Description
Book SynopsisTracing the rise of esotericism and its function in medieval Jewish thought, this book builds conceptual-philosophical force to culminate in a phenomenological taxonomy of esotericism and its paradoxes. It discusses about esoteric imagination.
Trade Review"Halbertal explains complex issues clearly and gracefully, moving smoothly from dense kabbalistic passages to abstruse texts on medieval philosophy in a way that allows the unspecialized reader to follow his train of thought without plumbing the depths of each theological system to which he refers."--Jewish Book World "This concise and brilliant book ... provides great insight into individual thinkers like Ibn Ezra, whose astrological beliefs are frequently overlooked by his readers, and Rambam, whose explicit esotericism has perplexed readers for centuries... A translation of the 2001 Hebrew edition, this very scholarly yet highly readable work will be recognized as a masterful work for many years to come."--Tradition "Halbertal's book outlines a challenging theory in the intellectual history of Jewish creativity. He does not rely on new material but offers a superb interpretation of available material. This book undoubtedly represents a major contribution to the discourse on the character and the varieties of ancient and medieval Jewish thought."--Dov Schwartz, Journal of Religion
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix A Note on Editions Used xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Paradox of Esotericism: "And Not on the Chariot Alone" 8 Chapter 2: The Hidden and the Sublime: Vision and Restriction in the Bible and in Talmudic Literature 13 Chapter 3: The Ethics of Gazing: The Attitude of Early Jewish Mysticism Toward Seeing the Chariot 18 Chapter 4: Concealment and Power: Magic and Esotericism in the Hekhalot Literature 28 Chapter 5: Esotericism and Commentary: Ibn Ezra and the Exegetical Layer 34 Chapter 6: Concealment and Heresy: Astrology and the Secret of the Torah 44 Chapter 7: Double Language and the Divided Public in Guide of the Perplexed 49 Chapter 8: The Breaching of the Limits of the Esoteric: Concealment and Disclosure in Maimonidean Esotericism 60 Chapter 9: From Transmission to Writing: Hinting, Leaking, and Orthodoxy in Early Kabbalah 69 Chapter 10: Open Knowledge and Closed Knowledge: The Kabbalists of Gerona-Rabbi Azriel and Rabbi Ya'akov bar Sheshet 77 Chapter 11: Tradition, Closed Knowledge, and the Esoteric: Secrecy and Hinting in Nahmanides' Kabbalah 83 Chapter 12: From Tradition to Literature: Shem Tov Ibn Gaon and the Critique of Kabbalistic Literature 93 Chapter 13: "The Widening of the Apertures of the Showpiece": Shmuel Ibn Tibon and the End of the Era of Esotericism 105 Chapter 14: Esotericism, Sermons, and Curricula: Ya'akov Anatoli and the Dissemination of the Secret 114 Chapter 15: The Ambivalence of Secrecy: The Dispute over Philosophy in the Early Fourteenth Century 120 Chapter 16: Esotericism, Discontent, and Co-Existence 135 Chapter 17: Taxonomy and Paradoxes of Esotericism: Conceptual Conclusion 142 Notes 169 Index 191
