The Hekhalot Literature

Abstract

In the present chapter, we shall discuss some of the general characteristics of the Hekhalot literature. In the second part of the book, a detailed introduction to each of the Hekhalot texts will be given. The first scholar who attempted a serious evaluation of the Hekhalot literature, and suggested a historical sequence for its composition, was H. Grätz.1 In a series of three articles published in the Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums VIII (1859), Grätz reached the conclusion that the so-called Hekhalot literature was composed in post-talmudic times, and that the first text in the series was ʾOtiyot de-Rabbi ʿAkiva. Grätz’s dating of that literature is still considered by some people to be correct, though the sequence, which he suggested for its composition is no longer accepted. In a series of studies on the Hekhalot literature, G. Scholem proposed a different order and a much earlier date of composition.2 Scholem’s views on these two issues are adopted in this book. However, our discussion will deal with some aspects of that literature, which still deserve attention. In addition, Scholem’s suggestion to interpret the Merkavah mysticism as a Jewish concomitant to Gnosticism will be re-examined.3