Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626–1676

«Paradox is a characteristic of truth. What communis opinio has of truth is surely no more than an elementary deposit of generalizing partial understanding, related to truth even as sulphurous fumes are to lightning.» — epígrafe del volumen, tomado por Scholem de la correspondencia entre el conde Paul Yorck von Wartenburg y Wilhelm Dilthey: la opinión común queda como depósito elemental de una comprensión parcial, frente a la verdad como relámpago.

«A DETAILED HISTORY of the Sabbatian movement, the most important messianic movement in Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple, has long been badly lacking in Jewish historiography.» — Scholem abre el prefacio situando al sabatianismo como el movimiento mesiánico más importante del judaísmo desde la destrucción del Segundo Templo y declarando el hueco historiográfico que viene a llenar.

«But direct contact with the sources has made me realize that historians have never done justice to this great and tragic chapter in Jewish history, either because they lacked the knowledge or because they lacked even the wish for knowledge.» — Scholem señala que los historiadores no hicieron justicia al episodio por falta de conocimiento o por falta de voluntad de conocerlo.

«As I became more deeply involved with the sources, I became convinced not only that important and vital sources had escaped the eyes of previous scholars, but that even those sources which had been used were often not correctly interpreted.» — Scholem cuenta que al trabajar las fuentes halló no solo materiales inéditos sino interpretaciones erradas de los ya usados.

«Only by combining and analyzing all kinds of sources in the light of historical criticism can one gain a true picture of the age.» — su regla de método: los documentos esotéricos y las especulaciones cabalísticas se tratan con el mismo rango que archivos, manuscritos y pliegos sueltos, y solo el cruce de todos ellos bajo crítica histórica da el cuadro de la época.

«I have written this book on the basis of a particular dialectical view of Jewish history and the forces acting within it. But from the start more than just this view has been at work, guiding my presentation—the view itself is the outcome of a constantly renewed immersion in the sources themselves.» — Scholem declara el sesgo con que escribe —una visión dialéctica de la historia judía— y sostiene que esa visión salió a su vez de la inmersión repetida en las fuentes.

«I have not hesitated to change the opinions I expressed in earlier publications on specific points when renewed consideration of the sources required a new interpretation of the documents or of the historical processes reflected in them.» — Scholem consigna que cambió posiciones publicadas antes cuando las fuentes lo pidieron.

«Nor am I a follower of that school which proceeds on the assumption that there is a well-defined and unvarying “essence” of Judaism, especially not where the evaluation of historical events is concerned.» — Scholem niega que exista una esencia bien definida e invariable del judaísmo con que juzgar los hechos.

«The internal censorship of the past, particularly by rabbinical tradition, has tended to play down or to conceal many developments whose fundamentally Jewish character the contemporary historian has no reason to deny.» — Scholem señala la censura interna de la tradición rabínica como causa de que esos desarrollos quedaran ocultos o minimizados.

«One of the remarkable features of research on Sabbatianism is the tendency to minimize the scope of the movement and to distort its meaning.» — Scholem enuncia la tendencia que objeta en la literatura previa: reducir el alcance del movimiento y torcer su sentido.

«Since the publication of this book in Hebrew, in 1957, and not unconnected with it, a considerable number of hitherto unknown sources have come to light. They supplied an important body of new information which enabled me to correct earlier statements and to present entirely new details, some of them highly significant.» — Scholem cuenta en la segunda parte del prefacio que la edición hebrea hizo aflorar fuentes desconocidas que le permitieron corregir afirmaciones anteriores.

«The most impressive of these documents were contained in the collection of manuscripts that until 1924 had formed a part of the archives of the Sabbatian sect of the Dönmeh in Salonika, which had embraced Islam following Sabbatai Ṣevi’s example and had kept its identity distinct throughout the ages.» — Scholem sitúa el hallazgo mayor en los archivos de la secta sabatiana de los Dönmeh de Salónica, que siguieron el ejemplo de Sabbatai abrazando el islam y conservaron identidad propia.

«The archives had been inaccessible to outsiders and were generally thought to have been lost, especially after the great fire of 1917.» — Scholem consigna que esos archivos se daban por perdidos tras el incendio de 1917.

«a group of Dönmeh departing for Turkey had handed over some particularly valuable manuscripts to the late rabbi Saul Amarillo in Salonika, who, taking a lively interest in the history of Salonika Jewry, kept the treasure but allowed no rumor about it to reach the scholarly world.» — Scholem reconstruye la cadena de custodia: en el intercambio de poblaciones de 1925 unos Dönmeh entregaron manuscritos al rabino Saul Amarillo, que los guardó sin dejar que corriera noticia.

«They contain, among others, autograph letters written by outstanding figures of the movement, chronicles that no one had dreamed existed, and confirm in a striking manner the new insight into Sabbatai Ṣevi’s character and psychology advanced in the present book.» — Scholem dice que esos papeles traen cartas autógrafas y crónicas insospechadas, y que confirman su lectura del carácter y la psicología de Sabbatai Ṣevi.

«All the new sources have been taken into account in preparing the English edition, which therefore is no mere translation from the Hebrew but embodies the results of the latest research.» — Scholem declara que la edición inglesa no es mera traducción del hebreo sino que incorpora la investigación posterior.

«The credit for the English version is due to Dr. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, Professor of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who —over several years—invested much time and work in its preparation.» — Scholem atribuye la versión inglesa a Werblowsky, profesor de religión comparada en la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén.

«Some documents which are composed in a flowery rabbinical style have been condensed to make their content clear without the rhetorical ornament that could not well bear literal translation.» — advertencia de método que condiciona toda cita de este volumen: los documentos de estilo rabínico florido van condensados, y a veces el argumento va solo resumido con remisión a la edición hebrea.

«Biblical quotations are rendered according to the Authorized Version or that of the Jewish Publication Society of America» — las citas bíblicas siguen la Authorized Version o la de la Jewish Publication Society of America.

«Mr. Zalman Shazar, now President of the State of Israel, permitted me to quote extensively from a Yiddish manuscript source in his possession, the Beshraybung fun Shabsai Ẓvi, written 1717/18 by Leyb b. Ozer, the notary of the Ashkenazic community in Amsterdam.» — Scholem agradece el permiso para citar la Beshraybung fun Shabsai Ẓvi, manuscrito yidis escrito en 1717 o 1718 por Leyb b. Ozer, notario de la comunidad asquenazí de Ámsterdam, que será una de sus fuentes mayores.

«the author could assume familiarity with certain ideas, concepts, traditions, institutions, rituals, liturgical practices, historical events, and names» — Scholem explica por qué traducir supuso ampliar: el original hebreo daba por sabidas ideas, instituciones y prácticas que el lector inglés no comparte.

«Scholem unearthed a theory of kabbalistic nihilism in the writings of these hitherto obscure Jewish theologians and prophets.» — Dweck sostiene que lo que Scholem sacó de aquellos teólogos oscuros fue una teoría del nihilismo cabalístico.

«His massive study of Sabbatai Ṣevi and the Sabbatian movement, which eventually appeared in English in 1973 under the title Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, had its beginnings in this 1937 Hebrew essay.» — Dweck traza la filiación del volumen: el estudio mayor de 1973 nació del ensayo hebreo de 1937.

«Scholem’s letter to Bialik contained a précis of his research in Kabbalah up to that point and a manifesto for future research in the field.» — Dweck sostiene que la carta de Scholem a Bialik de 1925, escrita a los veintisiete años, fijó su trayectoria para el medio siglo siguiente.

«This is work that certainly cannot be undertaken by a single person, but would require a team of assistants. Should the opportunity present itself, I would be willing to take upon myself the direction of this task.» — la voz es la del propio Scholem en la carta a Bialik, citada por Dweck: la tarea excede a una persona y él se ofrece a dirigirla.

«As he wound his way through the writings of Nathan of Gaza, Abraham Miguel Cardoso, and Jacob Frank, Scholem developed the notion of paradox as a central avenue through which to understand Sabbatianism in specific and Jewish Messianism in general.» — Dweck sostiene que la paradoja es la vía por la que Scholem entendió el sabatianismo y el mesianismo judío entero.

«Scholem closed the letter with a celebration of paradox, not the paradox of messianic theology, but that of the “mystical totality of truth” and its relationship to philological criticism.» — Dweck lee la carta de cumpleaños de Scholem a Salman Schocken de 1937 como una celebración de la paradoja entre la totalidad mística de la verdad y la crítica filológica.

«I was struck by the impoverishment of what some like to call the Philosophy of Judaism. I was particularly incensed by the only three authors whom I knew, Saadiah [Gaon], Maimonides, and Hermann Cohen, who conceived as their main task to construct antitheses to myth and pantheism, to refute them, although they should have concerned themselves with raising them to a higher level.» — Scholem, citado por Dweck, declara el motivo de su entrada en la cábala: el empobrecimiento de la llamada filosofía del judaísmo, y su irritación con Saadia Gaón, Maimónides y Hermann Cohen por construir antítesis al mito y al panteísmo en vez de elevarlos.

«By the late 1930s, however, two central themes had emerged in Scholem’s developing approach to Messianism in general and Sabbatianism in specific: an emphasis on paradox as a hermeneutic key to understanding redemption and an aversion to Maimonides and other bearers of the tradition of philosophical rationalism.» — Dweck fija los dos temas del Scholem de finales de los treinta: la paradoja como clave hermenéutica de la redención y la aversión a Maimónides y al racionalismo filosófico.

«Today, as at the very beginning, my work lives in this paradox, in the hope of a true communication from the mountain, of that most invisible,» — la voz es la de Scholem en esa carta a Schocken, que Dweck llama su momento más délfico; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk y sigue *smallest fluctuation of history which causes truth to break forth from the illusions of 'development.'*.

«philosophical tradition of Jewish rationalism for a “spiritual disaster” enabled by the political conditions of exile.» — Dweck llama acusación a lo que Scholem hace con el racionalismo judío entero, y sitúa el desastre espiritual que le imputa en las condiciones políticas del exilio; la frase empieza en la plana anterior con *Scholem drew upon the notion of paradox in his indictment of the entire*.

«It is this paradox of a God of religion who is distinct from the First Cause that is the essence of true Judaism, that ‘faith of our fathers’ which is concealed in the books of the Bible and in the dark sayings of» — Scholem en Redemption through Sin, citado por Dweck: la paradoja de un Dios de la religión distinto de la Causa Primera como esencia del judaísmo verdadero; el tramo se corta en el límite de plana.

«In the course of the confusion and demoralization brought on by the exile, this mystery (of which [according to Cardoso] even Christianity was nothing but a distorted expression) was forgotten and the Jewish people mistakenly led to identify the impersonal First Cause with the personal God of the Bible» — sigue la misma cita de Redemption through Sin: el exilio habría hecho olvidar el misterio y llevado al pueblo judío a identificar por error la Causa Primera impersonal con el Dios personal de la Biblia.

«a spiritual disaster for which Saadiah Gaon, Maimonides and the philosophers will yet be held accountable.» — cierre de esa cita, en voz de Scholem: el desastre espiritual del que responsabiliza a Saadia Gaón, a Maimónides y a los filósofos.

«In the long introduction to Sabbatai Ṣevi, Maimonides’s brief would expand considerably.» — Dweck anuncia el cambio: en la introducción larga del propio Sabbatai Ṣevi el papel de Maimónides se amplía.

«By contrast, the Research Institute for Kabbalah, while nominally covering the entirety of the Jewish mystical tradition, actually focused on two specific subfields: Sabbatianism and ancient Jewish mysticism.» — Dweck sostiene que el instituto, que nominalmente cubría toda la mística judía, se concentró en el sabatianismo y en la mística antigua.

«Yet the breathless enthusiasm of a seventeen-year-old, no matter how precocious and sophisticated, need not determine the course of a scholarly career.» — y Dweck acota de inmediato ese factor: el entusiasmo de un muchacho de diecisiete años no decide una carrera.

«Finally the historical study of Messianism may have served Scholem as a stand-in for his own Zionism. The manifestation of the Hegelian spirit in an immanent Jewish garb.» — Dweck propone con reserva que el estudio del mesianismo le sirviera a Scholem de sustituto de su propio sionismo.

«And yet Scholem was too subtle a thinker, too self-aware a scholar, and too ironic about his own project to warrant an easy equivalence between his own commitments to Zionism and the subjects of his scholarly investigation.» — y Dweck niega enseguida la equivalencia fácil entre el sionismo de Scholem y su objeto de estudio.

«The reason for Scholem’s turn to the study of Messianism, if there indeed was one reason, may not be known.» — Dweck cierra la cuestión en abstención declarada: la razón del giro, si hubo una sola, puede no saberse.

«Through the Research Institute, Scholem had been able to harness the talent of two extraordinary scholars to prepare critical editions of major Sabbatian sources.» — Dweck sostiene que el factor decisivo del retraso y de la hechura del libro fue el estado de las fuentes: el instituto puso a Wirszubski a editar a Natán de Gaza y a Tishby a editar a Jacob Sasportas.

«The Research Institute changed the state of the scholarly study of Sabbatianism by dramatically increasing the number of sources available.» — Dweck mide así el efecto del instituto: cambió el estado del estudio del sabatianismo al multiplicar las fuentes disponibles.

«The four-page preface amounted to a declaration of war against his predecessors, who either had ignored or had condemned Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — Dweck llama declaración de guerra al prefacio hebreo contra los predecesores que ignoraron o condenaron a Sabbatai Ṣevi.

«The implication was clear: if most Jews had followed Sabbatai Ṣevi as the Messiah, the movement was Jewish, and properly so-called, not a deviation from some purified or apologetically rational Judaism.» — Dweck saca la consecuencia del criterio de Scholem: si la mayoría de los judíos siguió a Sabbatai Ṣevi, el movimiento fue judío, no desviación de un judaísmo purificado.

«Scholem posited that the rational prejudices of his predecessors had inhibited their scholarship when they sought to grapple with the basic irrationalism of Sabbatianism.» — segundo rasgo: Dweck atribuye a Scholem la tesis de que los prejuicios racionales de sus predecesores les estorbaron ante el irracionalismo del movimiento.

«although he treated the history of theology and wrote about theological concepts in great detail, he wrote his book as a work not of theology, but of history.» — tercer rasgo que Dweck adjudica al libro: trata teología en detalle y está escrito como obra de historia.

«Scholem rejected wholeheartedly and explicitly any attempt to derive lessons or meaning about the contemporary world from the past.» — Dweck subraya el límite que Scholem se impuso: nada de sacar lecciones sobre el presente.

«Scholem argued that in the decades that elapsed between the end of the Safed Renaissance and the beginning of the Sabbatian movement, Lurianic Kabbalah became the most widely accepted form of Jewish theology.» — Dweck enuncia la tesis central del primer capítulo: entre el fin del renacimiento de Safed y el comienzo del movimiento, la cábala luriánica llegó a ser la teología judía más difundida.

«To Scholem, the kabbalists of Safed emphasized the spiritual aspects of redemption, and, in so doing, they relegated the apocalyptic to the level of the symbolic and concealed the fact that they had inaugurated a radical new concept of the Messiah as a cosmic redeemer with theurgic powers.» — Dweck señala el efecto que Scholem atribuye a los cabalistas de Safed: al acentuar lo espiritual rebajaron lo apocalíptico a símbolo y encubrieron que habían instituido un mesías cósmico con poderes teúrgicos.

«Acute utopian Messianism, by contrast, produced a form of apocalyptic thinking that undermined Jewish law and threatened rabbinic control over Jewish life: if the Messiah exists in the here and now, the law must be abrogated.» — y el otro polo: el mesianismo utópico agudo produce un apocalipticismo que socava la ley y amenaza el control rabínico.

«From the point of view of the Halakha, to be sure, Judaism appears as a well-ordered house, and it is a profound truth that a well-ordered house is a dangerous thing.» — la voz es la de Scholem en su ensayo sobre la idea mesiánica, citado por Dweck: desde la halajá el judaísmo aparece como una casa bien ordenada, y una casa bien ordenada es cosa peligrosa.

«Scholem equated Messianism—whether restorative or utopian—with change, and conservative reaction with stasis.» — Dweck reduce a un par el esquema de Scholem: mesianismo igual a cambio, reacción conservadora igual a quietud.

«Leaving aside the accuracy of any retrospective diagnosis of a mental disorder, Scholem’s judgment of Sabbatai Ṣevi as mentally ill had a decisive impact upon the story that he chose to tell.» — Dweck sostiene que ese diagnóstico, con exactitud o sin ella, decidió el relato: el libro no es biografía de un mesías enfermo sino historia de un movimiento.

«Since the Messiah “had no talents as a writer” (828) he was poorly suited to serve as the sole subject of Scholem’s history of the movement.» — Dweck da la otra razón del desplazamiento del protagonista: Scholem dice en la página impresa 828 que el mesías no tenía dotes de escritor, y el libro se construye sobre fuentes textuales.

«At the center of the movement, Scholem placed Nathan of Gaza, a young charismatic prophet who “was at once the John the Baptist and the Paul of the new messiah» — Dweck nombra el desplazamiento con la fórmula del propio Scholem en la página impresa 207: Natán de Gaza fue a la vez el Juan Bautista y el Pablo del nuevo mesías.

«It was Nathan of Gaza, not Sabbatai Ṣevi himself, who generated a theology of heretical kabbalism and who inaugurated a new law that sanctified transgression.» — Dweck adjudica a Natán, no al mesías, la teología del cabalismo herético y la ley nueva que santifica la transgresión.

«As Scholem stressed, the Messiah’s revelation of the law’s new meaning was one thing; his revelation of a new law was quite another.» — Dweck retiene la distinción de Scholem: revelar un sentido nuevo de la ley es una cosa y revelar una ley nueva es otra.

«Nathan of Gaza employed the logic of paradox, a key term for Scholem since his 1937 essay “Redemption through Sin,” to justify Sabbatai Ṣevi’s strange actions before the conversion as well as the conversion itself.» — Dweck sostiene que Natán usó la lógica de la paradoja para justificar tanto los actos extraños previos como la conversión misma.

«Scholem was quite clear, both in Sabbatai Ṣevi and throughout his work on Sabbatianism, that the messianic movement had been the cause rather than the result of a crisis.» — Dweck fija la dirección en que Scholem resuelve la cuestión: el movimiento mesiánico fue causa y no resultado de la crisis.

«The first had to do with an immanent view of Jewish history: what happened was a response to Jewish events and Jewish ideas.» — primera de las decisiones de escritura que Dweck le adjudica: una visión inmanente de la historia judía.

«What emerged was thus something of its own paradox. Sabbatianism had developed internally within Judaism, yet it also served as a point of crisis in the history of the Jews.» — Dweck nombra la paradoja que le resulta: el sabatianismo se desarrolló dentro del judaísmo y a la vez le hizo crisis.

«Nonetheless, Scholem had no interest in writing a social and economic history of Sabbatianism that moved away from a theory of an immanent Jewish dialectic.» — Dweck acota el alcance de esa decisión: Scholem no ignora las fuentes no judías, pero no quiere una historia social y económica del sabatianismo.

«For Scholem the relationship between early Christians and the Sabbatian prophets was simply coincidental.» — Dweck señala dónde se agota la analogía cristiana en Scholem: la relación entre cristianos primitivos y profetas sabatianos era para él mera coincidencia.

«He adamantly refused to countenance any suggestion that Nathan of Gaza or any of the other Sabbatian thinkers drew on ideas from the Christianity of their own time. They had been nourished solely by Jewish sources.» — Dweck consigna la negativa terminante de Scholem a admitir que Natán o los demás pensadores sabatianos tomaran ideas del cristianismo de su tiempo.

«These men had written accounts that Scholem strip-mined for their data rather than analyzed to ascertain a worldview.» — Dweck objeta el tratamiento desigual de las fuentes: a Thomas Coenen, al chevalier de la Croix y a Antoine Galland Scholem les saca datos sin analizarles la visión del mundo.

