0719-5
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-0719-6

Price: $32.95
Paperback - 282 pages

Release Date: February 1992

ISBN10: 0-7914-0720-9
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-0720-2

Available as a Google eBook for other eReaders and tablet devices. Click icon below...

Summary

The earliest medieval Jewish mystical writings, or kabbalah, date from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. This is the first book to focus on the most prodigious group active at that time--the 'Circle of Contemplation'.

The 'Circle of Contemplation' generated a mystical theology that differs radically from mainstream kabbalistic theosophy. Two of this group's penetrating speculations on God and the origins of the universe are The Book of Contemplation and The Fountain of Wisdom. A meticulous and systematic study of these writings forms the core of this book.

Verman discovered that the 'Circle of Contemplation' produced a series of distinct treatises, each entitled The Book of Contemplation and attributed to the same fictitious author. These treatises, embodying one of the most intriguing puzzles of medieval literature, are included here.

The author concludes that these writings were a product of thirteenth-century Spain, not France, as claimed by Gershom Scholem. His conclusion engendered a critical evaluation of the premises of Scholem's historiography of early medieval Jewish mysticism.

Mark Verman is Jay Phillips
Chair in Jewish Studies at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction to The Book of Contemplation, The Fountain of Wisdom, and The Book of Unity
• Jewish Prophecy and Mysticism
• Historical Overview
• Medieval Jewish Mysticism in Western Europe
• Tradition, Esotericism, and Pseudepigraphy

2. The Books of Contemplation and The Fountain of Wisdom
• Symbols Used in the Apparatus
• Contemplation-Short
• The Fountain of Wisdom
• Contemplation-Long
• Contemplation-Thirteen Powers
• Contemplation-Standard
• I am R. Hammai
• The Book of Unity of R. Hammai

3. Cosmological Theories of the "Circle of Contemplation"
• The Cosmology of The Books of Contemplation
• The Cosmogony of The Fountain of Wisdom

4. Historical Dimensions
• Scholem's Historiography of Early Kabbalah
• Scholem's Historiography and R. Isaac Cohen's Legends
• The "Circle of Contemplation"
• Linguistic Evidence

5. Historical Connections
• R. Azriel and The Books of Contemplation
• The Hasidei 'Ashkenaz and the "Circle"
• R. Meshullam the Zadokite

Appendix I The Book of Contemplation's Subtexts
3:1 Midrash of R. Simon the Righteous
3:2 Commentary on the Thirteen Attributes
3:3 Thirteen Powers
3:4 The Secret of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
3:5 Pseudo-Rabad's Twelve Attributes
4:1 Contemplation-Burgos
4:2 Contemplation-J.T.S. 1884
4:3 Contemplation-Standard/Inner Attributes
4:4 Contemplation-Standard/Magic
4:5 R. Hasdai's Book of Contemplation

Appendix II Textual Relationships

Selected Bibliography

Index

Related Subjects

Jewish Studies

21841/23135(WDE//)

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