I
Fourth Lecture
ABRAHAM ABULAFIA AND
THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM
As from the year 1200, the Kabbalists begin to emerge as a distinct
mystical group which, while still not numerically significant, had
nonetheless attained considerable prominence in many parts of
Southern France and Spain. The main tendencies of the new move-
ment are clearly defined and the modern student may without diffi-
culty trace its development from the early stages about 1200 to the
Golden Age of Kabbalism in Spain at the close of the thirteenth and
the early fourteenth centuries. An extensive literature has preserved
for us the highlights of thought and personalities dominating the
new mysticism which for five or six generations was to exercise an
ever increasing influence on Jewish life. Some of the outstanding
leaders, it is true, are but lightly sketched and we have not sufficient
data to give us a clear picture of them all, but research of the past
thirty years has brought an unexpected harvest of illuminating
facts. Nor must it be forgotten that each of the leading figures had
his own clearly defined physiognomy and there was no vagueness
of outline to lead to confusion of identity. The same clear lines of
demarcation apply also to tendencies each of which can be distin-
guished by terminology as well as by the nuance of its mystic
thought.
This demarcation is intelligible enough when we review the
growth of mystic tradition. Teaching by word of mouth and impli-
cation rather than assertion, was the rule. The numerous allusions
found in this field of literature, such as "I cannot say more", "I have
already explained to you by word of mouth", "this is only for those
familiar with the 'secret wisdom' " are not mere flights of rhetoric.
This vagueness, indeed, is the reason why many passages have
remained obscure to the present day. In many cases, whispers, and
120 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
that in esoteric hints, were the only medium of transmission. It is
therefore not surprising that such methods should lead to innova-
tions, sometimes startling, and that differentiations arose between
the various schools. Even the devout pupil who leaned heavily on
the tradition of his master, found before him a wide field for inter-
pretation and amplification if he were so inclined. Nor should it
be forgotten that the primary source was not always a mere mortal.
Supernatural illumination also plays its part in the history of
Kabbalism and innovations are made not only on the basis of new
interpretations of ancient lore but as a result of fresh inspiration
or revelation, or even of a dream. A sentence from Isaac Hacohen
of Soria (about 1270) illustrates the twin sources recognized by
the Kabbalists as authoritative. "In our generation there are but a
few, here and there, who have received tradition from the ancients
... or have been vouchsafed the grace of divine inspiration." Tradi-
tion and intuition are bound together and this would explain why
Kabbalism could be deeply conservative and intensely revolutionary.
Even "traditionalists" do not shrink from innovations, sometimes
far-reaching, which are confidently set forth as interpretations of the
ancients or as revelation of a mystery which Providence had seen
fit to conceal from previous generations.
This duality colors Kabbalistic literature for the succeding
hundred years. Some scholars are staunch conservatives who will
say nothing that has not been handed down by their masters and
that only in enigmatic brevity. Others frankly delight in innovations
based on fresh interpretation and we have the admission of Jacob
ben Sheshet of Gerona:
Were they not the findings of my heart
1 had believed . . . this Moses from Sinai did impart.
A third class propound their views, either laconically or at length,
without citing any authority, while yet a fourth, such as Jacob
Hacohen and Abraham Abulafia, lean frankly on divine revelation.
But it is not surprising that so many Kabbalists, illuminates as well
as commentators, display a reticence which is among the factors
that led directly to the revival of pseudepigraphic forms in Kabba-
listic literature. This pseudepigraphy was, in my opinion, based on
two impulses, psychological and historic. The psychological stimulus
emanates from modesty and the feeling that a Kabbalist who had
been vouchsafed the gift of inspiration should shun ostentation.
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 121
The historic impulse, on the other hand, was bound up with the
desire to influence the writer's contemporaries. Hence the search
for historic continuity and the sanctification of authority, and the
tendency to lend to Kabbalistic literature the lustre of some great
name from Biblical or Talmudic times. The Zohar, or the "Book
of Splendor", is the most famous, but by no means the sole ex-
ample, of such pseudepigraphy. But not all Kabbalists, fortunately
for us, preferred anonymity and it is thanks to them that we are
able to place the authors of the pseudepigraphic writings in their
proper historic setting. I think it will be appropriate to sum up the
contribution of Spanish Kabbalism to the treasury of Jewish mysti-
cism by characterizing the most outspoken representatives of its
main currents, the outspoken illuminates and ecstatics and, on the
other hand, the masters of pseudepigraphy.
In the opening lecture I referred to the fact that Jewish mystics
are inclined to be reticent about the hidden regions of the religious
life, including the sphere of experiences generally described as ec-
stasy, mystical union with God, and the like. Experiences of this
kind lie at the bottom of many Kabbalistic writings, though not, of
course, of all. Sometimes, however, this fact is not even mentioned
by the author. Of one bulky volume, Rabbi Mordecai Ashkenazi's
book Eshel Abraham, 1 1 have been able to prove for instance that
it was written against a background of visionary dreams. But for
the fact that one of the author's notebooks, a kind of mystical diary,
has come down to us, it would be impossible to guess this, for it is
in vain that one looks for a single allusion to the source of his
ideas.* The treatment of the subject remains throughout strictly
objective. Other Kabbalists deal at length with the question of the
individual's approach to mystical knowledge, without any reference
to their own experience. But even writings of this kind, if they are
really manuals of the more advanced stages of mystical practice and
technique, have seldom been published. To this class belongs, for
instance, a penetrating analysis of various forms and stages of
mystical rapture and ecstasy written by Rabbi Dov Baer (died
1827), son of the famous Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Ladi, the founder
of Ha 6ad-Hasidism, in his Kuntras Ha-Hithpaaluth— roughly trans-
lated "An Enquiry into Ecstasy." 1 Or take the case of the famous
Kabbalist, Rabbi Hayim Vital Calabrese (1543-1620), the leading
disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luna, himself one of the central figures of
188 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
later Kabbalism. This celebrated mystic is the author of an essay
called Shaaxe Kedushah, i. e., "The Gates of Holiness", which in-
cludes a brief and easily comprehensible introduction into the mys-
tical way of life, beginning with a description of certain indispensa-
ble moral qualities and leading up to a whole compendium of Kab-
balistic ethics. The first three chapters of the little book have been
printed many times, and on the whole they make interesting read-
ing. So far so good. But Vital has added a fourth chapter, in which
he sets out in detail various ways of imbuing the soul with the holy
spirit and prophetic wisdom, and which, by virtue of its copious
quotations from older authors, is really an anthology of the teach-
ings of the older Kabbalists on the technique of ecstasy. You will
not, however, find it in any of the printed editions of the book; in
its place the following words have been inserted: "Thus speaks the
printer: This fourth part will not be printed, for it is all holy names
and secret mysteries which it would be unseemly to publish." And
in fact, this highly interesting chapter has survived in only a few
handwritten copies/ It is the same, or almost the same, with other
writings which describe either ecstatical experiences or the tech-
nique of preparing oneself for them.
Still more remarkable is the fact that even when we turn to the
unpublished writings of Jewish mystics, we find that ecstatic experi-
ence does not play the all-important part one might expect. It is
true that the position is somewhat different in the writings of the
early mystics who lived before the development of Kabbalism and
whose ideas have been outlined in the second lecture. Instead of
the usual theory of mysticism, we are treated in these documents of
Jewish Gnosticism to enthusiastic descriptions of the soul's ascent to
the Celestial Throne and of the objects it contemplates; in addition,
the technique of producing this ecstatic frame of mind is described
in detail. In later Kabbalistic literature these aspects tend more and
more to be relegated to the background. The soul's ascension does
not, of course, disappear altogether. The visionary element of mys-
ticism which corresponds to a certain psychological disposition,
breaks through again and again. But, on the whole, Kabbalistic
meditation and contemplation takes on a more spiritualized aspect.
Moreover, the fact remains that, even leaving aside the distinction
between earlier and later documents of Jewish mysticism, it is only
in extremely rare cases that ecstasy signifies actual union with God,
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC XABBALISM 12g
in which the human individuality abandons itself to the rapture of
complete submersion in the divine stream. Even in this ecstatic
frame of mind, the Jewish mystic almost invariably retains a sense
of the distance between the Creator and His creature. The latter is
joined to the former, and the point where the two meet is of the
greatest interest to the mystic, but he does not regard it as constitut-
ing anything so extravagant as identity of Creator and creature.
Nothing seems to me to express better this sense of the distance
between God and man, than the Hebrew term which in our litera-
ture is generally used for what is otherwise called unio mystica. I
mean the word devekuth, which signifies "adhesion," or "being
joined," viz., to God. This is regarded as the ultimate goal of
religious perfection. Devekuth can be ecstasy, but its meaning is far
more comprehensive. It is a perpetual being-with-God, an intimate
union and conformity of the human and the divine will.* Yet even
the rapturous descriptions of this state of mind which abound in
later Hasidic literature retain a proper sense of distance, or, if you
like, of incommensurateness. Many writers deliberately place de-
vekuth above any form of ecstasy which seeks the extinction of the
world and the self in the union with God.* I am not going to deny
that there have also been tendencies of the opposite kind 1 ; an ex-
cellent description of the trend towards pure pantheism, or rather
acosmism, can be found in a well-known Yiddish novel, F. Schneer-
son's Hayim Grawitzer' and at least one of the famous leaders of
Lithuanian Hasidism, Rabbi Aaron Halevi of Starosselje, can be
classed among the acosmists. But I do maintain that such tendencies
are not characteristic of Jewish mysticism. It is a significant fact
that the most famous and influential book of our mystical literature,
the Zohar, has little use for ecstasy; the part it plays both in the
descriptive and in the dogmatical sections of this voluminous work
is entirely subordinate. Allusions to it there are,* but it is obvious
that other and different aspects of mysticism are much nearer to
the author's heart. Part of the extraordinary success of the Zohar
can probably be traced to this attitude of restraint which struck a
familiar chord in the Jewish heart.
Considering all the aforementioned facts, it is hardly surprising
that the outstanding representative of ecstatic Kabbalism has also
124 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
been the least popular of all the great Kabbalists. I refer to Abra-
ham Abulafia, whose theories and doctrines will form the main
subject of this lecture. By a curious coincidence, which is perhaps
rather more than a coincidence, Abulafia's principal works and the
Zohar were written almost simultaneously. It is no exaggeration
to say that each marks the culminating point in the development
of two opposing schools of thought in Spanish Kabbalism, schools
which I should like to call the ecstatic and the theosophical. Of the
latter 1 shall have something to say in the following lectures. For
all their differences, the two belong together and, only if both are
understood, do we obtain something like a comprehensive picture
of Spanish Kabbalism.
Unfortunately, not one of Abulafia's numerous and often volum-
inous treatises has been published by the Kabbalists, while the
Zohar runs into seventy or eighty editions. Not until Jellinek, one
of the small band of nineteenth century Jewish scholars who probed
deeper into the problem of Jewish mysticism, published three of
his minor writings and some extracts from others, did any of them
appear in print." This is all the more remarkable as Abulafia was
a very prolific writer who, on one occasion, refers to himself as the
author of twenty-six Kabbalistic and twenty-two prophetic works."
Of the former, many still exist; I know of more than twenty, and
it is a fact that a few among them enjoy a great reputation among
Kabbalists to this day."
While some of the more orthodox Kabbalists, such as Rabbi
Jehudah Hayat (about 1500 a. d.) attacked Abaluafia with vehe-
mence and warned their readers against his books", their criticism
appears to have aroused only a faint echo." At any rate, Abulafia's
influence as a guide to mysticism continued to remain very great.
He owed this to the remarkable combination of logical power, pel-
lucid style, deep insight and highly colored abstruseness which
characterizes his writings. Since, as we shall have occasion to see,
he was convinced of having found the way to prophetic inspira-
tion, and from there to the true knowledge of the Divine, he took
pains to use a simple and direct style which went straight to the
heart of every attentive reader. He went so far as to include among
his works a number of what one might call manuals, which not only
set out his theory but also constitute a guide to action. In fact they
can be practised so easily as to go far beyond his intentions; the
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 125
point is that although Abulafia himself never thought of going be-
yond the pale of rabbinic Jewry, his teachings can be put into effect
by practically everyone who tries. That probably is also one of the
reasons why the Kabbalists refrained from publishing them. Very
likely they feared that once this technique of meditation, which
had a very broad appeal, became publicly known, its use would no
longer be restricted to the elect. Certainly the success of Abulafia's
writing made the ever-present danger of a clash between the mysti-
cal revelation and that of Mount Sinai seem more real than ever.
