The Middle Eastern Origins of Kabbalah

Kabbalah tells us of God, which reveals itself in ten emanations called Sefirot. The origin of this theology, as described in the Book Bahir, is supposed to be in Provence in the 12th century, reflecting contemporary religious and philosophical influences.

In this lecture, the speaker will present an alternative history of the beginning of Kabbalah. She will claim that about half of the Book Bahir was written in 9th or 10th century Babylon. It reflected an underlying paradox – a dialogue and influence of heretic religious syncretism (including pagan and Muslim ideas) on the one hand and the strong writers’ motivation to defend conservative Judaism against Karaism on the other hand. This new blend of ideas is carried into the later strata of the book and remains part of Kabbalistic theology until today.