Personal profile
Research interests
My research has focused on Jewish mysticism in Europe in the middle ages, in Ashkenaz, Provence, Gerona and Castile. I have published a number of editions of texts from the Early Kabbalah and a series of articles on divine hypostases and angelic figures, tracing traditions from rabbinic times through the Spanish Expulsion. I have published a number of studies on the meanings of the masculine and feminine in kabbalistic literature and a book that discusses for the first time the positive description of the subjective and embodied experience of the divine female body in kabbalistic literature. I have published a number of studies on the Zohar showing that it was not composed as a book but rather was edited as such at a much later date. More recently, I published a book of textual scholarship and methodologies of kabbalistic research in light of the wide-spread phenomenon of textual fluidity in Kabbalah and the existence of multiple versions with which that the editor and academic interpreter of these texts works. Since 1996 I have served as editor of ‘Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts’.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD
Jan 1989 → Jan 1993
Award Date: 1 Jan 1993
Research
- תחומי מחקר
- מיסטיקה יהודית בימי הביניים (אשכנז, פרובאנס, גירונה, קסטיליה)
- מהדורות טקסטים של קבלה קדומה
- היפוסטזות אלוהיות ודמויות מלאכיות
- מגדר בספרות הקבלית (זכריות ונשיות)
- חוויית הגוף הנשי האלוהי בקבלה
- חיבור ועריכה של ספר הזוהר
- ריבוי נוסחים וזרימת טקסטים בקבלה
- מתודולוגיה של מחקר טקסטים קבליים
- Fields of Interest
- Medieval Jewish mysticism (Ashkenaz, Provence, Gerona, Castile)
- Early Kabbalah text editions
- Divine hypostases and angelic figures
- Gender in Kabbalistic literature (masculine and feminine)
- Embodied divine female experience in Kabbalah
- Zohar composition and editorial history
- Textual fluidity and multiple versions in Kabbalah
- Methodologies in Kabbalah research
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Compiling Kabbalistic Secrets after the Spanish Expulsion: A History of Shushan Sodot and the Manuscripts Produced in Early Modern Ashkenaz
Abrams, D., 31 Dec 2024, In: Aschkenas. 34, 2, p. 271-289 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Non-linear Paths of Transmission The First Written Reactions to the Recorded Oral Teachings on the Kabbalistic Intentions of Prayer
Abrams, D., 2024, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science: Texts and Studies. Käs, F., Kley, J. & Hedderich, F. (eds.). Brill Academic Publishers, p. 64-89 26 p. (Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science: Texts and Studies; vol. 126).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Metatron as Logos: The First Created Light of the Intellect in Jacob ha-Kohen's Book of Illumination
Abrams, D., 2023, In: קבלה: כתב עת לחקר כתבי המיסטיקה היהודית. 55, p. 73-118 46 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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ביקורת הנוסח לספר יצירה בידי הסופרים והמקובלים בכתבי יד בקבלה
אברמס, ד., 2023, In: קבלה: כתב עת לחקר כתבי המיסטיקה היהודית. 55, p. 203-218 16 p.Translated title of the contribution :Textual Criticism of Sefer Yesira in the Scribal Notations of Scribes and Kabbalists Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A woman's intention of thought to metaron: the secret of 'when she brings forth seed [first]' (text, translation and commentary)
Abrams, D., 2022, In: קבלה: כתב עת לחקר כתבי המיסטיקה היהודית. 52, p. 47-68 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review