Hai Gaon's Letter and Commentary on "'Aleynu": Further Evidence of Moses de León's Pseudepigraphic Activity
In this study I present evidence of yet another literary forgery of the Spanish kabbalist, Moses ben Shem Ṭov de León (ca. 1240-1305). The text that I am presenting as a work of de León consists of two parts: a letter attributed to Hai Gaon concerning the custom of reciting the "'Aleynu&qu...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
1991
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1991, Volume: 81, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 365-409 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this study I present evidence of yet another literary forgery of the Spanish kabbalist, Moses ben Shem Ṭov de León (ca. 1240-1305). The text that I am presenting as a work of de León consists of two parts: a letter attributed to Hai Gaon concerning the custom of reciting the "'Aleynu" prayer on a daily basis, and a kabbalistic commentary on the "'Aleynu" itself. Both parts, but especially the second, have striking parallels to the "Zohar" as well as to the other writings of de León. The pseudo-Hai letter and commentary on "'Aleynu" clearly predate the "Zohar" as there is no reference to it in the usual guised language that de León employs in his other Hebrew theosophic writings. Nevertheless, the zoharic style and technical kabbalistic terminology are apparent in the text. The obvious zoharic parallels in this document provide further evidence that de León--whether as author or editor--later wove into the texture of "Zohar" passages, themes and exegetical comments from his own earlier writings, sometimes used in entirely different contexts. It is of importance as well that in this text de León, in all probability following the lead of the Castilian kabbalist, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen and his disciples, Moses ben Simeon of Burgos and Todros ben Joseph Abulafia, attributes kabbalistic lore to certain ascetic figures, R. Josiah and R. Abraham, who are patterned after the life of historical personalities probably living in Provence. In most of his writings de León does not refer to such historical/fictitious characters. This technique, however, was employed in the treatise "Sod Darkhe ha-'Otiyyot", written either by de León or by another member of a circle of nontheosophic linguistic mystics to which he belonged, and traces of it can be detected in the "Zohar" as well. In sum, the letter and commentary on "'Aleynu" provides us with an early sample of de León's pseudepigraphical activity in which he tried to place kabbalistic ideas in the context of halakhic issues. This tendency continued to mark his literary activity, including his role as author or editor of the classic work of medieval kabbalah, the "Zohar". |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1455325 |