«Scholem’s profound ambivalence about Western Marxism and his reluctance to consider how social and economic factors conditioned the genesis and spread of ideas led him to construct a deeply internalist history of Sabbatai Ṣevi and the Sabbatian movement.» — Dweck cierra su balance adjudicando a la ambivalencia de Scholem ante el marxismo occidental el carácter profundamente internalista del libro.

«The second choice had to do with the source material from which Scholem constructed the book. By and large he chose to tell the story of Sabbatai Ṣevi» — segunda decisión de escritura según Dweck, sobre el material de origen; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue *from sources written by Jews*.

«The cumulative force of this criticism left Scholem’s portrait of Sabbatai Ṣevi and the Sabbatian movement considerably open to amendment.» — Dweck mide el efecto acumulado de esas cuatro objeciones sobre el retrato de Scholem sin arbitrar entre ellas.

«The English translation represents a curious mix of a revised edition and an abridgment.» — Dweck califica la traducción inglesa de mezcla curiosa de edición revisada y abreviación, y esa es la advertencia que condiciona toda cita de este volumen.

«rather, it is to emphasize that scholars working on Sabbatianism need both the Hebrew and English editions.» — Dweck saca la consecuencia sin culpar al traductor, cuya versión llama monumento de erudición: quien trabaje el sabatianismo necesita las dos ediciones.

«If the Hebrew edition ignited controversy and sparked scholarly debate, the English edition brought Scholem fulsome, almost rapturous praise.» — Dweck contrapone las dos recepciones: polémica en hebreo, elogio casi arrebatado en inglés.

«Rather than write about Sabbatai Ṣevi and Sabbatianism using Scholem’s work as a point of departure, as had Kurzweil, Werblowsky, and Tishby, those writing about the English translation wrote about Scholem himself. Scholem had overwhelmed his subject.» — la tesis de Dweck sobre esa recepción: quienes escribieron sobre la traducción inglesa escribieron sobre Scholem, no sobre el sabatianismo.

«Bloom, Ozick, and Steiner were tourists in the subject, and like tourists they saw what they wanted to see.» — Dweck llama turistas del asunto a los tres, y niega que su elogio equivalga a lectura.

«Very few people who wrote about Sabbatai Ṣevi in English had any firsthand knowledge of the material on which it was based.» — Dweck mide el límite de esa recepción anglófona: casi nadie conocía de primera mano los materiales del libro.

«If the debate about Luria and Sabbatianism has reached a stalemate, the causes for the rapid and spectacular success of Sabbatianism remain very much open to discussion.» — Dweck deja el punto en tablas declaradas y las causas del éxito del movimiento como cuestión abierta.

«Scholem’s deep-seated aversion to materialist explanations of historical events seems to have blinded him to two of the constitutive factors that aided and abetted the spread of Sabbatianism: the printing press and human migration.» — Dweck nombra los dos factores que a su juicio quedaron fuera del libro por la aversión de Scholem a lo material: la imprenta y la migración.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi was news, and the nascent press in England, the Dutch Republic, and parts of Germany reported on his activities with keen and persistent interest.» — Dweck consigna que la prensa naciente de Inglaterra, la República Neerlandesa y parte de Alemania siguió el caso con interés persistente.

«The Sephardic diaspora that served such a crucial function in the early modern economy easily transformed itself into a messianic news corps when it received word of the Messiah’s arrival.» — Dweck describe la diáspora sefardí volviéndose cuerpo de corresponsales mesiánicos al llegar la noticia.

«The cumulative force of this scholarship allows one to pose a basic question that has yet to be answered: What did the epithet “Sabbatianism” mean in the century and a half after the death of Sabbatai Ṣevi?» — la pregunta que Dweck deja abierta tras el balance bibliográfico: qué significó la palabra sabatianismo en el siglo y medio posterior a la muerte de Sabbatai Ṣevi.

«In spite of all of the recent revision in the study of Sabbatai Ṣevi, the first port of call remains Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah.» — Dweck cierra el balance manteniendo el libro como primer puerto de escala pese a toda la revisión posterior.

«The book is a monument to two great Jewish heresies. The first is the heresy that it recounts, that of the greatest and most extensive messianic movement among the Jews since the time of Jesus of Nazareth. The second is no less significant: that of Scholem himself.» — la tesis con que Dweck cierra: el libro es monumento de dos herejías, la que cuenta y la del propio Scholem.

«Nearly every page of this extraordinary book is shot through with Scholem’s celebration of anarchic nihilism, his profound antipathy for Maimonides, and his deep-seated ambivalence before the law.» — y el detalle de la segunda herejía según Dweck: celebración del nihilismo anárquico, antipatía por Maimónides y ambivalencia ante la ley; firma Yaacob Dweck.

«The usual, somewhat simplistic explanation posits a direct historical connection between the Sabbatian movement and certain other events of the same period.» — Scholem enuncia la explicación corriente que va a objetar: una conexión directa entre el movimiento y la catástrofe polaca de 1648-49.

«Though it will be argued in what follows that there is no foundation whatever for this view, at the outset we may duly take note of one grimly concrete historical fact: there had been a major disaster, and soon afterward there was a messianic outbreak.» — Scholem niega fundamento a esa lectura y a la vez retiene el hecho desnudo: hubo un desastre mayor y poco después un estallido mesiánico.

«This difference lies in the extension, in space and time, of Sabbatianism. All earlier messianic movements, from Bar Kokhba, who led the Jewish revolt against Rome in 132–35 C.E., onward, were limited to a certain area.» — el primer argumento de Scholem contra la causa polaca: todos los movimientos mesiánicos anteriores, desde Bar Kokhba en 132-35, fueron locales.

«The Sabbatian movement spread wherever Jews lived—from the Yemen, Persia, and Kurdistan to Poland, Holland, Italy, and Morocco.» — la extensión que Scholem opone: el movimiento corrió por Yemen, Persia, Kurdistán, Polonia, Holanda, Italia y Marruecos.

«There is no reason for assuming that Moroccan Jewry was particularly affected by the massacres of 1648, of which they probably had heard very little anyway.» — Scholem señala que la judería marroquí apenas supo de las masacres de 1648 y respondió igual.

«The Sabbatian movement is the great exception to this rule: not only did history belie its message, but the disillusionment was so exceptionally cruel that normally it should have been the last nail to the movement’s coffin.» — el segundo argumento: los demás movimientos mesiánicos se deshacían con el desengaño, y aquí el desengaño fue el más cruel posible y el movimiento siguió.

«If the movement did not die out there and then but survived the seemingly fatal crisis, persisting for generations in various forms and metamorphoses, then its roots must have lain deeper than in local circumstances and conditions.» — la consecuencia que Scholem saca: raíces más hondas que las circunstancias locales.

«The massacres of 1648 no doubt contributed their share, but as an historical factor they lack the dimension of depth within which alone the Sabbatian movement becomes intelligible.» — Scholem concede la parte que le toca a 1648 y le niega la dimensión de profundidad.

«However, the movement did not manifest any lesser momentum in those Jewish centers that enjoyed peace and prosperity.» — tercer argumento: el ímpetu fue igual en los centros en paz y prósperos que en los perseguidos.

«Yet these Jews threw all economic considerations to the winds and, as far as we can ascertain, gave way to unbridled messianic enthusiasm.» — Scholem sobre las comunidades en auge de Salónica, Liorna, Ámsterdam y Hamburgo: tiraron por la borda toda consideración económica.

«In the years of the great disillusionment following Sabbatai’s apostasy, the opponents again raised their heads and contended that the “rabble” had forced the unwilling rabbis and sages to comply or, at least, to keep quiet.» — Scholem consigna la versión de los opositores tras la apostasía: que la plebe habría forzado a rabinos y sabios a plegarse o a callar.

«Conversely we find the Sabbatians themselves accusing the rabbis and the rich, that is, the social elite, of opposing the movement.» — y la versión contraria, la de los sabatianos: que la élite social se opuso; el desacuerdo entre los dos testimonios se consigna sin armonizar.

«This unanimity, however, is misleading, and the measure of truth that it contains is less than appears at first sight.» — Scholem objeta esa unanimidad aparente entre testigos tan distintos como Jacob Sasportas, Joseph ha-Levi y Abraham Miguel Cardozo: es explicación posterior a los hechos, útil a los dos bandos por razones opuestas.

«None of these explanations is borne out, however, by the documents composed during the high tide of the movement.» — el criterio con que Scholem las descarta: los documentos escritos en la marea alta del movimiento no las sostienen.

«All later statements notwithstanding, the majority of the ruling class was in the camp of the believers, and the prominent and active part played by many of them is attested by all reliable documents.» — lo que Scholem sostiene contra las dos versiones tardías: la mayoría de la clase dirigente estuvo entre los creyentes.

«The movement knew no class distinctions. It embraced the millionaires of Amsterdam who, much as Abraham Pereira, offered their whole fortunes to the messiah, as well as the poorest beggars in forlorn corners of the Diaspora.» — Scholem mide el arco social del movimiento, de los millonarios de Ámsterdam como Abraham Pereira, que ofreció su fortuna entera al mesías, a los mendigos de los rincones de la diáspora.

«The messianic awakening clearly transcended all classes, insofar as we are at all entitled to apply this term to Jewish society, where the social mobility of individuals and the frequency of sudden changes of fortune were hardly conducive to the consolidation of» — Scholem acota hasta el término mismo: en una sociedad judía de movilidad alta y fortunas cambiantes, hablar de clases es discutible; el tramo se corta ante la palabra entrecomillada *classes*.

«Local conditions certainly shaped and colored the movement in many places; yet, without wishing to minimize their significance, we must also beware of overestimating their role as a general factor explaining the phenomenon as a whole.» — Scholem retiene el papel de las condiciones locales y a la vez advierte contra tomarlas por explicación general.

«As it happens, we are in a position to identify and name this religious factor. It was none other than Lurianic kabbalism, that is, that form of kabbalah which had developed at Safed, in the Galilee, during the sixteenth century and which dominated Jewish religiosity in the seventeenth century.» — y aquí Scholem lo nombra: el cabalismo luriánico salido de Safed en el siglo XVI, que dominaba la religiosidad judía del XVII.

«Safed, which had never before possessed any special status or significance, became a major center of Judaism in the sixteenth century as a result of a steady flow of immigrants from the Diaspora.» — Scholem describe cómo Safed, sin rango previo, se volvió centro mayor del judaísmo por el flujo continuo de inmigrantes.

«The principal founders of the new center were Spanish exiles, but they were soon joined by enthusiasts from other communities, until Safed became a kind of miniature distillation of the whole Jewish Diaspora.» — Scholem llama a Safed destilación en miniatura de la diáspora entera, fundada por exiliados españoles y engrosada por entusiastas de otras comunidades.

«The kabbalism of the age was the spiritual heritage common to all Jewish communities; it had provided them with an interpretation of history and with a fund of ideas and practices without which the Sabbatian movement is unthinkable.» — la respuesta de Scholem a su pregunta inicial: el cabalismo de la época fue el patrimonio espiritual común, con su interpretación de la historia y su fondo de ideas y prácticas.

«To this end we must distinguish two main tendencies in which the messianic longing of generations had crystallized. These were the popular-mythological and the philosophicalrationalist traditions.» — Scholem parte la idea mesiánica medieval en dos tradiciones que conviven y a veces se funden, la popular-mitológica y la filosófico-racionalista.

«Traditional popular messianism was characterized by catastrophe and utopianism, and both elements play an important role in the dynamics of the messianic faith.» — Scholem fija los dos elementos del mesianismo popular: catástrofe y utopía, con raíz bíblica en la visión del fin de los días de Isaías y en el día del Señor de Amós.

«There is no continuity between the present and the messianic era; the latter is not the fruit of previous developments, let alone of a gradual evolution.» — Scholem enuncia el rasgo decisivo de la vertiente catastrófica: la redención no es fruto de un desarrollo previo.

«Far from being the result of historical process, redemption arises on the ruins of history, which collapses amid the “birth pangs» — y la imagen con que lo dice: la redención se levanta sobre las ruinas de la historia, que se derrumba entre los dolores de parto de la era mesiánica.

«It has been one of the strangest errors of the modern Wissenschaft des Judentums to deny the continuity of Jewish apocalypticism.» — Scholem objeta a la Wissenschaft des Judentums moderna haber negado la continuidad del apocalipticismo judío.

«The endeavors of leading scholars to dissociate apocalyptic from rabbinic Judaism and to associate it exclusively with Christianity have contributed much to the modern falsification of Jewish history and to the concealment of some of its most dynamic forces, both constructive and destructive.» — y le adjudica el efecto: disociar lo apocalíptico del judaísmo rabínico para asociarlo solo al cristianismo falsea la historia judía y oculta algunas de sus fuerzas más dinámicas.

«The figure of the messiah of the House of Joseph, who would fall at the gates of Jerusalem fighting against the gentiles, constituted a new mythological trait whose function it was to differentiate between the messiah of catastrophe and that of utopia.» — Scholem adjudica una función al mesías de la casa de José, caído a las puertas de Jerusalén: diferenciar el mesías de la catástrofe del de la utopía.

«It contained all the qualities of a golden age, including miraculous manifestations and a radical transformation of the natural order.» — la vertiente utópica según Scholem: edad de oro con manifestaciones milagrosas y transformación radical del orden natural.

«Yet messianic utopia also contained forces that tended to undermine its very intentions.» — la tensión interna que Scholem le encuentra a la utopía mesiánica: contiene fuerzas que socavan su propia intención de completar el imperio de la ley.

«In the closed world of narrowly circumscribed Jewish existence, messianic utopia represented the possibility of something radically and wonderfully different. It opened vistas which traditional halakhah had tended to cover up.» — y el motivo: en un mundo cerrado la utopía abre la posibilidad de algo radicalmente distinto, y con ella vistas que la halajá tendía a tapar.

«the substance of their charges is amply confirmed2 by the documentary material that has been preserved in archives.» — Scholem concede el fondo de las diatribas de predicadores y moralistas sobre la corrupción comunal aunque tenga por exagerada su forma; el tramo arranca tras la llamada de nota.

«then this factor was essentially religious in character and as such obeyed its own autonomous laws, even if today these are often obscured behind smokescreens of sociological verbiage.» — la tesis de método del libro, enunciada al cerrar la sección: el factor general del movimiento fue religioso y obedeció a leyes propias, hoy tapadas por cortinas de verborrea sociológica. Dweck cita esta frase en su introducción por la página impresa 7, y allí se lee sin el *as such*.

«The interrelations and interaction of religion and society should not make us forget that ultimately the two are not identical.» — el límite con que Scholem acompaña esa tesis: religión y sociedad se influyen y no son lo mismo.

«There seems to be an intrinsic connection between active messianism and the courage for religious innovation.» — Scholem enuncia el nexo del que vive el libro: mesianismo activo y valor para la innovación religiosa van juntos.

«The tension does, however, break through in rather extreme form in the eschatology of a kabbalistic book, the Raʿya Mehemna (Faithful Shepherd).» — Scholem localiza la tensión en su forma extrema en el Raʿya Mehemna, la parte del Zohar que llama Pastor Fiel.

«Very possibly the author of the Raʿya Mehemna does not voice the opinions of his fellow kabbalists in this respect, and his speculations are not representative of any definite social tendency or movement (though I, for one, have some doubts on this score» — Scholem acota su propio hallazgo y deja su reserva a la vista: quizá ese autor no hable por sus compañeros cabalistas, aunque él tenga dudas al respecto.

«The Torah manifests itself under two aspects: that of the “Tree of Life” and that of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.» — la doctrina del Raʿya Mehemna según Scholem: la Torá se manifiesta bajo el Árbol de la Vida y bajo el Árbol del Conocimiento del Bien y del Mal.

«As the Tree of Knowledge comprises good and evil, so the Torah deriving from it comprises permission and prohibition, pure and impure; in other words, it is the law of the Bible and of rabbinic tradition.» — y la consecuencia: la Torá del exilio, derivada del Árbol del Conocimiento, es la que distingue permitido y prohibido, puro e impuro.

«In the age of redemption, however, the Torah will manifest itself under the aspect of the Tree of Life, and all previous distinctions will pass away.» — el vuelco que ese texto anuncia para la era de la redención: la Torá bajo el aspecto del Árbol de la Vida, sin las distinciones anteriores.

«The positive manifestation of the Torah as the Tree of Life is thus accompanied by the abrogation of all those laws and rules whose authority and validity obtain unconditionally during the present era of exile.» — Scholem nombra lo que va con esa manifestación: la abrogación de las leyes cuya validez es incondicional mientras dura el exilio.

«The remarkable thing about this conception is its clear consciousness of possible contradictions and of a revaluation of values within the one absolutely valid Torah which, for the kabbalist, was nothing less than the manifestation of God’s holy name.» — lo que a Scholem le parece notable de esa concepción: la conciencia de que caben contradicciones y una revaluación de valores dentro de una Torá absolutamente válida.

«Utopianism not only arouses hopes and expectations; it also threatens existing traditional patterns.» — Scholem enuncia la doble cara del utopismo: levanta esperanzas y a la vez amenaza los patrones establecidos.

«Against the luxurious and rank growth of legend from which the “rabble” derived hope and comfort, Maimonides formulated an eschatological doctrine from which utopian elements were as far as possible excluded.» — lo que Scholem adjudica a Maimónides frente a esa vegetación de leyendas: una doctrina escatológica con los elementos utópicos excluidos hasta donde se pudo.

«As the hallowed character of tradition did not permit him to suppress them completely, he resorted to careful sifting. The utterances of the early teachers on the subject were declared to be theologically not authoritative; details concerning redemption could be known only after the event.» — el procedimiento que Scholem le atribuye: cribar, declarar no autoritativas las sentencias de los maestros antiguos y aplazar todo detalle al después del suceso.

«But this is the truth of the matter: the Torah with all its laws and ordinances is everlastingly valid and nothing will be added to it or taken away from it.» — sigue Maimónides: la Torá con sus leyes vale para siempre y nada se le añade ni se le quita.

«When a king arises out of the House of David who diligently studies the law and, like his ancestor David, assiduously performs good works according to the written and the oral law, and who compels all Israel to walk therein … and who will fight the battles of the Lord, then it may be presumed that he is the messiah.» — el criterio de Maimónides para presumir al mesías: un rey de la casa de David que estudie la ley, obre según la escrita y la oral, obligue a Israel a andar en ella y pelee las batallas del Señor.

«If he proves successful and succeeds in rebuilding the Temple and in gathering in all the exiles, then it is certain that he is the messiah.» — y el criterio de certeza: reconstruir el Templo y reunir a los exiliados.

«And do not think that in the days of the messiah there will be any departure from the normal course of things or any change in the cosmic order.» — Maimónides niega toda alteración del orden cósmico en los días del mesías.

«the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid» — el verso de Isaías 11:6 que Maimónides declara parábola y figura del lenguaje.

«One should make it a rule not to occupy oneself with legends and midrashim on the subject … as they are conducive neither to the fear nor to the love of God» — la regla de conducta de Maimónides: no ocuparse de leyendas ni midrashim sobre el asunto, que no llevan ni al temor ni al amor de Dios.

«Sages and prophets longed for the messianic age not in order that they should dominate the world and rule over the gentiles … but solely in order to be free to devote themselves to the Torah and divine wisdom without oppression and hindrance, so as to merit eternal life» — el fin que Maimónides asigna a la esperanza mesiánica: no dominar el mundo ni regir a los gentiles, sino quedar libres para la Torá y la sabiduría divina.

«The quotation from Maimonides illustrates the difficulties of formulating a messianic and thus essentially utopian doctrine while at the same time trying to eliminate its utopian elements.» — Scholem lee el pasaje como muestra de la dificultad de formular una doctrina mesiánica y a la vez quitarle lo utópico.

«Maimonides very skillfully concealed the dangerous dialectics inherent in messianism, and the carefully chosen words with which he emphasizes the conservative function of the messiah in safeguarding the Torah and traditional law tell their own story.» — y lo que le imputa: haber encubierto con destreza la dialéctica peligrosa del mesianismo, subrayando la función conservadora del mesías como guardián de la ley.

