Gazing into their hearts: on the appearance of Kabbalistic Pietism in thirteenth-century Castile
The historiography of medieval Jewish pietism has duly described the development of new discourses of pietistic ethics in Judeo-Arabic, as well as the corpus of Hebrew pietistic and penitential literature composed by the Rhineland pietists. Scholars have long clung to the consensus that the contempo...
| Published in: | European journal of jewish studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Corporate Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2020]
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| In: |
European journal of jewish studies
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Mosheh ben Shem Ṭov, di-Leʾon 1240-1305
/ Castile
/ Zohar
/ Jews
/ Pietism
/ History 1200-1300
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BH Judaism KBH Iberian Peninsula |
| Further subjects: | B
Castile
B Franciscans B Mysticism B R. Moses de León B Repentance B Kabbalah B Zohar B Pietism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The historiography of medieval Jewish pietism has duly described the development of new discourses of pietistic ethics in Judeo-Arabic, as well as the corpus of Hebrew pietistic and penitential literature composed by the Rhineland pietists. Scholars have long clung to the consensus that the contemporaneous appearance of Kabbalah did not give rise to a characteristic mode of penitential pietism of its own prior to early modern period. This article argues against that consensus. Evidence from Moses de León’s writings points to the conclusion that, already in thirteenth-century Castile, kabbalists sought to impart modes of supererogatory living in accord with their esoteric speculations. This article shows how de León constructed at least three different penitential programs based upon his Kabbalah. Focusing on the program of the “Unnamed Composition,” this article coordinates the appearance of kabbalistic pietism with a variety of historical factors, including the proliferation of Franciscan mendicants in medieval Castile. |
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| ISSN: | 1872-471X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal of jewish studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/1872471X-BJA10004 |