Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003. 480p.
HUC Library
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Lawrence Fine's recent monograph on Rabbi Isaac
Luria and his disciples is a significant milestone in the development of
Kabbalah scholarship, on the one hand, and in the emergence of usable sources
for the teaching of post-1492 Sefardi Diaspora Judaism, on the other. Before
the publication of Fine's learned and well-researched volume, English readers
had no reputable and up-to-date works to inform their understandings of
this key period in Jewish intellectual and religious history—the
most well-trodden source being the classic chapter of Gershom Scholem's Major
Trends in Jewish Mysticism, a work based on now outdated research
conclusions formulated in 1941.
Fine's book is written in a lucid and engaging style, always attentive to the
needs of clarity, historical and conceptual context, and the background required
to render difficult ideas comprehensible and meaningful to a general audience.
Students and general readers of an historical bent will particularly appreciate
Fine's opening chapters, in which he sets the stage by detailing the contours
of social, economic, and cultural life in the period of Isaac Luria's rise to
prominence in the Galilean town of Tzfat. Such historical documentation itself
contributes much (if as a synthesis) to our understanding of the flavors of culture
and society that coalesced among the exiles of Sefarad and their children.
Building upon this historical analysis, Fine articulates a strong case for shifting
scholarly focus to the lived and embodied character of Lurianic Kabbalah. Fine
argues that we have neglected much of the driving force and orientation of Luria's
circle by focusing exclusively on the mythic and theological dimensions of this
mystical current—the kabbalists that composed this circle were deeply taken
with a complex configuration of techniques and ritual practices, and Rabbi Isaac
Luria himself functioned as a spiritual healer capable of diagnosing the underlying
wounds and flaws present in particular individuals' souls. Such diagnoses were
consequently followed by prescribed practices designed to bring about a healing
of the soul.
Fine's important and accessible synthesis of Lurianic kabbalah offers a clear
introduction to the central theological and ritual issues that lay at the heart
of this influential mystical circle. The valuable socio-historical survey, the
lucid portrait of the configuration of mystics and pietists in pre-Lurianic Tzfat,
the representation of Isaac Luria's charismatic leadership, the analysis of the
mythic theology and ritual practices of Luria's circle, all make for a wonderful
resource in any pedagogical survey of diasporic Sefardi thought, practice, and
religious culture. As the first synthesis of Lurianic thought and practice presented
to the English-reading public—one of a quality reflected in its finalist
status for the Koret Jewish Book Award competition—Physician of the
Soul should be used extensively in the presentation of post-1492 Sefardic
intellectual and religious achievement.
This book is a detailed and clear exposition of the world and thought of the
most famous and influential Jewish mystic of the Sefardic Diaspora. Fine has
constructed a portrait of the living religious milieu of Safed in the 16th century,
situating that culture within the broader landscape of Ottoman Jewish life.
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