Thus, the whole school of practical mysticism, which Abulafia him-
self called Prophetic Kabbalism, continued to lead an underground
life. By witholding his writings from the public, the Kabbalists un-
doubtedly sought to eliminate the danger that people might go in
for ecstatic adventures without due preparation and lay dangerous
claims to visionary powers.
Generally speaking, lay mystics— self-taught and untutored by
Rabbinism— have always been a potential source of heretical
thought. Jewish mysticism tried to meet this danger by stipulating
in principle that entry into the domain of mystical thought and
practice should be reserved to rabbinic scholars." In actual fact,
however, there has been no lack of Kabbalists who either had no
learning whatsoever, or who lacked the proper rabbinic training.
Thus enabled to look at Judaism from a fresh angle, these men
frequently produced highly important and interesting ideas, and
so there grew up, side by side with the scholarly Kabbalah of the
Rabbis, another line of prophetic and visionary mystics. The pristine
enthusiasm of these early ecstatics frequently lifted the heavy lid of
rabbinic scholasticism, and for all their readiness to compromise
occasionally came into conflict with it. It is also worth pointing out
that during the classical period of Kabbalism, i, e. up to 1300 A. d.,
as distinct from later periods, its representatives were, as a rule,
not men whom their contemporaries regarded as outstanding Rab-
bis. Great Kabbalists, who also contributed to strictly rabbinical
literature, men like Moses Nahmanides or Solomon ben Adret, were
rare." Yet the Kabbalists were, in the great majority, men of rab-
binic education. Abulafia marks an exception, having had little
contact with higher rabbinic learning. All the more extensive, how-
ever, was his knowledge of contemporary philosophy; and his writ-
126 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
ings, especially those of a systematic character, show him to have
been, by the standards of his age, a highly erudite man.
3
About Abulafia's life and his person we are informed almost ex-
clusively by his own writings. 1 ' Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia was
born in Saragossa in 1240, and spent his youth in Tudela, in the
province of Navarre. His father taught him the Bible with its com-
mentaries as well as grammar and some Mishnah and Talmud.
When he was eighteen years old he lost his father. Two years later
he left Spain and went to the Near East in order, as he writes, to
discover the legendary stream Sambation beyond which the lost ten
tribes were supposed to dwell. Warlike disturbances in Syria and
Palestine soon drove him back from Acre to Europe, where he spent
about ten years in Greece and Italy.
During these years of travel, he steeped himself in philosophy
and conceived for Maimonides an admiration that proved lifelong.
For him there was no antithesis between mysticism and the doc-
trines of Maimonides. He rather considered his own mystical theory
as the final step forward from the "Guide of the Perplexed" to which
he wrote a curious mystical commentary. This affinity of the mystic
with the great rationalist has its astounding parallel— as the most
recent research has shown— in the relationship of the great Chris-
tian mystic Meister Eckhart to Maimonides, by whom he seems to
be much more influenced than was any scholastic before him. While
the great scholastics, such as Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus,
although having learned and, indeed, accepted much from him,
none the less frequently oppose him, the Rabbi is— as Josef Koch
has ascertained 11 — for the great Christian mystic a literary authority
to whom Augustine at best is superior. In the same way Abulafia
tries to connect his theories with those of Maimonides.™ According
to him, only the "Guide" and the "Book of Creation" together rep-
resent the true theory of Kabbalism."
Coincidentally with these studies he seems to have been deeply
occupied with the Kabbalistic doctrines of his age, without, how-
ever, being overmuch impressed by them. About 1270 he returned
to Spain for three or four years, during which he immersed him-
self completely in mystical research. In Barcelona he began to study
the book Yetsirah and twelve commentaries to it showing both
ABULAF1A AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 127
philosophic and Kabbalistic inclinations. 11 Here, too, he seems to
have come into contact with a conventicle the members of which
believed they could gain access to the profoundest secrets of mystical
cosmology and theology "by the three methods of Kabbalah, being
Gematria, Notarikon, and Temurah." Abulafia especially mentions
one Baruch Togarmi, precentor, as his teacher, who initiated him
into the true meaning of the Sefer Yetsirah. We still possess a treatise
of this Kabbalist— "The Keys to Kabbalah"— about the mysteries of
the book Yetsirah." Most of them, he says, he felt not entitled to
publish, nor even to write down. "I want to write it down and I
am not allowed to do it, I do not want to write it down and cannot
entirely desist; so I write and I pause, and 1 allude to it again in
later passages, and this is my procedure.""
Abulafia himself at times wrote in this vein, so typical of mystical
literature. By immersing himself in the mystical technique of his
teacher, Abulafia found his own way. It was at the age of 31, in
Barcelona, that he was overcome by the prophetic spirit. He ob-
tained knowledge of the true name of God, and had visions of which
he himself, however, says, in 1285, that they were partly sent by the
demons to confuse him, so that he "groped about like a blind man
at midday for fifteen years with Satan to his right." Yet on the
other hand he was entirely convinced of the truth of his prophetic
knowledge. He travelled for some time in Spain, expounding his
new doctrine, but in 1274 he left his native country for the second
and last time, and from then on led a vagrant life in Italy and
Greece. It was still in Spain that he exerted a deep influence upon
the young Joseph Gikatila who later became one of the most em-
inent Spanish Kabbalists. In Italy too, he found disciples in various
places and taught them his new way, partly in pursuit of the phil-
osophy of Maimonides. Quick enthusiasm about his disciples turned
quickly into disappointment and he complained bitterly of the un-
worthiness of some of those whom he had taught in Capua."
He became the author of prophetical writings wherein he prefers
to designate himself by names of the same numerical value as his
original name of Abraham. He prefers to call himself Raziel or
Zechariah. Only in the ninth year after the beginning of his pro-
phetic visions he began, as he says himself," to compose distinctly
prophetic writings, although he had written before that time other
tracts on different branches of science, among them "writings on the
128 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
mysteries of Kabbalah."" In the year 1280, inspired with his mission,
he undertook, a most venturesome and unexplained task: He went
to Rome to present himself before the Pope and to confer with him
"in the name of Jewry." It seems that at that time he nursed Messia-
nic ideas. Well may he have read of such a mission of the Messiah
to the Pope in a then very widely known booklet." This contained
the disputation of the famous Kabbalist Moses ben Nahman with
the apostate Pablo Christiani in the year 1263. Here Nahmanides
said: "When the time of the end will have come, the Messiah will
at God's command come to the Pope and ask of him the liberation
of his people, and only then will the Messiah be considered really
to have come, but not before that."
Abulafia himself relates" that the Pope had given orders "when
Raziel would come to Rome to confer with him in the name of
Jewry, to arrest him and not to admit him into his presence at all,
but to lead him out of town and there to burn him." But Abulafia,
although informed of this, paid no attention, but rather gave him-
self up to his meditations and mystical preparations and on the
strength of his visions wrote a book which he later called: "Book
of Testimony," in remembrance of his miraculous rescue. For as he
prepared himself to come before the Pope, "two mouths," as he
obscurely expresses himself, grew on him, and when he entered the
city-gate, he learned that the Pope— it was Nicholas III,— had sud-
denly died during the night. Abulafia was held in the College of
the Franciscans for twenty-eight days, but was then set free.
Abulafia then wandered about Italy for a number of years. Of
these he seems to have spent several in Sicily, where he remained
longer than in any other place. Almost all his extant works were
written during his Italian period, particularly between the years
1279 and 1291. We are altogether ignorant of his fate after the year
1291. Of his prophetic, or inspired, writings only his apocalypse,
Sefer ka-Oth, the "Book of the Sign," a strange and not altogether
comprehensible book, has survived." On the other hand, most of his
theoretical and doctrinal treatises are still extant, some of them in a
considerable number of manuscripts.
He seems to have made many enemies by claiming prophetical
inspiration and antagonizing his contemporaries in various other
ways, for he very often complains of hostility and persecution. He
mentions denunciations by Jews to Christian authorities'*, which
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 121)
may perhaps be explained by the fact that he represented himself
as a prophet to Christians as well. He writes that he found among
them some who believed more in God than the Jews to whom God
had sent him first.* 1 In two places Abulafia tells of his connection
with non-Jewish mystics.' 1 Once, he relates, he talked with them
about the three methods of the interpretation of the Torah (literal,
allegoric, and mystic), and he noted their agreement with one an-
other when conversing with them confidentially "and I saw that
they belong to the category of the 'pious of the gentiles', and that
the words of the fools of whatever religion need not be heeded, for
the Torah has been handed over to the masters of true knowledge." 1 *
Another time he tells of a dispute with a Christian scholar with
whom he had made friends and in whose mind he had implanted
the desire for the knowledge of the Name of God. "And it is not
necessary to reveal more about it.'" 4
These connections of Abulafia's do not, however, testify to a
special inclination to Christian ideas as some scholars have assumed.**
On the contrary, his antagonism to Christianity is very outspoken
and intense." He sometimes, indeed, intentionally makes use— among
many other associations— of formulae which sound quite trinitarian,
immediately giving them a meaning which has nothing whatsoever
to do with the trinitarian idea of God," But his predilection for
paradox as well as his prophetic pretensions alienated from him the
Kabbalists of a more strictly orthodox orientation. And indeed he
acutely criticizes the Kabbalists of his times and their symbolism in-
sofar as it is not backed by individual mystical experience." On the
other hand, some of his writings are devoted to the refutation of
attacks directed against him by 'orthodox' Kabbalists." But "poverty,
exile, and imprisonment" were powerless to make Abulafia, a proud
and unbending spirit, abandon the standpoint to which his per-
sonal experience of things divine had led him.
In the preface to one of his works, the main part of which has
been lost, he compares his mission and his place among his con-
temporaries with that of the prophet Isaiah. He tells how a voice
called him twice: "Abraham, Abraham" and, he continues, "I said:
Here am II Thereupon he instructed me in the right way, woke me
from my slumber and inspired me to write something new. There
had been nothing like it in my day." He realized only too well that
his gospel would make enemies for him among the Jewish leaders.
jjJO MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
Nevertheless he submitted to this "and I constrained my will and
dared to reach beyond my grasp. They called me heretic and un-
believer because 1 had resolved to worship God in truth and not
as those who walk in darkness. Sunken in the abyss, they and their
kind would have delighted to engulf me in their vanities and their
dark deeds. But God forbid that I should forsake the way of truth
for that of falsehood." -
Yet for all his pride in the achievement of prophetic inspiration
and his knowledge of the great Name of God, there was combined
in his character meekness and a love of peace. Jellinek rightly points
out that his moral character must be estimated very highly. When
accepting desciples to his Kabbalah he is extremely fastidious in his
requirements as to a high morality and steadiness of character and
it may be concluded from his writings even in their ecstatic parts
that he himself possessed many of the qualities he asked for in
others." He who gains the deepest knowledge of the true essentials
of reality— so he says in one place— at the same time acquires the
deepest humility and modesty."
It is one of the many oddities of the history of modern research
into Kabbalism that Abulafia, of all men, has sometimes been made
out to be the anonymous author of the Zohar. This hypothesis,
which still finds its supporters, was first advanced by M. H. Lan-
dauer, who— a hundred years ago— was the first to point to Abulafia
at all. He says: "I found a strange man with whose writings the
contents of the Zohar coincide most accurately down to the minutest
details. This fact struck me at once with the first writing of his
which came into my hands. But now that I have read many of his
works and have come to know his life, his principles, and his
character, there cannot exist any longer even the slightest doubt that
we now have the author of the Zohar." 4 * This seems to me an extra-
ordinary example of how a judgment proclaimed with conviction
as certainly true may nevertheless be entirely wrong in every detail.
The truth is that no two things could be more different than the
outlook of the Zohar and that of Abulafia.
