Title: Apocalypses juives et mystique : état des lieux et remarques de méthode
Abstract: The identification a tradition of Jewish mysticism prior to the Heikhalot literature has led, among other implications, to a renewed discussion regarding the issue – already raised by Scholem – of the relations between Jewish mysticism and early apocalyptic writings. Various authors have thus theorized the existence of an "apocalyptic-mystical" tradition or "stream", which would represent the (more or less direct) ancestor of Heikhalot mysticism; others, however, interpret the presence of apocalyptic motifs in the Heikhalot as a mere literary phenomenon, which should not be construed as implying a continuous tradition of mystical praxis in Antiquity. This discussion involves a number of key methodological issues – not least with regard to the relation between the mystical imaginaire and mystical praxes – that are the subject of the present study. A case is made here for a differentiated approach, which distinguishes in particular between two sets of issues: the relation between the origins of Jewish mysticism in Antiquity and Heikhalot mysticism; and the relation between this tradition of Jewish mysticism and an esoteric tradition of merkabah exegesis, with which some apocalyptic writings can also be connected. Seen in this light, apocalyptic writings should not be identified with mystical writings proper, and the thesis of an "apocalyptic-mystical" Judaism should be abandoned. To an extant, however, the transmission of these writings does suggest a process of mutual influence between mystical and apocalyptical traditions, which in the case of some figures (such as especially, albeit not exclusively, Enoch) gradually led to the transformation of the apocalyptic sage into a mystical sage. Moreover, this process cannot be exclusively construed as a mere literary process but appears to point, at least indirectly, to the transmission of a tradition of mystical praxis in some Jewish circles of Antiquity.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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