Rabbinization and the Making of Early Jewish Mysticism

Abstract

Hekhalot literature testifies to the heterogeneous nature of Jewish religious practice and authority at and across the boundaries of rabbinic Judaism. Yet, Hekhalot and rabbinic literatures do not reflect clear-cut social, cultural, and institutional divisions within Jewish society, nor are they complementary facets of a single, coherent religious system. Both of these options oversimplify the complex relationship between these rapidly evolving sites of Jewish literary culture. Rather, Hekhalot literature and the social groups that produced it were subject to the same institutional, technological, linguistic, and demographic transformations that reshaped Jewish society and culture more broadly toward the end of Late Antiquity (500–800 C.E.). The relationship between Hekhalot and rabbinic literatures can thus shed light on the dialectical process by which rabbinic authority was gradually extended into new areas of Jewish life, while itself being transformed in the process.

Intermediary Beings in Late Antique Judaism: A History of Scholarship

“…Others, such as Harari (2004) and Vidas (2014: 167-202), have also worked to situate these texts within this complex cultural matrix. In contrast, Boustan suggests that ‘rabbinic and Hekhalot literature belonged to overlapping, though not identical, domains of Jewish literary culture’, pointing to the messiness of Late Antique Jewish society and determinations of authorship (2011: 487). Similarly, scholars have become increasingly interested in the angel Metatron, and in what depictions of this angel can illuminate about the ancient Jews who created and used Hekhalot literature (Boustan 2005: 119-65; Swartz 2006b; Harari 2011; Orlov 2011; Hermann 2013; Münz-Manor 2013; Schäfer 2013).…”

Introduction

“…It would seem that rabbinic culture was itself transformed in the process." 91 The notion of rabbinization, however, raises a serious methodological difficulty: it is not always possible to draw a clear distinction between what is rabbinic and what is non-rabbinic. 92 3.…”

“…The insufficiency of the ideologically-driven narrative of Sherira's Epistle and the absence of anything like Catherine Hezser's study of the rabbinic movement for Babylonia is sorely felt. 24 We simply know very little about the make-up and 22 Kalmin,Jewish Babylonia,[87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101] organization of Jewish society in Babylonia, even of the rabbinic element.…”

“…[May it bl]ess and be blessed, the name of Raḥmānān, who is in the Sky, Israel and (2) their God, 91 the Lord of the Jews, who has helped their servant Shahr um , (3) his mother Bd m , his wife Shams um , their chil (4) dren [from them both] Ḍm m , ʾbs 2 ʿr and Mṣr (5)m ... 92 The blessing in the introduction associates God ("Raḥmānān, who is in the Sky") with Israel and the Lord of the Jews (two divine entities and Israel). It is legitimate to ask whether one finds here an instance of deviance denounced by the rabbis, the one that states there are "two powers in heaven".…”

“…Lord of the Jews, with Raḥmānān (Ry 515, Ḥimà) 95 One should first of all notice that the authors of these three texts, who use the title 'Lord of the Jews' (Rabb-Yahūd, written rb-yhd, rb-hd, and rb-hwd), 96 are proven or plausible Ḥimyarites, 91 The grammar does not allow us to know whether this God is the God of Israel (a collective that agrees in the plural) or only that of the text's authors. 92 successively invoking the deity under two different names, as if dealing with two gods: the 'Lord of the Jews' and Raḥmānān or the 'Lord of the Jews' and Mḥmd.…”