{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.2", "endpoint": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/index.json" }, "work": { "slug": "franck", "name": "The Kabbalah (Adolphe Franck)", "stream": "egyptian-hebrew", "epoch_reflected": "egypto-chaldean", "epoch_written": "greco-latin", "form": "systematic exposition", "tradition": "Jewish (Kabbalistic)", "author": "Adolphe Franck", "year_approx": 1843, "note": "Adolphe Franck's *La Kabbale* (Paris, 1843) — the first systematic Western scholarly study of the Hebrew mystical tradition, treating the Sefer Yetzirah and Zohar as sources of a coherent doctrine. I. Sossnitz's 1926 English translation.", "books_slug": "franck--the-kabbalah", "books_slugs": null, "has_project_translation": false, "steiner_loci": [] }, "parents": [ { "slug": "kabbala", "name": "Kabbala", "url": "/sources/kabbala/" } ], "translation": { "title": null, "author": null, "source": null }, "chapters": [ { "num": 1, "slug": "02-errata", "title": "Errata", "words": 185, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/02-errata/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/02-errata.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Errata — translator's corrections", "blurb": "Translator's errata to the English edition — corrections of typographical and minor textual errors discovered after the first English printing of Franck's *La Kabbale*." }, { "num": 2, "slug": "04-preface-to-the-english-translation", "title": "Preface to the English Translation", "words": 497, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/04-preface-to-the-english-translation/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/04-preface-to-the-english-translation.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Preface to the English Translation", "blurb": "The preface to the English-language edition of Adolphe Franck's *La Kabbale*. The translator's rationale for bringing the classic 1843 French academic study of Kabbalah into English. Franck's significance: he was the first European academic philosopher to give Kabbalah serious scholarly attention." }, { "num": 3, "slug": "05-preface-to-the-german-translation-of-the-first-french", "title": "Preface to the German Translation of the First French Edition", "words": 2389, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/05-preface-to-the-german-translation-of-the-first-french/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/05-preface-to-the-german-translation-of-the-first-french.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Preface to the German translation (Jellinek 1844)", "blurb": "Adolf Jellinek's preface to his German translation of Franck — published the year after Franck's French original, accompanying the German edition that made Franck's work available to the central European Jewish-scholarly audience that proved its most receptive readership." }, { "num": 4, "slug": "06-foreword-to-the-second-french-edition", "title": "Foreword to the Second French Edition", "words": 1578, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/06-foreword-to-the-second-french-edition/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/06-foreword-to-the-second-french-edition.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Foreword to the Second French Edition", "blurb": "Franck's foreword to his second French edition (1889). Reflections after four decades on the reception of the first edition; revisions made in light of subsequent scholarship; his persistence in the basic philosophical-historical theses that the first edition advanced." }, { "num": 5, "slug": "07-preface-of-the-author", "title": "Preface of the Author", "words": 9427, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/07-preface-of-the-author/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/07-preface-of-the-author.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Preface of the Author (1843)", "blurb": "Franck's own preface to the first French edition (1843). The conditions in which the work was undertaken: his belief that Kabbalah was a properly philosophical-historical subject deserving the same academic seriousness given to Plato, Plotinus, and the Church Fathers; his hope that the work would interest both Jewish and Christian scholarly readers." }, { "num": 6, "slug": "08-introduction", "title": "Introduction", "words": 3331, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/08-introduction/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/08-introduction.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Introduction — Kabbalah's place in the history of thought", "blurb": "The introductory chapter. Franck's positioning of Kabbalah within the larger history of religious-philosophical thought. The argument that Kabbalah is neither a mere superstition nor a mere late commentary, but a genuine speculative tradition with internal philosophical coherence." }, { "num": 7, "slug": "09-chapter-i-the-antiquity-of-the-kabbalah", "title": "Chapter I. The Antiquity of the Kabbalah", "words": 5300, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/09-chapter-i-the-antiquity-of-the-kabbalah/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/09-chapter-i-the-antiquity-of-the-kabbalah.