4
I shall now try to give a brief synthetic description, one after the
other, of the main points of his mystical theory, his doctrine of
the search for ecstasy and for prophetic inspiration.* 1 Its basic
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 131
principles have been upheld with varying modifications by all those
among the Kabbalists who found in Abulafia a congenial spirit,
and its characteristic mixture of emotionalism and rationalism sets
its seal on one of the main trends of Kabbalism.
Abulafia's aim, as he himself has expressed it, is "to unseal the
soul, to untie the knots which bind it." 4 * "All the inner forces and
the hidden souls in man are distributed and differentiated in the
bodies. It is, however, in the nature of all of them that when then-
knots are untied they return to their origin, which is one without
any duality and which comprises the multiplicity." 4 * The "untying"
is, as it were, the return from multiplicity and separation towards
the original unity. As a symbol of the great mystic liberation of the
soul from the fetters of sensuality the "untying of the knots" occurs
also in the theosophy of northern Buddhism. Only recently a French
scholar published a Tibetan didactic tract the title of which may be
translated: "Book on Untying Knots"."
What does this symbol mean in Abulafia's terminology? It means
that there are certain barriers which separate the personal existence
of the soul from the stream of cosmic life— personified for him in the
intellectus agens of the philosophers, which runs through the whole
of creation. There is a dam which keeps the soul confined within
the natural and normal borders of human existence and protects it
against the flood of the divine stream, which flows beneath it or
all around it; the same dam, however, also prevents the soul from
taking cognizance of the Divine. The "seals," which are impressed
on the soul, protect it against the flood and guarantee its normal
functioning. Why is the soul, as it were, sealed up? Because, answers
Abulafia, the ordinary day-to-day life of human beings, their per-
ception of the sensible world, fills and impregnates the mind with a
multitude of sensible forms or images (called, in the language of
mediaeval philosophers, "natural forms"). As the mind perceives all
kinds of gross natural objects and admits their images into its con-
sciousness, it creates for itself, out of this natural function, a certain
mode of existence which bears the stamp of finiteness. The normal
life of the soul, in other words, is kept within the limits determined
by our sensory perceptions and emotions, and as long as it is full of
these, it finds it extremely difficult to perceive the existence of spir-
itual forms and things divine. The problem, therefore, is to find a
way of helping the soul to perceive more than the forms of nature,
1!J2 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
without its becoming blinded and overwhelmed by the divine light,
and the solution is suggested by the old adage "whoever is full of
himself has no room for God." All that which occupies the natural
self of man must either be made to disappear or must be trans-
formed in such a way as to render it transparent for the inner
spiritual reality, whose contours will then become perceptible
through the customary shell of natural things.
Abulafia, therefore, casts his eyes round for higher forms of per-
ception which, instead of blocking the way to the soul's own deeper
regions, facilitate access to them and throw them into relief. He
wants the soul to concentrate on highly abstract spiritual matters,
which will not encumber it by pushing their own particular impor-
tance into the foreground and thus render illusory the whole pur-
pose of mental purgation. If, for instance, I observe a flower, a bird,
or some other concrete thing or event, and begin to think about it,
the object of my reflection has an importance or attractiveness of
its own. 1 am thinking of this particular flower, bird, etc. Then
how can the soul learn to visualize God with the help of objects
whose nature is of such a sort as to arrest the attention of the spec-
tator and deflect it from its purpose? The early Jewish mystic knows
of no object of contemplation in which the soul immerses itself until
it reaches a state of ecstasy, such as the Passion in Christian mysti-
cism.
Abraham Abulafia is, therefore, compelled to look for an, as it
were, absolute object for meditating upon; that is to say, one capa-
ble of stimulating the soul's deeper life and freeing it from ordinary
perceptions. In other words, he looks for something capable of ac-
quiring the highest importance, without having much particular,
or if possible any, importance of its own. An object which fulfills all
these conditions he believes himself to have found in the Hebrew
alphabet, in the letters which make up the written language. It is
not enough, though an important step forward, that the soul should
be occupied with the meditation of abstract truths, for even there
it remains too closely bound to their specific meaning. Rather is it
Abulafia's purpose to present it with something not merely abstract
but also not determinable as an object in the strict sense, for every-
thing so determined has an importance and an individuality of its
own. Basing himself upon the abstract and non-corporeal nature of
script, he develops a theory of the mystical contemplation of letters
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM I 33
and their configurations, as the constituents of God's name. For
this is the real and, if I may say so, the peculiarly Jewish object of
mystical contemplation: The Name of God, which is something
absolute, because it reflects the hidden meaning and totality of
existence; the Name through which everything else acquires its
meaning and which yet to the human mind has no concrete, par-
ticular meaning of its own. In short, Abulafia believes that whoever
succeeds in making this great Name of God, the least concrete and
perceptible thing in the world, the object of his meditation, is on
the way to true mystical ecstasy."
Starting from this concept, Abulafia expounds a peculiar discip-
line which he calls Hokhmath ha-Tseruf, i. e. "science of the com-
bination of letters." This is described as a methodical guide to medi-
tation with the aid of letters and their configurations. The indi-
vidual letters of their combinations need have no 'meaning' in the
ordinary sense; it is even an advantage if they axe meaningless, as in
that case they are less likely to distract us. True, they are not really
meaningless to Abulafia, who accepts the Kabbalistic doctrine of
divine language as the substance of reality. According to this doc-
trine, as I have mentioned in the first lecture, all things exist only
by virtue of their degree of participation in the great Name of God,
which manifests itself throughout the whole Creation. There is a
language which expresses the pure thought of God and the letters of
this spiritual language are the elements both of the most funda-
mental spiritual reality and of the profoundest understanding and
knowledge. Abulafia's mysticism is a course in this divine language.
The purpose of this discipline then is to stimulate, with the aid
of methodical meditation, a new state of consciousness; this state
can best be defined as an harmonious movement of pure thought,
which has severed all relation to the senses. Abulafia himself has
already quite correctly compared it with music. Indeed, the systema-
tic practice of meditation as taught by him, produces a sensation
closely akin to that of listening to musical harmonies. The science
of combination is a music of pure thought, in which the alphabet
takes the place of the musical scale. The whole system shows a fairly
close resemblance to musical principles, applied not to sounds but
to thought in meditation. We find here compositions and modifica-
tions of motifs and their combination in every possible variety. This
is what Abulafia himself says about it in one of his unpublished
1J4 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
writings: "Know that the method of Tseruf can be compared to
music; for the ear hears sounds from various combinations, in ac-
cordance with the character of the melody and the instrument. Also,
two different, instruments can form a combination, and if the sounds
combine, the listener's ear registers a pleasant sensation in acknowl-
edging their difference. The strings touched by the right or left hand
move, and the sound is sweet to the ear. And from the ear the sensa-
tion travels to the heart, and from the heart to the spleen (the
centre of emotion), and enjoyment of the different melodies pro-
duces ever new delight. It is impossible to produce it except through
the combination of sounds, and the same is true of the combination
of letters. It touches the first string, which is comparable to the first
letter, and proceeds to the second, third, fourth and fifth, and the
various sounds combine. And the secrets, which express themselves
in these combinations, delight the heart which acknowledges its
God and is filled with ever fresh joy.""
The directed activity of the adept engaged in combining and
separating the letters in his meditation, composing whole motifs on
separate groups, combining several of them with one another and
enjoying their combinations in every direction, Is therefore for
Abulafia not more senseless or incomprehensible than that of a com-
poser. Just as— to quote Schopenhauer— the musician expresses in
wordless sounds "the world once again," and ascends to endless
heights and descends to endless depths, so the mystic: To him the
closed doors of the soul open in the music of pure thought which is
no longer bound to "sense," and in the ecstasy of the deepest har-
monies which originate in the movement of the letters of the great
Name, they throw open the way to God.
This science of the combination of letters and the practice of
controlled meditation is, according to Abulafia, nothing less than
the "mystical logic" which corresponds to the inner harmony of
thought in its movement towards God." The world of letters, which
reveals itself in this discipline, is the true world of bliss." Every let-
ter represents a whole world to the mystic who abandons himself
to its contemplation." Every language, not only Hebrew, is trans-
formed into a transcendental medium of the one and only language
of God. And as every language issues from a corruption of the
aboriginal language— Hebrew— they all remain related to it. In all
his books Abulafia likes to play on Latin, Greek, or Italian words
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 135
to support his ideas. For, in the last resort, every spoken word con-
sists of sacred letters, and the combination, separation and reunion
of letters reveal profound mysteries to the Kabbalist, and unravel to
him the secret of the relation of all languages to the holy tongue."
5
Abulafia's great manuals, such as "The Book of Eternal Life,"**
"The Light of Intellect,"** "The Words of Beauty" and 'The Book
of Combination"" are systematic guides to the theory and practice
of this system of mystical counterpoint. Through its methodical ex-
ercise the soul is accustomed to the perception of higher forms with
which it gradually saturates itself. Abulafia lays down a method
which leads from the actual articulation of the permutations and
combinations, to their writing and to the contemplation of the writ-
ten, and finally from writing to thinking and to the pure medita-
tion of all these objects of the "mystical logic."
Articulation, mivta, writing, miktav, and thought, mahshav, thus
form three superimposed layers of meditation. Letters are the ele-
ments of every one of them, elements which manifest themselves in
ever more spiritual forms. From the motion of the letters of
thought result the truths of reason. But the mystic will not stop
here. He differentiates further between matter and form of the let-
ters in order to approach closer to their spiritual nucleus; he im-
merses himself in the combinations of the pure forms of the letters,
which now, being purely spiritual forms, impress themselves upon
his soul. He endeavours to comprehend the connections between
words and names formed by the Kabbalistic methods of exegesis."
The numerical value of words, gematria, is here of particular
importance.
To this must be added another point: the modern reader of
these writings will be most astonished to find a detailed description
of a method which Abulafia and his followers call dtllug and kefi-
tsah, "jumping" or "skipping" viz., from one conception to another.
In fact this is nothing else than a very remarkable method of using
associations as a way of meditation. It is not wholly the "free play
of association" as known to psychoanalysis; rather it is the way of
passing from one association to another determined by certain rules
which are, however, sufficiently lax. Every "jump" opens a new
sphere, defined by certain formal, not material, characteristics.
1^6 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
Within this sphere the mind may freely associate. The "jumping"
unites, therefore, elements of free and guided association and is said
to assure quite extraordinary results as far as the "widening of the
consciousness" of the initiate is concerned. The "jumping" brings
to light hidden processes of the mind, "it liberates us from the
prison of the natural sphere and leads us to the boundaries of the
divine sphere." All the other, more simple, methods of meditation
serve only as a preparation for this highest grade which contains
and supersedes all the others."
Abulafia describes in several places the preparations for medita-
tion and ecstasy, as well as what happens to the adept at the height
of rapture. The report of one of his disciples which I quote below,
confirms his statements. Abulafia himself says in one place":
"Be prepared for thy God, oh Israelite! Make thyself ready to
direct thy heart to God alone. Cleanse the body and choose a lonely
house where none shall hear thy voice. Sit there in thy closet and
do not reveal thy secret to any man. If thou canst, do it by day in
the house, but it is best if thou completest it during the night. In
the hour when thou prepares! thyself to speak with the Creator and
thou wishest Him to reveal His might to thee, then be careful to
abstract all thy thought from the vanities of this world. Cover thy-
self with thy prayer shawl and put Tefillin on thy head and hands
that thou mayest be filled with awe of the Shekhinah which is near
thee. Cleanse thy clothes, and, if possible, let all thy garments be
white, for all this is helpful in leading the heart towards the fear of
God and the love of God. If it be night, kindle many lights, until
all be bright. Then take ink, pen and a table to thy hand and re-
member that thou art about to serve God in joy of the gladness of
heart. Now begin to combine a few or many letters, to permute and
to combine them until thy heart be warm. Then be mindful of their
movements and of what thou canst bring forth by moving them.
And when thou feelest that thy heart is already warm and when
thou seest that by combinations of letters thou canst grasp new
things which by human tradition or by thyself thou wouldst not
be able to know and when thou art thus prepared to receive the
influx of divine power which flows into thee, then turn all thy
true thought to imagine the Name and His exalted angels in thy
heart as if they were human beings sitting or standing about thee.
