Bibliography for the Study of Cordoverian Kabbalah - Part 1: English translations of Cordovero's works

To begin our study of Cordoverian Kabbalah, we will make a bibliography of study materials.  This list is not intended to be comprehensive of all scholarly aspects of Cordoverian Kabbalah, but just the sources that myself am studying and find useful.  As I continue my research and as the status of these publications changes, I will update this list accordingly. 

First, the primary texts that are available in English.  Only a small percentage of Cordovero's original work has been translated into English.  Let's begin by looking at those works that have been fully translated.

Tomer Devorah - The Palm Tree of Deborah

Tomer Devorah is a very short ethical treatise that is probably Cordovero's most successful work, in terms of its popularity today.  It begins with the idea that to cleave to the sefirot, we must imitate the qualities of the sefirot in our daily actions, especially in our interaction with others.  It consists of a lengthy first chapter on the 13 attributes of Mercy, followed by chapters on each of the sefirot.

The book is available in English translation by Moshe Miller (1993).  It features an introduction and endnotes, as well as the original Hebrew text.  Unfortunately, scholars have pointed out many factual errors in the introduction, so it is not very useful.  There is no notation in the text to indicate which lines have been comment on in the endnotes.  It is out of print, but fortunately there are copies available through Amazon.




There is another translation of Tomer Devorah available on the web.  The host reports that he does not know who the translation is by, but suspects it is by Louis Jacobs (1960).  Here is the link:

http://www.digital-brilliance.com/contributed/deborah/deborah.htm



Or Ne'erav - A Pleasant Light

Described as "an introduction to Kabbalah", Or Ne'erav serves several purposes.  First, there are two main parts to the book.  Part one intends to guide new students who are getting started on the Kabbalistic path.  It first deals with some of the opinions regarding the study of Kabbalah that were current in RaMaK's day, and to give the student the right perspective from which to approach his studies.  There is a chapter on the manner and time of study, dealing also with the consideration of qualified teachers and independent study.  Next follows a chapter on the virtues that can be attained through these studies.  Part two is a very concise summary of essential Kabbalistic teachings, dealing with the main theoretical and philosophical approaches that RaMaK deals with much more extensively in other works.  It is organized by the chapters in Pardes Rimonim, but leaves out some of the more technical systems altogether.  Also at the end is a kind of Kabbalistic dictionary, where much of the technical vocabulary found in Kabbalistic writings is shown in its symbolic correspondences with various sefirot, worlds, angels, and divine names and attributes.

Or Ne'erav is a good way to see how Cordovero studies Kabbalah, but in many ways it is not really an "introduction to Kabbalah".  It could somewhat be called an "introduction to Cordoverian Kabbalah" but even that is misleading.  One of its main purposes in being written was to address the issues of Kabbalistic education that were pressing in his mind at the time, and also to give a kind of "reader's digest" version of the much larger and more complete Pardes Rimonim.

Or Ne'erav is available in English translation by Ira Robinson (1994).  It features a fairly thorough introduction and many scholarly footnotes throughout the text.  There is a bibliography and index of passages quoted by Cordovero in the text.






Pardes Rimonim - The Garden of Pomegranates

Pardes Rimonim is Cordovero's most valuable work among the hardcore Kabbalists.  It could very well be given the subtitle "The Textbook of Kabbalah".  In 32 separate treatises, he attempts to bring together all aspects of Kabbalistic tradition, drawing from source texts such as Sefer Yetzirah, Sefer Bahir, and Sefer haZohar, as well as the writings of many of the great Kabbalists from the previous generations.

The Pardes is organized thematically, dealing first with the doctrines of the sefirot, their ordering and structure, ways of representing them, and their qualities.  It later moves into very technical considerations of letters, vowels, vocalizations, and permutations.  There is also a much more complete Kabbalistic dictionary than what is given in Or Ne'erav, and runs over 100 pages in the Hebrew text.

I will have much more to say about Pardes and its contentson this blog.  Let me point out here the availability of P.R. in English translation.  It is currently in the process of being translated by Elyakim Getz from Providence University.  Their plan is to publish the work in 12 separate volumes.  Currently the first four are available, but I don't know exactly when the remaining volumes will be released.  I will say that the quality of the translation is very readable, although it is lacking many features that would be present in a top-notch scholarly translation.  Regardless, I highly recommend the translation from Providence University as a primary source text for studying Cordoverian Kabbalah.  The publisher is operating on a fairly low budget, so their books are quite expensive.  It is still worth getting, and those who support their efforts are helping to fund future translation projects.  Here are the links to the first four volumes on Amazon:




In the next post, I will list the Hebrew editions of Cordovero's works.  After that, we will look at a few scholarly studies of Cordovero and some other books that deal with aspects of Cordoverian Kabbalah.  To wrap up the bibliography, we will look at some of the works that directly influenced Cordovero, as well as works that Cordovero had a direct influence on.

