The Sparks and the Storms (Introduction 3/3)
As Christian scholars were already pursuing their own Kabbalistic projects, Jewish mysticism continued to evolve in dramatic ways. We trace those transformations and the new forms Kabbalah assumed in the early modern world.
As the final part of a three-part introduction, this episode explores the profound transformations of Kabbalah in the early modern period. Focusing on the mythic and cosmological system of Lurianic Kabbalah and the explosive messianic movement surrounding Sabbatai Zevi, it traces how Jewish mysticism was reshaped in response to crisis, exile, and new historical horizons. It highlights the dynamic and often volatile forms of Kabbalah that emerged in this period, forms that would soon intersect with, challenge, and inspire Christian interpretations of the tradition.
Credits
- Academic Research Article: Elke Morlok & Níels Páll Eggerz
- Podcast Adaptation & Narration: Níels Páll Eggerz & Elke Morlok
- Audio Editing & Post-Production: Gregor Meinecke & Mario Adam
- Music: Luigi Boccherini, Minuet, G.275 (arr. for harpsichord by Gregor Quendel)
- Source: Pixabay (Pixabay License)
Funding & Support
The History of Christian Kabbalah Podcast is a project of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, project no. 497340432).
Further Reading
- Maciejko, Paweł. Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755–1816. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015.
- Maciejko, Paweł, ed. Sabbatian Heresy: Writings on Mysticism, Messianism, and the Origins of Jewish Modernity. The Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2017.
- Necker, Gerold. Einführung in die lurianische Kabbala. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag der Weltreligionen, 2008.
- Scholem, Gershom. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. 3rd ed. Westminster: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011, 244–350.
- Scholem, Gershom. Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626–1676. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.