And feel thyself like an envoy whom the king and his ministers are
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 137
to send on a mission, and he is waiting to hear something about
his mission from their lips, be it from the king himself, be it from
his servants. Having imagined this very vividly, turn thy whole
mind to understand with thy thoughts the many things which will
come into thy heart through the letters imagined. Ponder them as
a whole and in all their detail, lite one to whom a parable or a
dream is being related, or who meditates on a deep problem in a
scientific book, and try thus to interpret what thou shalt hear that
it may as far as possible accord with thy reason . . . And all this
will happen to thee after having flung away tablet and quill or
after they will have dropped from thee because of the intensity of
thy thought. And know, the stronger the intellectual influx within
thee, the weaker will become thy outer and thy inner parts. Thy
whole body will be seized by an extremely strong trembling, so
that thou wilt think that surely thou art about to die, because thy
soul, overjoyed with its knowledge, will leave thy body. And be thou
ready at this moment consciously to choose death, and then thou
shalt know that thou hast come far enough to receive the influx.
And then wishing to honor the glorious Name by serving it with
the life of body and soul, veil thy face and be afraid to look at
God. Then return to the matters of the body, rise and eat and
drink a little, or refresh thyself with a pleasant odor, and restore
thy spirit to its sheath until another time, and rejoice at thy lot
and know that God loveth thee!"
By training itself to turn its back upon all natural objects and
to live in the pure contemplation of the divine Name, the mind is
gradually prepared for the final transformation. The seals, which
keep it locked up in its norma! state and shut off the divine light,
are relaxed, and the mystic finally dispenses with them altogether.
The hidden spring of divine life is released. But now that the mind
has been prepared for it, this irruption of the divine influx does
not overwhelm it and throw it into a state of confusion and self-
abandonment. On the contrary, having climbed the seventh and last
step of the mystical ladder,* and reached the summit, the mystic
consciously perceives and becomes part of the world of divine light,
whose radiance illuminates his thoughts and heals his heart. This is
the stage of prophetic vision, in which the ineffable mysteries of the
divine Name and the whole glory of its realm reveal themselves to
ig8 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
the illuminate. Of them the prophet speaks in words which extoll
the greatness of God and bear the reflection of His image.
Ecstasy, which Abulafia regards as the highest reward of mystical
contemplation, is not, therefore, to be confused with semi-conscious
raving and complete self-annihilation. These uncontrolled forms
of ecstasy he treats with a certain disdain and even regards them as
dangerous. Rationally prepared ecstasy, too, comes suddenly* and
cannot be enforced, but when the bolts are shot back and the seals
taken off, the mind is already prepared for the 'light of the intel-
lect' which pours in. Abulafia, therefore, frequently warns against
the mental and even physical dangers of unsystematic meditation
and similar practices. In combining the letters, every one of which
—according to the book Yetsirak— is co-ordinated to a special mem-
ber of the body "one has to be most careful not to move a con-
sonant or vowel from its position, for if he errs in reading the letter
commanding a certain member, that member may be torn away and
may change its place or alter its nature immediately and be trans-
formed into a different shape so that in consequence that person
may become a cripple."" In the account I am going to quote at the
end Abulafia's disciple also mentions spasmodic distortions of the
face.
Abulafia lays great emphasis on the newness and singularity of
his prophecy. "Know that most of the vision which Raziel saw are
based on the Name of God and its gnosis, and also on his new reve-
lation which took place on earth now in his days and the like there
was not from the time of Adam until his."" The prophets who draw
from the knowledge of the true name, are at the same time, to his
mind, the true lovers. The identity of prophecy with the love of
God also finds its proof in the mysticism of numbers, and he who
serves God out of pure love, is on the right path towards prophecy."
That is why the Kabbalists with whom the pure fear of God turns
into love, are for him the genuine disciples of the prophets.**
In the opinion of Abulafia, his own doctrine of prophetic ecstasy
is in the last resort nothing but the doctrine of prophecy advanced
by the Jewish philosophers, more especially by Maimonides, who
also defines prophecy as a temporary union of the human and the
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 139
divine intellect, deliberately brought about through systematic
preparation. The prophetic faculty, according to this doctrine, rep-
resents the union of the human intellect at the highest stage of its
development, with a cosmic influence normally domiciled in the
intelligible world, the so-called active intellect (intellectus agens).
The influx of this active intellect into the soul manifests itself as
prophetic vision. Abulafia is concerned to prove the substantial
identity of this theory of prophecy, which was widely recognized
in the Middle Ages, with his own doctrine." These rationalizations
cannot, however, obscure the fact that his teachings represent but
a Judaized version of that ancient spiritual technique which has
found its classical expression in the practices of the Indian mystics
who follow the system known as Yoga. To cite only one instance
out of many, an important part in Abulafia's system is played by
the technique of breathing;" now this technique has found its
highest development in the Indian Yoga, where it is commonly
regarded as the most important instrument of mental discipline.
Again, Abulafia lays down certain rules of body posture, certain
corresponding combinations of consonants and vowels, and certain
forms of recitation,** and in particular some passages of his book
"The Light of the Intellect" give the impression of a Judaized treat-
ise on Yoga. The similarity even extends to some aspects of the doc-
trine of ecstatic vision, as preceded and brought about by these
practices.
For what is the reward of reaching this supreme stage of vision?
We are repeatedly told by Abulafia that the visionary perceives the
image of his spiritual mentor, usually visualized either as a young
or as an old man, whom he not only sees but also hears." "The
body," Abulafia says, "requires the physician of the body, the soul
the physician of the soul, to wit the students of the Torah, but the
intellect (the highest power of the soul) requires a mover from out-
side who has received Kabbalah concerning the mysteries of the
Torah and a mover from inside, me'orer penimi, who opens the
closed doors before him." 18 Elsewhere too he differentiates between
the human and the divine teacher. If need be, one could manage
without the former: Abulafia assumes that his own writings may
possibly replace an immediate contact between disciple and
teacher," yet by no means could one forego the spiritual teacher
who confronts man at the secret gates of his soul. This spiritual
140 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
mentor— in Indian terminology the Guru— personifies the intellectus
agens through the mythical figure of the angel Metatron, but he is
also, according to certain passages, God Himself as Shaddai. n Of
Metatron, the Talmud says "his name is like the name of his
master," 1 * the Hebrew word for master also signifying "teacher."
Abulafia applies this statement to the relation between the visionary
and his Guru, his spiritual teacher. Its significance is seen to lie
in the fact that in the state of ecstasy, man becomes aware of his
intrinsic relationship with God. Although he is apparently con-
fronted with his master, he is yet in some way identical with him.
The state of ecstasy, in other words, represents something like a
mystical transfiguration of the individual. This experience of self-
identification with one's guide or master, and indirectly with God,
is mentioned several times by Abulafia, but nowhere does he write
about it with complete and utter frankness." The following pas-
sage, for instance, is taken from an unpublished fragment called
The Knowledge of the Messiah and the Meaning of the Redeemer;™
"This science [of mystical combination] is an instrument which
leads nearer to prophecy than any other discipline of learning. A
man who gains his understanding of the essentials of reality from
books is called Hakham, a scholar. If he obtains it from the Kab-
balah, that is to say from one who has himself obtained it from the
contemplation of the divine names or from another Kabbalist, then
he is called Mevin, that is, one who has insight, but if his under-
standing is derived from his own heart, from reflecting upon what
he knows of reality, then he is called Daatan, that is, a gnostic.
He whose understanding is such as to combine all three, to wit,
scholarly erudition, insight obtained from a genuine Kabbalist, and
wisdom from reflecting deeply upon things, of him I am not indeed
going to say that he deserves to be called a prophet, especially if
he has not yet been touched by the pure intellect, or if touched
[that is to say, in ecstasy] does not yet know by whom. If, however,
he has felt the divine touch and perceived its nature, it seems right
and proper to me and to every perfected man that he should be
called 'master', because his name is like the Name of his Master,
be it only in one, or in many, or in all of His Names. For now he
is no longer separated from his Master, and behold he is his Master
and his Master is he; for he is so intimately adhering to Him [it
is here that the term Devekuth is used], that he cannot by any
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRrNE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM I4I
means be separated from Him, for he is He ["he is He" being a
Eamous formula of advanced Moslem pantheism]. And just as his
Master, who is detached from all matter, is called Sekhel, Maskil
and Muskal, that is the knowledge, the knower and the known, all
at the same time, since all three are one in Him," so also he, the
exalted man, the master of the exalted name, is called intellect, while
he is actually knowing; then he is also the known, like his Master;
and then there is no difference between them, except that his Mas-
ter has His supreme rank by His own right and not derived from
other creatures, while he is elevated to his rank by the intermediary
of creatures."
In this supreme state, man and Torah become one. This Abulafia
expresses very deftly when he supplements the old word from the
"Sayings of the Fathers" about the Torah: "Turn it round and
round, for everything is in it" by the words: "for it is wholly in
thee and thou art wholly in it.""
To a certain extent, as we have seen, the visionary identifies him-
self with his Master; complete identification is neither achieved
nor intended. All the same, we have here one of the most thorough-
going interpretations of the meaning of ecstatic experience to which
rabbinical Jewry has given birth. Hence the fact that nearly all
Kabbalists who in everything else follow the steps of Abulafia, have
as far as I can see recoiled from this remarkable doctrine of ecstatic
identification. Let us take as an. .instance a little tract called Sullam
Ha-Aliyah, "the Ladder of Ascent"— i. e., ascent to God— written in
Jerusalem by a pious Kabbalist, Rabbi Jehudah Albottini, or Al-
buttaini one of the exiles of Spain. It contains a brief statement
of Abulaha's doctrine, and its tenth chapter, which I once had
an occasion to publish, describes "the paths of loneliness and the
preliminaries of adhesion (devekuthj' '; in other words, the theory
of ecstaticism." But nowhere does it make the slightest mention
of those radical consequences of Abulafia's methods and of the
images employed by him, although for the rest its description is
interesting and impressive enough.
The content of ecstasy is defined by the followers of prophetic
Kabbalism by yet another and even stranger term which deserves,
for the unexpected turn it takes, the special attention of the psycho-
logist. According to this definition, in prophetic ecstasy man en-
142 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
counters his own self confronting and addressing him. This occult
experience was estimated higher than the visions of light usually
accompanying ecstasy.™ The Midrash says of the anthropomorphic
utterances of the prophets: Great is tne strength of the prophets
who assimilate the form to Him who formed it," that is to say who
compare man to God. Some Kabbalists of Abulafia's school, how-
ever, interpret this sentence differently. The form being compared
to its creator, i. e., being of divine nature, is the pure spiritual self
of man departing from him during prophecy. The following fine
passage has been conserved by a collector of Kabbalistic traditions:™
"Know that the complete secret of prophecy consists for the prophet
in that he suddenly sees the shape of his self standing before him
and he forgets his self and it is disengaged from him and he sees the
shape of his self before him talking to him and predicting the future,
and of this secret our teachers said: Great is the strength of the
prophets who compare the form [appearing to them] to Him
who formed it. Says Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra: 'In prophecy the
one who hears is a human being and the one who speaks is a human
being.'™ . . . And another scholar writes: 'I know and I understand
with absolute certainty that I am neither a prophet nor the son of
a prophet, that the holy spirit is not in me and that I have no
power over the "divine voice"; for of all these things I have not
been found worthy, for 1 did not take off my dress nor did I wash
my feet— and yet I call heaven and earth to witness that one day
I sat and wrote down a Kabbalistic secret; suddenly I saw the shape
of my self standing before me and myself disengaged from me and
I was forced to stop writingl" This explanation of the occult char-
acter of prophecy as self-confrontation sounds like a mystical inter-
pretation of the old Platonic prescript: "Recognize thyself", as
"Behold thy self."
The state of ecstasy as described by Abulafia, frequently, so it
seems, on the basis of personal experience, also carries with it some-
thing like an anticipatory redemption. The illuminate feels him-
self not only aglow with a heavenly fire, but also as it were anointed
with sacred and miraculous oil. He becomes, as Abulafia puts it,
by playing upon the double meaning of the Hebrew word Mashtah,
the Lord's anointed.™ He is, so to speak, his own Messiah, at least
for the brief period of his ecstatical experience.