«His Epistle to the Jews of Yemen10 shows that he entertained no illusions as to the dangers which such movements harbored for traditional religion.» — Scholem consigna que la Epístola al Yemen muestra a un Maimónides sin ilusiones sobre el peligro que esos movimientos traían a la religión tradicional.

«In a way the struggle of Maimonides and his followers against the “beliefs of the rabble” was also inspired by utopian ideal, albeit an aristocratic utopia in which philosophic mysteries had taken the place of historic dynamism.» — Scholem devuelve la simetría: la lucha contra las creencias de la plebe también salía de un ideal utópico, solo que aristocrático, con misterios filosóficos en lugar de dinamismo histórico.

«His antiapocalyptic utterances, designed to abolish messianism as a historic force, were subsequently invoked by all who opposed messianic actualization and by all who distrusted the messianic idea as a motive force in social life.» — el uso posterior que Scholem le adjudica a esas sentencias antiapocalípticas: las invocó todo el que se opuso a la actualización mesiánica.

«The two classical writers on the subject of messianism, Don Isaac Abravanel, writing soon after the expulsion from Spain at the end of the fifteenth century and R. Loew of Prague, writing at the end of the sixteenth century, both retreated from Maimonides’ extreme position.» — Scholem nombra a los dos escritores clásicos del asunto, Don Isaac Abravanel tras la expulsión de España y R. Loew de Praga a fines del siglo XVI, y dice que los dos retrocedieron de la posición extrema de Maimónides.

«Living through times of dire misery and persecution, they could not afford to ignore the apocalyptic tradition and its message of catastrophe.» — la razón que les atribuye: vivieron miseria y persecución y no pudieron ignorar la tradición apocalíptica.

«The eschatological writings of Abravanel and R. Loew exerted a profound influence on later generations, and even adherents of the Sabbatian movement would quote them in support of their contentions.» — Scholem señala el efecto de esos escritos: los propios sabatianos los citarían en apoyo de sus tesis.

«The early kabbalists drew on old gnostic traditions and on philosophical ideas that lent themselves to a mystical and symbolic view of the world.» — Scholem adjudica a los primeros cabalistas dos fuentes, tradiciones gnósticas antiguas e ideas filosóficas aptas para una visión simbólica del mundo.

«Their ideal of the contemplative life in communion with God did not require a messianic world for its realization; it was quite compatible with life in exile.» — y por eso, sostiene Scholem, aquel impulso no era mesiánico: la vida contemplativa en comunión con Dios cabía dentro del exilio.

«Redemption, that is, redemption of the soul, was a private, individual matter and therefore independent of the sphere of national redemption with which traditional messianism was concerned.» — Scholem separa las dos redenciones: la del alma, privada, y la nacional de la que se ocupa el mesianismo tradicional.

«Kabbalistic doctrine developed apart from eschatology because in its original setting it concentrated less on the end of the world than on the primordial beginning of creation.» — la razón que Scholem da para esa separación: la cábala miraba al principio primordial de la creación y no al fin del mundo.

«The hidden God, known in kabbalistic terminology as En-Sof (the Infinite) is far removed from everything created; he is unrevealed, nonmanifest, and unknown.» — la definición de En-Sof que Scholem da en el cuerpo: el Dios oculto, apartado de todo lo creado, no revelado, no manifiesto, desconocido.

«Only the emanation of his power, operating in the creation of both the higher and the nether worlds, transforms En-Sof into the Creator-God.» — el paso que Scholem describe: solo la emanación de su poder vuelve al En-Sof Dios creador.

«Ten such stages, known as sefiroth, constitute the inner life of the Godhead; in them He becomes manifest as a personal God.» — las diez sefirot como vida interior de la divinidad, en las que Dios se hace Dios personal.

«Creation does not exist for its own sake but for the sake of pointing to the divine emanation that shines through it.» — el carácter simbólico que la contemplación cabalística descubre en el universo según Scholem.

«By means of proper contemplative concentration, particularly during prayer or when performing a religious act, the human will cleaves to the divine will and to the world of the sefiroth.» — el atajo del cabalista según Scholem: por concentración contemplativa, sobre todo en la oración o el acto religioso, la voluntad humana se adhiere a la divina.

«Kabbalistic contemplation is a kind of individual anticipation of eschatological messianism.» — la fórmula con que Scholem define la contemplación cabalística: anticipación individual del mesianismo escatológico.

«They consequently had no reason for tampering with traditional messianism, though they did not hesitate to interpret it in their manner as an event within the inner life of the Godhead.» — y por eso, sostiene Scholem, no tocaron el mesianismo tradicional salvo para interpretarlo como suceso dentro de la vida interior de la divinidad.

«Rabbinic authority and messianic authority could not but clash. No doubt many a pious and faithful soul lived in blithe unawareness of the dangerous tensions implicit in every assertion of messianism.» — Scholem fija el conflicto estructural entre las dos autoridades y concede a la vez que muchos creyentes vivieron sin advertirlo.

«Once the longing for a new world and for the tree of life seizes the hearts, who knows what may come next? Every utopia that is more than an abstract formula has a revolutionary sting.» — la sentencia que Dweck cita en su introducción por la página impresa 12: toda utopía que pase de fórmula abstracta tiene aguijón revolucionario.

«Do not think that the messiah will have to work signs and miracles or perform any spectacular deeds or resurrect the dead and the like» — la voz es la de Maimónides en el libro catorce del Mishneh Torah, traducido por Scholem: nada de signos, milagros ni resurrección de muertos.

«apocalyptic moment. There is no hint of a cataclysmic end of history, no catastrophe, not even miracles.» — lo que Scholem le concede a Maimónides: la supresión completa del momento apocalíptico, sin fin cataclísmico, sin catástrofe y sin milagros; Dweck cita el arranque de la frase, en la plana anterior, por la página impresa 13.

«In its earlier stages kabbalism had shown little interest in messianism. The early kabbalists drew on old gnostic traditions and on philosophical ideas that lent themselves to a mystical and symbolic view of the world.» — la tesis de periodización de Scholem: la cábala primitiva se interesaba poco por el mesianismo y bebía de tradiciones gnósticas antiguas y de ideas filosóficas aptas para una visión simbólica del mundo.

«During the present period of exile, the Shekhinah, or “bride,” was separated and exiled from her “husband,” the Holy One Blessed Be He.» — el símbolo con que Scholem resume el exilio en la divinidad: la Shekhinah, la novia, separada y exiliada de su esposo.

«The disjunction of these two aspects of the Godhead signifies that in the present state of things the unity of the divine attributes is not complete.» — la consecuencia doctrinal: mientras dura el exilio, la unidad de los atributos divinos no está completa.

«In its eschatological teaching the main part of the Zohar continues the apocalyptic and utopian tradition against which Maimonides had so sternly warned. In spite of some changes of detail as compared with earlier apocalyptic midrashim, the attitude is fundamentally the same: the messianic events are all of a supernatural character.» — Scholem sitúa el grueso del Zohar en la línea apocalíptica y utópica que Maimónides había querido cerrar.

«A very special and novel feature of some trends in Spanish kabbalism was the emphasis on the close connection between the approach of redemption and the increasing knowledge of kabbalistic mysteries.» — Scholem señala como novedad del cabalismo español el nexo entre la cercanía de la redención y el aumento del saber cabalístico.

«In the days of exile, minds have been beclouded and are unfit to receive esoteric lore; but now, with the end of time approaching, the mysteries of the kabbalah are increasingly revealed.» — la doctrina en su forma: en el exilio las mentes están nubladas y al acercarse el fin los misterios se revelan.

«This doctrine provided a justification for the boldness of the kabbalists’ speculative innovations, and it was invoked as such by the authors of the Zohar and by many others. Yet it never led to a thorough reinterpretation of eschatological ideas.» — Scholem le adjudica una función a esa doctrina —justificar la audacia especulativa— y acota que no llevó a reinterpretar la escatología.

«No messianic movements of any consequence arose among kabbalists, and the few instances of individuals claiming angelic revelations or actual prophecy evoked no serious response.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha como dato: ningún movimiento mesiánico de consecuencia salió de los cabalistas antes de la expulsión, ni el profeta de Ávila de 1295 ni Abraham Abulafia tuvieron eco amplio.

«Apocalyptic messianism and kabbalah remained distinct spheres of religious life.» — el estado previo que Scholem fija para medir el cambio: mesianismo apocalíptico y cábala eran esferas separadas.

«Yet even after Sephardic Jewry had ostensibly recovered from the shock, many minds still continued to search for the meaning of the catastrophe that had overtaken them.» — Scholem distingue la recuperación material de la búsqueda de sentido, que siguió.

«The first generation of Spanish exiles responded to the events with a wave of apocalyptic agitation.» — la reacción de la primera generación de exiliados españoles según Scholem, para la que el desastre español fueron los dolores de parto mesiánicos.

«The eschatological perspective soon embraced other contemporaneous events, among which the fall of Constantinople in 1453 was no doubt the most dramatic and one that could easily assume symbolic significance as the overture to the wars of Gog and Magog.» — Scholem añade la caída de Constantinopla de 1453 como suceso que la perspectiva escatológica absorbió, leído como obertura de las guerras de Gog y Magog; el troceo imprime el pasaje con las palabras en columna suelta.

«an anonymous kabbalist composed the commentary Kaf ha-Qetoreth (The Spoonful of Incense),14 which interpreted Psalms as songs of war for the great apocalyptic struggle.» — Scholem nombra el comentario anónimo Kaf ha-Qetoreth, que lee los Salmos como cantos de guerra para la lucha apocalíptica, contemporáneo del Yeshuʿoth Meshiḥo de Abravanel.

«Eschatological tension abated after the failure of the messianic prophecies for the year 1530. The intensive messianic propaganda conducted by the kabbalists of Jerusalem in particular16 ended in a complete fiasco.» — Scholem fecha el reflujo: el fracaso de las profecías para 1530 y el fiasco de la propaganda mesiánica de los cabalistas de Jerusalén.

«Nevertheless messianism had penetrated the heart of kabbalism, and it continued to influence kabbalistic development in diverse ways.» — y el resto que quedó de aquel reflujo: el mesianismo ya había entrado en el corazón del cabalismo.

«Nourished by the living experience and memory of exile at its very worst, the movement aimed at “fulfilling” this exile and thereby preparing redemption.» — la fórmula con que Scholem define el movimiento de Safed: cumplir el exilio para preparar la redención.

«Apocalypse disappeared or, at least, went underground and was transformed in the process.» — lo que Scholem dice que le pasó al apocalipsis en Safed: desapareció o pasó a la clandestinidad, y se transformó en el trayecto.

«According to certain eschatological texts the messiah was due to make his first appearance in Galilee, and it is not impossible that this and similar expectations contributed to the establishment of the community of saints in Safed» — Scholem propone con reserva que la expectativa de una primera aparición del mesías en Galilea contribuyera a la formación de la comunidad de santos de Safed.

«R. Joseph Karo deliberately ignored kabbalism in his great rabbinic code Shulḥan ʿArukh, yet there is little doubt as to the secret eschatological motives of its composition.» — Scholem consigna la tensión en Joseph Karo: ignoró la cábala en el Shulḥan ʿArukh y a su juicio hay pocas dudas sobre los motivos escatológicos secretos de la obra.

«Unsuccessful attempts have been made to deny Karo’s authorship of the mystical diary Maggid Mesharim (Preacher of Righteousness) in which the writer describes the regular manifestations of a celestial mentor, or maggid, who was none other than the Mishnah herself.» — Scholem consigna la atribución disputada del diario místico Maggid Mesharim y la sostiene para Karo: su mentor celeste era la Mishná en persona.

«The personified Mishnah, that is, the oral law, represented nothing less than historic Judaism as a whole.» — la lectura que Scholem hace de esa figura: la ley oral personificada representa el judaísmo histórico entero, y es índice del carácter conservador del cabalismo de Safed.

«Only by virtue of its conservative character and its patent continuity with rabbinic tradition could the new kabbalism gain popular appeal and even succeed in carrying on its wings—or perhaps hidden under its wings—some startling novel ideas.» — y la paradoja que Scholem le encuentra: solo por conservador y continuo con la tradición rabínica pudo el nuevo cabalismo llevar consigo ideas nuevas y sorprendentes.

«In Safed, where all the arteries of Jewish spiritual life converged, kabbalism became a social and historical force.» — el paso que Scholem mide: en Safed el cabalismo se vuelve fuerza social e histórica.

«How and why did the kabbalists succeed—where the philosophers had failed—in decisively shaping the religious consciousness of the Jewish people?» — Scholem plantea como problema histórico, y no como obviedad, el triunfo de los cabalistas allí donde los filósofos fracasaron.

«Kabbalism triumphed because it provided a valid answer to the great problems of the time.» — la respuesta que Scholem opone, en clave positiva: el cabalismo triunfó porque respondía a los problemas de la época.

«The kabbalistic answer illuminated the significance of exile and redemption and accounted for the unique historical situation of Israel within the wider, in fact cosmic, context of creation itself.» — en qué consistía esa respuesta según Scholem: iluminaba exilio y redención y ponía la situación de Israel en el contexto cósmico de la creación.

«There are today many ignorant people, smitten with the blindness of pride, who believe that they have attained the hidden mysteries of the Torah without ever having savored [rabbinic] learning or tasted good works.» — la voz es la de Joseph Yabeṣ, representante de la opinión ortodoxa tras la expulsión, citado por Scholem: ignorantes que se creen dueños de los misterios sin haber probado el estudio rabínico.

«Yet in spite of his public exhibition of reserve, we find Joseph Yabeṣ, when in Mantua, entreating a fellow exile from Spain, Judah Ḥayyat, to compose a treatise on the principles of kabbalah.» — la contradicción interna que Scholem consigna sin armonizar: el mismo Yabeṣ que exhibía reserva pedía en Mantua a Judah Ḥayyat un tratado sobre los principios de la cábala.

«I have found it written that the heavenly decree prohibiting the study of kabbalah in public was valid only until the end of the year 250 [1490 C.E.]. Thereafter it [the generation living at that time] would be called the last generation [before the final redemption]. The decree was abrogated and permission was granted to study the Zohar.» — la voz es la de un cabalista anónimo del siglo XVI, citado por Scholem: el decreto celeste que prohibía estudiar cábala en público habría caducado en 1490.

«And since the messianic king will appear through the merits [of this study] and through none other, it behooves us not to be remiss.» — cierre de ese testimonio: como el rey mesiánico llegará por el mérito de ese estudio y por ningún otro, no cabe descuidarlo.

«The principle that the study of kabbalah was itself a factor in hastening the advent of redemption became established as a generally accepted doctrine» — Scholem mide el efecto: estudiar cábala pasa a contarse como factor que apresura la redención.

«Henceforth kabbalistic esotericism and messianic eschatology were intertwined and acted in combination.» — la fórmula con que Scholem cierra la sección: de ahí en adelante esoterismo cabalístico y escatología mesiánica van entrelazados.

«The ideas which they produced differ widely even on fundamental issues, and to lump them all together would be doing them less than justice.» — Scholem advierte contra tratar en bloque a los cabalistas del XVI, que difieren aun en cuestiones de fondo.

«If it is true that the great achievement of the kabbalists was their creation of genuine symbols, then the presence of mythical elements need occasion no surprise, for mythology inevitably appears wherever reality is apprehended in symbolic forms.» — la tesis de Scholem sobre el mito en la cábala: donde la realidad se aprehende en formas simbólicas aparece mitología.

«Those of the kabbalah, pregnant with myth from the very beginning, immediately appealed to the unsophisticated masses, whose “popular religion” had always had room for mythology and, for that reason, had always incurred the displeasure of the philosophical theologians.» — Scholem explica el atractivo popular de los símbolos cabalísticos: la religión popular siempre tuvo sitio para la mitología, con disgusto de los teólogos filosóficos.

«But once kabbalism came to perform a social function, it did so by providing an ideology for popular religion.» — la función social que Scholem le adjudica pese a su carácter aristocrático: dar ideología a la religión popular.

«The powerful momentum which kabbalism developed in Safed derived more from its social, that is, ideological, function than from the profundity of its mystical vision—however great and significant the latter may have been for the kabbalists themselves.» — y de dónde saca Scholem el ímpetu de Safed: más de su función ideológica que de la hondura de su visión mística.

«When Luria died in the prime of his life, his teachings had not yet spread, though his reputation as a holy man of God was high.» — Scholem sitúa a Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, el León de Safed, muerto en 1572 con la enseñanza sin difundir y la fama de santo alta.

«Cordovero had been Luria’s teacher and died two years before him. His writings spread together with the movement that issued from Safed and dominated kabbalistic thinking for about half a century.» — Scholem fija el orden de la difusión: el sistema de Moses Cordovero, maestro de Luria, dominó el pensamiento cabalístico medio siglo.

«The expulsion from Spain (1492) wrought a radical change also in this respect.» — la bisagra del relato: la expulsión de 1492 rompe la separación entre mesianismo apocalíptico y cábala. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque la cifra entre paréntesis es la fecha del cuerpo y no una entrada de bibliografía.

«Rationalist historians, such as Graetz and others, have offered an engagingly simple explanation: persecution and suffering had» — Scholem enuncia la explicación de los historiadores racionalistas, Graetz entre ellos, que objeta por su sesgo declarado; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue *dimmed the light of reason and paved the way for an eruption of mystical obscurantism*.

«It is hardly necessary to expend many words over an “explanation” whose bias is so obvious.» — y el modo en que Scholem la descarta: no vale gastar palabras en una explicación de sesgo tan evidente.

«Originating in Luria’s visions and meditations, his teaching was revealed orally to his disciples in Safed but was never published.» — Scholem sitúa el origen de la doctrina luriánica en visiones y meditaciones transmitidas oralmente y nunca impresas por su autor.

«When two of Luria’s disciples, Ḥayyim Vital and Joseph ibn Tʾbul,26 committed this oral teaching to paper, they jealously guarded their notes and did not permit them to circulate.» — Scholem nombra a los dos discípulos que pusieron por escrito la enseñanza oral, Ḥayyim Vital y Joseph ibn Tʾbul, y consigna que guardaron celosamente sus apuntes.

«Vital, an extraordinary personality, spent most of his long life (1534–1620) concealing his master’s teaching from his contemporaries who, he thought, were not yet worthy of receiving it.» — Scholem describe a Vital ocultando la doctrina de su maestro a unos contemporáneos que no juzgaba dignos de recibirla.

«By the time Lurianic teaching became known, at first in manuscript, but after 1630 also in print, the original doctrines had suffered additions and revisions.» — la advertencia textual de Scholem: lo que circuló como escritos del Sagrado León era ya mezcla de tradición auténtica y añadidos posteriores.

«During the three decades following Vital’s death, the new Lurianic kabbalah conquered Judaism and superseded all earlier systems» — Scholem fecha la conquista: en las tres décadas posteriores a la muerte de Vital el cabalismo luriánico desplaza a todos los sistemas anteriores.

«When Luria was questioned about the relationship between his own revelations and earlier teaching, Cordovero’s in particular, he replied that the latter described the “world of confusion or disorder”;27 whereas he had come to reveal the structure of the “world of tiqqun, or harmony.» — la voz es la de Luria según Scholem: lo de Cordovero describía el mundo de la confusión y él venía a revelar la estructura del mundo del tiqqun.

«By 1650, only one generation after the actual dissemination of Lurianism had begun, the system had established an almost unchallenged supremacy.» — Scholem fecha en 1650 la supremacía casi sin disputa del sistema, una sola generación después de empezar a difundirse.

«In fact, Lurianic kabbalism was the one wellarticulated and generally accepted form of Jewish theology at the time.» — la formulación más fuerte de la premisa del libro: el cabalismo luriánico era la única teología judía articulada y generalmente aceptada de la época.

«One of the most active agents in disseminating Lurianic ideas was Israel Sarug, who appeared in Italy toward the end of the sixteenth century posing as Luria’s disciple, which he certainly was not, or which he was, at best, in a metaphorical sense only.» — Scholem consigna la atribución falsa de Israel Sarug, que se presentaba en Italia como discípulo de Luria sin serlo, o siéndolo a lo sumo en sentido metafórico.

