Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

And The Kabbalah Translated into Latin

 



Books in Preparation




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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