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 143
7
Abulafia calls his method "The Path of the Names," in contrast
10 the Kabbalists of his time, whose doctrine concerning the reali-
sation of the divine attributes it referred to as "The Path of the
Sefiroth."** Only together the two paths from the whole of the Kab-
balah, the Path of the Sefiroth the 'rabbinical' and that of the
Names the 'prophetic' Kabbalah. The student of Kabbalah is to
begin with the contemplation of the ten Sefiroth.** These, indeed,
during meditation are to become objects of quickened imagination
rather than objects of an external knowledge acquired by merely
learning their names as attributes or even symbols of God. 8 * For in
the Sefiroth, too, according to Abulafia, there are revealed the
'profundities of the tntellectus agens", that cosmic power which for
the mystic coincides with the splendor of the Shekhinah." Only
from there is he to proceed to the twenty-two letters which represent
a deeper stage of penetration.
For what he calls the Path of the Names, the ancient Jewish Gnos-
tics, as we have seen, employed another term, namely Maaseh
Merkabah, literally translated "The Work of the Chariot," because
of the Celestial chariot which was supposed to carry the throne of
God the Creator. Abulafia, with his penchant for playing upon
words, introduces his new doctrine as the true Maaseh Merkabah—
a term which can also be taken to mean "combination". The theory
of combining the letters and names of God— that is the true vision
of the Merkabah.** It is true that where he describes the seven stages
of knowledge of the Torah, from the inquiry into the literal mean-
ing of the word to the stage of prophecy, he draws a distinction
between prophetic Kabbalism, which is the sixth stage, and the holy
of holies to which it is merely the preliminary. The substance of
this final stage, in which "the language which comes from the active
intellect" is understood, may not be divulged even if it were pos-
sible to clothe it m words." But as we have seen, Abulafia himself,
despite this solemn vow, has lifted a corner of the veil.
It remains to be said that Abulafia is far from despising philo-
sophical knowledge. Indeed, he even says in one place that philos-
ophy and Kabbalah both owe their existence to the active intellect,
with the difference that Kabbalism represents a more profound
manifestation of the spirit and probes into a deeper and more
144 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
spiritual region." At the same time, however, he is definitely of the
opinion that certain philosophical problems are meaningless, ex-
cept insofar as they serve to lead the mind astray. It is interesting to
hear his comment on the dispute concerning the supposed eternity
or non-eternity of the universe, by and large one of the main issues
of Jewish philosophy in its struggle against pure Aristotelianism.
The fact that the Torah advances no proof for either contention
is explained by Abulafia by remarking that from the point of view
of prophetic Kabbalism, itself the crowning achievement of the
Torah, the whole question is meaningless. "The prophet, after all,
demands nothing from the Torah except that which helps him to
reach the stage of prophecy. What then does it mean to him
whether the world is eternal or created, since its eternity can neither
advance his development nor take anything away from him. And
the same is true of the hypothesis that the world came into exis-
tence at a given moment."" Religious importance attaches solely to
that which contributes to man's perfection, and that is above all
else the Path of the Names. Although Abulafia himself denies the
eternity of the world, 1 * he is inclined to adopt a strictly pragmatic
attitude and to dismiss the whole argument as sterile.
In short, Abulafia is before all else what one might call an emin-
ently practical Kabbalist. It is true that in Kabbalistic parlance
'Practical Kabbalism' means something entirely different. It simply
means magic, though practised by means which do not come under
a religious ban, as distinct from black magic, which uses demonic
powers and probes into sinister regions. The fact is, however, that
this consecrated form of magic, which calls out the tremendous
powers of the names, is not very far removed from Abulafia's method;
if the sources from which he drew the elements of his doctrine are
investigated more closely— a task which is outside the scope of this
lecture— it becomes plain that all of them, both the Jewish and the
non-Jewish, are in fact closely connected with magical traditions
and disciplines. This is true both of the ideas of the mediaeval
German Hasidim, which seem to have made a deep impression
upon him," and of the tradition of Yoga which in devious ways
had also influenced certain Moslem mystics, and with which he may
have become acquainted during his Oriental travels. But it is no
less true that Abulafia himself has decisively rejected magic and
condemned in advance all attempts to use the doctrine of the holy
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 145
names for magical purposes. In countless polemics he condemns
magic as a falsification of true mysticism; 94 he does admit a magic
directed towards one's own self, a magic of inwardness— I think
that is the general name one could give to his doctrine— but none
which aims at bringing about external sensory results, even though
the means may be inward, permissible and even sacred. Such magic
is possible, according to Abulafia, but he who practices it is ac-
cursed.™ Already in his first known work Abulafia maintains that
conjuration of demons, although as a matter of fact based on a
delusive fantasy, was just good enough to strike the rabble with a
healthy terror of religion.*" Elsewhere he warns against the use of
the "Book of Creation" for the purpose of creating to oneself—
in the words of the Talmud— a fat calf. They who want this, he
says bluntly, are themselves calves.**
Abulafia has resolutely taken the path that leads inwards, and 1
think one can say he has pursued it as far as anybody in latter-day
Jewry. But this path runs along the border between mysticism and
magic, and for all the irreconcilable difference that appears to exist
between the two, their interrelation is more profound than is us-
ually taken for granted. There are certain points at which the be-
lief of the mystic easily becomes that of the magician, andAbulafia's
magic of inwardness, which I have just outlined, is one of them.
Although he himself escaped the danger of sliding insensibly from
the meditative contemplation of the holy names into magical prac-
tices aimed at external objects, many of his successors fell into con-
fusion and tended to expect from the inward path the power to
change the outer world. The magician's dream of power and lord-
ship over nature by mere words and strained intention, found its
dreamers in the Ghetto also and formed manifold combinations with
the theoretical and practical interests of mysticism proper. Histori-
cally, Kabbalism presents itself almost invariably as a combination
of the two. Abulafia's doctrine of combination (Hokkmath ha-
Tseruf) came to be regarded by later generations as the key not
only to the mysteries of Divinity but also to the exercise of magi-
cal powers.
In the literature of the 14th to 16th centuries on the Hokkmath
ha-Tseruf we find a blend of ecstatic and theosophic Kabbalism.
Thus for instance a writing of this character could even be ascribed
to Maimonides who appears here as a practical magician and thau-
146 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
maturge.** And thus instructions concerning meditation on the dif-
ferent possibilities of vocalizing the Tetragrammaton are given in
the very awkward book Berith Menuhah, "Order of Calmness",
which was almost the only one of these books to be printed."* These
instructions concerning meditation describe the lights flashing up
in the soul of the devotee, but at the same time dwell rather exten-
sively on the magical application of the names of God. Yet in the
two great works of the Kabbalist Josef ibn Sayah of Jerusalem,
which were composed about 1540 and which we possess in manu-
script, both sides of this Jewish Yoga are brought into a system and
pushed to excess: meditation endeavoring to reveal ever deeper
layers of the soul and more of its secret lights, and magical appli-
cation of the forces of the soul thus revealed by inward meditation."*
Finally, it may be interesting to note, that in the writings of some
Kabbalists the Great Name of God appears as the supreme object of
meditation in the last hour of the martyrs. In a powerful speech of
the great mystic Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi of Jerusalem (died
about 1530) we find a recommendation to those who face martyr-
dom. He advises them to concentrate, in the hour of their last
ordeal, on the Great Name of God; to imagine its radiant letters
between their eyes and to fix all their attention on it. Whoever
does this, will not feel the burning flames or the tortures to which
he is subjected. "And although this may seem improbable to hu-
man reason, it has been experienced and transmitted by the holy
martyrs." 1 "
Of the attractive power of these ideas and practices we possess a
very precious testimonial. An anonymous disciple of Abulafia's
wrote a book in 1295, apparently in Palestine, in which he set forth
the basic ideas of prophetic Kabbalism. 1 " Discussing three paths of
"expansion", i. e. of the progress of the spirit from corporeality to
an ever purer spiritual apprehension of objects, he has interpolated
an autobiographical account. In it he describes very accurately and
without doubt reliably his own development, as well as his experi-
ences with Abulafia and the latter's Kabbalah. He does not name
Abulafia, but from the description he gives and the kindred ideas
he employs, there can be no doubt to whom he alludes. This book
is called Skaare Tsedek, "Gates of Justice." Four manuscripts of it
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 147
are extant. But only two of them 1 ™ contain this autobiographical
account which obviously in the other two has fallen a prey to that
previously mentioned self-censorship of the Kabbalists who are ad-
verse to confessions of an all too intimate character concerning
mystical experiences, and before whom the author deems it neces-
sary to apologize for his candor.
I believe it will be a good illustration for what I have been say-
ing if 1 give the main parts of this account, which in my opinion,
is of extraordinary psychological interest.*'
"I, so and so, one of the lowliest, have probed my heart for ways
of grace to bring about spiritual expansion and I have found three
ways of progress to spiritualization: the vulgar, the philosophic,
and the Kabbalistic way. The vulgar way is that which, so I learned,
is practiced by Moslem ascetics. They employ all manner of devices
to shut out from their souls all 'natural forms', every image of the
familiar, natural world. Then, they say, when a spiritual form, an
image from the spiritual world, enters their soul, it is isolated in
their imagination and intensifies the imagination to such a degree
that they can determine beforehand that which is to happen to us.
Upon inquiry, I learned that they summon the Name, allah, as
it is in the language of Ishmael. I investigated further and 1 found
that, when they pronounce these letters, they direct their thought
completely away from every possible 'natural form', and the very
letters allah and their diverse powers work upon them. They
are carried off into a trance without realizing how, since no Kab-
balah has been transmitted to them. This removal of all natural
forms and images from the soul is called with them Effacement."*
"The second way is the philosophic, and the student will experi-
ence extreme difficulty in attempting to drive it from his soul be-
cause of the great sweetness it holds for the human reason and the
completeness with which that reason knows to embrace it. It consists
in this: That the student forms a notion of some science, mathema-
tics for instance, and then proceeds by analogy to some natural
science and then goes on to theology. He then continues further to
circle round this centre of his, because of the sweetness of that
which arises in him as he progresses in these studies. The sweetness
of this so delights him that he finds neither gate nor door to enable
him to pass beyond the notions which have already been established
I48 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
in him. At best, he can perhaps enjoy a [contemplative] spinning
out of his thoughts and to this he will abandon himself, retiring
into seclusion in order that no one may disturb his thought until
it proceed a little beyond the purely philosophic and turn as the
flaming sword which turned every way. The true cause of all this
is also to be found in his contemplation of the letters through
which, as intermediaries, he ascertains things. The subject which
impressed itself on his human reason dominates him and his power
seems to him great in all the sciences, seeing that this is natural to
him [i. e. thus to ascertain them]. He contends that given things
are revealed to him by way of prophecy, although he does not
realize the true cause, but rather thinks that this occured to him
merely because of the extension and enlargement of his human
reason . . . But in reality it is the letters ascertained through
thought and imagination, which influence him through their mo-
tion and which concentrate his thought on difficult themes, al-
though he is not aware of this.
"But if you put the difficult question to me: 'Why do we nowa-
days pronounce letters and move them and try to produce effects
with them without however noticing any effect being produced by
them?'— the answer lies, as I am going to demonstrate with the
help of Shaddai, in the third way of inducing spiri realization. And
I, the humble so and so, am going to tell you what I experienced
in this matter.
"Know, friends, that from the beginning I felt a desire to study
Torah and learned a little of it and of the rest of Scripture. But I
found no one to guide me in the study of the Talmud, not so much
because of the lack of teachers, but rather because of my longing for
my home, and my love for father and mother. At last, however,
God gave me strength to search for the Torah, I went out and
sought and found, and for several years I stayed abroad studying
Talmud. But the flame of the Torah kept glowing within me,
though without my realizing it.
"I returned to my native land and God brought me together with
a Jewish philosopher with whom I studied some of Maimonides'
"Guide of the Perplexed" and this only added to my desire. 1 ac-
quired a little of the science of logic and a little of natural science,
and this was very sweet to me for, as you know, 'nature attracts
nature.' And God is my witness: If I had not previously acquired
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 149
strength of faith by what little I had learned of the Torah and the
Talmud, the impulse to keep many of the religious commands
would have left me although the fire of pure intention was ablaze
in my heart. But what this teacher communicated to me in the way
of philosophy [on the meaning of the commandments], did not
suffice me, until the Lord had me meet a godly man, a Kabbalist
who taught me the general outlines of the Kabbalah. Nevertheless,
in consequence of my smattering of natural science, the way of Kab-
balah seemed all but impossible to me. It was then that my teacher
said to me: 'My son, why do you deny something you have not tried?