«In Italy, where he had established schools for kabbalistic studies, as well as in other European countries, Sarug actively propagated the new doctrine in a version of his own making.» — Scholem señala que Sarug propagó la doctrina en una versión propia y le opone el retraimiento de Vital.

«Sarug’s seed fell on fertile ground in Italy and he succeeded in attracting some of the leading scholars, more particularly those with imagination and feeling, such as Menaḥem Azaryah Fano (1548–1620) and Aaron Berakhya Modena (died» — los nombres italianos que Scholem adjudica a la escuela de Sarug, Menaḥem Azaryah Fano y Aaron Berakhya Modena; el tramo se corta ante la fecha partida por el renglón.

«This Book of Visions, as it was called, is one of the most curious and revealing documents we possess, for very few authors have revealed their most intimate thoughts and feelings with such disconcerting candor.» — Scholem presenta el Book of Visions de Vital, compuesto entre 1610 y 1612, como documento de una franqueza desconcertante.

«It appears that Vital not only believed Luria to have been worthy of messiahship but actually saw himself destined for a messianic career.» — lo que Scholem lee en esas notas: Vital tenía a Luria por digno de la mesianidad y se veía a sí mismo destinado a una carrera mesiánica.

«Yet he would never move as much as a finger to implement any of his expectations, and he even refused to propagate his master’s doctrines, replete with messianic tension as they were.» — y el contraste que Scholem subraya: Vital no movió un dedo para realizar esas expectativas ni propagó la doctrina de su maestro.

«For all we know, there may have been many such “hidden messiahs” at the time who, unlike Vital, left no autobiographical notes.» — Scholem deja abierta la cifra: pudo haber muchos mesías ocultos así, sin notas autobiográficas que lo delaten.

«But the decisive innovation, that which held the secret of the Lurianic appeal to the age, was the transposition of the central concepts of exile and redemption from the historical to a cosmic and even divine plane.» — la innovación decisiva según Scholem: trasladar exilio y redención del plano histórico al cósmico y aun al divino.

«Exile and redemption are the two poles of the axis around which the Lurianic system revolves; viewed in a dimension of depth, they now stand out as numinous symbols of a spiritual reality of which historical exile and redemption are merely the concrete expression.» — la fórmula del eje luriánico: exilio y redención históricos como expresión concreta de una realidad espiritual.

«Luria himself developed his system without any “ideological” intentions. He merely revealed what in his opinion was the mystical reality of momentous processes in the sphere of the “supernal lights.”» — Scholem exime a Luria de intención ideológica: solo reveló lo que tenía por realidad mística de procesos en la esfera de las luces supernas.

«But once developed, his system provided what may be described as a new myth of Judaism.» — y el efecto que sí le adjudica al sistema una vez hecho: un mito nuevo del judaísmo.

«Symbols express in human speech that which is properly inexpressible. Hence they are always material and anthropomorphic» — la defensa que Scholem hace del simbolismo cabalístico ante la acusación de antropomorfismo: el símbolo dice en habla humana lo que propiamente no se puede decir.

«The kabbalists, whose mystical thinking strained after expression in symbolic forms, endeavored to evade responsibility for their symbols by the frequent use of qualifying phrases such as “so to speak,” “as if,” “as it were,” and the like.» — el recurso con que los cabalistas esquivaban la responsabilidad de sus símbolos según Scholem: por así decirlo, como si, por decirlo de algún modo.

«The kabbalists used the most outrageous material and even physical and sexual imagery but immediately qualified their statements by adding the solemn warning, “Cursed be the man that makes any graven or molten image,» — y la advertencia solemne con que acompañaban sus imágenes más crudas: maldito el hombre que hace imagen tallada o de fundición.

«yet it was precisely this creative misunderstanding that determined the public significance of kabbalistic symbolism.» — lo que Scholem sostiene contra la defensa de los propios cabalistas: fue el malentendido creador el que decidió el peso público de su simbolismo.

«He was a bold man indeed who undertook to draw the line between understanding and misunderstanding in such matters.» — y la reserva con que lo dice: trazar la raya entre entender y malentender aquí requiere audacia.

«Lurianism is mythological in the precise meaning of the term. It tells the story of divine acts and events, and it accounts for the mystery of the world by an inner, mystical process which, taking place within the Godhead, ultimately produced also the “outer,” material creation.» — Scholem llama mitológico al lurianismo en sentido preciso: cuenta actos divinos y explica el mundo por un proceso interior a la divinidad.

«Lurianic kabbalism provided the background of the Sabbatian movement. To attempt a concise survey of its essential features and their underlying mythology is to risk error and court misunderstanding.» — Scholem declara a la vez su tesis y el riesgo de resumirla: el cabalismo luriánico es el fondo del movimiento, y condensarlo expone al error.

«These are the notions of “retraction,” the “breaking of the vessels,” “restoration” (or tiqqun), and the “raising of the sparks.» — los cuatro conceptos con que Scholem resume la cábala luriánica: retracción, rotura de los vasos, restauración o tiqqun y elevación de las chispas.

«How is it possible for the world to exist at all if there is nothing besides En-Sof, the infinite Deity that is all and fills all? If En-Sof or “the light of En-Sof” is all in all, how can there be anything that is not En-Sof?» — la pregunta de la que sale la doctrina de la retracción según Scholem: cómo puede existir algo si nada hay fuera del En-Sof.

«Our own material world is merely the last and outermost shell of this—to use the phrase of the Zohar—“garment of the Deity.» — la imagen del Zohar que Scholem recoge: el mundo material como última y más externa vestidura de la divinidad.

«According to this doctrine, the first act of the Creator was not His revelation of Himself to something outside. Far from being a procession outward, or a “going out,” of His hidden self, the first step was, rather, a withdrawal or retreat.» — el ṣimṣum según Scholem: el primer acto del Creador no fue salir de sí sino retirarse.

«God withdrew “from Himself into Himself,” and by this act, abandoning a region within Himself to emptiness, He made room for the worlds to be.» — la fórmula del retiro: Dios se retiró de sí mismo hacia sí mismo y al abandonar una región dejó sitio para los mundos.

«God could manifest Himself only because He had first withdrawn, or “contracted,” Himself.» — la paradoja que Scholem le encuentra al ṣimṣum: la manifestación supone la contracción previa.

«Only a faint vestige or residue of the divine fullness and light, the reshimu, remained in the primordial vacuum thus created.» — lo que queda en el vacío según la doctrina: el reshimu, vestigio tenue de la plenitud divina.

«No doubt the use of spatial concepts had introduced an alarmingly anthropomorphic quality into kabbalistic symbolism, and there is indeed no better illustration of the paradox of symbolism than Luria’s doctrine of retraction.» — Scholem señala el precio del lenguaje espacial: una cualidad antropomórfica alarmante, y toma el ṣimṣum como mejor ilustración de la paradoja del símbolo.

«With the aid of this formal reservation they attenuated their symbols in appearance but saved them in reality.» — lo que Scholem dice que consiguen esas reservas formales: atenuar el símbolo en apariencia y salvarlo de hecho.

«In the primordial, infinite light of the divine essence all the forces, lights, and attributes destined to be made manifest later—including also the opposing forces of Mercy and Stern Judgment—were already present, albeit in an undifferentiated state and in “indistinct unity.» — el estado previo que la doctrina supone: Misericordia y Juicio severo ya presentes en la luz infinita, indiferenciados y en unidad indistinta.

«version was accepted even by the Palestinian kabbalists as the authentic and authoritative form of Luria’s teaching.» — el resultado que Scholem describe: la fusión de la tradición italiana de Sarug con la palestina de Vital acabó aceptada como forma auténtica y autoritativa de la enseñanza de Luria; la frase empieza en la plana anterior con *In due course both traditions merged*.

«It refers to the splendor or brilliance that from eternity enveloped En-Sof.» — la inversión de sentido del término tehiru que Scholem mide: en el Zohar es el esplendor que envolvía al En-Sof desde la eternidad y en el lurianismo el vacío que deja su retirada; el tramo arranca tras la llamada de nota, que el troceo pega a la palabra anterior.

«There is no unanimity among the Lurianists regarding the momentous question of priority. Did the “roots of divine Stern Judgment” bring about the ṣimṣum, or was it the latter that caused the “roots of din” to appear?» — Scholem consigna el desacuerdo entre lurianistas sobre la prioridad: si las raíces del Juicio severo causaron el ṣimṣum o al revés.

«The balance of probability is in favor of the former version, which was then intentionally mitigated so as to obscure the daring suggestion that the whole process of ṣimṣum and emanation was set in motion in order to eliminate the forces of din, like a sort of waste product, from the essence of the Godhead. The whole process would thus have to be conceived as a kind of divine catharsis.» — Scholem se inclina por la primera versión y lee el proceso entero como una catarsis divina que expulsa las fuerzas del din como desecho.

«Echoes of this doctrine can be discovered in later Sabbatian theology and particularly in Nathan of Gaza’s doctrine of the “thought-some light” and the “thought-less light.» — Scholem anticipa el eco de esa doctrina en la teología sabatiana y en la luz con pensamiento y la luz sin pensamiento de Natán de Gaza.

«The kabbalists did not explicitly say that the act of ṣimṣum was a divine type and prefiguration of the exile, though the analogy seems obvious.» — Scholem señala lo que los cabalistas no dijeron y él lee como analogía obvia: el ṣimṣum como prefiguración divina del exilio.

«Yet it is surely no accident that the doctrine of ṣimṣum, the first inklings of which appeared among the kabbalists of Gerona in the thirteenth century, struck root and blossomed only at a later period, when the problem of exile had become central to religious consciousness.» — y el argumento cronológico con que lo apoya: la doctrina, apuntada ya en Gerona en el siglo XIII, florece cuando el exilio se vuelve problema central.

«All existence presupposes a dialectical, twofold movement; nothing comes into being by a simple one-way action.» — la regla que Scholem extrae del sistema: nada llega a ser por acción de un solo sentido.

«The rhythm of the living God, like that of organic forms including man, can be described as a double process of inhaling and exhaling.» — la analogía orgánica con que Scholem describe el ritmo divino: inhalación y exhalación.

«The analogy with organic life suggested itself quite naturally to the Jewish mystics, who viewed God primarily as “living,” that is, as a kind of perfect organism whose unity is neither motionless nor static.» — por qué esa analogía les venía natural a los místicos judíos según Scholem: veían a Dios como viviente, organismo perfecto cuya unidad no es inmóvil.

«The supreme manifestation produced by the first ray of light, that is, by the “straight line” penetrating the primordial space, is called the Primordial Man (Adam Qadmon).» — Scholem nombra la manifestación suprema del primer rayo en el espacio primordial: el Hombre Primordial, Adam Qadmon.

«The Hebrew keli can mean an instrument or tool used by an artisan for a definite purpose, as well as a container or vessel, which contains but also limits that which is inside it.» — Scholem desglosa el doble sentido de keli, herramienta y recipiente, del que depende la doctrina de la rotura.

«The question whether the sefiroth were divine substance or merely divine tools was finally resolved in Safed by a definition which largely determined the later Lurianic use of the term: the sefiroth are vessels in which the substance of En-Sof extends itself and through which it acts.» — la definición de Safed que Scholem da por resolutoria: las sefirot son vasos en que la sustancia del En-Sof se extiende y por los que obra.

«Every sefirah can therefore be viewed under the double aspect of substance and vessel, its specific and individual character being due to its quality as vessel, whereas the divine substance is always and unalterably the same and hence supraindividual.» — la consecuencia: lo individual de cada sefirá viene de su cualidad de vaso, y la sustancia divina es siempre la misma.

«There is no change and division in the Emanator such as would justify the statement that in the ten sefiroth He is divided in parts.» — la voz es la de Moses Cordovero, citado por Scholem como solución clásica: no hay cambio ni división en el Emanador.

«As the water spreads through the vessels, it appears to be colored with the hues of the vessels, although it is essentially one and the same» — sigue el símil de Cordovero: el agua en vasos comunicantes de colores distintos parece teñirse y es la misma.

«the light of the Emanator, which is their essence … is the water which by itself has no color whatever.» — cierre del símil de Cordovero: los vasos son las sefirot y la luz del Emanador es el agua sin color.

«However, the lights bursting forth from the eyes of Primordial Man emanated in atomized or “punctiform”34 separation and consequently had to be caught and preserved in special bowls, or vessels, consisting of stronger and more resistant lights.» — el punto del que arranca la catástrofe según Luria: las luces salidas de los ojos del Hombre Primordial emanan atomizadas y piden vasos propios.

«in accordance with the kabbalistic principle that no spiritual reality can subsist, as it were, “naked”: that which has no “clothing” cannot become manifest.» — el principio cabalístico que Scholem enuncia: ninguna realidad espiritual subsiste desnuda, y lo que no tiene vestidura no se manifiesta.

«On the other hand, the vessels also served the purpose of purging the “hard” lights of Stern Judgment of the “dross” which they contained. The latter had to be precipitated and then eliminated from the sphere of the divine emanation.» — la segunda función de los vasos: purgar del Juicio severo la escoria que había de precipitarse y eliminarse.

«When these lights finally emanated, their impact proved too much for their vessels, which could not contain them and collapsed.» — la rotura de los vasos en su forma más escueta: las luces resultaron demasiado para sus vasos.

«Most of the liberated light reascended to its supernal source, but some sparks (according to Luria, two hundred and eighty-eight) remained stuck to the fragments of the shattered vessels. These fragments, together with the sparks of divine light that adhered to them, “fell” into the primordial space.» — lo que quedó según Luria: doscientas ochenta y ocho chispas pegadas a los fragmentos, que cayeron al espacio primordial.

«There they produced in due course the forces of the qelippah,35 which are known in kabbalistic terminology as “the other side.”» — el origen del mal en la doctrina: de esos fragmentos salen las fuerzas de la qelippah, el otro lado.

«The seven kings of Edom signify the forces of Stern Judgment untempered by Mercy; they “died” because the world is maintained only through the balance and harmony of these two principles.» — la lectura de Génesis 36:31 que Luria hace suya según Scholem: los siete reyes de Edom son el Juicio severo sin Misericordia y por eso murieron.

«The breaking of the vessels was thus an event that took place within the Deity itself.» — la consecuencia que Scholem subraya: la rotura ocurre dentro de la divinidad, porque las luces del Hombre Primordial eran parte de ella.

«But for the breaking of the vessels, everything would have occupied its rightful and appointed place. Now everything is out of joint.» — el estado del mundo tras la rotura según Scholem: todo fuera de quicio.

«However, this situation of not being where one ought to be, namely, of being removed from one’s rightful place, is what is meant by the term “exile.”» — la definición cósmica del exilio a la que Scholem llega: estar removido del sitio propio.

«In fact, since the breaking of the vessels, exile is the fundamental and exclusive—albeit hidden— mode of all existence. In Lurianism the historical notion of exile had become a cosmic symbol.» — la formulación mayor de la tesis: desde la rotura el exilio es el modo oculto de toda existencia, y la noción histórica se vuelve símbolo cósmico.

«By pointing out the natural causality, as it were, of the event, Luria did not mean to minimize its catastrophic character.» — Scholem acota: que Luria describa la rotura como proceso con leyes no le quita el carácter de catástrofe.

«Some kabbalists maintained that the breaking was not just an unfortunate accident, but a carefully planned occurrence designed to provide man with the freedom of choice between good and evil.» — primera explicación de la rotura que Scholem consigna: un suceso planeado para dar al hombre libertad de elección.

«Other kabbalists felt that the ultimate purpose of the breaking of the vessels had to be defined with reference to God Himself and not to man.» — y la segunda, que remite el fin de la rotura a Dios mismo; Scholem declara indiferente para su propósito cuál era la posición original de Luria.

«Know therefore that the supernal space is like a field, and the ten points [that is, sefiroth] are sown in it. And even as the grains [of seed] grow each according to its virtue, so also these points grow each according to its virtue; and as the grains do not attain to growth and perfection if they remain in their original manner of being—for only in their decomposition is their growth» — la voz es la de un texto luriánico citado por Scholem: el espacio superno como campo sembrado, donde los granos solo crecen al descomponerse.

«This world of disorder “had to fall from the high summit to the depth of the pit so as to be smashed and dashed to pieces, like the wheat which is separated into flour and bran by grinding. Moreover by their fall the unclean forces are separated from holiness.» — la voz es la de otro cabalista con el símil del grano de trigo: el mundo del desorden hubo de caer y molerse para separar la harina del salvado y lo impuro de lo santo.

«At the beginning of the process of emanation, the ten sefiroth were not ordered one beneath the other so that one would receive [the supernal influx] from the other, neither were they organized in ‘configurations.’ Each contained all the others, but in this totality each was confused and commingled with all the others without order and system. That is why the seven kings died.» — la voz es la de Ḥayyim Vital, que Scholem presenta como cauto en el asunto: las sefirot no estaban ordenadas ni configuradas, y por eso murieron los siete reyes.

«According to Luria these lights burst forth from the forehead of the Primordial Man in order to restore the disturbed harmony, or— to be more exact—to produce that harmony which could not be attained without a prior breaking.» — la función que Luria da a las luces de la frente del Hombre Primordial: producir una armonía inalcanzable sin rotura previa.

«Since the occurrence of this “fortunate fall,” the lights of the forehead are arranged in complicated structures called parṣufim, each of which manifests a distinctive aspect of the Godhead and its creative power.» — Scholem llama caída afortunada a la rotura y describe los parṣufim como estructuras en que cada aspecto de la divinidad se manifiesta.

«Tiqqun, meaning “mending,” “restoration,” or “reintegration,” is the process by which the ideal order is restored, but the lights of the divine emanation are incapable of bringing it about by themselves.» — la definición de tiqqun y su límite: las luces de la emanación divina no bastan para restaurar el orden.

«God in His wisdom allotted this task to man, who thus has to play a major part in the» — el lugar del hombre en el sistema: Dios le asigna la tarea del tiqqun; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«When Adam, the first man, was created, the process of tiqqun of the supernal lights and configurations had almost achieved its end. Almost everything had been “restored” to its proper place, and Adam, the last link in a holy and spiritual chain of being, merely had to administer the last and final touches of tiqqun.» — la tarea que el sistema asigna a Adán según Scholem: dar los últimos toques a un tiqqun casi cumplido.

«He was eminently qualified for his task, since his pure and spiritual essence contained within itself all the supernal configurations with which it stood in a relation of reciprocity.» — la razón de esa aptitud: la esencia de Adán contenía las configuraciones supernas en reciprocidad con ellas.

«This act required a free choice and decision, perfect communion with God, and a definite separation of good from evil, of “flour from bran,» — las condiciones de aquel acto: elección libre, comunión perfecta con Dios y separación del bien y el mal, la harina del salvado.

«Had Adam fulfilled his mission, the sphere of holiness would have been purged of the last residue of dross; the qelippah would have sunk below the world of ʿasiyyah and would have remained impotent, cut off from the source of true being, and the whole cosmos would have achieved a state of eternal communion with the divine light.» — la utopía contrafactual que Scholem describe: si Adán hubiera cumplido, la qelippah habría quedado impotente y el cosmos en comunión eterna.

«The cosmic exile would have come to an end, with Adam acting as the redeemer who restored the world to its unity. The historical process would have ended, even before it had begun, with the establishment of utopia.» — y su consecuencia extrema: la historia habría terminado antes de empezar, con Adán como redentor.

«Alas, Adam failed. Instead of joining that which needed joining and separating that which needed separation, he tore asunder that which was joined.» — el fracaso de Adán en la fórmula de Scholem: separó lo que estaba unido en vez de unir y separar donde tocaba.

«His intentions were good, but the result was disastrous. Adam’s communion with the higher spheres was interrupted, and instead he became attached to the lower worlds and to the evil forces of the “other side.”» — Scholem retiene la buena intención y el resultado: Adán quedó ligado a los mundos inferiores y a las fuerzas del otro lado.

«The sin of the historical Adam repeats and re-enacts on the anthropological and psychological levels the havoc wrought by the breaking of the vessels on the ontological plane of the Primordial Adam.» — la correspondencia entre los dos planos que Scholem enuncia: el pecado repite en lo antropológico el estrago que la rotura de los vasos hizo en lo ontológico.

