In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de León of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "Light of the West" and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de León, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de León's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de León's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de LeA n of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "e;Light of the West"e; and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de LeA n, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de LeA n's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de LeA n's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de LeA n of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "e;Light of the West"e; and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de LeA n, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de LeA n's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de LeA n's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

A World of Piety examines the historical aspirations of kabbalah to prompt a revival of ancient rabbinic piety in medieval Castile.What were the aims of the celebrated works of rabbinic wisdom fashioned during the reigns of Alfonso X and Sancho IV of Castile, including the formative Book of the Zohar? In pursuit of this question, Judaica scholar Jeremy Phillip Brown turns to the Hebrew and Aramaic writings composed by Todros ben Joseph ha-Levi Abulafia of Toledo, Joseph Gikatilla of Medinaceli, and especially Moses de León of Guadalajara. These writings set out to disseminate the secret patrimony of ancients: a knowledge of divinity comprised of essentially Jewish attributes as a basis for human emulation. According to these texts, God models a pious form of life—not merely a life of Torah and the commandments, but a program exceeding the norms of religious obligation. Midnight vigils for prayer and study, guarding the eyes and tongue,sexual austerity, spiritual poverty and concern for the materially poor—the texts affirm that God exemplifies these and other modes of piety, prompting their imitation as a penitential means of individual and even socialtransformation. Bymeans of their writings, the Castilian authors sought to form penitents as "other people" created anew in the Judeomorphic image of God.A World of Pietysheds light on the core motivations of a discourse that would emerge as a major domain of religion and thought by reconstructing the socio-historical ambitions of a little-known cadre of medieval rabbis active in a Christian milieu.

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de León of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "Light of the West" and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de León, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de León's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de León's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de LeA n of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "e;Light of the West"e; and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de LeA n, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de LeA n's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de LeA n's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de LeA n of Guadalajara--self-proclaimed "e;Light of the West"e; and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement--Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de LeA n, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de LeA n's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de LeA n's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy--where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history--the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

A World of Piety examines the historical aspirations of kabbalah to prompt a revival of ancient rabbinic piety in medieval Castile.What were the aims of the celebrated works of rabbinic wisdom fashioned during the reigns of Alfonso X and Sancho IV of Castile, including the formative Book of the Zohar? In pursuit of this question, Judaica scholar Jeremy Phillip Brown turns to the Hebrew and Aramaic writings composed by Todros ben Joseph ha-Levi Abulafia of Toledo, Joseph Gikatilla of Medinaceli, and especially Moses de León of Guadalajara. These writings set out to disseminate the secret patrimony of ancients: a knowledge of divinity comprised of essentially Jewish attributes as a basis for human emulation. According to these texts, God models a pious form of life—not merely a life of Torah and the commandments, but a program exceeding the norms of religious obligation. Midnight vigils for prayer and study, guarding the eyes and tongue,sexual austerity, spiritual poverty and concern for the materially poor—the texts affirm that God exemplifies these and other modes of piety, prompting their imitation as a penitential means of individual and even socialtransformation. Bymeans of their writings, the Castilian authors sought to form penitents as "other people" created anew in the Judeomorphic image of God.A World of Pietysheds light on the core motivations of a discourse that would emerge as a major domain of religion and thought by reconstructing the socio-historical ambitions of a little-known cadre of medieval rabbis active in a Christian milieu.