The three temples - Rachel Elior

In this ground-breaking study,Rachel Elior offers a comprehensive theory of the crystallization of the earlystages of the mystical tradition in Judaism based on the numerous ancientscrolls and manuscripts published in the last few decades. Her wide-rangingresearch, scrupulously documented, enables her to demonstrate an uninterruptedline linking the priestly traditions of the Temple, the mystical liturgicalliterature found in the Qumran caves and associated directly and indirectlywith the Merkavah tradition of around the second and first centuries BCE, andthe mystical works of the second to fifth centuries CE known as Heikhalot literature.

The key factor linking all thesetexts, according to Professor Elior's theory, is that many of those who wrotethem were members of the priestly classes. Prevented from being able to performthe rituals of sacred service in the Temple as ordained in the biblicaltradition, they channelled their religious impetus in other directions tocreate a new spiritual focus. The mystical tradition they developed centredfirst on a heavenly Chariot Throne known as the Merkavah, and later on heavenlysanctuaries known as Heikhalot. In this way the priestly class developed analternative focus for spirituality, based on a supertemporal liturgical andritual relationship with ministering angels in the supernal sanctuaries. Thiscame to embrace an entire mystical world devoted to sustaining religiousliturgical tradition and ritual memory in the absence of the Temple.

This lyrical investigation of theorigins and workings of this supernal world is sure to become a standard workin the study of early Jewish mysticism.