«Henceforth all beings in the world of ʿasiyyah, including man, were clothed in gross matter and in physical bodies deriving from the qelippah, instead of in the original subtle and refined matter, namely, in spiritual bodies.» — el efecto de la segunda caída: cuerpos de materia grosera derivados de la qelippah en lugar de cuerpos espirituales.

«Through Adam’s sin the fate of the divine Shekhinah, imprisoned in the scattered fragments of the broken vessels, is now also shared by “sparks” of human souls: both are prisoners of the qelippah.» — la doble prisión que el sistema establece: la Shekhinah y las chispas de las almas humanas quedan presas de la qelippah.

«Luria taught that the soul consisted of six hundred and thirteen parts, precisely as—according to traditional rabbinic anatomy—the human body.» — la anatomía del alma según Luria: seiscientas trece partes, como el cuerpo en la anatomía rabínica.

«Some of the more exalted souls refused to be associated with Adam (that is, with his supersoul) in his sin and left him, ascending to higher spheres. These souls are known as the “supernal splendor” and will not return to this world until the messianic age.» — el reparto de las almas tras el pecado: las que se apartaron, llamadas esplendor superno, no vuelven hasta la era mesiánica.

«Most soul-roots and soul-sparks, however, fell outside the frame of Adam into the realm of the qelippah, where they invigorated the Satanic Anti-Adam, who corresponds, on the evil side, to the Primordial Adam of the holy sphere.» — y el grueso: raíces y chispas caídas al reino de la qelippah, donde vigorizan al Anti-Adán satánico.

«Redemptive restitution (tiqqun) therefore involves two things: the gathering of the divine sparks that had fallen, together with the fragments of the broken vessels, into the realm of qelippoth, as well as the ingathering of the holy souls imprisoned in the “shells” and subserving the Anti-Adam of Belial since Adam’s sin.» — las dos operaciones que componen el tiqqun redentor: recoger las chispas divinas caídas y las almas santas presas en las cáscaras.

«This symbol expresses the true meaning and mystery of the history of mankind, and of Israel in particular.» — el alcance que Scholem da al símbolo de la elevación de las chispas: el sentido de la historia de la humanidad y de Israel.

«In fact, their souls actually stem from the qelippah and not from the realm of holiness, although, like all things of the qelippah, they also harbor some fallen holy sparks waiting to be raised and restored.» — la posición del sistema sobre las naciones gentiles, que Scholem consigna sin suavizar: sus almas vienen de la qelippah y aun así albergan chispas santas caídas.

«With the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai the world was about to be fully restored, but the sin of the golden calf threw everything back into chaos again.» — la segunda ocasión perdida según el sistema: la revelación del Sinaí, deshecha por el pecado del becerro de oro.

«Thereafter the Law was given in order to prepare the tiqqun by way of the commandments: each of the six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Law restores one of the six hundred and thirteen parts of the corpus mysticum of the Primordial Adam.» — la correspondencia entre los seiscientos trece mandamientos y las seiscientas trece partes del corpus mysticum del Adán Primordial.

«Traces of the divine light adhered to the fragments [of the broken vessels] like sparks or drops. This may be compared to a vessel full of oil; if it breaks and the oil is spilt, some of the liquid will stick to the fragments in the form of drops.» — la voz es la de Israel Sarug, citado por Scholem: el símil del vaso de aceite roto, con las gotas pegadas a los fragmentos.

«And when the fragments descended to the bottom of the [fourth and last] world of ʿasiyyah, they there produced the four elements—fire, air, water, and earth—which in their turn produced the four degrees of mineral, vegetable, animal, and human forms.» — sigue Sarug: de los fragmentos caídos salieron los cuatro elementos y de ellos los cuatro reinos, mineral, vegetal, animal y humano.

«Therefore it should be the aim of every Jew to raise these drops from where they are [imprisoned] in this world and to elevate them to holiness by the power of his soul.» — cierre de la cita de Sarug: la tarea de todo judío es elevar esas gotas a la santidad por la fuerza de su alma.

«Of particular importance in this connection is the division of the soul into nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshamah (“soul,” “spirit,” and “supersoul”).» — la división del alma en nefesh, ruaḥ y neshamah, que se repite en cada chispa.

«Two further levels, ḥayyah and yeḥidah, are attained by a few elect souls only, for they are illuminated by the light of the highest configurations of the divine emanation.» — los dos niveles reservados a pocos, ḥayyah y yeḥidah.

«Thus yeḥidah, whose light is that of the highest parṣuf (known as the Ancient Holy One), was bestowed only on Abraham and King David—according to some writers not even on them, as it was to be the exclusive distinction of the messianic king.» — Scholem consigna el desacuerdo entre autores sobre quién alcanzó la yeḥidah: Abraham y el rey David, o solo el rey mesiánico.

«The tiqqun may thus have to be realized laboriously and piecemeal in the course of numerous lives and transmigrations.» — la consecuencia práctica: el tiqqun se cumple a trozos y a lo largo de muchas vidas y transmigraciones.

«The first calling of Nathan of Gaza, Sabbatai Ṣevi’s prophet, was to reveal to penitents and inquirers the root of their souls and to give to each individual instructions for his tiqqun.» — el dato que enlaza esta doctrina con el relato del libro: el primer oficio de Natán de Gaza fue revelar a los penitentes la raíz de sus almas y darles instrucciones de tiqqun.

«It behooves every man to inquire diligently and to know the root of his soul, so as to be able to perfect it and to restore it to its origin, which is the essence of its being. The more a man perfects himself, the closer he comes to his self.» — la voz es la de Moses Zacuto, cabalista y poeta italiano contemporáneo de Sabbatai Ṣevi, en la formulación que Scholem llama ejemplar.

«there is an inner bond, a kind of sympathy of souls, linking all sparks deriving from the same root,50 and they—and they only—can help one another and influence one another for their mutual tiqqun.» — la doctrina de la simpatía de las almas de una misma raíz, que Scholem señala como de peso en la teología moral cabalística.

«The exile of the “lower,” terrestrial Congregation of Israel in the world of history is thus merely a reflection of the exile of the supernal Israel, that is, the Shekhinah.» — la correspondencia central: el exilio histórico de Israel como reflejo del exilio de la Shekhinah.

«It is the Jew who holds in his hands the key to the tiqqun of the world, consisting of the progressive separation of good from evil by the performance of the commandments of the Torah.» — el lugar que el sistema asigna al judío: la llave del tiqqun del mundo por el cumplimiento de los mandamientos.

«But once it will have achieved its end, then this hidden, spiritual perfection will also become manifest outwardly, since outward reality is always symbolic of inner reality.» — el principio de correspondencia con que Scholem explica cómo lo interior se hará manifiesto.

«but the [outer] worlds in general are not elevated until the advent of the messiah, when they will all rise by themselves. At present the only exaltation of the worlds is in their inner aspect.» — la voz es la de un texto luriánico citado por Scholem: en el exilio solo se eleva el lado interior de los mundos.

«Once the last trace of holiness is extracted from the qelippah so that no divine sparks are left in it, the world of tiqqun will become manifest. This is the meaning of redemption.» — la definición luriánica de redención a la que Scholem llega: extraída la última santidad de la qelippah, el mundo del tiqqun se hace manifiesto.

«Know that through Adam’s sin all souls fell into the depths of the qelippoth, which are the remnants of the impurity and the dross that were separated from holiness at the death of the kings of Edom.» — la voz es la de Ḥayyim Vital en la formulación que Scholem llama la más clara del exilio de la Shekhinah.

«Therefore they [the qelippoth] pursue the holiness that is called “life” in order to draw from it life and sustenance; for as long as they contain some holiness, they feed on it and live, but when there is no holiness at all in them they must die.» — sigue Vital: las qelippoth persiguen la santidad para alimentarse, y sin ella mueren.

«And behold, when the Temple was destroyed the Shekhinah went into exile among the qelippoth, because the souls that had been exiled there no longer had sufficient strength —as a result of their sins—to free themselves.» — sigue Vital: la Shekhinah fue al exilio entre las qelippoth porque las almas exiliadas allí no tenían fuerza para librarse.

«Until He has finished gathering in even those [last and lowest souls] that have fallen to the feet [of this Adam of the qelippah], the messiah cannot come, neither can Israel be redeemed» — la condición que Vital pone a la venida del mesías: hasta que se recojan aun las almas caídas a los pies del Adán de la qelippah.

«The liberation of souls and sparks is proportionate to the good works done by Israel in this world» — la proporción que Vital establece entre las buenas obras de Israel y la liberación de las almas y las chispas.

«Then the vitality of the qelippoth will depart and they will die and “all evil will vanish like smoke.» — el final que Vital describe: partidas la Shekhinah y las chispas, las qelippoth mueren y todo el mal se disipa como humo.

«The assumption underlying this historical myth is that evil, namely, the qelippah or “other side,” is no figment of the imagination but a powerful reality.» — el supuesto del mito luriánico según Scholem: el mal es realidad poderosa, no figuración.

«Evil, they taught, arose as the result of a process whose dynamics were rooted deeply within the Deity.» — la tesis cabalística sobre el origen del mal: un proceso con raíces dentro de la divinidad.

«The conception is sufficiently daring to account for subsequent attempts to conceal or obscure at least some of its more dangerous aspects and implications.» — Scholem explica por qué esa doctrina se encubrió después: su audacia.

«In a way the kabbalist doctrine implied that there had been no defect, let alone disaster and catastrophe, in the divine process, but, rather, an organic unfolding of certain fixed laws inherent in the creative activity of God.» — la lectura suave de la doctrina, que Scholem consigna junto a la dura: no defecto sino despliegue orgánico de leyes fijas.

«However, as Lurianic ideas were mediated to the masses by the popular preachers and moralists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the more dramatic and spectacular aspects of the mystery inevitably tended to become increasingly emphasized.» — el desplazamiento que Scholem mide al pasar la doctrina a las masas por predicadores y moralistas: lo dramático y espectacular se acentúa.

«An explicit statement to this effect will be sought in vain in kabbalistic literature, yet this is clearly the view that underlies the whole Lurianic system.» — Scholem declara que la formulación explícita no existe en la literatura cabalística y sostiene igualmente que la visión subyace al sistema entero.

«The kabbalistic symbols assured the Jew that his sufferings affected not him alone but contained a profound mystery.» — la respuesta que los símbolos daban a la pregunta del exilio: el sufrimiento propio como parte de un misterio.

«the supernal tiqqun can be performed by man only, for he alone is made in the divine image and comprises [within himself] the higher and the lower orders.» — la voz es la de un cabalista destacado citado por Scholem: solo el hombre puede hacer el tiqqun superno, por estar hecho a imagen divina y comprender los órdenes alto y bajo.

«There is something startlingly novel about this kabbalistic explanation which regarded exile not merely as a test of our faith or a punishment for our sins, but first and foremost as a mission.» — la novedad que Scholem subraya: el exilio no como prueba ni castigo sino como misión.

«When the kings fell, some fell into the mineral realm; and because they were seven in number there are also seven kinds of metals.» — la voz es la de un texto luriánico citado por Scholem: los siete reyes caídos al reino mineral explican los siete metales.

«Others again fell among the seventy nations. And because Egypt is “the nakedness of the land” and the place to which the qelippoth principally adhere, many sparks got entangled there and Israel too was enslaved there; even the Shekhinah was exiled with it in order to raise the sparks that were there» — sigue esa cita: las chispas caídas entre las setenta naciones y la esclavitud de Israel en Egipto como operación de rescate.

«Therefore it was necessary that Israel be scattered to the four winds in order to raise everything.» — cierre de esa cita: la dispersión de Israel a los cuatro vientos como condición de la elevación de todo.

«Its novel conception of a redemptive mission was very different from that of nineteenth-century “reform” Judaism. Israel’s task, according to the kabbalists, was not to be a light to the nations but, on the contrary, to extract from them the very last sparks of holiness and life.» — Scholem distingue esta misión de la del judaísmo reformado del siglo XIX: no ser luz de las naciones sino extraerles la última chispa de santidad.

«The process of tiqqun, though essentially constructive, is thus not without destructive aspects in terms of the power usurped by the qelippoth and their historical representatives, the gentiles.» — Scholem consigna sin suavizar el lado destructivo del tiqqun respecto de las qelippoth y de sus representantes históricos.

«Some kabbalists, notably in Italy, held that the qelippah too would be transformed and restored at the end of days, but the authentic doctrine of Luria and his disciples seems to have predicted the utter disintegration, collapse, and death of the qelippah once the completed tiqqun deprived it of the source of its vitality.» — el desacuerdo que Scholem consigna sin armonizar: algunos cabalistas italianos esperaban la restauración de la qelippah y la doctrina auténtica de Luria predecía su desintegración.

«Even more revolutionary than the idea of a mission is the abandonment of the traditional catastrophic conception of messianism. Redemption does not come suddenly but appears as the logical and necessary fruition of Jewish history.» — lo que Scholem tiene por más revolucionario: el abandono del mesianismo catastrófico y la redención como fruto lógico de la historia judía.

«Israel’s labors of tiqqun are, by definition, of a messianic character. Final redemption is therefore no longer dissociated from the historical process that preceded it: “The redemption of Israel takes place by degrees, one purifying after another, one refining after another.» — la consecuencia y su prueba textual: la redención de Israel viene por grados, una purificación tras otra.

«The messianic king, far from bringing about the tiqqun, is himself brought about by it: he appears after the tiqqun has been achieved.» — la inversión que Scholem llama decisiva: el rey mesiánico no produce el tiqqun sino que resulta de él.

«although all things were created in the fullness of their being [in a state of perfection], by Adam’s sin they were corrupted and they shall not be restored to their perfection until the messiah comes.» — la voz es la de R. Berakhya en Génesis Rabbá XII, 6, citado por Scholem: la restauración depende de la venida del mesías.

«Everything was tainted and hence requires purifying and refining …, for the spirit of uncleanness has spread over the world and all orders have been corrupted …, pure and impure have mingled, and the abomination has been introduced by the sinners into the» — la voz es la de Meir ibn Gabbay, de la generación anterior a Luria, citado por Scholem: todo quedó contaminado y pide purificación.

«The purification and tiqqun of souls is not, in Ibn Gabbay’s conception, a utopian event dependent on supernatural intervention; rather, it is the outcome of a long process of purification taking place in the world.» — Scholem mide el cambio de función del mesías: la purificación deja de ser suceso utópico por intervención sobrenatural.

«Understandably enough the kabbalists themselves wavered between the two conceptions.» — Scholem consigna que los propios cabalistas oscilaban entre las dos concepciones.

«And this is the tiqqun of the world and the restoration of all things to their pristine state, as they were before Adam sinned. For then all the worlds were perfectly balanced and coordinated, and the Great Name [that is, God] was in perfect union with his glorious Shekhinah.» — la voz es la de Ibn Gabbay en el capítulo siguiente, donde el mesías sí restaura todo: antes del pecado de Adán los mundos estaban equilibrados y el Gran Nombre unido a su Shekhinah.

«But by Adam’s sin the unity was disrupted, the buildings destroyed, and the world corrupted, so that the innermost things were turned out and the outward things [the qelippoth] penetrated inside and the spirit of uncleanness spread over the world» — sigue Ibn Gabbay: el pecado rompió la unidad, volcó lo interior hacia fuera y metió dentro las qelippoth.

«Ibn Gabbay’s apparently contradictory statements are really complementary. Clearly the kabbalists had no intention of divesting the traditional image of the messianic world of its utopian traits. Their point was merely that this world could only come into being after the prior completion of the tiqqun by man.» — Scholem no arbitra entre las dos citas de Ibn Gabbay: las declara complementarias, con el mundo mesiánico utópico llegando después del tiqqun humano.

«R. Ḥiyya and R. Simon ben Ḥalafta walked at sunrise in the valley of ʾArbela and beheld the light of dawn breaking through. Said R. Ḥiyya to R. Simon: Thus is the redemption of Israel. R. Simon answered: This is what Scripture says, ‘When I sit in darkness, God is a light unto me.’ At first it [the redemption] comes little by little, then it breaks through, then it increases and multiplies, and finally it spreads everywhere.» — la voz es la de la Hagadá antigua citada por Scholem: la redención de Israel como el alba en el valle de ʾArbela, que viene poco a poco y luego se extiende.

«Only after the termination of all “selections” and purifications and the return of all the lights to their pristine state could the messiah come at all.» — Scholem mide hasta dónde llevó el lurianismo esa doctrina: nada de mesías antes del retorno de todas las luces.

«His advent is the sign that Israel has fulfilled its mission: It has traversed the “valley of tears” and gathered on its way “through the nations the roses of holy souls which were scattered among the thorns.» — la señal que el sistema asigna al advenimiento: Israel ha recogido por el camino las rosas de almas santas dispersas entre las espinas.

«Ḥayyim Vital explained that there would be no converts because no more holy souls would be left among the gentiles, since, by definition, the messiah could come only after the last spark of holiness had been extracted from them.» — la explicación de Vital al dicho talmúdico de que no se aceptarán conversos en la era mesiánica: ya no quedarán almas santas entre los gentiles.

«The messianic king merely puts his seal to the bill of freedom which Israel has written itself by its» — la imagen con que Scholem resume la doctrina: el rey mesiánico solo sella la carta de libertad que Israel escribió con sus propias labores redentoras; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«The Lurianic system functioned on the assumption that the tiqqun had reached its final stages and that salvation was at hand.» — el supuesto operativo del sistema según Scholem, y la clave de la tensión de la época: el tiqqun estaría en sus etapas finales.

«It was now only a matter of extracting the last sparks, but this part of the task proved to be the most difficult.» — y la dificultad que el propio sistema ponía en esa fase final.

«The Talmudic saying, “Before the advent of the Messiah, insolence will increase,” was interpreted as hinting at these heels, whose tiqqun had to precede the arrival of the redeemer.» — la lectura luriánica del dicho talmúdico sobre la insolencia previa al mesías: alude a las chispas de los talones, cuyo tiqqun es el último.

«The final stages of tiqqun are thus the hardest of all, and it is in connection with them that the Lurianic writings have preserved many of the catastrophic traits of apocalyptic Haggadah.» — Scholem señala dónde sobrevive lo catastrófico dentro del sistema: en la descripción de las últimas etapas del tiqqun.

«If we were perfectly pious and repentant, we would be able to liberate all the good souls from the qelippah in one instant, and then the messiah would appear immediately.» — la voz es la de un texto luriánico citado por Scholem: con piedad y arrepentimiento perfectos las almas se liberarían en un instante y el mesías vendría de inmediato.

«Every mystical “intention,” or kawwanah, draws light to the corresponding supernal configurations and raises sparks from the broken vessels.» — la función que el sistema da a la kawwanah: atraer luz a las configuraciones supernas y levantar chispas.

«Yet in spite of this mystical reinterpretation of ritual acts and prayers, the traditional corpus of religious practice did not satisfy the appetite of the Safed kabbalists for redemptive acts of tiqqun, and they added new rites and customs as the spirit moved them.» — Scholem consigna que el corpus ritual tradicional no bastaba al apetito de actos redentores y que los cabalistas de Safed añadieron ritos nuevos.

«In Safed the celebration of the Sabbath took on a new character and the kabbalists there invented new penitential seasons, such as the Minor Day of Atonement, preceding each New Moon, and new times of lamentations, such as the regular midnight devotions.» — las innovaciones que Scholem enumera: el Día menor de la Expiación antes de cada luna nueva y las devociones regulares de medianoche.

«But together with these theoretical and systematic writings another, no less influential, kind of literature spread from Safed and conquered hearts: the ascetic and moralistic writings of members of the pious brotherhoods, such as the Beginning of Wisdom by Elijah de Vidas, the Book of the Devout by Eliezer Azikri, and such practical manuals as The Daily Order by Moses ibn Makhir.» — Scholem nombra la otra literatura que salió de Safed y conquistó corazones: los escritos ascéticos y morales de las cofradías piadosas.