First Post - Introduction to this Blog

Welcome to Cordoverian Kabbalah!  This blog is dedicated to the study of Kabbalah in the spirit of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (1522-1570).  Cordovero is well-known as "The RaMaK", an acronym formed from the letters of his name in Hebrew.

We will be drawing heavily from RaMaK's writings, but also from primary source texts in the Kabbalah, such as Sefer Yetzirah, Sefer haZohar, and Sefer haBahir.  The posts will not be exclusive to the original work of Cordovero and his teachings, but we will be studying these primary source texts in the spirit of the RaMaK, using the style of Kabbalistic analysis and synthesis that he initiated and perfected.

We will also be studying those Kabbalists and Rabbis whom Cordovero himself studied, such as Abraham Abulafia, Yosef Gikatilla, Maimonides, and many others, as well as RaMaK's students, such as Eliyahu de Vidas, and others of the Safed circle, such as Yosef Karo, Isaac Luria, Chayim Vital, and many others.

If one were to briefly define Cordoverian Kabbalah, we will say that it is a system of maps of spiritual realities.  The primary elements are the Ten Sefirot and the Four Worlds (Olamot), but then this immediately extends to ten sefirot within each of the four worlds, and ten sefirot within each sefirah.  This continues infinitely, but for most practical purposes, it suffices to work with only the first few layers.  Also fundamental to Cordoverian Kabbalah are the 22 Letters (Otiyot) of the Hebrew Alef-Bet (alphabet), especially as these letters relate to the Divine Names (Shemot Qadoshot). 

Note: my use of the term "Cordoverian Kabbalah" is not restricted to the scholarly study of the life and writings of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, but is intended to conceptualize his method and style of Kabbalah.  Thus, we may end up proposing things that he didn't write, or that are directly contrary to things he wrote, but the overall theme of this blog will be in spiritual harmony with the RaMaK.

Cordoverian Kabbalah can be used as a practical toolkit for analysis of Torah, scripture, and Kabbalistic source texts.  It uses the system of maps to identify correspondences between the sefirot and verses.  There is no limit to the technique: we could identify a correspondence between a sefirah and a whole verse of the Torah, or just one word, or just one letter.  Once such a correspondence is found, we could elaborate on its depth: in which world does this sefirah correspond?  Which of the ten sefirot within this particular sefirah?

The method of correspondences between various elements of the system should not be based on the student's own personal intellectual analysis, but on the facts of the spiritual realities themselves.  This can only be established through vibrational resonance testing, which I will explain in more detail in a later post.  Vibrational resonance is the practical method used to create maps of spiritual realities, and thus then the basis of the method of textual analysis that Cordovero applied successfully in his studies of Kabbalistic texts, especially the Torah, Sefer Yetzirah, and Sefer haZohar.

Whether or not Cordovero himself had direct method of resonance testing, such as the one I use and will describe later, or if he was 'just' spiritually adept enough to be able to determine the correct correspondence is not an important question for us.  The fact remains that RaMaK mapped out a very large number of correct correspondences, as I myself have verified.  Exactly how he was able to determine these correspondences is not knowable by us; but this blog is not focused on academic questions of propriety, but on the theoretical and practical ramifications of this method of Kabbalistic study

Cordoverian Kabbalah is also well equipped as a foundation for Kabbalistic theurgy.  Theurgy is a  system of activites that use spiritual maps and correspondences for achieving practical results.  The desired results could be many and various, and the methods for achieving them sundry.  It is primarily based on laws of spiritual energy ─ if one understands how the events of the physical world are prefigured in the spiritual worlds, and one knows how to configure the settings in the spiritual worlds, then one can influence the unfoldment of events in the physical world.  Cordoverian theurgy builds on the teachings of the Zohar ─ the spiritual worlds can become out of balance, but can be rebalanced by sacred actions performed by the righteous (tzaddiqim).

Only a small percentage of Cordovero's original writings are available in English translation.  I will write a detailed post on his written work and will point out the status of each of these works, as far as availability and contents.  I will say how we will be studying RaMaK's books, and how they will be applied.  It will also be necessary to provide a biographical context for these.  All this will be coming soon.  Please subscribe to the Cordoverian Kabbalah blog to stay updated.