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part I, Ch I — The Antiquity of the Kabbalah", "blurb": "Opens Part I (*The Kabbalistic Books*). Franck's contested thesis: Kabbalah is genuinely ancient, with roots reaching back to the Second Temple period and beyond — not (as later Wissenschaft des Judenthums scholars would maintain) a medieval composition. Modern scholarship sides mostly against Franck on this; the chapter remains historically interesting." }, { "num": 8, "slug": "10-chapter-ii-the-kabbalistic-books-authenticity-of-the-sefer", "title": "Chapter II. The Kabbalistic Books. Authenticity of the Sefer Yetzirah", "words": 3230, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/10-chapter-ii-the-kabbalistic-books-authenticity-of-the-sefer/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/10-chapter-ii-the-kabbalistic-books-authenticity-of-the-sefer.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part I, Ch II — Authenticity of the *Sefer Yetzirah*", "blurb": "Franck's argument for the antiquity of the *Sefer Yetzirah* — the *Book of Formation*, traditionally attributed to Abraham, more probably composed somewhere between the 2nd and 6th centuries CE. Franck's dating tends earlier; modern scholarly consensus tends later." }, { "num": 9, "slug": "11-chapter-iii-the-authenticity-of-the-zohar", "title": "Chapter III. The Authenticity of the Zohar", "words": 12667, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/11-chapter-iii-the-authenticity-of-the-zohar/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/11-chapter-iii-the-authenticity-of-the-zohar.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part I, Ch III — The Authenticity of the Zohar", "blurb": "The crucial chapter. Franck's defence of the substantial antiquity of the Zoharic material — against the position (already current in his day, and dominant since Scholem) that the Zohar is essentially the 13th-century composition of Moses de León. Franck's case has historical interest but does not prevail." }, { "num": 10, "slug": "12-chapter-i-the-doctrine-contained-in-the-kabbalistic-books", "title": "Chapter I. The Doctrine Contained in the Kabbalistic Books. Analysis of the Sefer Yetzirah", "words": 6631, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/12-chapter-i-the-doctrine-contained-in-the-kabbalistic-books/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/12-chapter-i-the-doctrine-contained-in-the-kabbalistic-books.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part II, Ch I — Analysis of the *Sefer Yetzirah*", "blurb": "Opens Part II (*The Doctrine Contained in the Kabbalistic Books*). Franck's philosophical analysis of the *Sefer Yetzirah*: the ten *sefirot belimah* (ineffable numerations), the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the elements of cosmic structure, the foundational theology of the work." }, { "num": 11, "slug": "13-chapter-ii-analysis-of-the-zohar-allegorical-method-of-the", "title": "Chapter II. Analysis of the Zohar. Allegorical Method Of The Kabbalists", "words": 1658, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/13-chapter-ii-analysis-of-the-zohar-allegorical-method-of-the/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/13-chapter-ii-analysis-of-the-zohar-allegorical-method-of-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part II, Ch II — The Zohar's allegorical method", "blurb": "On the Kabbalists' allegorical method of Scripture-interpretation. The four levels of reading (*pardes* — *peshat*, *remez*, *derash*, *sod*) and their relation to the philosophical method of the Zohar; the principle that the deepest meaning is reached through the inner *sod* (mystery)." }, { "num": 12, "slug": "14-chapter-iii-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-conception", "title": "Chapter III. Analysis of the Zohar. The Kabbalists' Conception of the Nature of God", "words": 11863, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/14-chapter-iii-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-conception/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/14-chapter-iii-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-conception.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part II, Ch III — The Kabbalists' conception of God", "blurb": "Franck's analysis of the Zoharic doctrine of God — the *En Sof* (the hidden infinite, unmanifest), the ten *Sefirot* (the manifest divine attributes through which the divine acts upon and within creation), and the relation between *En Sof* and *Sefirot*. The central theological content of the Zohar." }, { "num": 13, "slug": "15-chapter-iv-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-view-of-the", "title": "Chapter IV. Analysis of the Zohar. The Kabbalists' View Of The World", "words": 4227, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/15-chapter-iv-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-view-of-the/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/15-chapter-iv-analysis-of-the-zohar-the-kabbalists-view-of-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part II, Ch IV — The Kabbalists' view of the world", "blurb": "On the Zoharic cosmology. The four worlds (*atzilut*, *briah*, *yetzirah*, *asiyyah*); the descent of being through the worlds from divine unity to material multiplicity; the structure of the cosmos as the unfolding of the *Sefirot* across the levels." }, { "num": 14, "slug": "16-chapter-v-analysis-of-the-zohar-view-of-the-kabbalists-on", "title": "Chapter V. Analysis of the Zohar. View of the Kabbalists on the Human Soul", "words": 8451, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/16-chapter-v-analysis-of-the-zohar-view-of-the-kabbalists-on/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/16-chapter-v-analysis-of-the-zohar-view-of-the-kabbalists-on.