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Document Details :

Title: Exile and Redemption in Jewish Mystical Thought
Author(s): ELIOR, R.
Journal: Studies in Spirituality
Volume: 14    Date: 2004   
Pages: 1-15
DOI: 10.2143/SIS.14.0.505185

Abstract :
The article is concerned with the perception of exile of the Jews whoexperienced it for two thousand years. In the second millennium in the wake of the crusades Jewish mysticism known as kabbalah was developed in conjecture with the spiritual perceptions of exile and redemption. The exile from Spain was a turning point that generated new mystical interpretations on the hidden meaning of history. The passage from exile to redemption was associated with the intense study of the kabbalah. The dissemination of kabbalah was perceived as a tool in hastening redemption and as part of human obligation to redeem the heavenly entity that was exiled. Divine exile and human exile were reassessed in the the post expulsion generation.

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