Review: [untitled] Author(s): Elliot R. Wolfson Source: The Journal of Religion, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp.

137-139 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1204143 . Accessed: 19/05/2011 18:51
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Book Reviews
Richard Kalmin has devoted remarkable energy and ingenuity to resolving the issue. He argues forcefully that only the third position (Saboraic redaction) adequately accounts for the evidence he has marshaled. Most significant for Kalmin is the fact that no Amoraim, not even the latest, unequivocally refer to an anonymous discussion. This is not explicable according to the first two theories. While questions remain, Kalmin's book is a major contribution to the debate. The book is tough reading; it presupposes knowledge of rabbinic texts and Hebrew terminology. With its extensive notes and appendices, it is a challenge to penetrate. Nevertheless, the effort is well worth it. One reservation is in the use of the term Saboraic. Kalmin has merged his data with a standard but questionable historical construct and declared the Saboraim the redactors of the Talmud. What he has really shown is that the redactors of the Talmud, whoever they were, flourished in the sixth century or beyond. JAY M. HARRIS,Harvard University. IDEL, MOSHE.Kabbalah: New Perspectives. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988. xx+419 pp. $45.00 (cloth); $16.95 (paper). In the course of the last few years, scholars without a working knowledge of Hebrew have been afforded access to the research of one of the most prolific scholars in the field ofJewish mysticism, Moshe Idel. Kabbalah:New Perspectivesis Idel's attempt to present a synthetic study embracing all the major currents that have shaped the landscape of Jewish mysticism, from the chariot speculation of the Talmudic period to the Hasidic movement of eighteenth-century Eastern Europe. While New Perspectives was clearly written for a larger audience than merely specialists in Jewish mysticism, the intent of the author was not to provide an introduction to the field. Idel assumes a level of knowledge that may not be readily available to his intended audience. Still, his use of a phenomenological method and his concern with comparative religious studies does render the book of interest to the scholar of mysticism in particular and the historian of religion in general. From a methodological point of view, New Perspectives can be read as the disciple's (Idel) struggle with the master (Gershom Scholem). Although in the first chapter Idel sets his study within the context of kabbalah scholarship from the Renaissance to the present, it is evident that the real "other" of his scholarly dialogue is Scholem. Idel, as all modern scholars of Jewish mysticism, owes a great debt to Scholem, for the basic framework within which his scholarly treatment proceeds is the one built by Scholem. Like Scholem, moreover, Idel avails himself of numerous sources in print and in manuscript. Indeed, Idel's book is the most comprehensive study of Jewish mysticism since Scholem's two works, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism(New York, 1941; revised eds. 1946, 1954) and Ursprung und Anfinge der Kabbala (Berlin, 1962; English trans., Princeton, N.J., 1987). Idel is also indebted to Scholem for the two major trends that inform Idel's phenomenological typology: the theosophical-theurgical Kabbalah, on the one hand, and the ecstatic Kabbalah, on the other. Although such a distinction was maintained by kabbalists themselves, as Idel notes (p. xi), the use of these types by Scholem is significant and must be counted as an important source for Idel's distinction. Idel, however, advances beyond Scholem by extending these typologies to cover a broader range of materials. Idel does not define precisely his use of the

