Customer Reviews

Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism (Jewish Studies (Lewiston, N.Y.), V. 25.)

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The centerpiece of Eylon's study is the seminal kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Bahir. This dense and difficult work was viewed by Gershom Scholem, the pioneer of the academic study of Jewish mysticism, as the earliest work of the Kabbalah. Embedded within the midrash-like homilies of the Bahir are a number of allusions to the afterlife of the soul. Although Scholem identified these as referring to the concept of reincarnation, Eylon offers the first systematic and methodical analysis of these texts. She provides a comprehensive presentation of the pertinent selections of the Bahir, as well as the Rabbinic sources of the material.

Eylon also offers an overview of reincarnation in Gnostic literature. Focusing primarily on the Nag Hammadi corpus, she presents a wealth of interesting sources. This not only establishes a background for the dissemination of the doctrine, but helps situate the Bahir as a Jewish expression of a gnostic orientation.

Overall, a readable and informative discussion of a key aspect of the Jewish mystical tradition. This is especially praiseworthy, owing to the scope and complexity of the material.

"...a fascinating and difficult study of the different views of the afterlife in early Jewish literature and Gnosticism, and the emergence of a theory of reincarnation in the Bahir, which is generally recognized as the earliest Kabbalistic work. Eylon shows with remarkable assiduity how the author of the Bahir constructed his theory through careful exegesis of the relevant Talmudic and Midrashic passages, but also marked his novelty and points of departure through the creation of Midrashim on texts for which now preexistent tradition existed."