«The mounting enthusiasm for ascetic devotions flowed from a double source, for not only was this kind of intense piety the proper attitude for those living during the eve of redemption, but it was also able, by its inherent mystical power, to shorten the painful period of transition, traditionally known as the “birth pangs” of the messianic age.» — la doble fuente del ascetismo según Scholem: actitud propia de la víspera de la redención y medio para acortar la transición.

«The Safed kabbalists would not for a moment entertain the idea of the messiah appearing to a sinful generation. Instead they strove to render their generation wholly righteous.» — la elección que Scholem adjudica a los cabalistas de Safed ante el dicho talmúdico de la generación o toda justa o toda pecadora.

«The transmigrations of souls through the four kingdoms of nature provided an added note of agony to exile, which now appeared to be exile of the soul as well as of the body.» — lo que la metempsicosis añadía al exilio según Scholem: un exilio del alma además del del cuerpo.

«since the day that the Temple was destroyed and the Torah burned, its mysteries and secrets have been delivered up to the demons. And this is called the exile of the Torah.» — la voz es la de un texto cabalístico citado por Scholem, que él lee con reserva como posible alusión a la exégesis cristiana de la Biblia: los misterios de la Torá entregados a los demonios.

«The most surprising feature of this system, with its characteristic eschatological tension, is the feebleness of its image of the messiah.» — el hallazgo que Scholem subraya y que sostiene buena parte del libro: un sistema centrado en la redención con una figura mesiánica débil.

«But in this process the messiah himself plays a pale and insignificant role. Except for the highly developed and firmly established tradition of the messiah, perhaps the kabbalists would have dispensed with him altogether.» — Scholem lo dice sin rodeos: de no ser por el peso de la tradición, los cabalistas habrían prescindido del mesías.

«Their imaginative originality, greatly in evidence when a subject is close to their hearts, fails them completely where the messiah is concerned.» — la medida del hallazgo: la originalidad imaginativa de los cabalistas falla justo en el mesías.

«By transferring to Israel, the historical nation, much of the redemptive task formerly considered as the messiah’s, many of his distinctive personal traits, as drawn in apocalyptic literature, were now obliterated.» — la razón que Scholem da: al pasar a Israel la tarea redentora, los rasgos personales del mesías apocalíptico se borran.

«Two strands, therefore, coexisted side by side in kabbalistic eschatology: the old apocalyptic tradition, not yet transformed in the crucible of mystical reinterpretation, and the new kabbalistic conception of tiqqun.» — las dos hebras que Scholem separa en la escatología cabalística, y que dice que operaron en medios sociales distintos dentro del movimiento.

«The spiritual elite, on the other hand, tended to interpret everything in terms of the doctrine of tiqqun, ultimately eliminating, thereby, all popular elements from their eschatology.» — y la élite espiritual con el tiqqun, eliminando los elementos populares.

«Vital’s views are of special interest in this connection, since he raises the problem of the self-recognition of the messiah, which subsequently assumed paramount importance in Sabbatian thought, as it had earlier in Christianity.» — Scholem señala por qué importan aquí las opiniones de Vital: plantean el problema del autorreconocimiento del mesías.

«The messiah will certainly be a righteous man, born of a man and a woman, and he will grow in righteousness until the end of days, acquiring a holy nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshamah. Then on the day appointed as the end, his neshamah of neshamah [the highest soul-light called yeḥidah], which was preserved in Paradise, will be given to this righteous man and he will become the Redeemer» — la voz es la de Ḥayyim Vital: el mesías será un justo nacido de hombre y mujer que recibirá en el día señalado la yeḥidah guardada en el Paraíso.

«as if beforehand he was sleeping he will awake with the infusion of the neshamah of neshamah, receive more prophetic power, and arise from his sleep … and then he will recognize himself as the messiah.» — sigue Vital: el mesías despierta en Galilea con la infusión del alma más alta y se reconoce a sí mismo.

«His messiahship had not been known [to him] before, but now it will be revealed [to him]. Others, however, will not recognize him» — y el límite que Vital pone: la revelación es primero solo para él, y los demás no lo reconocen.

«Then he will be raised up to heaven even as Moses ascended to heaven, and thereafter the messiah will reveal himself fully and all Israel will recognize him and gather around him.» — cierre de la cita de Vital: tras un ocultamiento a la manera de Moisés en la nube, el mesías se revelará del todo.

«In the Tannaitic period the “suffering servant” passages had occasionally been interpreted as referring to the messiah, but later Haggadists as well as the medieval commentators preferred different interpretations.» — Scholem traza la historia exegética de Isaías 53: leído del mesías en época tanaítica y luego interpretado de otro modo.

«In order to undermine Christian exegesis, which identified the suffering servant with Christ, he was interpreted as a figure of Moses, or of Israel, or of the pious in general.» — el motivo polémico que Scholem le adjudica a ese desplazamiento: quitar apoyo a la exégesis cristiana que identificaba al siervo con Cristo.

«A new impetus was given to this tradition by the Portuguese marrano Solomon Molkho. Molkho, writing some thirty years after the Spanish expulsion, introduced into his writings the traditional Christian typology, which saw in Job a type of the messiah.» — Scholem adjudica al marrano portugués Solomon Molkho la reintroducción de la tipología cristiana que hace de Job figura del mesías.

«The Safed kabbalists did not adopt this messianic interpretation of the servant chapters, and Ḥayyim Vital still explains that Isaiah 53 refers to Moses or to the righteous» — la negativa que Scholem ficha: los cabalistas de Safed no adoptaron esa lectura y Vital seguía refiriendo Isaías 53 a Moisés o a los justos.

«However, Moses Alsheikh, one of Vital’s teachers, popularized the messianic interpretation of the chapter by his widely read commentary on the Prophets, Marʾoth ha-Ṣobeʾoth (The Looking Glass).» — y la excepción: Moses Alsheikh, maestro de Vital, difundió la lectura mesiánica en su comentario a los Profetas.

«In fact, even Vital occasionally resorted to the messianic interpretation of the figure of the suffering servant, associating it with the person of his master, Isaac Luria.» — la contradicción interna que Scholem consigna sin armonizar: el mismo Vital aplicó a veces la figura del siervo doliente a Isaac Luria.

«The Redeemer of Israel will be marked by two signs: He will be a man of pains and acquainted with disease.» — la voz es la de Hayyim ha-Kohen de Alepo transmitiendo a Vital: el Redentor se reconocerá por dos señales, ser varón de dolores y conocedor de enfermedad.

«The meaning of ‘man of pains’ is that he will always be suffering, and also that he will always and permanently suffer from a specific disease. That is [the meaning of] ‘acquainted with disease,’ which was the case with his [Vital’s] master, Isaac Luria of blessed memory.» — sigue esa transmisión: sufrimiento continuo y una enfermedad específica y permanente, como la de Luria.

«The idea that the messiah suffers from a chronic disease is of interest in appreciating subsequent Sabbatian developments.» — Scholem marca la importancia del rasgo para lo que viene: un mesías con enfermedad crónica.

«Vital was convinced of the messianic character of his master, Luria, and, like other kabbalists, he seems to have regarded the year 1575 as the appointed date of the “end.”» — Scholem consigna la convicción mesiánica de Vital sobre Luria y la fecha de 1575 como fin señalado.

«Because the generation did not prove worthy, the “Holy Ark was hidden” and Luria died in the prime of life, three years before the time appointed for redemption.» — la explicación que el círculo dio a la muerte temprana de Luria: la generación no resultó digna.

«His disciples realized only afterward that he had been the messiah of the House of Joseph.» — y la adjudicación póstuma: los discípulos entendieron después que Luria había sido el mesías de la casa de José.

«once, as we went to the tombs of Shemayah and Abtalyon71 to pray, my master urgently and repeatedly entreated us to recite the words [from the Eighteen Benedictions] ‘and the throne of thy servant David’ with the special intention that the messiah of the House of Joseph should live and not die» — la voz es la de Vital contando una escena con Luria: la súplica repetida de que el mesías de la casa de José viviera y no muriera.

«At the time we did not understand his words, but God knows the hidden things, and his end was accounted for by his beginning, for my pious master died because of the multitude of our sins.» — cierre de ese testimonio de Vital: solo después entendieron, y atribuye la muerte de su maestro a la multitud de los pecados propios.

«Unlike Christianity, Judaism could not draw on the concrete experience of a messianic personality in shaping its image of the messiah. Consequently the image remained indefinite and vague.» — la asimetría que Scholem señala entre las dos tradiciones: sin una personalidad mesiánica concreta, la imagen judía quedó indefinida.

«The fact that Sabbatai Ṣevi fitted Vital’s definition so uncannily well is one of the curious accidents of history.» — la fórmula con que Scholem cierra el punto y anuncia el relato: que Sabbatai Ṣevi encajara tan bien en la definición de Vital es uno de los accidentes curiosos de la historia.

«The Talmudic statement that God had intended to make King Hezekiah the messiah indicated to the kabbalists that God sent a spark of the messiah-soul into this world in every generation.» — la doctrina de la chispa mesiánica en cada generación, que los cabalistas leen del dicho talmúdico sobre el rey Ezequías.

«the messiah of the House of Joseph is reborn in every generation. If there is a sufficient number of righteous men in his generation to save him from death [by their merits, then all is well], but if there is no one to save him, then he must die. However, by the repeated deaths he suffers in every generation, he atones for himself so that he need not die at the hands of the wicked Armilus,76 but may die every time by a divine kiss.» — la voz es del Tiqquney Zohar según los discípulos de Luria: el mesías de la casa de José renace en cada generación y muere por beso divino si nadie lo salva.

«All agree, however, that the highest part of the soul, yeḥidah, comes to him only after the consummation of the general tiqqun and is not subject to metempsychosis.» — el punto en que Scholem dice que hay acuerdo: la yeḥidah llega solo tras el tiqqun general y no transmigra.

«The three Hebrew consonants forming the word “ADaM” can be read as an acrostic made up of the initials of the names Adam, David, Messiah.» — el acróstico que la tradición española transmite desde Moses de Leon: las consonantes de ADaM como iniciales de Adán, David y Mesías.

«The earliest kabbalists, such as the author of the Bahir, believed that the messiah was not subject to metempsychosis; his soul, when it finally descended, would be quite new.» — la posición contraria de los primeros cabalistas, el autor del Bahir entre ellos: el alma del mesías sería enteramente nueva.

«The Lurianic system combined the two contradictory traditions. The messiah’s nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshamah, or possibly sparks deriving from their root, were subject to metempsychosis and had to be saved from the qelippah, much as the souls of the patriarchs and other saints. Yet the highest part of the messiah’s soul, the yeḥidah, by virtue of which he acquires his full messianic nature, is conferred on him only at the consummation of the general tiqqun.» — cómo el sistema luriánico compone las dos tradiciones contradictorias: las almas bajas del mesías transmigran y la yeḥidah se confiere al final.

«It is known that in all our doings we give some part to the qelippah, the power of evil, in order to prevent it from accusing us [in the courts of heaven]…. And therefore, there has to be something of the power of the qelippah in him, so that if the forces of the qelippah see that its own power is in this thing [that is, in messianic redemption], they do not come forth as accusers, and do ye understand [this mystery].» — la voz es la de R. Moses Galanté, discípulo de Cordovero hacia 1580, citado por Scholem: al mesías le toca algo del poder de la qelippah para que esta no lo acuse.

«At this point, it may be mentioned that even the idea of the messiah having in himself by necessity something of the “evil side” was not entirely foreign to orthodox kabbalism.» — el precedente que Scholem levanta antes de contar el caso sabatiano: la idea de un mesías con algo del lado malo ya cabía en el cabalismo ortodoxo.

«the sufferings of Israel will increase to the utmost, and they [the people of Israel] will be so distressed that they shall say to the mountains ‘cover us,» — la voz es la de Moses Cordovero citado por Scholem sobre los dolores del advenimiento: el sufrimiento de Israel llegará al extremo.

«And the reason for this is that the Shekhinah will judge her house [Israel] so as to purify it for redemption» — sigue Cordovero: la razón de ese sufrimiento es que la Shekhinah juzga su casa para purificarla.

«Those who have adorned themselves with the mystery of good works and have practiced the doing of their commandments and have prayed in cleanliness and purity in the way of mystery [that is, in a mystical manner], will no doubt share in the shining of the Tree of Life, because they were on the side of the soul of ʾaṣiluth, and they need not be tried at the time of redemption.» — la voz es la de Ḥayyim Vital: quienes obraron según el misterio no tendrán que pasar la prueba del tiempo de la redención.

«But they who are from the side of the Tree of Life [that is, the kabbalists] … will not suffer from the trials of exile at the end of days as will ordinary sinners.» — cierre de esa cita de Vital: los del lado del Árbol de la Vida, es decir los cabalistas, no sufrirán las pruebas del fin como los pecadores ordinarios.

«The view that kabbalists were beyond apocalyptic catastrophe is eloquent testimony to a sense of superiority that undoubtedly acted as a powerful factor in the propagation of kabbalistic doctrines.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre esa exención: testimonio de un sentido de superioridad que operó como factor de propaganda.

«Developing some of the statements in the Raʿya Mehemna concerning the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, Solomon Turiel declared that the messiah would rule exclusively over those concerned with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that is, the interpreters, the masters of the body of Torah, the Talmudists.» — Scholem expone la doctrina de R. Solomon Turiel: el mesías reinaría solo sobre los del Árbol del Conocimiento, los talmudistas.

«By their mystical practice they had joined the two trees and therefore did not need a messiah at all.» — y la consecuencia extrema que Turiel saca para los cabalistas: no necesitan mesías, y su mesías será Moisés.

«The kabbalists in Safed remained unaware of the possibility of a clash between the two views.» — la tesis de Scholem sobre lo que estaba incubado y sin ver: la posibilidad de choque entre escatología mística y apocalíptica.

«When the kabbalists shifted the center of gravity of their messianism from the outside world to an inner, spiritual realm, they did not sense what they were doing.» — el desplazamiento que Scholem les adjudica sin que ellos lo advirtieran: el centro de gravedad del mesianismo hacia lo interior.

«In a world of homiletical and allegorical interpretations there are no incompatibilities and contradictions.» — la razón que Scholem da para esa ceguera: en un mundo de interpretación homilética y alegórica no hay incompatibilidades.

«As long as the messianic idea had not been tested in the crucible of historical experience, the different conceptions could coexist and eschatological propaganda could draw on them all.» — y el límite de esa convivencia: mientras la idea mesiánica no pasara por la experiencia histórica.

«Until Sabbatai’s appearance, in fact until his apostasy, the paradox remained unrecognized.» — la fecha en que Scholem sitúa el reconocimiento de la paradoja: la apostasía.

«Political messianism quite naturally took the lead, until by dint of historical failures and disappointments it was gradually displaced by a new version of purely mystical messianism.» — el orden que Scholem describe dentro del movimiento: el mesianismo político primero y, tras los fracasos, el místico.

«In some manuscripts, as well as in the printed editions of parts of this book, the authorship is attributed to Abraham ha-Levi Berukhim, one of the most striking figures in the community of the devout in Safed who greatly influenced its ascetic and devotional practices.» — Scholem consigna la atribución del Gali Razayaʾ a Abraham ha-Levi Berukhim y la declara incierta.

«The attribution is still uncertain, and no trace of Cordoverian, let alone of Lurianic, kabbalah can be discovered in the voluminous work.» — y el argumento con que la deja en suspenso: no hay rastro de cábala cordoveriana ni luriánica en la obra.

«But we definitely know that the Gali Razayaʾ (Revealed Mysteries) circulated widely in the early seventeenth century and in the years preceding the rise of the Sabbatian movement.» — lo que Scholem sí da por seguro: la amplia circulación del Gali Razayaʾ en los años previos al movimiento.

«Why did so many biblical heroes, Israel’s ideal saints, love “strange women” and contract alliances that were, strictly speaking, forbidden?» — la pregunta que obsesiona al autor del Gali Razayaʾ según Scholem: por qué tantos héroes bíblicos amaron mujeres extrañas.

«Whenever God wants to raise a king or hero to wreak vengeance on the heathen, it is necessary that there be some kind of relationship or rapport between the gentile nations and the Jewish king, so that Scripture should be fulfilled [Isa. 49:17]: ‘Thy destroyers and they that make thee waste shall go forth from thee’ …, for whoever is born in order to humble the foes of Israel must have some measure of communion with the ‘left side.’» — la voz es la del Gali Razayaʾ citado por Scholem, que llama al pasaje pieza curiosa de psicoanálisis cabalístico: quien nace para humillar a los enemigos de Israel ha de tener comunión con el lado izquierdo.

«all offspring of the ‘pure side’ have a part in the ‘impure side,’ through the females …”; “… all females belong to the ‘left side,’» — la ley cósmica que ese texto formula: toda progenie del lado puro tiene parte en el impuro por las mujeres.

«Know for sure that the ‘other side’ has been permitted to contract marriages between some of its women and the heroes and saints of Israel. The souls of these women are descended from the pious gentiles, and the pious gentiles thereby acquire a share in the world to come because [in this way] they mingle with Israel.» — sigue el Gali Razayaʾ: las almas de esas mujeres vienen de los gentiles piadosos, que así ganan parte en el mundo por venir.

«No decisive action takes place in which the protagonist’s situation is not characterized by a fundamental ambiguity acquired either through birth (as the case of David, descended from Ruth the Moabite) or through marriage.» — la filosofía de la historia que Scholem le extrae a ese texto: ninguna acción decisiva sin una ambigüedad de origen o de matrimonio.

«More than a hundred years before the Sabbatian movement we find a philosophy of history based on a mystical psychology exhibiting striking similarities to some of the doctrines of later Sabbatians.» — el paralelo que Scholem mide, acotándolo enseguida: más de cien años antes del movimiento hay ya una psicología mística parecida.

«The similarities are even more surprising if we consider the fact that the Gali Razayaʾ did not constitute a direct source of Sabbatian speculations.» — y el límite del paralelo, que Scholem declara: el Gali Razayaʾ no fue fuente directa de la especulación sabatiana.

«However daring the doctrine of tiqqun and of the raising of the sparks from the qelippah, our author did not link it with active preparations for the coming of the messiah.» — la diferencia decisiva que Scholem señala: aquel autor no ligó su doctrina a preparativos activos de la venida.

«He was careful not to apply to the future the theory which he had so successfully used to explain the past. Thus he saved his messiah from an unduly close and compromising relationship with the “other side.”» — y el cuidado que le adjudica: no aplicar al futuro la teoría con que explicaba el pasado, salvando así a su mesías de un trato comprometedor con el otro lado.

«At the last minute, however, a soul from the “inner [essentially holy] power” of darkness, that is, one of the souls of the pious gentiles, is substituted for the impure soul and enters the newborn child.» — la mecánica del engaño: en el último momento se sustituye el alma impura por una de las almas de los gentiles piadosos.

«Samael, rejoicing in his supposed victory, remains unaware of the substitution, which actually promotes the process of purification, since tiqqun is only possible by liberating the female aspect of holiness from the sway of the “other side.”» — y el resultado: Samael celebra una victoria falsa mientras el tiqqun avanza.

«The Lurianic system has some similar notions, but it does not limit the fall into the “other side” to the feminine alone.» — Scholem marca la diferencia del lurianismo con esa doctrina: la caída al otro lado no se limita a lo femenino.

«The more holy a soul, the greater the difficulty of extracting it from the clutches of the “other side.”» — la regla que el sistema establece: cuanto más santa el alma, más difícil sacarla.

«The birth of holy souls necessitates the pretense of some visible or hidden blemish.» — la consecuencia que resultará decisiva para el relato: el nacimiento de almas santas exige la apariencia de una mancha, visible u oculta.

«Sometimes when a man commits a sin in this world, and the qelippoth try to destroy him and to lead him astray, they draw down on him, from his own root, a soul that has been sunk in the deep mire of the qelippoth. This [soul] they bring out [from the qelippoth] and infuse … into the man who has sinned, so as to make him sin even more.» — la voz es la de un texto luriánico citado por Scholem: las qelippoth atraen sobre el pecador un alma hundida en su propio fango para hacerlo pecar más.