Much rather would it befit you to make a trial of it. If you then
should find that it is nothing to you— and if you are not perfect
enough to find the fault with yourself— then you may say that there
is nothing to it.' But, in order to make things sweet to me until my
reason might accept them and I might penetrate into them with
eagerness, he used always to make me grasp in a natural way every-
thing in which he instructed me. 1 reasoned thus within myself:
There can only be gain here and no loss. I shall see; if I find some-
thing in all of this, that is sheer gain; and if not, that which I have
already had will still be mine. So I gave in and he taught me the
method of the permutations and combinations of letters and the
mysticism of numbers and the other 'Paths of the book Yetsirah.'
In each path he had me wander for two weeks until each form had
been engraven in my heart, and so he led me on For four months
or so and then ordered me to 'efface' everything.
"He used to tell me: 'My son, it is not the intention that you
come to a stop with some finite or given form, even though it be of
the highest order. Much rather is this the "Path of the Names": The
less understandable they are, the higher their order, until you arrive
at the activity of a force which is no longer in your control, but
rather your reason and your thought is in its control. I replied: 'If
that be so [that all mental and sense images must be effaced], why
then do you, Sir, compose books in which the methods of the na-
tural scientists are coupled with instruction in the holy Names?'"*
He answered: 'For you and the likes of you among the followers
of philosophy, to allure your human intellect through natural
means, so that perhaps this attraction may cause you to arrive at
the knowledge of the Holy Name.' And he produced books for me
made up of [combinations of] letters and names and mystic num-
I50 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
bers [Gematrioth], of which nobody will ever be able to under-
stand anything for they are not composed in a way meant to be
understood. He said to me: 'This is the [undefiled] Path of the
Names.' And indeed, I would see none of it as my reason did not
accept it. He said: 'It was very stupid of me to have shown them
to you.'
"In short, after two months had elapsed and my thought had
disengaged itself [from everything material] and I had become
aware of strange phenomena occurring within me, I set myself the
task at night of combining letters with one another and of ponder-
ing over them in philosophical meditation, a little different from
the way 1 do now, and so I continued for three nights without tell-
ing him. The third night, after midnight, I nodded off a little, quill
in hand and paper on my knees. Then I noticed that the candle
was about to go out. I rose to put it right, as oftentimes happens to
a person awake. Then I saw that the light continued. I was greatly
astonished, as though, after close examination, I saw that it issued
from myself. 1 said: 'I do not believe it.' I walked to and fro all
through the house and, behold, the light is with me; I lay on a
couch and covered myself up, and behold, the light is with me all
the while. I said: 'This is truly a great sign and a new phenomenon
which I have perceived.'
"The next morning I communicated it to my teacher and I
brought him the sheets which I had covered with combinations of
letters. He congratulated me and said: 'My son, if you would devote
yourself to combining holy Names, still greater things would hap-
pen to you. And now, my son, admit that you are unable to bear
not combining. Give half to this and half to that, that is, do combi-
nations half of the night, and permutations half of the night.' 1 prac-
ticed this method for about a week. During the second week the
power of meditation became so strong in me that I could not man-
age to write down the combinations of letters [which automatically
spurted out of my pen], and if there had been ten people present
they would not have been able to write down so many combinations
as came to me during the influx. When I came to the night in which
this power was conferred on me, and midnight— when this power
especially expands and gains strength whereas the body weakens—
had passed, I set out to take up the Great Name of God, consisting
of seventy-two names, permuting and combining it. 1 " But when I
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 151
had done this for a little while, behold, the letters took on in my
eyes the shape of great mountains, strong trembling seized me and
I could summon no strength, my hair stood on end, and it was as
if I were not in this world. At once 1 fell down, for I no longer
felt the least strength in any of my limbs. And behold, something
resembling speech emerged from my heart and came to my lips and
forced them to move. I thought— perhaps this is, God forbid, a spirit
of madness that has entered into me? But behold, I saw it uttering
wisdom. I said: 'This is indeed the spirit of wisdom.' After a little
while my natural strength returned to me, I rose very much im-
paired and I still did not believe myself. Once more 1 took up the
Name to do with it as before and, behold, it had exactly the same
effect on me. Nevertheless I did not believe until I had tried it
four or five times.
"When I got up in the morning I told my teacher about it. He
said to me: 'And who was it that allowed you to touch the Name?
Did I not tell you to permute only letters?' He spoke on: 'What
happened to you, represents indeed a high stage among the pro-
phetic degrees.' He wanted to free me of it for he saw that my face
had changed. But 1 said to him: 'In heaven's name, can you per-
haps impart to me some power to enable me to bear this force
emerging from my heart and to receive influx from it?' For I
wanted to draw this force towards me and receive influx from it,
for it much resembles a spring filling a great basin with water. If
a man [not being properly prepared for it] should open the dam,
he would be drowned in its waters and his soul would desert him.
He said to me: 'My son, it is the Lord who must bestow such power
upon you for such power is not within man's control."
"That Sabbath night also the power was active in me in the
same way. "When, after two sleepless nights, I had passed day and
night in meditating on the permutations or on the principles essen-
tial to a recognition of this true reality and to the annihilation of
all extraneous thought— then I had two signs by which I knew that
I was in the right receptive mood. The one sign was the intensifica-
tion of natural thought on very profound objects of knowledge, a
debility of the body and strengthening of the soul until 1 sat there,
my self all soul. The second sign was that imagination grew strong
within me and it .seemed as though my forehead were going to burst.
Then I knew that I was ready to receive the Name. I also that
I52 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
Sabbath night ventured at the great ineffable Name of God [the
name JHWH]. But immediately that I touched it, it weakened me
and a voice issued from me saying: 'Thou shalt surely die and not
livel Who brought thee to touch the Great Name?' And behold,
immediately I fell prone and implored the Lord God saying: 'Lord
of the universel I entered into this place only for the sake of
Heaven, as Thy glory knoweth. What is my sin and what my trans-
gression? 1 entered only to know Thee, for has not David already
commanded Solomon: Know the God of thy father and serve Him;
and has not our master Moses, peace be upon him, revealed this to
us in the Torah saying: Show rae now Thy way, that I may know
Thee, that I may there find grace in Thy sight?' And behold, I was
still speaking and oil like the oil of the anointment anointed me
from head to foot and very great joy seized me which for its spiri-
tuality and the sweetness of its rapture I cannot describe.
"All this happened to your servant in his beginnings. And I do
not, God forbid, relate this account from boastfulness in order to
be thought great in the eyes of the mob, for I know full well that
greatness with the mob is deficiency and inferiority with those
searching for the true rank which differs from it in genus and in
species as light from darkness.
"Now, if some of our own philosophizers, sons of our people who
feel themselves attracted towards the naturalistic way of knowledge
and whose intellectual power in regard to the mysteries of the
Torah is very weak, read this, they will laugh at me and say: See
how he tries to attract our reason with windy talk and tales, with
fanciful imaginations which have muddled his mind and which he
takes at their face value because of his weak mental hold on natural
science. Should however Kabbalists see this, such as have some
grasp of this subject or even better such as have had things divulged
to them in experiences of their own, they will rejoice and ray words
will win their favor. But their difficulty will be that I have dis-
closed all of this in detail. Nevertheless, God is my witness that my
intention is in majorem dei gloriam and I would wish that every
single one of our holy nation were even more excellent herein and
purer than I. Perhaps it would then be possible to reveal things of
which I do not as yet know ... As for me, I cannot bear not to
give generously to others what God has bestowed upon me. But
since for this science there is no naturalistic evidence, its premises
ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 1 53
being as spiritual as are its inferences, I was forced to tell this story
of the experience that befell me. Indeed, there is no proof in this
science except experience itself . . . That is why 1 say, to the man
who contests this path, that I can give him an experimental proof,
namely, my own evidence of the spiritual results of my own ex-
periences in the science of letters according to the book Yetsirah.
I did not, to be sure, experience the corporeal [magic] effects
[of such practices]; and even granting the possibility of such a form
of experience, I for my part want none of it, for it is an inferior
form, especially when measured by the perfection which the soul
can attain spiritually. Indeed, it seems to me that he who attempts
to secure these [magic] effects desecrates God's name, and it is this
that our teachers hint at when they say: Since licence prevailed, the
name of God has been taught only to the most reticent priests. 1 "
"The third is the Kabbalistic way. It consists of an amalgamation
in the soul of man of the principles of mathematical and of natural
science, after he has first studied the literal meanings of the Torah
and of the faith, in order thus through keen dialectics to train his
mind and not in the manner of a simpleton to believe in everything.
Of all this he stands in need only because he is held captive by
the world of nature. For it is not seemly that a rational being held
captive in prison should not search out every means, a hole or a
small fissure, of escape. If today we had a prophet who showed us
a mechanism for sharpening the natural reason and for discovering
there subtle forms by which to divest ourselves of corporeality, we
should not need all these natural sciences in addition to our Kab-
balah which is derived from the basic principles or heads of chap-
ters of the book Yetsirah concerning the letters [and their combina-
tions] . . . For the prophet would impart to us the secrets of the
combination of consonants and of the combination of vowels be-
tween them, the paths by which the secret and active powers eman-
ate, and the reason that this emanation is sometimes hindered from
above . . . All this he would convey to us directly whereas now
we are forced to take circuitous routes and to move about restrain-
edly and go out and come in on the change that God may confront
us. For as a matter of fact every attainment in this science of Kab-
balah looked at from its point of view is only a chance, even
though, for us, it be the very essence of our being. 1 "
"This Kabbalistic way, or method, consists, first of all, in the
154 MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM
cleansing of the body itself, for the bodily is symbolic of the spir-
itual. Next in the order of ascent is the cleansing of your bodily
disposition and your spiritual propensities, especially that of anger,
or your concern for anything whatsoever except the Name itself,
be it even the care for your only beloved son; and this is the secret
of the Scripture that "God tried Abraham.' A further step in the
order of ascent is the cleansing of one's soul from all other sciences
which one has studied. The reason for this is that being natural-
istic and limited, they contaminate the soul, and obstruct the pas-
sage through it of the divine forms. These forms are extremely
subtle; and though even a minor form is something innately great
in comparison with the naturalistic and the rational, it is never-
theless an unclean, thick veil in comparison with the subtlety of
the spirit. On this account seclusion in a separate house is pre-
scribed, and if this be a house in which no [outside] noise can be
heard, the better. At the beginning it is advisable to decorate the
house with fresh greens in order to cheer the vegetable soul which
a man possesses side by side with his animal soul. Next, one should
pray and sing psalms in a pleasant melodious voice, and [read]
the Torah with fervor, in order to cheer the animal soul which
a man possesses side by side with his rational soul. Next, one directs
his imagination to intelligible things and to understanding how
one thing proceeds from another. Next, one proceeds to the moving
of letters which [in their combinations] are unintelligible, thus to
detach the soul [from the senses] and to cleanse it of all the forms
formerly within it. In the same way one proceeds with the improve-
ment of his [bodily] matter by meat and drink, and improves it
[the body] by degrees. As to the moving of letters we shall deal with
some methods in the chapter 'Letters.' Next, one reaches the stage
of 'skipping' as Scripture says, 'and his banner over me was love.' 1 "
It consists of one's meditating, after all operations with the letters
are over, on the essence of one's thought, and of abstracting from it
every word, be it connected with a notion or not. In the perform-
ance of this 'skipping' one must put the consonants which one is
combining into a swift motion. This motion heats the thinking and
so increases joy and desire, that craving for food and sleep or any-
thing else is annihilated. In abstracting words from thought during
contemplation, you force yourself so that you pass beyond the con-
trol of your natural mind and if you desire not to think, you cannot
ABHLAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC RABBALISM 1 55
carry out your desire. You then guide your thinking step by step,
first by means of script and language and then by means of im-
agination. When, however, you pass beyond the control of your
thinking, another exercise becomes necessary which consists in
drawing thought gradually forth— during contemplation— from its
source until through sheer force that stage is reached where you
do not speak nor can you speak. And if sufficient strength remains
to force oneself even further and draw it out still farther, then that
which is within will manifest itself without, and through the power
of sheer imagination will take on the form of a polished mirror.
