Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism

In the 12th and 13th centuries, new ways of approaching Judaism sprung up in France and Spain that would come to be known as “kabbalah.” These new approaches expressed aspirations for mystical illumination and elaborated vast mythological narratives about divine and demonic beings. The kabbalists radically departed from the then-conventional understandings of Judaism, particularly those of philosophers like Maimonides. However, they also claimed to find their new worldviews in the tradition’s most ancient texts. This course will introduce students to kabbalah’s founding period, focusing on primary texts (in translation), especially the Zohar, the magnum opus of classical kabbalah.