Kabbalistic Books and Textual Scholars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

• In Event: Kabbalah and Knowledge Circulation in Early Modern East-Central Europe

Abstract

Over the course of the 18th century, numerous and varied kabbalistic texts were printed in the Hebrew presses of Eastern European towns like Zolkiew and Korets. This wave of kabbalistic printing – which peaked in the last quarter of the century – was the largest since the 16th century printings of kabbalah in Italy and Poland. The paratexts of many of these books –title-pages, approbations, introductions, editorial apologies, and colophons – shed light on the local conditions under which kabbalistic manuscripts were obtained and edited for print. The first printings of the Lurianic kabbalistic writings of Hayyim Vital particularly demonstrate the important role of rabbinic elites, with their social authority, their educational institutions, and their libraries, in the production of kabbalistic books. The paratexts also point to continuities between these elites and the networks of individuals associated historiographically with the emergent movements of Hasidism and the Haskalah. On the other hand, reprintings of kabbalistic books testify to the circulation of kabbalistic knowledge between Eastern Europe and centers of Hebrew printing such as Amsterdam and Constantinople. Frequently printed works like Tiqunei Zohar reflect the emergence of kabbalistic book-markets; these were linked to the spread of certain kabbalistic rituals, such as recitation of the Zohar or the kabbalat shabbat liturgy, across the early modern Jewish world. The paratexts of kabbalistic prints thus paint a dynamic picture of the socio-cultural position of kabbalah in 18th century Eastern Europe.

Author

• Avinoam Joseph Stillman, Ben Gurion University