Lurianic Kabbala in a Platonic Key: Abraham Cohen Herrera's "Puerta del Cielo"
In what follows an attempt is made to depict the manner in which Abraham Cohen Herrera tried to reconcile, at varying levels, Lurianic Kabbala with Italian Renaissance Platonism, of which he was a belated representative. It will be shown that he recognized both the possibilities and severe limitatio...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1983
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1982, Volume: 53, Pages: 317-355 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | In what follows an attempt is made to depict the manner in which Abraham Cohen Herrera tried to reconcile, at varying levels, Lurianic Kabbala with Italian Renaissance Platonism, of which he was a belated representative. It will be shown that he recognized both the possibilities and severe limitations of harmonizing Kabbala in its highly developed form with the philosophia perennis. He succeeds best in the relatively simple coordination of the basic structure of the Lurianic system (à la Vital) and the neoplatonic ontology. He is less sure and hence inclined toward a variety of options when it comes to specifics such as the triadic pattern of the supernal world above the Sefirot, and especially so when confronting the often bewildering features of the Lurianic cosmogony. Yet he manages to find surprising analogies even for such outspoken mythological elements as the death of the primordial kings, restitution and rebirth. What is completely missing is the messianic orientation and a sense of salvation being imminent, something he might have caught from Lurianism. The final part of the paper deals with Herrera's multifaceted yet unambiguous effort to impart a neoplatonic significance to Luria's innovative and daring theory of ẓimẓum. As the introductory section points out, Herrera considered Kabbala a divinely revealed and esoterically transmitted body of truths that was independent of rational verification, yet could be comprehended, in large measure, by human understanding. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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