Mysticism

84.

Moses b. Shem-Tov de León,

of Castile, ca. 1240-1305

[ Sefer ha-Zohar ]

Mantua: Meir b. Ephraim and Jacob b.

Naphtali ha-Kohen, 1558-1560.

The Book of Splendor in Aramaic, attributed to the ancient Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai but first circulated by Moses de León in Guadalajara, is the central work of Jewish mysticism. A controversy surrounded this first edition of the book, whose printing was opposed by some kabbalists.

85.

Book of Creation

[ Sefer Yetsirah ]

Mantua: Jacob b. Naphtali, 1562.

Written by a Jewish Neo-Pythagorean in Palestine between the 3rd and 6th centuries, the Book of Creation describes the construction of the cosmos out of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The earliest Hebrew work of systematic speculation, it exerted a wide influence; through its study it was believed possible to create a golem, or homunculus. Although a Latin version by a Christian kabbalist was published in Paris ten years earlier, this is the first edition of the original Hebrew text.

86.

Nathan Nata b. Solomon Spira,

of Cracow, ca. 1585-1633

[ Megaleh Amukot ]

Fuerth: Joseph b. Zalman Shneur, 1691.

In this classic work of number-mysticism (gematria), the author, an ancestor of Jacob M. Lowy, displays an extraordinary mathematical mind. This edition was the first Hebrew book published in Fuerth.

87.

Hayim b. Jacob Palaggi [ Palache ],

of Izmir, 1788-1869

[ Refu'ah ve-Hayim ]

Izmir: Aaron J. de Segura, 1874.

Amulets and charms abound in the literature of "practical Kabbalah." In this treatise folk magic is coupled with herbal prescriptions, some given in the Judezmo vernacular. Izmir was, together with Constantinople and Salonica, one of the three centres of Hebrew printing in the Ottoman Empire, where many mystical tracts were published.

88.

Hayim b. Joseph Vital, of Safed and

Damascus, 1542-1620

[ Mevo she'arim ]

Jerusalem: Isaac N. Levy and Co., 1904.

Vital wrote a comprehensive elaboration of the teachings of his mentor, Isaac Luria, the principal figure in Jewish mysticism after the expulsion from Spain. This volume is a version of Vital's introduction, together with the annotations of Menahem Heilprin, a Polish kabbalist.

89.

Meir Poppers, of Jerusalem, d. 1662

[ Ilan ha-Gadol ]

Warsaw: Shulberg brothers, 1893.

Poppers was the last redactor of the Lurianic corpus. This suppositious work known as "The Great Tree," here newly edited by Aaron Altshuler of Mariupol (Southern Ukraine), is a summation of the Lurianic system, replete with kabbalistic charts and diagrams.

90.

Jonathan Eybeschuetz, of Prague,

Metz, and Altona, ca. 1690-1764

[ Luhot Edut ]

Altona: Aaron b. Elijah Katz, 1755.

Eybeschuetz' personal defense against the accusation of belief in the false messiah, Shabbetai Zevi, was his only work printed in his lifetime. In this book he offers an innocent interpretation of his own kabbalistic amulets, deciphered by his opponents as heretical.

91.

Likutim Yekarim

[ Likutim Yekarim ]

Zholkva (Galician Ukraine): s.n.,

1799/1800.

Edited by Samuel b. Judah Leyb Segal, this early collection includes teachings of the founder of Hasidism, Israel b. Eliezer Baal Shem Tov of Medzibezh (ca. 1700-1760), and those of his disciples Dov Baer of Mezhirech, Menahem Mendel of Peremyshlany, Jehiel Michael of Zloczow and Meshullam Fayvish Heller of Zbarazh.