From Neoplatonism to Kabbalah: A Mystical Exploration

Neoplatonism and Jewish Mysticism, an introduction. Exploring the debated origins of Kabbalah. Presenting Scholem’s Gnosticism and Neoplatonism origin hypothesis, Idel’s rejection of it and his own more nuanced theory.

Check out the rest of our wonderful collaborators:

@LetsTalkReligion What is Neoplatonism: https://youtu.be/vZEUo_sHoBw

@TheEsotericaChannel Neoplatonism vs Gnosticism: https://youtu.be/ZV5ubPPzT7U

@drangelapuca Plotinus and Iamblichus on Theurgy and Magic: https://youtu.be/lNqnNjsGExM

@TheModernHermeticist The Platonic Philosophers' Creed by Thomas Taylor: https://youtu.be/Wzd98YSG6Hs

@johnvervaeke Neoplatonism & 4E Cognitive Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbk3lA6zCic

00:00 Disclaimer

00:45 Shout out

02:06 Where does Kabbalah come from?

04:44 a word from our sponsors

05:21 Kabbalah as a Historical Phenomena

07:37 What is Kabbalah?

08:28 Why then, why so?

09:57 Gershom Scholem

11:55 What is Neoplatonism?

14:20 From Scholem to Idel

15:23 Moshe Idel

18:55 Idel’s Theory

22:01 Thank you and shout out

Sources and Further Reading

• Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah, 1974, pp. 45, 98.

• Gershom Scholem, Major Trends, 1941, pp. 74-75.

• Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah, 1987, pp. 269, 363.

• Moshe Idel, "On Binary 'Beginnings' in Kabbalah-Scholarship", in Aporemata. Kritische Studien zur Philologiegeschichte 5 (2001): Historicization-Historisierung, pp. 322-25

• Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, 1988, pp. 30-2

• Moshe Idel, “Jewish Kabbalah and Platonism in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” in Lenn Goodman, Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought, State University of New York Press, 1992, pp. 318-9

• Lloyd P. Gerson, Foreword, Neoplatonism (Hackett Classics) 2nd Edition, by Lloyd P. Gerson and R. T. Wallis

• Pauliina Remes and Svetla Slaveva-Griffin, “Introduction: Neoplatonism today,” in The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism by Pauliina Remes and Svetla Slaveva-Griffin (eds.)

Join us:

https://discord.gg/EQtjK2FWsm

https://facebook.com/seekersofunity

https://instagram.com/seekersofunity

https://www.twitter.com/seekersofu

https://www.seekersofunity.com

Thank you to our beloved Patrons: Eny, Kim, Michael, Kirk, Ron, Seth, Daniel, Raphael, Daniel, Jason, Sergio, Leila, Wael, jXaviErre, Simona, Francis, Etty, Stephen, Arash, William, Michael, Matija, Timony, Vilijami, Stoney, El techo, Stephen, Ross, Ahmed, Alexander, Diceman, Hannah, Julian, Leo, Sim, Sultan, John, Joshua, Igor, Chezi, Jorge, Andrew, Alexandra, Füsun, Lucas, Andrew, Stian, Ivana, Aédàn, Darjeeling, Astarte, Declan, Gregory, Alex, Charlie, Anonymous, Joshua, Arin, Sage, Marcel, Ahawk, Yehuda, Kevin, Evan, Shahin, Al Alami, Dale, Ethan, Gerr, Effy, Noam, Ron, Shtus, Mendel, Jared, Tim, Mystic Experiment, MM, Lenny, Justin, Joshua, Jorge, Wayne, Jason, Caroline, Yaakov, Daniel, Wodenborn, Steve, Collin, Justin, Mariana, Vic, Shaw, Carlos, Nico, Isaac, Frederick, David, Ben, Rodney, Charley, Jonathan, Chelsea, Curly Joe, Adam and Andre.

Join them in supporting us:

patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seekers

paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=RKCYGQSMJFDRU