Abraham abulafia and ecstatic kabbalah see other formats. David abulafia has 30 books on goodreads with 10463 ratings. Todros ben judah halevi abulafia should not be mixed up with todros ben joseph halevi abulafia, his first cousin. After the father died in 1258, abulafia made a pilgrim.
They knew one another, but their lives were very different. The practical kabbalah of abraham abulafia survived centuries of censorship. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. He was the grandfather of hayyim ben david abulafia and grandson of isaac nissim aben gamil. Other articles where abraham ben samuel abulafia is discussed. Biography of abraham abulafia abraham ben samuel abulafia was a sicilian kabbalist born in saragossa, spain in 1240. Abraham abulafia was a spanish kabbalist from the th century who was responsible for developing a special kabbalistic path which he referred to as kabbalah nevuit prophetic kabbalah. International conference abulafia and the early maimonideans. Most people who have not undertaken this type of dedicated study. In effect, his view has nothing in common with the sephirotic kabbalah, whose object is the penetration of the structure of divine being and the processes occurring therein. Abulafia is a sephardi jewish surname whose etymological origin is in the spanish language. Jellinek refuted this attribution and compiled the first comprehensive list of abulafias writings, publishing three of abulafias shorter treatises two epistles, printed in 18534, and sefer haot in 1887. See all 4 formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
It includes a description of the techniques employed by his master, including the role of music. Abulafia soon left spain again, and in 1279 wrote at patras, in greece, the first of his prophetic books, sefer hayashar the book of the righteous. Meditations on the divine name light of the intellect by abraham abulafia, and this method is the secret of sefer yesira moshe cordovero, or yakar on zohar, song of songs i began to fathom the gist of abulafia s books and even attempted to perform a few of his instructions to the letter and experienced that they caused changes in my states of consciousness. Sitre torah by abraham ben samuel abulafia the british library. Abulafia surname, a sephardic jewish surname todros ben joseph abulafia 1225 c. Todros ben judah halevi abulafia jewish virtual library. Abraham abulafia born 1240, zaragoza, spain died c. Here is a selection of essential texts on abulafia s method of jewish meditation to help those interested in exploring this path. The family name, like many other hispanicorigin sephardic jewish surnames, originated in spain hebrew sefarad among spanish jews, at a time during when it was ruled. Ovadia abulafia, obstetriciangynecologist in brooklyn. From what we know of his biography based on his own accounts, and those of outside sources he lived a very unusual life for a kabbalist. In this expansive yet detailed historical gem, david abulafia covers the full course of human history on the mediterranean. Ovadia abulafia is an obstetriciangynecologist in brooklyn, new york and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area.
Amidst the rich panoply of jewish kabbalah, abraham abulafia resonates the most with modern, philosophically minded seekers of direct mystical experience. Abulafia, samuel ben meir haleviabulafia, samuel ben meir halevi c. David abulafias history of the mediterranean takes in ancient empires and modern tourists tim whitmarsh fri 17 jun 2011 18. Nash summary braham abulafia, whose writings were ignored or defamed for six centuries, is now recognized as the leading exponent of the important field of ecstatic, or prophetic, kabbalah. Article information, pdf download for mystical techniques, mental processes. Abraham abulafia s most popular book is abraham abulafia. Farabi and ibn sina, to the effect that the prophet receives an overflow from, and thereby attains a state of conjunction with, the active intellect, the last of the. Abraham ben samuel abulafia jewish kabbalist britannica. He spent most of his career at the university of cambridge, initially as a lecturer, and was finally promoted internally from reader to the position of professor, at the age of 51. In 1260 he left spain for the land of israel in search for the legendary sambatyon river. Meir abulafia ramah, a major thcentury sephardic rabbi. Abulafia s life and work braham ben samuel abulafia was born in 1240 at saragossa, aragon, a kingdom in the north of spain, but grew up in the neighboring kingdom of navarre.
