The Globalization of Early Modern Kabbalah: Internal Traditions and External Knowledge in Seventeenth-Century Yemen

Abstract: This paper explores the arrival in Yemen of kabbalistic knowledge from Europe and Palestine at the beginning of the seventeenth century. My claim is that the question of the unique identity of the Jewish community of Yemen can be explored by examining the manner in which Yemenite kabbalists related to this specific knowledge, as opposed to the perception of global knowledge in the seventeenth century. I will present below three models of reception, via an examination of three works: Rekhev Elohim by R. Yiẓḥak Wanne, Segulat Yisraʾel by R. Israel b. Shlomo of Subayra, and Ḥavaẓelet ha-sharon by Yiḥye Bashiri.