Ursprung und Anfänge der Kabbala (review)

170 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY time we eagerly look forward to the appearance of Volume II (Metaphysics of S[*fism) and Volume III (Safavid Renaissance and subsequent developments) of the Histoire de la Philosophie Islamique, which presents such an original vision of Islamic thought in history. JACQUES WAARDENBURG University of California, Los Angeles Ursprung und An]iinge der Kabbala. By G. Scholem. (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1962. Pp. viii [if + 434. = Stadia Judaica, III. DM 48.--) Ursprung und An]iinge der Kabbala is a reworking of Professor Scholem's Hebrew study, Reshit ha-Qabbalah, which appeared in 1948. An English translation is also planned (cf. Scholem's On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, p. 97). To assess the book properly, one should control all of Jewish mystical literature, Jewish aggadic literature, Jewish philosophic literature, gnosticism, and the history of Neo-Platonism. Few readers or reviewers will be able to match the author in the breadth of his knowledge, and the present reviewer does not claim to. Therefore I shall not enter on a detailed analysis of the book, but restrict myself to outlining Scholem's general thesis and then--perhaps at the risk of impertinence--to raising a few questions. Scholem's thesis may be placed in better perspective by the addition of a few words concerning his views on a prior stage of Jewish mystical speculation. Some sort of mystical doctrine is known to have been current among the Jews in Mishnaic times, but all that the Mishnah (second and third centuries) is willing to say about the doctrine is that it should not be taught publicly. In fact, if the key text (Hagigah, II:l) is taken literally, the more secret part of that doctrine should not be taught at all, and may only be studied by a single individual when alone. Other talmudic sources, somewhat later than the Mishnah, give nothing more than a few vague hints concerning this ultra-secret doctrine. However, there are also extant a number of texts which, in contrast to the Talmudic sources just mentioned, are extremely explicit. These texts, generally thought by scholars to be centuries later than the Talmud, deal with the celestial realms and the adventures of certain select souls as they passed through those realms on their way to an anthropomorphic vision of God. The divine "palaces" are one of the central themes in the texts, and most of them have the term "palace" in their titles, so that we may call this type of speculation "palace" mysticism. Quite a different type of doctrine is covered by the term "cabala" in the strict sense. The cabala, which appeared in Southern France and in Spain from the twelfth century onward, is not particularly concerned with the celestial regions below God, but rather analyzes the hypostases or aspects (or attributes or powers) of the deity Himself, and describes how they have emanated from, and are related to one another (cf. Ursprung,p. 33). Scholem has attempted to run a thread through the unknown early rabbinic doctrine, the "palace" texts, and the cabala. In a brief, but extremely important study (Jewish Gnosticism , Mer~abah Mysticism, and the Tatmudic Tradition [New York: 1960]), he argued that the "palace" mysticism is essentially identical with mystical doctrines taught by the rabbis as early as the third century, his argument being based on a very delicate and perspicacious analysis of the few hints that have been preserved in the rabbinic sources. Scholem also unearthed and analyzed certain passages in the early rabbinic and "palace" texts, to buttress the position--not new--that gnostic elements are to be found in the rabbinic writings; in Scholem's view these elements reflect "fundamental" gnostic teachings (cf. Ursprung, pp. 18-19). In Ursprung und Anfiinge der Kabbala, Scholem traces the thread a step further. Here he discusses four types of early cabala (in the strict sense): an enigmatic text, entitled Bahir, which appeared in Europe before 1200 and which ostensibly cites its material in the names of various rabbis of the talmudic period; a circle of cabalists centering around one Isaac the Blind, the scion of an eminent rabbinic family in Southern France for whom Scholem infers the dates 1165...