Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
Accounting for the Commandments in Medieval Judaism
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2021) 58–79
Keywords:
Isaac,
;
Ibn Sahula, Meir
;
Sacrifice Judaism
;
Cabala History To 1300
;
Mysticism Judaism
Abstract:
In this study I analyze three recensions of an early kabbalistic explanation of temple sacrifice. Two of these recensions have already been published, and I publish the third here for the first time, on the basis of a number of manuscripts. I discuss both the relationship between the recensions and the authorship of the text. While in one of the recensions the text is attributed to Isaac the Blind (ca. 1160–1235), I argue that it was more likely composed by a member of his circle. Some of the differences between the recensions may be the result of one kabbalist in Isaac’s circle reworking the work of another, or one kabbalist producing multiple versions of the same text, both common practices in Isaac’s circle. I also discuss the significance and ramifications of the view espoused by all of the recensions that one who offers a sacrifice undergoes a mystical ascent, which takes the form of a simulated death. I conclude that the very fact that sacrifice was a rite no longer practiced by Jews in the thirteenth century made it a perfect site for kabbalists in Isaac’s circle to project their deepest mystical ideal most openly.
DOI:
10.1163/9789004460942_005
URL:
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