1. The Gate of
Heaven
Edited by Susanne
Jurgan
Scheduled for 2012
This book contains a systematic
analysis of sefirotic symbolism, written by an unknown author
presumably in Italy towards the end of the 14th century.
Essential notions about the sefirot theory and the function of
emanation are explained for a reader with little knowledge of the
kabbalah. The text also serves as a kind of dictionary of the
most common sefirotic symbols. Several passages in The
Gate of Heaven indicate that the
work is a commentary of a – not preserved - parchment that
contained the drawing of a sefirotic tree. It is perhaps an
adaptation of the Commentary to the
Small Parchment by Reuven Sarfati,
(one of the most important Italian kabbalists of the 14th
century) written by a kabbalist close to his circle.
2. The Crown of
the Good Name
Edited by Konstanze
Kunst
Scheduled for 2013
This 13th century text, usually
ascribed to Avraham ben Alexander of Cologne, appears to be the
earliest work of Ashkenazi provenance handed down to us which
combines mystical ideas of the Hasidut Ashkenaz with the
conception of the sefirot that emerged from the kabbalistic
circles of Provence and Gerona. Therefore, it can be regarded as
a source of crucial importance for the study of one of the most
enigmatic questions in the history of medieval Jewish mysticism:
the encounter of the mystical lore of Hasidut Ashkenaz with the
early kabbalah. Despite its conspicuous significance, The
Crown of the Good Name has been
almost entirely neglected by modern scholarship, and to date
there has been no edition of the text that meets scientific
demands. The forthcoming volume will help to fill this gap. The
book will show that The Crown of
the Good Name is probably not the
work of one single identifiable author but a text redacted by
some anonymous scholars, and that it originated from the oral
teachings of two men, Avraham ben Alexander of Cologne and
Menahem of Worms, who are believed to have been pupils of Eleazar
of Worms.
3. Avraham Abulafia, The
Secrets of the Torah
Edited by
Renate Smithuis and David
Juste
In preparation
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