A History of Kabbalah
From the Early Modern Period to the Present Day

A narrative history of modern Kabbalah, from the sixteenth century till today, in the general context of modernization.

Jonathan Garb (Author)

9781316607022, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 October 2023

332 pages, 4 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'Jonathan Garb, a leading scholar of Jewish mysticism, offers a lucid, broad, multifaceted, benchmark account of the narrative and cultural history of modern Kabbalah from the spiritual revolution that ignited in the Galilean town of Safed in the 16th century to postmodern new-age religion … Recommended.' D. B. Levy, Choice Connect

Jonathan Garb's A History of Kabbalah: From the Early Modern Period to the Present Day is a lucid and sophisticated account of the multifaceted nature of Jewish mysticism, focusing on its development from the spiritual revolution that took place in Safed in the sixteenth century until the present. Opening the secrets of the kabbalah to a wider audience, Garb judiciously argued that how important the mystical and esoteric tradition has been in Jewish history and in the cultural and intellectual life of Europe more generally. One of the more methodologically innovative aspects of Garb's book is his contention that kabbalah became a major factor in the religious life of Jews in the modern age due to print and others forms of rapid communication, a process that has magnified significantly in recent years due to the digital revolution. Informative and provocative, A History of Kabbalah will surely be of interest to a wide readership.

1. Pre-Modern and Modern Kabbalah: Breaks and Continuities
2. The Safedian Revolution of the Sixteenth Century
3. The Kabbalistic Crisis of the Seventeenth Century
4. Canonization: The Eighteenth Century
5. Beginnings of Globalization: The Nineteenth Century
6. Destruction and Triumph: The Twentieth Century
7. Recurrent Themes: Gender, Messianism and Experience?
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], History of religion [HRAX], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH]