The Kabbalah: The Religious Philosophy of the Hebrews

by Adolphe Franck

Book Overview

First published in French in 1843, this well-known classic is the first book that made the Kabbalah understandable and remains an essential reference today. The positive importance of the Kabbalah is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517226413
• ISBN13: 9780517226414
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Superlative on the Supernals

I was interested in this book cause it kept being cited in the Golden Dawn and Kabbalah books I'd been reading. When I saw this 1967 Citadel paperback for cheap in a used book store, I snagged it for a song. Originaly published in 1843, this French book is not new, but for a long time this was about the only book that made the Kabbalah understandable to the uninitiated. This book concerns itself with Kosher Kabbalah. Hermeticism gets barely a mention. Franck maps out what Kabbalah is, and where it came from. I found his discussion of the Supernals to be most enlightening, seeing stuff here I'd never come across anywhere else. His explanation of the other triads was excellent as well. His examination of where Kabbalah came from was less interesting to me, but might be most interesting for others. While he notes resemblances between Kabbalah and Platonism, Neoplatonism, Philo, and Christianity, he rejects the notion of any close connection between these and the formation Kabbalah. Instead he posits that Kabbalah was influenced by Zoroasterism during the Hebrews' sojourn in Babylon. I found his argument convincing.