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part II, Ch V — The Kabbalists' view of the human soul", "blurb": "On the Zoharic doctrine of the soul. The three (or five) levels of soul — *nefesh*, *ruaḥ*, *neshamah*, (and the higher *ḥayyah* and *yeḥidah*); the soul's pre-existence; its descent into the body; the doctrine of *gilgul* (transmigration) and the conditions of redemption." }, { "num": 15, "slug": "17-chapter-i-systems-which-offer-some-resemblance-to-the", "title": "Chapter I. Systems Which Offer Some Resemblance to the Kabbalah. Relation of the Kabbalah to the Philosophy of Plato", "words": 2333, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/17-chapter-i-systems-which-offer-some-resemblance-to-the/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/17-chapter-i-systems-which-offer-some-resemblance-to-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part III, Ch I — Kabbalah and Plato", "blurb": "Opens Part III (*Systems Which Offer Some Resemblance*). On the relation of Kabbalah to Platonic philosophy. The doctrine of the Forms and the Kabbalistic *Sefirot*; pre-existence of the soul; the structure of the cosmos. Franck argues for genuine affinity without claiming literary dependence." }, { "num": 16, "slug": "18-chapter-ii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-alexandrian", "title": "Chapter II. Relation of the Kabbalah to the Alexandrian School", "words": 7760, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/18-chapter-ii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-alexandrian/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/18-chapter-ii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-alexandrian.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part III, Ch II — Kabbalah and the Alexandrian school", "blurb": "On the relation to the Alexandrian Neoplatonists — Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Proclus. The doctrine of emanation, the One and the procession, the apophatic theology. The greater of the parallels Franck draws — between the Kabbalistic *En Sof* and the Plotinian *One beyond Being*." }, { "num": 17, "slug": "19-chapter-iii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-doctrine-of", "title": "Chapter III. Relation of the Kabbalah to the Doctrine of Philo", "words": 12169, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/19-chapter-iii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-doctrine-of/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/19-chapter-iii-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-doctrine-of.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part III, Ch III — Kabbalah and Philo of Alexandria", "blurb": "Particular attention to Philo. The first-century Hellenistic-Jewish philosopher; his allegorical exegesis of the Torah; his doctrine of the Logos; his theology of the divine names. The closest of the Hellenistic parallels to Kabbalah in Franck's view — though again without claim of literary dependence." }, { "num": 18, "slug": "20-chapter-iv-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-christianity", "title": "Chapter IV. Relation of the Kabbalah to Christianity", "words": 4132, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/20-chapter-iv-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-christianity/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/20-chapter-iv-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-christianity.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part III, Ch IV — Kabbalah and Christianity", "blurb": "On the relation to Christian theology. The Kabbalistic doctrines that have suggested Christian-Trinitarian parallels (the *Father*, *Son*, *Holy Spirit* mapped onto the three highest *Sefirot*); the Christian-Kabbalist tradition from Ramon Llull through Reuchlin and Mirandola to the seventeenth-century Christian Cabbalists." }, { "num": 19, "slug": "21-chapter-v-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-religion-of-the", "title": "Chapter V. Relation of the Kabbalah to the Religion of the Chaldeans and Persians", "words": 10085, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/21-chapter-v-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-religion-of-the/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/21-chapter-v-relation-of-the-kabbalah-to-the-religion-of-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Part III, Ch V — Kabbalah and Chaldean-Persian religion", "blurb": "The closing comparative chapter. On the relation of Kabbalah to the religious traditions of the Chaldeans and Persians — the Babylonian astrology, the Zoroastrian dualism, the angelology of the ancient Iranian tradition. The currents Franck argues fed into Kabbalah from the East." }, { "num": 20, "slug": "22-appendix", "title": "Appendix", "words": 2433, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/22-appendix/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/22-appendix.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Appendix — supporting texts and notes", "blurb": "Appendix collecting the principal supporting texts, longer notes, and bibliographical references that supplement the main chapters. The scholarly apparatus that establishes Franck's argument on documentary footing." }, { "num": 21, "slug": "23-index", "title": "Index", "words": 3446, "url": "/sources/kabbala/franck/23-index/", "api": "/api/sources/kabbala/franck/23-index.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Index", "blurb": "Index of names, terms, and Kabbalistic concepts treated in the book. Useful navigation-aid for cross-referencing Franck's many philological discussions of particular Hebrew technical terms across the chapters." } ] }