[Avodah] More Philosophy, If Anyone's Up to It

[Michael Kopinsky]

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 2:07 PM, <T613K at aol.com> wrote:

> RIT:  >>As far as Christian nations and Kabbalah, one must keep in mind
> that
> Kabbalah as we know it today began in the Arab countries as a backlash
> against philosophy after the Expulsion from Spain<<
>
> TK:   Must one keep that in mind?  I don't think the Orthodox consensus
> is that kabbalah  only started after the Spanish Expulsion 500 years ago.
>


Kabbalah in its various forms has existed for a long time, but in various
forms. The Kabbalah you'll see in Ramban al haTorah is not at all what we're
used to. Zohar-based kabbalah, which is probably what Ira meant by "Kabbalah
as we know it today" has only existed since the 1300s. (In many circles,
such as IIANM sefardim, Zohar-based kabbalah has almost been eclipsed by the
Arizal's kabbalah, another variant.)  That the reason for its rise in
popularity is as a backlash to Medieval rationalist philosophy is a
historical theory, and I am not a historian to fully analyze it, but it
seems to make a lot of sense.

KT,
Michael
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