David ben Yehudah Heḥasid and his Book of Mirrors
R. David ben Yehudah Heḥasid was a Spanish Kabbalist of the 13th-14th centuries. Little is known about his life. His Sefer Marʾot Haẓoveʾot is a composite work: an anthology of Kabbalah and an original commentary on the Torah. R. David copies freely, and almost always without acknowledgment, from se...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1980
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 1980, Volume: 51, Pages: 129-172 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Judaism
/ Mysticism
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| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | R. David ben Yehudah Heḥasid was a Spanish Kabbalist of the 13th-14th centuries. Little is known about his life. His Sefer Marʾot Haẓoveʾot is a composite work: an anthology of Kabbalah and an original commentary on the Torah. R. David copies freely, and almost always without acknowledgment, from several prominent Kabbalists of the 13th century: Ezra and Azriel of Gerona, Todros Abulafia, Mosheh de Leon and Yosef Gikatilla. An important feature of the Book of Mirrors is the large number of passages from the Zohar which R. David translates into Hebrew from the original pseudo-Aramaic. His renderings represent the first lengthy translations of the Zohar. Through them we see how a contemporary Kabbalist read and understood (and sometimes misunderstood) the seminal work of Kabbalah. R. David's attitude toward the Zohar can be gauged. He did not regard it as an ancient midrash. In fact, he appropriates the literary format of the Zohar (the mystical circle of Shim'on bar Yoḥai and the Ḥavrayya) in order to introduce his own teachings. The Zohar thus becomes a model and a springboard for creative mystical exegesis. R. David's contributions to Kabbalistic thought cannot be fully evaluated until his other works have been edited from manuscript and studied. However, based on an analysis of the Book of Mirrors (a critical edition has been published by this author; see note 1), it is clear that R. David's reflections are at times enlightening. The second half of this article discusses his original formulations in the context of 13th century Kabbalah. These include: the relation of the mystic to the Infinite; the doctrine of ʿEser Ẓaḥẓaḥot, ten translucent lights which precede the emanation of the Sephirot; and the independent quality of Shekhinah, who is described as Sod Haʾefshar, the Secret of the Possible. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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