Kabbalah and Catastrophe

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14th century
15th century
A01=Hartley Lachter
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Hartley Lachter
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBTB
Category=HRAB
Category=HRJ
Category=NHTB
Category=QRAB
Category=QRJ
Category=VXWK
COP=United States
Delivery_Pre-order
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_mind-body-spirit
eq_new_release
eq_non-fiction
historical memory
Judaism
Kabbalah
Language_English
messiah
multiverse
PA=Not yet available
premodern
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Forthcoming
reincarnation
softlaunch
theodicy

Product details

  • ISBN 9781503640214
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 22 Oct 2024
  • Publisher: Stanford University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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While premodern kabbalistic texts were not chronicles of historical events, they provided elaborate models for understanding the secret divine plan guiding human affairs. Hartley Lachter analyzes innovative kabbalistic doctrines, such as the idea of reincarnation and the notion of multiple successive universes, through which Jewish mystics sought to demonstrate that the misfortunes of Jewish history were in fact necessary steps toward redemption.

Lachter argues that these works, mostly composed between the early 14th century and the generation affected by the Spanish expulsion in the early 16th century, enabled Jewish readers to make sense of the troubling misfortunes of their own time. Kabbalah and Catastrophe uncovers the remarkable variety of ways that kabbalists deployed esoteric tradition to argue that God had not abandoned the Jews to the inscrutable forces of history. Instead, they suggested to readers that Jews are history's primary actors, and that despite their small numbers and lack of military power, Jews nonetheless secretly push history forward. For scholars of Jewish mysticism and medieval Jewish history, Lachter articulates how premodern mystical texts can be crucial sources of insight into how Jews understood the meaning of history.

Hartley Lachter is Philip and Muriel Berman Chair in Jewish Studies and Associate Professor of Religion Studies at Lehigh University. He is the author of Kabbalistic Revolution: Reimagining Judaism in Medieval Spain (2014).