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The Journal of Religion

term "phenomenology," but it may be suggested that he intends the study of religious phenomena as they present themselves in the sources. Although in theory Idel gives more weight to the role of orality as a vehicle for the transmission of authentic Kabbalistic traditions (see pp. 20-22 and 30-32, in practice he, like any modern scholar, is wedded to the written text as the major channel of information. In that respect he has not gone beyond the textological or historicalphilological approach of Scholem (see pp. 22-23). Yet, the force of Idel's phenomenological method is such that far less emphasis is to be placed on the historical context in which Kabbalistic ideas or schools of thought emerge; that is, the historical conditions do not necessarily supply the scholar with the critical factors to assess the nature of a given phenomenon expressed in a Kabbalistic document (see pp. 264-67). Idel thus challenges what he considers to be the "implicit assumption" of Scholem's view of Kabbalah, namely, "a given cultural and religious phenomenon is closely intertwined with or dependent upon its immediate historical predecessors" (p. 264). From Idel's vantage point, the phenomena must be evaluated as they appear without being reduced to mere coordinates on a spatial-temporal grid. "Instead of presenting a historical sequence of Kabbalists or of ideas," writes Idel, "I adopt an essentialist attitude to the contents of Kabbalistic material that places greater emphasis upon their religious countenance than on their precise location in place and time" (p. xii). This ahistorical orientation is the cornerstone of Idel's phenomenological approach. It is also the underlying assumption of his "reconstructionist approach" by which he means the "attempt to use the more elaborate conceptual structures of the Kabbalah in order to examine various ancient motifs and to organize them in coherent structures" (p. 32). The goal of Idel's reconstruction is to argue for the antiquity of certain Kabbalistic notions: "the possibility of approaching some ancient material with the help of modes of thinking preserved in Kabbalah may demonstrate that this lore not only makes use of older motifs but also continues more comprehensive intellectual patterns" (p. 33). There is both a discernible strength and weakness to Idel's approach. The strength lies in Idel's ability to assimilate dozens of texts by linking them through an associative method that is often brilliant. By utilizing this approach Idel organizes a plethora of material around ideas or motifs that may in fact have a much older history than is usually assumed in scholarly circles. Conversely, the disregard for time and place can prove to be a shortcoming for the critical scholar who must be sensitive to subtle shifts in nuance and meaning. The nature of religious thought, especially in the Middle Ages, is such that discontinuity and innovation (often cloaked in the guise of conservatism) is that which provides the scholar with grist for his mill. An obvious pitfall of the reconstructionist approach is the failure to distinguish between an idea in its embryonic form and its fuller development. In a curious way Idel's method is reminiscent of Aristotle's teleological principle when applied to organic life: to understand that which is present in the initial stages, one must look at the end of the process. Analogously, for Idel, to make sense of earlier ideas or motifs, one must look at their later maturation. (This is acutely evident in Idel's treatment of theurgy in ancient Jewish sources and its relationship to the full-blown Kabbalistic theurgy; see pp. 156-99.) One may, however, question the validity of the application of this biological model to the history of ideas: the latter stages of an idea's evolution are not necessarily contained in the earlier stages. It would seem that a phenomenological method must be historically anchored as all ideas should be located within a proper historical-social-religious context. 138

Book Reviews
It is precisely this insight that looms at the center of Scholem's own phenomenological studies. Of the many important contributions that Idel's book makes, one of the most significant is the emphasis he places on the experiential nature of Jewish mysticism in both the theosophical-theurgical and ecstatic trends (see pp. 27-29). Idel has rightly pointed out that in the scholarly literature the different systems of Kabbalah are often presented as theoretical lore rather than a practical or experiential attitude to reality. The commonly held approach in fact represents a basic misreading of the sources and a failure to understand the phenomena of Jewish mysticism. That the experiential pole is central emerges from Idel's discussion of the various varieties of devequt (communion) that one finds in both theosophic and ecstatic Kabbalah culminating in the sense of unio mysticaespecially in the latter (see pp. 35-73). The prime emphasis on experience is also attested by the widespread interest of theosophic Kabbalah in ta'ame ha-mitzwot, the mystical rationales for the commandments. The import of treatises dealing with such material was not theoretical in nature but rather sought to emphasize the importance of performing religious ritual in order to enhance the divine realm and maintain cosmic harmony (see pp. 173-91). Moreover, as Idel points out, even standard theosophic symbolism must be understood in a dynamic way as a means to action rather than thought. The Kabbalistic symbol is not a speculative or hermeneutical structure but rather an experiential modality (see pp. 222-34). Furthermore, Idel notes, evident in the Jewish mystical tradition, in both theosophic and ecstatic Kabbalah, is the notion of the pneumatic interpretation of Scripture resulting in the union of the interpreter with the Torah, sometimes depicted in erotic terms (see pp. 234-49). Finally, it is to Idel's credit that he discusses mystical techniques in the Kabbalistic and Pietistic literature employed to induce visionary or ecstatic states of consciousness, such as weeping (pp. 75-88, 197-99); the ascent of the soul (pp. 88-96); combination of the letters of the divine name involving recitation, vocalization, and breathing exercises (pp. 97-103); and visualization of colors as a meditative praxis during prayer (pp. 103-11). Idel's refocusing of the academic study of Kabbalah from the theoretical to the experiential is a welcomed change that, no doubt, will serve as a catalyst for new avenues of research in the future. ELLIOT R. WOLFSON, New YorkUniversity.
ROTH, JOHN K., and BERENBAUM, MICHAEL, eds. Holocaust: Religious and Philo-

sophical Implications. New York: Paragon House, 1989. 390 pp. $22.95 (cloth); $16.95 (paper).

This anthology collects about two dozen selections dealing with various aspects of the Holocaust. While the title of the book promises a focus on the religious and philosophical aspects of the catastrophe, this promise is not fully kept. Selections such as those by Lucy Dawidowitcz and Raul Hilberg deal essentially with the historical facts. Further, there is no selection that can pass muster as philosophy, at least as that term is commonly understood. The paucity of philosophical literature on the Holocaust is a sad fact indicative of the poverty of that discipline as currently practiced. This anthology does not contribute to changing that situation. The religious implications of the Holocaust are more thoroughly investigated. The editors are particularly taken by the ideas of Richard L. Rubenstein and Elie 139