- Title Pages
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary of Hebrew terms
- Introduction
-
1 Using Rabbinic Literature as a Source for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: Problems and Issues1 -
2 The Palestinian Context of Rabbinic Judaism -
3 Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis -
4 The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature -
5 Current Views on the Editing of the Rabbinic Texts of late Antiquity: Reflections on a Debate after Twenty Years -
6 The State of Mishnah Studies -
7 The Tosefta and Its Value for Historical Research: Questioning the Historical Reliability of Case Stories -
8 Halakhic Midrashim as Historical Sources -
9 The Talmud Yerushalmi -
10 Problems in the Use of the Babylonian Talmud for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: The Example of Astrology -
11 Literary Structures and Historical Reconstruction: The Example of an Amoraic Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah) -
12 The Future of Ancient Piyyut -
13 Targum -
14 The Epistle of Sherira Gaon -
15 Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism -
16 ‘Rabbinic Culture’ and Roman Culture -
17 Material Culture and Daily Life -
18 Rabbinic Literature and the History of Judaism in Late Antiquity: Challenges, Methodologies and New Approaches -
19 Rabbinic Perceptions of Christianity and the History of Roman Palestine -
20 Politics and Administration -
21 Economy and Society - Conclusion
- Index
Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism
Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism
- Chapter:
- (p.265) 15 Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism
- Source:
- Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine
- Author(s):
PETER SCHÄFER
- Publisher:
- British Academy
This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the Qumran literature and wishes to see an unbroken chain of distinctly mystical ideas leading from Qumran through rabbinic Judaism to the Hekhalot literature. The result also suggests that the category of mysticism has proved to be a dubious one mainly because of scholars' tendency to insert the notion of unio mystica into the ancient texts.
Keywords: Jewish mysticism, Hekhalot literature, Qumran literature, rabbinic Judaism, unio mystica
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- Title Pages
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary of Hebrew terms
- Introduction
-
1 Using Rabbinic Literature as a Source for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: Problems and Issues1 -
2 The Palestinian Context of Rabbinic Judaism -
3 Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis -
4 The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature -
5 Current Views on the Editing of the Rabbinic Texts of late Antiquity: Reflections on a Debate after Twenty Years -
6 The State of Mishnah Studies -
7 The Tosefta and Its Value for Historical Research: Questioning the Historical Reliability of Case Stories -
8 Halakhic Midrashim as Historical Sources -
9 The Talmud Yerushalmi -
10 Problems in the Use of the Babylonian Talmud for the History of Late-Roman Palestine: The Example of Astrology -
11 Literary Structures and Historical Reconstruction: The Example of an Amoraic Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah) -
12 The Future of Ancient Piyyut -
13 Targum -
14 The Epistle of Sherira Gaon -
15 Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism -
16 ‘Rabbinic Culture’ and Roman Culture -
17 Material Culture and Daily Life -
18 Rabbinic Literature and the History of Judaism in Late Antiquity: Challenges, Methodologies and New Approaches -
19 Rabbinic Perceptions of Christianity and the History of Roman Palestine -
20 Politics and Administration -
21 Economy and Society - Conclusion
- Index