In obedience to an inner voice, he went in 1280 to rome, in order to effect the conversion of pope. David abulafias most popular book is the great sea. While the affinities between abulafias methods and the ancient hekhalot heavenly palace rituals are obvious, they also have interesting structural similarities to graecocoptic magical invocations like those found in pgm xiii. Abulafia was a rabbi in smyrna, where he instituted many wholesome regulations. Abraham was close to his father, a pious jew, who taught him the torah and talmud. Nondenominational meditation techniques for ecstasy and kabbalah. Scholarship started with an analysis of his manuscript writings by m. First, they are some of the clearest meditative techniques in all of the kabbalah, and come with directions that even a beginner may understand. Meir abulafia was the most authoritative spanish talmudist during the first half of the th century.
Abraham ben samuel abulafia was the founder of the school of prophetic kabbalah. Sheva netivot hatorah the seven paths of torah by abraham abulafia english and hebrew edition hebrew paperback march 1, 2007 by abraham abulafia author 3. Abulafia, kabbalah is not primarily a form of gnosis or theosophy. Abulafia, abraham ben samuel 1240after 1291, founder of the prophetic kabbalah. Based on all the extant manuscript material of abulafia, this book opens the way to a new understanding of jewish mysticism.
Beginning more than 20,000 years ago with cromagnon cave dwellers on gibraltar and stretching to the present, abulafia treats the great sea as the liquid continent, a place peopled and traveledwhere. In case you missed my previous articles about abraham abulafia, titled abulafia kabbalah. One of the other two was joseph ibn migashs son, meir. The primary focus for students of judaism is and always has been the study of talmud and torah. Judaism is not well known for its contemplative practices. Rabbi abraham abulafia aka abraham ben samuel abulafia aka aka raziel aka secrets of god aka zechariah aka abulafia of sargossa aka abufalah the saraquisti aka ezra ben solomon. Abulafia was an eclectic thinker who absorbed and adapted sufi and even yogic influences into his mystical toolkit.
Mystical techniques, mental processes, and states of consciousness. If you have access to journal via a society or associations, read the instructions below. The ecstatic kabbalah focuses on attaining extreme states of consciousness and. Abraham abulafia es una rara avis dentro del judaismo medieval.
Abulafia adopted the understanding of prophecy found in the philosophical writings of moses maimonides 15. In his thirties he was already one of the three appointed rabbis on the toledo jewish court. A sea voyage in the 12th century was a perilous undertaking, as a spanish muslim courtiers account of his crossing of the mediterranean demonstrates. In his old age 1740 he restored the jewish community in tiberias. Hayyim ben jacob abulafia born 1660 in hebron, died 1744 in tiberias, ottoman syria was a rabbinical authority. Landauer, who attributed the book of the zohar to him. Meaning and history of kabbalah in languedoc, catalonia, castile and. Chanting the name jhvh the meditative techniques created by abraham abulafia and his followers are unusual in several respects. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. He is considered one of the most important, but also most complex, figures in jewish mysticism.
Keywords abraham abulafia, altered states of consciousness. Abraham abulafias most popular book is abraham abulafia. Born in saragossa, spain, abulafia moved to tudela in his childhood and studied with his father until the latters death in 1258. Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out your abulafia family tree. Abraham ben samuel abulafia 1240after 1291 ce was the founder of prophetic kabbalah, a mystical system that enabled the individual to reach a state of. There is a discussion of the characteristics of his mystical experience and the erotic imagery by which it was expressed. Abraham abulafia has 34 books on goodreads with 286 ratings.
Many large databases are available to search covering from births, deaths and marriages, military records, census records and. Books by abraham abulafia author of abraham abulafia. With the help of his profound erudition, moshe idel has devoted patient and. He is the author of otzar hakavod, a mystical commentary on the aggadah this biographical article about a spanish rabbi is a stub. He was born in zaragoza, spain in 1240 and is assumed to have died sometime after 1291, following a stay on the small and windswept island of comino, the smallest of the three inhabited islands that make up the maltese archipelago.
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