And this is 'the flame of the circling sword", the rear revolving and
becoming the fore. Whereupon one sees that his inmost being is
something outside of himself." 1 Such was the way of the Urim and
Tummim, the priest's oracle of the Torah, in which, too, at first
the letters shine from inside and the message they convey is not
an immediate one nor arranged in order, but results only from the
right combination of the letters. For a form, detached from its
essence, is defective until it clothe itself in a form which can be
conceived by imagination, and in this imaginable form the letters
enter into a complete, orderly and understandable combination.
And it seems to me that it is this form which the Kabbalists call
'clothing', matbush." 01
NOTES TO LECTURE IV
ABRAHAM ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALI8M
1 ornate ^tMt 'd Fuerth 1701.
2 Cf. my book mamt ysvm 't 'Kmtrn '?«• vnioi^n (1988) chapter IV.
3 First published 18S1. The best edition of this highly interesting book
appeared in Warsaw in 1868 under the title &»M**3 <oip^ 'd.
4 Ms. British Museum 749 f. 10—28; Guenzburg 691 (formerly Coronel
129).
5 An analysis of the idea of mpTi and its development in Judaism is a
desideratum. Cf. Ibn Ezra on Psalm I, 3; Nahmanides on Deuter. XI, 22
378 NOTES TO LECTURE IV
and on Job XXXI, 7; Ezra ben Solomon (published in my book "M una
n^3pa 1 930 p. 197ff.) . Ezra quotes as a saying of his teacher Isaac the Blind:
'131 "lipan/i iai„ \av '3»im on'awan ffiaf np'J? (Pseudo-Nahmanides on
O'TtWl Wft 1763, f. 8d).
6 Cf. the articles on nip m in on'on fit) 'd(1876) f. 15f.,andinT.VT 'o
onion (1876) f. US.
7 R. Fhineas of Koretz gives a very illuminating paraphrase in Yiddish.
He "translates" the words 'na p3T^ DTK in* muj wcfc arain gain in Ha-
ackem, cf. o'jonir «eipn 'd (1876) p. 14.
8 Published in Berlin 1922.
9 The description of the experience of the High Priest in entering the
Holy of Holies on the day of Atonement has such an ecstatical character,
cf. Zohar HI, 67a and 102a; Zohar Hadash (1885) f. 19a and 21a.
10 Cf. the bibliography.
11 Jellinek, Philosophie und Kabbala p. 23.
12 I know of some Kabbalists in Jerusalem who copied manuscripts of
one of the most difficult of Abulafia's books, not in order to sell them but
for the sake of their own work.
13 Jehudah Hayat in the preface to his commentary mirr WUD on the
book nintom nD-iya Mantua 1558.
14 Moses Cordovero and Hayim Vital quote him more than once as a
high authority, not to mention minor Kabbalists. Eliezer Eilenburg, a
German Kabbalist (ca. 1555) says of Abulafia's io» nDR in rhymed
prose iBin pi mo pioy l^iatr and win "iDtr noK ted BMfOD *itw* b"r bs
Iftia «m* ik 730 ff'K (Ms. New York JThS 891 f. 101a).
15 The Kabbalists used to quote all sorts of variations on Maimonides'
saying (in minn mo» ma?n IV, 13): k?k DT9H ^"Q^ nm ]'M ioik 13*5
.ini on^ ions Hbatuv »B
16 Of two great Kabbalists of the 18th century, the brothers Jacob and
Isaac Hakohen of Soria, we know on very good authority njra i«n rtv
■no^na nKiin cf. Tarbiz vol. HI p. 261.
17 The following account is based chiefly on the fragment of Ab.'s fry "isik
UJJ published by Jellinek in Beth Ha-Midrask vol. HI p. XL ff, of the in-
troduction. Many other details are to be found in his commentaries on his
own prophetical writings, cf. Steinschneider's analysis of Ms. Munich 285
in his Catalogue of the Hebrew Mss. in Munich (1895) p. 142 — 146.
18 Koch, Meister Eckhart und die Juedische Religionsphilosophie des
Mittelalters, in Jahresbericht der Sehlesischen Gesellschaft fuer vaterlaen*
dische Kultur 1928 (p. 15 of the reprint) .
19 Abulafia's commentary on the Morek is extant in two versions: a)
Vtm Hfl Ms. Munich 408; Erlanger Memorial Collection 96 in JThS; b)
ABRAHAM ABULAFIA AND TEE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 379
min nro of which more than 25 manuscripts are known. Some pieces of
it were printed (anonymously) in the KabbaUstical collection nrotf "Qip?
rutin (Ferrara 1556) f. 88—81.
20 According to fW py ism Ms. Oxford 1580 f. 17a.
21 The list of these commentaries is printed in Beth Ha-Midrash vol. Ill
p. xm.
22 rfapn mnnoo Ms. Paris 770*; JThS 835, cf, my article on the author
and the book in EJ III col. 1105.
28 ntxtfy bw *3*W sins'? *bv ibih ijni »Htn >j>«i ains^ idir ohi
.»3YT 131 inn D1pB3 13 11J llim n'301 3T113 '3H J 3* ,'"103^
24 In 1279 he is full of praise for these pupils, cf. the passage in Jellinek'a
rtopn flDSn i»J German part p. 17 note 4. By 1282 he writes rather
coolly about them (o"nn idq Ms. Munich 285 f. 21b) and 1285 he says
bitterly D'miyi vi\ yiD ^a onpa ifl nm niairrt ittst {Beth Ha-Midrash
in p. xu) .
25 Cf. MGWJ vol. 36 (1887) p. 558.
26 Fragments of one of these earlier works P'jn ninnea 'd are extant in
Ms. Vatican 291; of the book mown B3 in Ms. Oxford 1658.
27 A. H. Silver, A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel (1927) p.
146 has been the first to see this connection.
28 The account is published in MGWJ vol. 36 p. 558.
29 man idd published by Jellinek in Jubelschrift zum 70. Geburtstage
des Prof. H. Graetz (1887) p. 65—85.
SO MGWJ vol. 86 p. 558. Zinberg, The History of Jewish Literature vol.
Ill (1931) p. 52 quotes a poem of one of AbulahVs admirers who com-
plains bitterly of these persecutions. Solomon ben Adreth attacked him
for his activities in Sicily as a prophet and quasi-Messiah (cf. tf"3ann n"w
No. 548) .
31 nwn *ibd p. 76.
32 In his niB3nn nnoa on Genesis Ms. Parma Derossi 141 f. I6b and 28b.
83 Ibid f. 16b: P3Yi lion m D'jnt'i? D'osn nsp one r»» pso t«m
mam 'Ton ^33 3"3 >jh D'fin thi pBB.nfa onm >IWW »$ 1%M lies «ay
.nyin $$& «^k mm rwtva Mv nam aim D>Kncn nai ty mF& pm n'nyn
34 Ibid f. 28b: »*»BH 13T D1V '3BB top* 18*y ty "na niftm Dim lfllKBl
nott n»o *ibhi minw "ry dbtj npn' pvn pn isto irtyspi toy antwim minn
.ma "imi nan papo mW> -pis pm nan imini
85 Cf. Landauer in Literaturblatt des Orients vol. VI (1845) col. 473.
He even speaks of Abulafia as a "rationalistic Christian" (!) , ibid. col.
590. The same misinterpretation is given by S. Bernfeld.
380 NOTES TO LECTURE IV
36 Cf. man ifiD p. 71. The Mss. of his books are full of polemical pas-
sages, especially the Vipa \s Ms. Munich 58* (partly incorporated into the
ran ton 'd 1784 f. 50— 56).
37 Cf. nmn ibo p. 71 col. b. He enlarges on such "trinit&rian" ideas, espe-
cially in the rto) ibo using the terminology of mtot .mtoi p and <npn nn
for the three aspects of the intellect which are explained in other metaphors
in the passage quoted in note 75. In pvnn 'o Ms. Endow Memorial Coll.
868 of the JThS f. 86b he says: i^ iidr nvbw mntomv tern T» ""3*' °*"
J"t31 ^"pV R'1BQ>J3 nv'fW \S» 3131 1p»
38 Cf. ntopn noan »tm Hebrew part p. 10; Philosophic u. Kabbala p. 38.
One of Ab.'s treatises, anrt iiai tpoi epxo'D Ms. Sassoon 50 is written es-
pecially agaiiLsti't* '3i nn'tDspoKnw lfntrtM in* Ta^n b» waartm niyo
*i>fl lOJ 11'» N* 1 T3^3 flTBD to 1 ? D» nH»1p DK »3 Dnp»T3 13^
39 Cf. his nmaan pay, & very illuminating piece (from the vosn "n 'o)
published by Jellinek in the collectanea following his edition of the fiiKn ibd
p. 86.
40 Ms. Enelow Memorial Coll. in the JThS § 702 f. 22b: aman >DW mpn
iruwb iijri *wn «"R3 ijTpn ...bbito mwa 'aio^i .»«n noim anroN
no3 it< >nntomi »ai*i tnmani ...iaoo *m tjfta lain tti anino i3i ian^
113W Dmp»Bm vo inm annip nn Unra ,ajm inVmo ntyiri »in»
onim liajrai /ivina o'a^inn opn lvai «B3 kSi nom D>ntoi naiy in»n»
nn'tora ia* dj iap»p»rr> o»Vi3» vriwa D'nor i<n ,ninrt3 oiypw dtp am on
OTi tjp nom »3*n 3iiptt *6 i3 nm niarjjD i^ n^n in omwpo i»no3i
"ipm. Hisepistle (mm* mn ed. Jellinek in Auswahl kabbal. Mystik p. 13—
28 is one of his refutations of personal attacks. Here he says likewise:
»3» »3»D iB^ iJDD im» O'lRlSD D'IBD nVjp3 TOn& tolpn D1K UDip R^ '3
.mowii nivBDi .onsun rppVn
41 Cf. the text printed in Philosophic und Kabbala p. 44 to which must
be added the introductory part found in my book ntopa T tana p. 26.
42 In the preface of his ptwin im Ms. Enelow Memorial Coll. (in JThS)
No. 858 f. 2b in Vim Vwi i»ap -inv rWM mioson nn>on jni»n.
43 Literaturblatt des Orient vol. VI col. 345. S. Bernfeld (in a'rrt* njn)
and Guenzig have accepted Landauer's theory without research of their
own.
44 Proof of the accuracy of the description now following is to be found
in the translation appended to this lecture, and in Abulafia's great system-
atic manuals, especially the "iei? nan and V^vn *mt.
45 He refers to nitanmn nvp mnrr cf. ntopn nosn map. 18 (the phrase
occurs several times in his unpublished writings) .
46 Ibid. p. 20.
47 Samdki^nirmocana Sutra ou Sutra detachant les noeuds, ed. Lamotte,
Paris 1935.
ABRAHAM ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 381
48 Thus he parallels the meaning of the metaphor niDvn St* tpi jna
.nieninn rnrpiw n»nnai
40 ^V- P 'c Ms. Munich 58 f. S2Sb. The text of the passage is printed
in the RH*&) 'D (1784) f. 52d/5Sa.
50 Philosophie und Kabbala p. 15j 'O'aun \VXrm noan Kifl *nvsn nnsn
,n»*pn
51 Cf. ib» nDK Ms. Munich 285 f. 75b: fwo nirte (ni'ni* nfo) itaj da
o^ip 11D3 in»« »nm Ktf>p inm»av nn otayn papa mnn Kim pap
52 In his |«i*a icd in the same Ms. he says: 'jsk iD*p >:Ba D^ip niH ^>3
53 Cf. niKH ico p. 71; Philosophie und Kabbala p. 20 where he uses the
phrase im»at'» inn tev ip anpn iflrt j* nuirtn to (1) vnrrt ins
.nimiit a w a on* anipn m*niKB laino Kin tfeta laavm lmrnrai i»B3 naion
In his ^3twi *iim part VII, he gives the Gematria m»niKP •jn»*-nwi»? D»p3B\
54 nan o^ip »»n (written 1280) . I know of about 25 manuscripts. Fur-
ther details cf. in my book nSapa v *3rn p. 24—30.