«But God helps it, and it shakes off the qelippoth, showing its strength and holiness and even helping the man [that is, the sinner to whom it has been joined] to turn to good.» — cierre de esa cita: el alma grande se sacude las qelippoth y ayuda al pecador a volverse al bien.

«when a soul is exceedingly great [holy], it is impossible to save it from the qelippah except by ruse and cunning.» — la voz es la de Vital: un alma grandísima solo se salva de la qelippah por ardid y astucia.

«In my case too, the evil powers did not mind the matter [of my soul coming into this world] because they thought that I was already lost; but God snatched me from them…. They thought it would be to their advantage [to use me for their purposes], but I became their enemy.» — sigue Vital, aplicándose la doctrina a sí mismo: los poderes del mal lo dieron por perdido y Dios lo arrebató.

«The qelippah lets go a “great soul” in the hope that on account of its origin—particularly when its birth was due to a sinful union—it would work more evil, sinning and causing others to sin.» — la lógica del fraude santo según Scholem: la qelippah suelta el alma grande esperando que peque más por su origen.

«In this way Luria accounted for the otherwise shocking origins of Abraham, for example, who was conceived by a menstruating, that is, impure woman; or David, whose conception involves another objectionable detail.» — los casos con que Luria aplicaba la doctrina: el origen de Abraham y el de David.

«and study the kabbalah will be exalted to a particularly high degree and will hear the law directly from God’s mouth, “like children at school” from their teacher.» — la promesa de Turiel para los que estudien cábala en Tierra Santa al fin de los tiempos: oirán la ley de boca de Dios como niños en la escuela.

«He also knows that he is entitled to demand permission of the celestial court to bring into this world some of the female souls under his sway.» — el motivo del engaño santo: Samael, príncipe del otro lado, puede pedir al tribunal celeste traer al mundo almas femeninas bajo su dominio.

«unwittingly furnished the doctrine of Nathan of Gaza with its image of the messiah’s soul.» — la filiación que Scholem fija sin que su autor lo supiera: Vital proveyó a Natán de Gaza la imagen del alma del mesías.

«At the same time it is difficult to escape wondering about the prefiguration of some very modern psychoanalytical ideas in these paradoxical theses of kabbalistic psychology.» — Scholem deja escrita, en modo de pregunta y no de tesis, la prefiguración de ideas psicoanalíticas modernas en esa psicología cabalística.

«In the last resort evolution had taken the place of revolution in the eschatological scheme.» — la fórmula con que Scholem resume el cambio luriánico: evolución en lugar de revolución.

«In the thought of R. Loew, kabbalah and philosophy intermingle, and both are submerged by a stream of homiletic eloquence. His prolixity tends to hide his profundity.» — Scholem caracteriza a R. Judah Loew de Praga y anota que su prolijidad esconde su hondura.

«In his work on eschatology, Neṣaḥ Yisraʾel (Glory of Israel, 1599), the figure of the redeemer dwindles into insignificance beside the subject of redemption itself.» — Scholem señala en el Neṣaḥ Yisraʾel de 1599 el mismo rasgo que en el lurianismo: la figura del redentor se vuelve insignificante al lado de la redención. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque la cifra entre paréntesis es la fecha del título dentro del cuerpo.

«There is a surprising similarity between his system, built on philosophical premises, and the Lurianic doctrines, whose presuppositions are essentially gnostic.» — el paralelo que Scholem traza y cuya asimetría declara: premisas filosóficas en R. Loew y supuestos esencialmente gnósticos en Luria.

«The exile of Israel and the destruction of our Temple are an [anomalous] exception to the order of the universe, and it is known that whatever is a deviation from the order of the universe and an exception, has only temporary existence.» — la voz es la de R. Loew de Praga: el exilio como excepción al orden del universo y por eso de existencia temporal.

«time actualizes everything intended to become actual in the world, because everything depends on time. And because everything depends on the time process, everything becomes actual at the proper time.» — sigue R. Loew: todo depende del tiempo y todo se actualiza a su hora.

«In accordance with these laws, R. Loew assumes that there can be no direct continuity between exile and redemption. An intermediary period, that is, the “birth pangs” of the messianic age, is a logical necessity.» — la consecuencia que Scholem le extrae: los dolores de parto mesiánicos como necesidad lógica y no como milagro.

«Before the messiah manifests himself, the weeding out of being in the world will take place, for every new being is the ruin of the being preceding it and only then [with the ruin of the old] will the new being begin.» — la voz es la de R. Loew: todo ser nuevo es la ruina del anterior.

«In this manner, the pangs of the messiah will appear, just as with a woman in labor, because of the new being and creation entering the world.» — cierre de esa cita de R. Loew: los dolores mesiánicos como los de la mujer de parto, por el ser nuevo que entra en el mundo.

«The catastrophic character of redemption is still preserved in this account, but it is no longer due to a miraculous intervention from above. The final catastrophe is sufficiently accounted for by the laws of development toward actual perfection immanent in the nature of things.» — lo que Scholem señala en esa doctrina: la catástrofe se conserva y deja de venir de una intervención milagrosa.

«The net result of these developments was a perpetuation of the Jew’s sense of basic instability.» — el saldo social que Scholem fija para la época: un sentimiento general de inestabilidad, común a ricos y pobres.

«On the contrary, the wealthy members of the community were exposed to all sorts of misfortunes, such as extortions, arbitrary and sudden financial demands of rulers, economic fluctuations, and the adverse effects of political events.» — y el detalle con que lo sostiene: los ricos quedaban expuestos a extorsiones y exigencias súbitas de los gobernantes.

«The fears and anxieties of a prosperous Jew in Smyrna or Shiraz were not much different from those of his brethren in Venice, Lvov, or Amsterdam.» — la homogeneidad psicológica que Scholem sostiene para la diáspora, de Esmirna y Shiraz a Venecia, Leópolis y Ámsterdam.

«It would surely be a grave misrepresentation were we to describe Lurianism, by itself and in isolation, as an active historical factor.» — la cautela con que Scholem acota su propia tesis: el lurianismo por sí solo y aislado no es factor histórico activo.

«But in the context of Jewish existence in the Diaspora, the gnostic myth of the kabbalist mystics could become a national myth of great dynamic power.» — y la condición bajo la cual sí lo es: dentro de la existencia diaspórica, el mito gnóstico de los místicos se vuelve mito nacional.

«Wherever Lurianism came, it produced messianic tension; and everywhere there were smaller or larger groups responding to it.» — el efecto que Scholem le adjudica dondequiera que llegó: tensión mesiánica y grupos que respondían.

«Finally, the real centers from which Lurianic messianism radiated into Jewry were the schools and the disciples of the kabbalistic enthusiasts, and more especially the popular preachers.» — los focos reales de irradiación según Scholem: las escuelas, los discípulos y sobre todo los predicadores populares.

«Lurianic kabbalism first spread from Palestine to Europe orally and through manuscripts; in 1630–60 Lurianic works begin to appear in print.» — la cronología de la difusión: oral y manuscrita primero, impresa entre 1630 y 1660.

«Of all authors, Naphtali b. Jacob Bacharach of Frankfort-on-Main went furthest in his uninhibited revelation of the Lurianic mysteries.» — Scholem señala a Naphtali b. Jacob Bacharach de Fráncfort como el que más lejos fue en revelar los misterios luriánicos.

«and the author does not miss an opportunity to stress the messianic function of the doctrine.» — y lo que le adjudica al ʿEmeq ha-Melekh de 1648: no pierde ocasión de subrayar la función mesiánica de la doctrina, sobre la versión de Sarug.

«Since the year 335 [1575] the souls from the world of tiqqun shone forth, and the Emanator [God] granted him [Isaac Luria] permission to open the supernal sources and channels with the mysteries of Torah» — la voz es la del cabalista Moses Prager, citado por Scholem: desde 1575 las almas del mundo del tiqqun brillaron y a Luria se le permitió abrir las fuentes supernas.

«he [Luria] expressly told us that at the present time esoteric knowledge has become like that which was formerly exoteric knowledge.» — sigue Prager con la fórmula que invierte los términos: el saber esotérico pasó a ser lo que antes era exotérico.

«From 390 onward we are in duty bound, every one of us, to achieve the tiqqun of our souls in their aspects of nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshamah, and to accomplish, together with our own tiqqun, that of the whole world» — sigue Prager: desde 1630 cada cual está obligado al tiqqun de su alma y, con él, al del mundo entero.

«The author of these lines was no Sabbatian believer. His testimony is particularly valuable because it proves that the belief that Lurianic teaching functioned as a means “to draw down the messiah” was current in kabbalistic circles even before Sabbatai’s appearance.» — el valor probatorio que Scholem le da al testimonio de Prager: su autor no era sabatiano, y muestra que la creencia de que el lurianismo atraía al mesías corría antes de Sabbatai.

«The author repeatedly impresses upon his readers that Luria had actually been the messiah of the House of Joseph» — la tesis de Bacharach que Scholem consigna: Luria habría sido el mesías de la casa de José.

«and that in his days the heaviness of the yoke of the qelippoth of Edom [Christianity] and Ishmael [Islam] had been somewhat lightened» — la voz es la de Bacharach: en tiempos de Luria se aligeró el yugo de las qelippoth de Edom y de Ismael, es decir del cristianismo y del islam.

«Disaster follows upon disaster, wars abound, and plague, sword, and hunger have come upon Israel because there is none who preaches repentance [as a preparation] for the coming of the messiah.» — cierre de esa cita de Bacharach: desastre sobre desastre porque nadie predica la penitencia como preparación de la venida.

«Also, in my native country, Germany, many holy congregations have been destroyed through the multitude of our sins, by sword, plague, and famine in those evil wars. Lo, the soul grieves at the hearing of the ear.» — la voz es la de Bacharach sobre las comunidades destruidas en Alemania por la guerra, la peste y el hambre.

«it is unlikely that the allusion to the Polish martyrs, whose souls contained sparks of R. Akiba and his companions, the celebrated Ten Martyrs of Jewish legend, refers to the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648, which did not actually begin until the summer of that year.» — la corrección cronológica que Scholem hace al texto de Bacharach: los mártires polacos aludidos no pueden ser los de las masacres de Chmielnicki, que empezaron ese verano.

«The allusion to “those evil wars” clearly refers to the Thirty Years’ War, in the course of which a great part of Germany was destroyed and its Jewish communities suffered heavily.» — y la identificación que sí propone: aquellas guerras malas son la de los Treinta Años.

«Two moods vie with each other in this voluminous book. One is a mood of joyful exaltation at the revelation of the Lurianic mysteries and the laws of the world of tiqqun, which the author helped make known so as to enable his contemporaries to repent and become worthy of the redemption that already “stands behind our wall.» — el primer ánimo que Scholem encuentra en el ʿEmeq ha-Melekh: exaltación gozosa ante los misterios revelados y una redención que ya está detrás del muro.

«The other is a feeling of bitterness at the agonizing severity of the “pangs of redemption.» — y el segundo: amargura ante la severidad de los dolores de la redención.

«Even more than by external tribulations and persecutions, this bitterness was nourished by the evils manifest in Jewish society.» — de dónde viene esa amargura según Scholem: más de los males visibles dentro de la sociedad judía que de las persecuciones externas.

«The specific objects of his indignation are the wealthy leaders of the community, the proud elders who exploit their position of power.» — el blanco de la diatriba que Bacharach toma del Tiqquney Zohar: los dirigentes ricos y los ancianos que explotan su posición.

«They lord it over the poor who are like the dust of the earth, and if they “do some good works, such as building synagogues and houses of study, it is for ulterior motives and in order to satisfy their pride; it goes without saying that they rob in the matter of taxation,105 and pervert judgment for their own benefit.» — la voz es la de Bacharach en el ʿEmeq ha-Melekh: los dirigentes ricos oprimen a los pobres y sus buenas obras son por soberbia.

«to this day oppress the students of Torah with staffs and cruelty, whereas they evade the yoke, though they pretend to bear the burden of taxation as [already denounced] in the Raʿya Mehemna, until the Lord’s anointed will come and pour on us a spirit from high to comfort us» — sigue la diatriba de Bacharach: oprimen a los estudiosos de la Torá y evaden el yugo mientras fingen cargarlo.

«Moses our teacher will himself come to avenge the honor of the Torah on every one of them, and the day to come shall burn them up.» — cierre de esa diatriba: Moisés vendrá en persona a vengar el honor de la Torá sobre cada uno de ellos.

«Even more violent criticism of the rich is voiced by R. Nathan Shapira. He expresses the general mood of the kabbalists of Jerusalem who carried the flag of Lurianism in the seventeenth century and edited most of the so-called Lurianic writings.» — Scholem sitúa a R. Nathan Shapira y al círculo de Jerusalén que editó el grueso de los escritos luriánicos.

«In the years preceding the Sabbatian movement, this group played approximately the same role in Jewish life that the kabbalists of Safed had played in the sixteenth century.» — el lugar que Scholem asigna a los cabalistas de Jerusalén: el de Safed en el siglo anterior.

«But for the prayer of the men of Jerusalem, who pray at the Wailing Wall with weeping and supplication, and who are all great ascetics and saints, the world would—Heaven forfend—no longer exist» — la voz es la de Bacharach sobre los hombres de Jerusalén: sin su oración ante el Muro el mundo no existiría.

«In his writings, social criticism of the wealthy mingles with the more specific grievances of the poor, small, and “spiritual” community of Jerusalem against Diaspora Jewry sitting at the fleshpots and not coming to Palestine.» — la mezcla que Scholem encuentra en Nathan Shapira: crítica social a los ricos y agravio de la comunidad pobre de Jerusalén contra la diáspora.

«Know that we possess a tradition that on the day when the messiah comes to Palestine for the ingathering of the exiles there will be seven thousand Jews [in Palestine]. On this day the dead in Palestine will arise and the walls of fire will depart from Jerusalem» — la voz es la de Nathan Shapira en el Tub ha-ʾAreṣ, impreso en Venecia diez años antes del estallido: siete mil judíos estarán en Palestina el día de la reunión de los exiliados.

«And the seven thousand that were alive there [when the messiah arrived] will become a new creation, that is, a spiritual body like Adam’s body before the fall and like the body of Moses, and they will fly in the air like eagles» — sigue Shapira: los siete mil se volverán creación nueva, con cuerpo espiritual como el de Adán antes de la caída, y volarán como águilas.

«Are we not Jews like the others? And why have they become spiritual beings and we not?» — la queja que Shapira pone en boca de los exiliados retornados ante el rey mesiánico.

«Those of the Diaspora who endeavored to come to Palestine to receive a pure soul, who spared neither money nor efforts and came by sea and by land and were not afraid of being drowned in the sea or captured by cruel masters [pirates]: because they were concerned primarily for their spirits and their souls and not for their bodies and money, therefore they were turned into spirits—measure for measure.» — la respuesta que Shapira pone en boca del mesías: quienes vinieron arriesgando el mar y el cautiverio se vuelven espíritus, medida por medida.

«You, however, who could have come to Palestine like them, but failed to come because of your cupidity, having made a principal concern of your wealth and your bodies, while considering your souls and spirits a lesser concern: you shall remain corporeal—measure for measure.» — y el reverso: los que no vinieron por codicia quedan corporales, medida por medida.

«Nathan Shapira attributes the closing sentences of his diatribe to Vital. Though not altogether impossible, the attribution does not seem very probable.» — Scholem consigna la atribución a Vital y la declara poco probable sin descartarla del todo.

«The sentences are more likely to have been written by one of the poor but inspired ascetics who had come to Palestine from the Diaspora, rather than by a native who had spent most of his last thirty years outside it.» — y la alternativa que propone: un asceta pobre venido de la diáspora, no un nativo que pasó fuera sus últimos treinta años.

«But whoever the author, his message, like that of the ʿEmeq ha-Melekh, shows that messianic utopia had struck deep roots in the historical consciousness of the kabbalists.» — la conclusión que Scholem saca sea quien sea el autor: la utopía mesiánica había echado raíces en la conciencia histórica de los cabalistas.

«Indeed, it filled the whole of Jewish life and practice with messianic content. Once this particular conception of the essence and meaning of Jewish existence had established itself, it was only natural that the accumulated tension sought release after a generation or two.» — y el pronóstico con que Scholem cierra la sección: una tensión así busca desahogo a la generación o dos.

«But it appealed to a number of kabbalists, and some even thought that by an act of “practical kabbalah,” that is, by the use of holy names and kabbalistic (magical) formulas, it would be possible to force the end.» — la variante que Scholem consigna: algunos cabalistas pensaron forzar el fin por cábala práctica, con nombres santos y fórmulas mágicas.

«As a matter of fact, practical kabbalah as a whole forms no organic part of Lurianism, and modern writers have caused much confusion by their misleading terminology which describes Lurianism as “practical kabbalah,” as if kabbalism before Safed had been purely theoretical.» — la enmienda terminológica de Scholem: la cábala práctica no es parte orgánica del lurianismo y llamar práctica al lurianismo confunde.

«Actually, the kabbalists themselves call all teaching concerning God and creation “theoretical” or “speculative,” whereas “practical” kabbalah is synonymous with magic, which, of course, existed long before kabbalah proper.» — el uso que Scholem atribuye a los propios cabalistas: práctica equivale a magia, que existía antes que la cábala.

«based on an earlier account of an actual attempt of a Spanish kabbalist around 1470 to bring on the messiah by methods of practical kabbalah.» — Scholem sitúa el fondo histórico del relato de Joseph della Reyna: un cabalista español que hacia 1470 intentó traer al mesías por cábala práctica.

«He would almost have succeeded had he not thoughtlessly granted Samael’s request to sustain him in captivity with incense, his normal food; by virtue of this incense he would remain bound and fettered forever.» — el nudo del relato: della Reyna concede a Samael el incienso que le pide para sostenerlo en cautiverio.

«Unfortunately R. Joseph forgot not only that Samael was the father of lies and merely proposed a stratagem to free himself, but also that the burning of incense—except to God alone—was tantamount to idolatry.» — el doble olvido que arruina el intento: Samael es el padre de la mentira y quemar incienso a otro que a Dios es idolatría.

«He despised the world to come and made a covenant with Lilith, the queen of demons. He delivered himself to her and she became his wife.» — la voz es la de Solomon Navarro en su versión del relato, que Scholem compara con la historia de Fausto: della Reyna pacta con Lilit, reina de los demonios.

«Messianism had become a magical enterprise. By conjuring up Satan and binding him, one could break his power and bring the messiah. This is nothing but a mythological simplification of the struggle with the qelippoth.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre ese relato: simplificación mitológica de la lucha con las qelippoth.

«The story was very popular in the period after Sabbatai’s apostasy and may well have served as an appropriate symbol for the movement which, as many felt, had almost succeeded but had failed at the last moment.» — el uso posterior que Scholem le adjudica al relato: símbolo del movimiento que casi lo logra y falla al final.

«But R. Elisha “lost all the money he had collected, because his companion, the scholar and kabbalist Solomon Navarro, fell in love with a gentile woman when he came to Reggio in Italy, married her, and apostatized from his religion.» — el cierre de la analogía con un dato documental: Navarro apostató en Reggio en 1664 tras casarse con una gentil, perdiendo el dinero recogido con R. Elisha Ashkenazi, padre de Natán de Gaza.

«Jews are not bound to accept their [the kabbalists’] teaching, though it is gladly received by many of this nation, especially in the eastern countries and in Poland.» — la voz es la de Simone Luzzatto en 1638, que Scholem presenta como poco amigo de la cábala: los judíos no están obligados a aceptarla, aunque muchos la reciban de buen grado.

«Luzzatto adroitly omitted mention of his own country, yet we know that Polish kabbalism was nourished by Italian influences no less than by Palestinian.» — Scholem señala la omisión de Italia en ese balance y la enmienda: el cabalismo polaco se nutría tanto de Italia como de Palestina.

