Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Jewish Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
72,2 (2021) 327-348
Keywords:
Isaac,
;
Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi,
;
Nahmanides,
;
Cabala History 13th century
;
Jews History 13th century
;
Sefirot (Cabala)
Abstract:
In 1934 Gershom Scholem published a very important letter that Isaac the Blind wrote to Nahmanides and Jonah Gerondi in the 1230s. The common assumption in the scholarship was that the letter addresses two classical problems at the heart of Kabbalistic literature: the problem of esotericism versus exotericism and the issue of the heretical potential of sefirotic lore. I suggest a different reading, which takes into account sociological and theological events that occurred during the 1230s. According to my argument, the first part of the letter refers to an accusation of impurity in Jonah Gerondi’s family. The second part of the letter refers to the worship of mediators, which was associated with a medieval binitarian belief, was not sefirotic and was widespread in that area.
DOI:
10.18647/3506/jjs-2021
URL:
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