Qabbalah and Academia: The Critical Study of Jewish Mysticism in France

No doubt because of the interest of French intellectuals in Qabbalah, it is significant that at the turn of the century it was upon French soil that the first translation of the Zohar appeared in a modern language. In addition, during the bourgeoning of the historical-critical study of Jewish mysticism in the last century, French scholarship played a major role. Leaving aside the occultists' tendencies, the present article examines the development of Qabbalistic studies in France in the academic context, dividing it into two periods. The first, historically oriented, is that inaugurated by the trail-blazing work of Adolphe Franck (1809-1893), while the second, dealing with speculative systems, is marked by the prodigious activity of the modern historian of Jewish philosophy, Georges Vajda (1908-1981) and his school. An account is also given of certain French intellectual trends which manifested an interest in Jewish mysticism.