The Books of Contemplation: Medieval Jewish Mystical Sources

2. THE BOOKS OF CONTEMPLATION AND THE FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM

2 THE BOOKS OF CONTEMPLATION AND THE FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM The following texts represent the corpus of writings referred to in the previous chapter as The Books ofContemplation. Most ofthese works have never been published, and none have been treated critically. Some have been preserved in unique manuscripts, whereas others have a rich scribal heritage. Where feasible, both a Hebrew edition as well as an English translation will be offered. The Hebrew edition will present variant readings found in the different manuscripts. Explanatory notes accompany the translations. In order to facilitate subsequent discussion, a translation of The Fountain of Wisdom is also provided. The versions of Contemplation can be arranged in four major groups, under the rubric of four discrete recensions. The so-called Contemplation-Short (text no. 1) represents the proto-text of Contemplation . It is followed by a translation ofFountain, the other seminal treatise of the "Circle." Afterwards, there is Contemplation -Long, the second recension. Contemplation-Thirteen Powers, represents the third major recension. It is followed by the fourth recension, Contemplation-Standard, which is a composite of the earlier recensions and offers new material. Two short texts complete the corpus of material. The first concludes, "I am R. Hammai" and is an interesting abridgment of the introduction to Contemplation-Short. Finally, there is R. Hammai's Book of Unity, which offers a radical synthesis of Contemplation and Fountain. In Appendix I, ten subtexts of the third and fourth recensions will be presented. The actual relationship between the recensions and their subtexts will be discussed in Appendix II. In general, however, the arrangement ofthese works follows their conjectured, chronological order. Accordingly, it is assumed that Contemplation-Short is the progenitor of The Books of Contemplation, whereas Contemplation -Standard, so named because it is the most common version, represents the final redaction. The relationship between The Books 31 32 The Books of Contemplation of Contemplation and Fountain is also crucial. In Appendix II, evidence will be presented to support the contention that Contemplation-Short preceded and influenced Fountain. Furthermore , the impact of Fountain upon the subsequent recensions of The Books ofContemplation is readily discernible. Many of the following Hebrew editions are diplomatic presentations of the treatises; namely, the manuscript deemed to be the single best witness of a given text was chosen to represent that work. In the apparatus, variants from the other manuscripts are presented. The advantage of such a procedure is that it is based on a textual reality. It thereby offers a version of a work that is extant and not simply the product of scholarly intuition-no matter how alluring it is to attempt textual re-creations. I Occasionally, it was necessary to deviate from this procedure, when no single manuscript of a work was judged to be adequate on its own. Also, a diplomatic edition of Contemplation-Standard has already been published. Accordingly, an eclectic edition seemed a desirable contribution in this case. The translations, however, are eclectic and based on the best readings, whatever their source. SYMBOLS USED IN THE APPARATUS ( ) = an omission = an addition = read instead CONTEMPLATION-SHORT This treatise has been preserved in five manuscripts: Bodleian 1947, ff. 8b-l0a, designated in the apparatus by ::1; Guenzburg 283, ff. 63b-64a, designated by l; Mousayeff 63, f. 13a-13b, designated by r.3; Jewish Theological Seminary ofAmerica 1805, ff. 49-50b, designated by); and Florence 44: 14, ff. 171-172, designated by !l. These five manuscripts are quite consistent, thereby indicating that the text is 1. I am indebted to Moshe Bar-Asher for this basic approach to textual editing. Mark Verman 33 in a relatively good state of preservation. The manuscripts can be divided into two major families. Mousayeff and J.T.S. form one group, with J.T.S. being a later derivative copy. Bodleian and Guenzburg constitute another family, with Guenzburg occasionally exhibiting unusual and unique readings. Florence vacillates between the two families and was evidently derived from both. The transcription that follows is based on Mousayeff 63, which was deemed to be the single best witness.2 Although it has suffered some damage, its lacunae were readily emended through comparison with the other manuscripts, especially J.T.S. 1805. It should also be noted that J.T.S. 1805 is especially important in that it is the only codex that presents more than one recension of The Book oj Contemplation. The earliest citations from Contemplation-Short...