Vocal Rites and Broken Theologies Cleaving to Vocables in R. Israel Ba'al Shem Tov's Mysticism

by Moshe Idel

Overview

Vocal Rites and Broken Theologies deals with the central practices of the founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Israel Ba‘al Shem Tov—known as the Besht—and its sources in the Safedian Kabbalah of Rabbi Moses Corovero. These include the loud pronunciation of the vocables during prayer, study of the Torah, and eventually profane speech, as conducive to some form of union with the divine. Many traditions in his name allow the reconstruction of the specific importance of these vocal rituals, including an architecture of the “Hebrew” sounds. From the historical point of view, Moshe Idel shows that some forms of Greek/Hellenistic magic reached the Muslim culture, and were translated into Hebrew in the 13th century, thus enriching Kabbalistic views, especially in Renaissance Kabbalah and in the Safedian Kabbalah of Cordovero and his many followers. They have been adopted in Hasidism by its founder, and were put in relief. Provided the linguistic nature of this practice, it was adapted by popular circles in the mid-18th century, which conjugated it with a variety of theological motifs stemming from different types of theologies, which have been adapted to the vocal practices. This less theological and more ritual linguistic practice is an explanation for the wide adoption of Hasidism by popular circles and its ensuing success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780824550257
Publisher:	Herder & Herder
Publication date:	01/01/2020
Series:	Jewish Spiritual Traditions and Contempo
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Moshe Idel has lived in Israel since 1963. He received his Ph.D. on Kabbalah from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where he taught from 1974 until 2008. His major areas of interest include Kabbalah, Hasidism, magic and the history of religion. He is a member of the Israeli Academy of Science and Humanities and the recipient of the Israeli Prize.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 Vocables and Devequt in Scholarship of Early Hasidism 13

2 Reconstructing Multiple Modes of Cleaving to Vocables according to the Besht 33

3 R. Meir Margoliot Harif of Ostrog's Tradition 45

4 Cleaving to Utterances in the Baal Shem Tov's Holy Epistle 55

5 R. Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye's Beshtian Traditions on Cleaving to Letters/Sounds 63

6 Beshtian Traditions on Cleaving to Vocables in the School of the Great Maggid 71

7 R. Moshe Shoham of Dolina's Quote of the Besht 89

8 Seeing Lights within Speeches 95

9 The Baal Shem Tov and the Mystical-Magical Model 115

10 Intensification, Contact, and Effects 129

11 Between Letters' Shapes and Their Sounds 153

12 The Apotheosis of Speech-Acts and the Complexity of the Besht's Thought 165

13 On Contemplation, Symbolism, and Scholarship of Jewish Mysticism 181

14 Orality and the Emergence of Hasidism as a Movement 201

15 Concluding Remarks 207

Appendix A Forlorn Unitive Views of the Besht? 225

Appendix B The Besht and R. Abraham Azulai's Hesed le-'Avraham 235

Appendix C Drawing Down Spiritual Force, and Palaces in Cordovero 241

Appendix D Ruhaniyyut ha-'Otiyyot: Drawn Down or Inherent? 255

Appendix E Spiritual Forces, Vitality, and Immanentism in Early Hasidism 267

Appendix F The Concept of Tzaddiq and Astral Magic 279

Notes 295

Abbreviations 403

Sources 405

Studies 409