55 S-trn lit* (written 1285) extant in no less than fifteen Mss. I have
used Ms. Munich 02, Already Jellinek has justly pointed out that this is an
exceedingly interesting work, cf. Philosophie und Kabbala p. 39.
56 ibp 'idk (written 1291), also extant in about fifteen Mss. I have
used Ms. Munich 285. «pvsn ibd in Ms. Paris Bibl. Nat. 774.
57 Cf. e. g. Philosophie und Kabbala p. 18—20.
58 A full elaboration of the technique of association has been published
by me (from nttyn o^id 'd ) in Kirjath Sefer vol. XXII (1045) p. 161
—171.
59 Ibid. p. 44 — 45, from ton D^ip "n 'c. I have translated several pas-
sages in accordance with the better readings of Ms. 8° 540 of the Hebrew
University library.
60 These seven stages are described by Abulafia in his minn rna'nj pa»
Philosophie und Kabbala p. 1 — 1.
61 Cf. rtop3 V '3T13 p. 25.
62 Ibidem. In hisiBV <"idh, Abulafia says:|Q p»B3i 1*J3 *iu n ins '3 jn
mm iDi uaa ma' \t its* lias? nneo mw&i •novh ipten yvt\ .'flttnp
.nu own nnBD ia iDipo 1 ? aitr \a!i n dk taR msp n* aim nn
63 nnp iBD Ms. Munich 285 f. S7b:i33j o^ia tomn mn» mman an» jni
.i«iyi dtkd is mn h 1 ? *i»k ihb*3 pR3 nnp mi^jnn «mn tyi aniBan o» *p
Cf. also the passage quoted in note 40.
64 van "n 'o printed at the end of mim ibd p. 85.
65 wbjh nn 'o Ms. Munich 408 f. 67a: cmvaS-ii n>B»3an »» on D'tatpBn.
382 NOTES TO LECTURE IV
66 Particularly in his commentaries on Maimonides' Morek.
67 Examples of this are to be found innVapa v 'ana p. 27, 29; Philoso-
phic und Kabbala p. 40 — 11; Moses Cordovero's D'JiDT dtib 'd ch. XXI,
1 (from Abulafia's iipsn ibb).
68 See the sources quoted in the last note.
69 Cf. the passage published in my book ntapa V 'MB p. 27.
70 mVffiSI nnBD 'o Ms. Ambrosiana (Milano) 53 f. 157b: in* ifelH
anuon onpwn i^ nmB^ 'b«3b vnyo ^ri jnno mmn nnoo toipo ysa to
nimm mo tarn R^n mtevn mminmr mown mvton nnoK -rioa i>3B^
.m mpn Rin >Mnm „.nRia3n na^nan
71 Cf. iBff noK Ms. Munich 285 f- 90a; iwr mn mutt nto iwn »»nn
1^ nSIDO'lP 31 ^H HT3 tt"R TIBS* K^tF '3B01 R'H ItPRa n^>13 Dtapfl l 1 ? «1R1
ir^ dri ,aiB no m vty r*d» dri ...n3oa ison ma aina rsb>» no \b piBDu
.ifion ma moo rso'w no ojr "nap»
72 tWfg ibo Ms. Munich 285 f. 89b Abulafia quotes his own prophecy i.e.
the divine voice speaking to him, and gives his own interpretation. Dip*
jmtstm ^a nan — *$M innron,, ;mtrB3n >>n Rin — "wvo »m opni
i n r i p ibvi, . .."^r"ib" nitop ^n Vw» ty itafc imnnwo »3R »a„
noRD iai rmwh ^a pan [sic!] >ow n«r mow — ■ « o w a i t »
nto mi* imiBO ma m&ft iwbh »m "Rin > a 3 k i ism k i n i„
AWl n"»wB Rin '"awn own now
73 Sankedrin 38a: En owa low. The words jiibbd and ntr have the same
numerical value 314.
74 Cf. ntapa v tana p. 25; niRn 'd p. 70—71.
75 toun nosni miron nym Ms. Munich 285 f. 26b. The Hebrew
text reads: .moan irwo irm nwiaa^ anpn ifan mn mA noann riRt 'a
Ripi ,nnp onion anaon to -rate no -jino BUM liayt'va niR'son nnoRi
,^aipo »bd ntapw »o ir mown *b to napi'v <o i^ *iddw n^apa nam* mi .nan
1*S& ia«a jniii Rtriaw inoi rwo <o to ia^ lino njn'w m km .fan mai
nnaR jn»ff 'B 03BK1 ,]njn Rip» ,niR'3on »3"3p ia iri jranw no to icsy
iid^ ano noann onw onatsn oway '.in ito ia^a i^np3» yn ^p niR'son
»3»r ,naipnoa inoi r»b ana npirn D>»nonn anaipon >bd n^aipon n3»ani
^jfBfin ir bysnn *b ^airnoi *ijjbv np ^aa r^h ia^ R133 Rip' tP'Rn nw "Offl
nsR Kin pi (i3oa) ^bdhb' j»»ni tynnn dr 'jaK — ^yonn ijhbv 3'iyn h^i
,nmi ib nnR Dipa dk 131 ova inw nun by mio dbo Ripn^> d^» ^3 ^>sri
p3i nasi? Rin iai! ist Rin mm mo iibs r^ Rin» 'sbo ,i'fimw ^aa qri
tiwb ianw i03i .(!) Rin Rin 13 nso mn 13bd n'urt nt«i>R >«» pm 13
,^rifla a^ij^ 13 inR p3p an»^» i»r ^sipio Varna ^a» Ton Hip' ioin ^20
^avio n»n> mi tyifla ji»>» npa ^3» Ripi iniion own tyi invon m |a
10x53 in^a n'^an unw isbb r^h an'3»3 ten t:: pm .nia ^ifia ^aw taM
.onipxoRai a'Riasn >t ^jj m^>po ^r y»an nil ,o^a QtRisan 10 irrtiw rV
ABRAHAM ABULAFI A AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 383
76 This is in accordance with Maimonides* theology and borrowed there-
from.
77 mvBDn nnnta Ms. Ambrosiana 53 f. 161b; na k^ist na iicm na "pun
.na t^isj ia n^iai
78 Cf. ntapa V >ana p. 285—230.
79 Cf. my article, Eine Kabbalistische Deutung der Frophetie als Selbst-
begegnung, in MGWJ vol. 74 (1930) p. 285—290.
80 Gen. Rabba ed. Theodor p. 256.
81 Cf. the complete text in the article quoted in note 79.
82 This statement is found in Ibn Ezra's commentary on Daniel X, 21.
83 On the ecstatic sensation of anointment cf. the quotation from Abu-
lafia in Johanan Alemanno psrin lire' 'c ed. Halberstadt Slajntapa. "M 'ana
p. 228. On avn mtra cf. the passage quoted in note 72.
84 The terms mowi TT1 and niVBon in occur very often, cf.noan 'tJJ
n^apn p. 15, 17.
85 v.yi i j 'D Ms. Munich 68 f. 322b.
86 Cf. the passage quoted in note 38.
87 The Sefiroth are iv\m SOW 'pop in the passage from ^ipi \i (note
85). The tymn tew is wow in Ms. Jerusalem 8° 540 f. 13b.
88 Fhilosophie und Kabbala p. 11.
89 Ibid. p. 4.
90 Cf. moann nnno Ms. Parma Derossi 141 f. 19a. nvnza ntepn \m
town iBO main ntepnv trtu n?apn pa noann pa ph >a noann nntav no
(rfoprt) 3"r in»ua nnjnn »nw ftpn op noann nuinip noo npiop inva ^pmn
.npT wii man
91 The same Ms. f. 12b ff. no k^h n^ia rralffl ^>ao tcpa* h 1 ? K'njn ojdki
imoTpi tinn ir poip o^ipn ok i^ no «a .nttiaui »t% ltran^ p'Ddd»
inmftrw no ia dki ...n'n laa Rifl -whip lmno nins» k^i ntyo i^ *i»Din R^
Mvawn pip Rin
92 He had been attacked for defending the eternity of the world, as re-
lated by him in ^IJU ]i Ma. Munich 58 f. 327b. Elsewhere he suggests a
solution of his own for the problem.
93 Cf. Jellinek, Auswahl kabbalistischer Mystik, German part p. 21);
SLeinschneider in Hebr. Bibliographic vol. XIV p. 8 and p. VTI (correc-
tions) .
94 Cf. Fhilosophie und Kabbala p. 22, 43—44.
95 n^apa H 'ana p. 30 and the words of his disciple quoted on p. 160.
96 tfipl nniiB '0 Ms. Vatic. 291 f. 29a in a lengthy passage.
384 NOTES TO LECTURE IV
97 D»n^H "ij 'd Ms. Munich 10 f. 172b ibd npm \\fm imvritt n?p> to
an D»^jy is bVtyi D»vpnisnv rowv^n *iiy ima^ >13 m^S' (ct.Sanhe-
drin 65b) .
98 onno rnja published in Edelmann's nnjj man (1856) f, 42—45; cf.
my remarks on it in Tarbiz vol. VI No. 3 p. 94.
99 nniio no: first edition Amsterdam 1648. In Kabbalistical manuscripts
there still exist a large number of other works of this genre including some
fairly interesting ones in the very valuable Ms. Sassoon 290.
100 These two books are cniwi pit Ms. Jerusalem 8° 416 (cf. V 'afifl
ntepz p. 89 — 91) and epv nHMw 'o Ms. Vienna, Library of the Jewish
Community 260 (Schwarz p. 203—204) .
101 Cf. the text published in Kirjath Sepker vol. VII (1630/31) p. 153.
102 Cf. rfopa l» tamp. 84 and Kirjath Sepher vol. I p. 127—139.
103 Mss. Jerusalem and Columbia University Library X 893 — Sh 43.
Several pages of the autobiography have been lost by accident and are not
included in the latter Ms. The two other Mss. are Leiden (Warner 24, 2)
and Gaster 954 (now in the British Museum) .
104 The original text was published by me in Kirjath Sepher I (1924) p.
ISO — 138. In some places, particularly in the last part, my translation fol-
lows the much better readings of Ms. Leiden. Some passages at the begin-
ning and at the end have not been translated as having no direct connec-
tion with the subject matter.
105 Hebrew np'riD. This is indeed the Sufic term mahw. Abulafia himself
alludes to this notion when he says, with reference to the Name, that he is
np»no r\i |*MV np'pn — a play of words on a Talmudic saying concern-
ing D'pnoj qjihb' mow cf. his rmuan iid (after mm TOT p. 86).
106 This description gives an accurate picture of the actual content of
the bulk of Abulafia's works.
107 This nia» a"y p Q* is construed from letters of the three verses
Exodus XIV, 19—21, each of which consists of 72 letters, cf. Blau, Das alt-
juedische Zauberwesen (1898) p. 130. The major part of Abulafia's "Pi 'o
nzn zb-r; is a guide to meditation on these 72 names whose parts and com-
binations are here inscribed in a large number of circles, each of them
serving for a special meditation.
108 Kidduahin 71a.
109 Perhaps the correct translation should be: "For every attainment in
Kabbalah is only an accident in relation to its substance, even if, for us, it
be the substance itself." The Hebrew text reads: 10 j'c:c no hs imia*
.13'flino 'D^> Dspa R>n» B"jm nninD <b^ mpaa pi naa'tt rmm noann
110 Cant. II, 4 rranK »ty l&m. The Midrash reads homiletically uiSni
as though God says "and his skipping over me." The Kabbalist gives to
this "skipping" a new meaning,
ABRAHAM ABULAFIA AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHETIC KABBALISM 385
111 See above p. 139, the passage on self-confrontation.
112 This degree of mystical meditation and perception of the Divine is
mentioned by Moses ben Nahman in his commentary on Genesis XVIII:
■ora i« \a*jb a»v »wVb d>;ii 'n *> * * Hip> b<3*^03 itqj iim mn
.Wit 1 } bSMt tfyi O'K'SJn '331 DH'Dna DllUfl
Abulafia himself mentions it several times in his writings. It seems to be
connected with the vnton ibo, cf. note 132 to the second lecture.