«Many of the unlettered crowd jump at kabbalistic studies, for they are a lust to the eyes, especially the teachings of the later masters who expounded their doctrines clearly and in detail.» — la voz es la de R. Moses Isserles en 1570: la multitud sin letras se lanza a la cábala porque es codicia de los ojos.

«whereas in reality it is impossible to understand these things unless they are expounded orally by a master.» — la objeción de Isserles a la difusión impresa del Zohar, de Recanati y del Shaʿarey ʾOrah: sin exposición oral de un maestro no hay comprensión.

«A single coin in a box causes a noisy rattle, and anyone who has merely sniffed a little [kabbalah] preens himself on it and discourses on it in public—but he will have to render account [at the day of judgment].» — el remate de Isserles: una sola moneda en una caja suena mucho.

«A generation later R. Samuel Edeles warns against “those who spend their time —even in their youth—with kabbalistic studies,” and adds that “it behooves us to protest against those who discourse on it [kabbalah] in public.» — la protesta paralela de R. Samuel Edeles una generación después.

«The protests of Isserles and Edeles do not seem to have been very effective, and kabbalism, abetted by some of the leading rabbis, struck deep roots in Poland.» — el saldo que Scholem mide: las protestas no fueron efectivas y la cábala arraigó en Polonia con apoyo de rabinos destacados.

«Cordovero’s system maintained itself among Polish kabbalists even after the advent of Lurianism, and the common view that Lurianism conquered Poland immediately after Isaac Luria’s death is demonstrably false.» — la corrección que Scholem hace a la opinión corriente: el sistema de Cordovero se mantuvo en Polonia y el lurianismo no conquistó el país al morir Luria.

«The legends about Israel Sarug’s activity in Poland and his visit to Solomon Luria (died 1574) in order to teach him Lurianic kabbalah have no historical foundation.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha sobre las leyendas de Sarug enseñando a Solomon Luria.

«Now and then an emissary from the Holy Land would bring a few leaves from some of Luria’s or Vital’s writings, but never a complete work or a systematic doctrinal statement that would be likely to exert theoretical or social influence.» — lo que sí llegaba a Polonia antes de 1600 según Scholem: hojas sueltas de Luria o de Vital traídas por emisarios, nunca una obra completa.

«He stayed for some time and made a considerable impression on the Polish rabbis to whom he revealed the mysteries of the transmigrations and roots of their souls, as he had done in Italy.» — lo que Sarug hizo en Polonia después de 1600: revelar a los rabinos las transmigraciones y las raíces de sus almas.

«Certain kabbalists regarded such confusion as sinful, since it was not permissible to harmonize the different kabbalahs and treat them as one system.» — Scholem consigna la objeción interna al sincretismo polaco: para algunos cabalistas armonizar cábalas distintas era pecado.

«Everything was grist to their mill, the classical tradition of Spanish kabbalism as well as the teachings of the German Hasidim.» — la caracterización de Scholem del cabalismo polaco: todo le servía, del cabalismo español clásico a los hasidim alemanes.

«He is not even aware of the incompatibility of the elements he combines. The absence of a purely theoretical interest and the preponderance of homily results in a blurring of the specific qualities of the different systems.» — lo que Scholem le señala al Megalleh ʿAmuqoth de Nathan Shapira de Cracovia: ni advierte la incompatibilidad de lo que combina.

«The procedure of Shapira, who in a work now lost presented one thousand explanations of the letter aleph in the first word of Leviticus, is perhaps best understood as an echo of the peculiar method of Talmudic study evolved in his country.» — la explicación que Scholem propone para ese método: un eco del pilpul, el estudio talmúdico dialéctico de su país; Shapira dio mil explicaciones de la letra alef en la primera palabra del Levítico.

«Another characteristic feature of Polish kabbalistic literature is the prominence of gematria, the system of calculating the numerical values of words and letters in exegesis and interpretation.» — el segundo rasgo del cabalismo polaco según Scholem: el peso de la gematría.

«Yet there is a world of difference between the relatively simple and rather unexciting use of gematria by these earlier writers and the surprising, and at times fantastic, numerical constructions in Megalleh ʿAmuqoth, whose author has rightly been described as “drunk with numbers.» — y la diferencia que mide con los usos anteriores: del uso sobrio de los hasidim alemanes y de Fano a un autor al que se ha llamado con razón ebrio de números.

«But a unique fascination with the sphere of evil, and a markedly personalistic conception of it, were typical of Polish kabbalism.» — Scholem acota en qué consiste la originalidad polaca: no en las ideas básicas sino en la fascinación y en la concepción personalista del mal.

«Nowhere else do we find kabbalists so indifferent to the theoretical aspects and doctrinal details of the mystery of the Godhead.» — la medida de esa indiferencia: en ningún otro sitio los cabalistas se desentienden tanto de la doctrina de la divinidad.

«But the mystical task of annihilating particular qelippoth presupposes an exact knowledge of the nature and name of the qelippah concerned.» — la exigencia operativa de la que sale la demonología: para aniquilar una qelippah hay que saber su naturaleza y su nombre.

«The reader of the literature of seventeenth-century Polish kabbalism is confronted with legions of qelippoth erupting from a strange mythological universe that cannot be found in earlier texts.» — y lo que el lector de esa literatura encuentra: legiones de qelippoth de un universo mitológico sin precedente en los textos anteriores.

«The most remarkable figure in this respect was R. Samson b. Pesaḥ of Ostropol, who died a martyr’s death at the head of his congregation in Polonnoye in the Ukraine during the 1648 massacres.» — Scholem presenta a R. Samson b. Pesaḥ de Ostropol, muerto como mártir al frente de su congregación en Polonnoye en 1648.

«R. Samson is as yet an unsolved riddle. In his own lifetime he was considered one of the greatest kabbalists of his country, and the fame of his kabbalistic eminence persisted for many generations after his death.» — Scholem declara sin resolver el enigma de R. Samson, tenido en vida por uno de los grandes cabalistas de su país.

«It was rumored that he had been the messiah of the House of Joseph, killed in the “messianic woes.”» — la adjudicación que corrió sobre él: mesías de la casa de José muerto en los dolores mesiánicos.

«Maggidic revelations, by the prophet Elijah or other heavenly visitants, occasionally provided the sanction for novel and daring speculations.» — la función que Scholem asigna a las revelaciones de maggid: sancionar especulaciones nuevas y audaces.

«The appeal to celestial revelation took the place of the more usual appeal to ancient oral tradition.» — y el desplazamiento de autoridad que ello supone: la revelación celeste en lugar de la tradición oral antigua.

«From the psychological point of view these maggidim were products of the unconscious levels of the psyche, crystallizing on the conscious level of the kabbalists’ minds into psychic entities.» — la lectura psicológica que Scholem propone de los maggidim, declarada como punto de vista y no como hecho del texto.

«Maggidim, holy angels, or the souls of departed saints speaking either to the kabbalist or through his mouth (often in a voice different from his usual one) had their counterparts on the “other side” in the dibbuks, demons, or evil souls that possessed some unhappy or mentally sick creature.» — la simetría que Scholem traza: los maggidim del lado santo tienen su contraparte en los dibbuks del otro lado.

«R. Samson’s contemporaries knew that his maggid had warned him of the impending massacres, and that at the maggid’s behest Samson had repeatedly preached in the synagogue and exhorted the people to repent.» — lo que los contemporáneos consignaron del maggid de R. Samson: le avisó de las matanzas y lo mandó predicar la penitencia.

«there had been great repentance in all congregations, but it was of no avail because the [divine] decree had already been sealed.» — la voz es la de la fuente que Scholem cita: hubo gran penitencia y no sirvió porque el decreto ya estaba sellado.

«And when the enemies came and besieged the city, the kabbalist [R. Samson] went into the synagogue accompanied by three hundred members of his congregation, all of them great scholars and all of them dressed in their shrouds and wrapped in their prayer mantles. There they remained in prayer until the enemies entered the city, and all were killed in the synagogue on holy» — sigue esa fuente: R. Samson entró en la sinagoga con trescientos de su congregación, todos en sudarios y mantos de oración, y allí murieron.

«However, his extant kabbalistic utterances present a serious riddle, since they show no point of contact with the teachings of the Lurianic school.» — el enigma que Scholem plantea: a R. Samson se le tiene por propagandista del lurianismo en Polonia y lo que queda de él no toca la enseñanza luriánica.

«Their chief concern is with the names of the forces of the “other side” and with the knowledge of the holy powers likely to overcome and annihilate them.» — de qué tratan en cambio sus escritos: los nombres de las fuerzas del otro lado y los poderes santos que las vencen.

«In point of fact, however, almost all these quotations—whether purporting to come from Luria himself or from other “Lurianic” sources—are spurious and nowhere occur in the original texts.» — la comprobación que Scholem hace de las citas luriánicas de R. Samson: son espurias y no están en los textos originales.

«We are dealing here, in all probability, with a pseudepigraphal literature whose character suggests that it was composed neither in Palestine nor in Italy, but in Poland.» — la tesis que Scholem propone con su grado de certeza declarado: una literatura pseudoepigráfica compuesta en Polonia.

«Hiding behind the names of nonexistent books or behind the vague designation “the Lurianic writings” (whose actual scope and contents were as yet unknown), the Polish kabbalists could express the inventions and musings of their hearts, and the emotions—or rather, fears—animating their lives.» — la función que esa pseudoepigrafía cumplía según Scholem: decir lo propio detrás de libros inexistentes.

«Luria’s name was freely used because the Lurianic legend as well as the popular hagiography Shibḥey ha-ʾARI was widely known by that time, whereas Lurianic theories were still unknown to the majority of kabbalists.» — la asimetría que lo hacía posible: la leyenda de Luria era conocida y sus teorías no.

«By ascribing their ideas to earlier authorities, they concealed the true measure of their originality, and their specific contribution was drowned in the great sea of the so-called Lurianic kabbalah.» — el precio de esa operación según Scholem: la contribución polaca quedó ahogada en el mar de lo llamado luriánico.

«In that case we would have to say that the main source of the new doctrine of the qelippah, the Sefer Qarnayim (Book of Horns), written under the name of R. Aaron Kardina,128 was written by R. Samson himself, who also composed the commentary Dan Yadin to it.» — la atribución que Scholem propone en condicional: que el propio R. Samson escribiera el Sefer Qarnayim bajo el nombre de R. Aaron Kardina y su comentario Dan Yadin.

«Samson’s authorship of the main text seems to have been suspected at an early date.» — y el apoyo que le da: la sospecha es antigua.

«How much of their strange demonology reflects Jewish folk beliefs in the Ukraine and Volhynia—of which we know very little—and how much is the author’s personal contribution130 remains an open question.» — la abstención con que Scholem cierra el punto: queda abierto cuánto de esa demonología es folclore ucraniano y cuánto aporte personal.

«It was largely because of its unsystematic character and its homiletical presentation that for a long time Polish kabbalism failed to influence kabbalistic theory.» — la razón que Scholem da para su poca influencia teórica: falta de sistema y forma homilética.

«They [the kabbalistic mysteries] have spread to all sides, … they are known in the gates, … and the earth is full of knowledge. Verily, all, great and small, are knowledgeable in the mysteries of the Lord.» — la voz es la de R. Jacob b. Moses Temerles en 1660: los misterios cabalísticos se han difundido por todas partes.

«This is my comfort in my affliction: to behold the great desire and longing of our contemporaries for this hidden wisdom, and all—people and priests, small and great—desire to be admitted to the mystery of the Lord and live by it. Surely this signifies that our salvation is soon to come.» — cierre de esa cita de Temerles: lee la difusión de la cábala como señal de que la salvación se acerca.

«R. Moses Isserles, in his time, had endeavored132 to harmonize the rationalist tradition of Jewish philosophy with the doctrines of kabbalah, and to emphasize their basic identity.» — lo que Isserles había intentado y Scholem contrapone: armonizar la filosofía racionalista judía con la cábala.

«But times had changed and kabbalism no longer sought the protection of philosophy. The terrible catastrophe of 1648 merely strengthened this tendency.» — el cambio que Scholem mide: la cábala deja de buscar el amparo de la filosofía, y la catástrofe de 1648 refuerza la tendencia.

«Indeed, the popular sermon contributed to the spread of kabbalah among a wider public no less than the prayer books and the devotional moralistic manuals.» — el vehículo que Scholem destaca para la difusión: el sermón popular, a la par de los devocionarios y los manuales morales.

«I have seen a scandalous thing in the matter of kabbalistic studies …, for the very name kabbalah [“tradition”] indicates that it was transmitted individually and that it must not be revealed [publicly]» — la voz es la de R. Berakhya Berakh en 1662: el nombre mismo de cábala indica transmisión individual y no publicación.

«They write books on kabbalistic subjects, obtain permission to print them, and then hawk them around to “divide [that is, distribute] them in Jacob.» — sigue Berakhya Berakh: escriben libros de cábala, obtienen licencia y los venden por ahí.

«They reveal hidden and secret things to great and small, and even mingle the inventions of their hearts with [authentic] kabbalistic teachings, until it becomes impossible to distinguish between the words of the kabbalist masters and their own additions» — y la objeción que más importa a este libro: mezclan las invenciones de su corazón con la enseñanza cabalística hasta que no se distingue.

«I know that the rabbis of old kept aloof from this science because they feared it might have been adulterated by unqualified persons, as indeed we now see it has been» — sigue Berakhya Berakh: los rabinos antiguos se apartaron de esta ciencia por temor a que la adulteraran los no capacitados.

«May the sages of our generation forgive me if I say that they are responsible for this abuse, because they grant approbations and licenses for printing [these books], commending, justifying, and extolling them to heaven, whereby they make themselves like false witnesses on behalf of liars.» — y el remate: hace responsables del abuso a los sabios que conceden aprobaciones y licencias de impresión.

«R. Ḥayyim ha-Kohen of Aleppo, the guardian of the pure and undefiled Vital tradition, even hinted that Bacharach had corrupted by his additions—many of which actually derive from Israel Sarug and his school—the true Lurianic teaching.» — Scholem consigna el reproche de R. Ḥayyim ha-Kohen de Alepo a Bacharach por corromper la enseñanza luriánica con añadidos que en buena parte vienen de Sarug.

«For after his angry denunciations, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that some of his homilies are based on Zoharic teachings and on quotations from writings of his master, Nathan Shapira.» — la contradicción interna que Scholem consigna sin armonizar: el mismo Berakh que denuncia la difusión predica sobre el Zohar.

«Berakh, toward the end of his career, became an ardent follower of Sabbatai Ṣevi and wrote an enthusiastic account of his pilgrimage to the messiah in Gallipoli.» — y el desenlace: Berakh acabó siguiendo a Sabbatai Ṣevi y escribió un relato entusiasta de su peregrinación a Galípoli.

«It was one of the tragic ironies of history that 1648, the year of wrath, had been the focus of the most enthusiastic hopes for redemption.» — la ironía que estructura el capítulo: 1648 había sido el foco de las esperanzas de redención y fue el año de la ira.

«In the year 408 [1648] of the sixth millennium they that lie in the dust will arise…. Scripture refers to them as the ‘sons of Heth’136 because they will wake in the year 408.» — la voz es la del Zohar citado por Scholem: el pasaje que prometía para 1648 la resurrección de los muertos, no la venida del mesías.

«The passage was later interpreted beyond its plain sense, and some kabbalists of Safed, Italy, and Poland proclaimed the year 408 as the ultimate and final date of redemption.» — Scholem mide el desplazamiento: el pasaje se leyó más allá de su sentido llano y 1648 pasó a ser la fecha última de la redención.

«And if you say, ‘We see not our signs’ [Ps. 74:9], do not wonder at this …, for our sins have caused it, and especially those among us who have desecrated the name of God [by converting to Christianity] in the [recent] persecutions. Though not delaying the date of redemption, they have hidden it so that its light is invisible until the appointed time.» — la voz es la de Moses Cordovero explicando por qué no se ven las señales: los pecados, y sobre todo los que profanaron el Nombre convirtiéndose, no retrasan la fecha pero la esconden.

«But none of these things will be later than the year 408, and some will occur earlier, such as the resurrection [of the dead] in the Holy Land, which will precede the resurrection outside Palestine by forty years. And [even] redemption may take place earlier if God so wills.» — cierre de esa cita de Cordovero: nada será más tarde de 1648 y la redención puede adelantarse si Dios quiere.

«The numerical value of [the Hebrew word] ‘I will make him’ is 407, signifying that until the year 407 [1647] he will be a great nation, but then he will have consumed the merits acquired through his circumcision [cf. Gen. 17:23 ff.] … and in the year 408 the messiah will take the kingdom away from him.» — la voz es la de Bacharach con su cálculo por gematría: hasta 1647 Ismael será nación grande y en 1648 el mesías le quitará el reino.

«And although it is stated [in the Zohar] that this is the date of the resurrection, this constitutes no objection, since owing to our sins the years have passed [without the messiah having come, so that his advent will now have to coincide with the resurrection]» — sigue Bacharach resolviendo la objeción: por los pecados han pasado los años y el advenimiento coincidirá con la resurrección.

«Because of this many were punished who studied the mysteries proudly and contemptuously, not with desire and yearning and great longing, with weeping and fasting and great fear» — la voz es la de Bacharach sobre el castigo de quien estudia los misterios con soberbia y no con llanto, ayuno y temor.

«However, the “acceptable time” appointed for salvation turned out to be one of disaster.» — la fórmula con que Scholem cierra la expectativa de 1648.

«Therefore there were great persecutions at that time in Germany and France in order to arouse [the people] to repentance; but because they did not repent they were not redeemed.» — la voz es la de R. Nathan Shapira sobre un precedente: 1096 también fue tiempo aceptable, y las persecuciones de la primera cruzada venían a mover a penitencia.

«The idea that a propitious messianic moment may turn into a time of disaster already occurs in kabbalistic writings composed after the expulsion from Spain.» — Scholem data la idea de que un momento mesiánico propicio se vuelva desastre en los escritos posteriores a la expulsión.

«The kabbalists who lived through the massacres of 1648 discovered an apt symbol of this paradoxical transformation of the date of redemption in a frequently recurring Zoharic motif.» — el símbolo con que los cabalistas leyeron la inversión: el juego zohárico entre el fin de la derecha y el fin de los días.

«In the Zohar this symbolic pun has no historical or temporal significance, but that is precisely what the Polish kabbalists found in it.» — Scholem mide la novedad polaca: el juego de palabras del Zohar no tenía sentido histórico y ellos se lo dieron.

«The end according to the right hand had turned into an end according to the left hand; the forces of impurity had grown powerful and had caused terrible calamities.» — la lectura resultante: el fin según la mano derecha se volvió fin según la izquierda.

«One of the martyrs of 1648, R. Yeḥiel Michal of Nemirov, was quoted as saying that the massacre planned by Haman, which did not take place because of Israel’s repentance, had merely been postponed to the year 1648, and that this was hinted at in the Book of Esther.» — la voz es la de R. Yeḥiel Michal de Nemirov: la matanza que Amán planeó solo se había aplazado hasta 1648.

«On the other hand, it was believed that the terrible sufferings had hastened the advent of redemption: they were, in fact, the messianic woes.» — la lectura opuesta que Scholem consigna a la vez, sin armonizarla con la anterior: el sufrimiento habría acercado la redención.

«By the sufferings of the martyrs of that time the souls have been sifted from the qelippah and have become ‘souls of redemption.’ Also redemption has been brought nearer.» — la voz de esa segunda lectura: el martirio cribó las almas de la qelippah y las volvió almas de redención.

«The name of the enemy himself was interpreted as an acrostic of the Hebrew sentence “the ‘birth pangs’ of the messiah are coming into the world.» — la lectura por acróstico del nombre del enemigo: los dolores de parto del mesías vienen al mundo.

«Not only did the resurrection of the dead [predicted by the Zohar for that year] fail to take place, but on the contrary tens of thousands were killed and were not buried, and the dogs ate their flesh…. But although the resurrection did not take place, yet the messianic woes have begun.» — la voz es la de un testimonio del momento citado por Scholem: no hubo resurrección y sí decenas de miles de muertos insepultos.

«In the year 408 of the sixth millennium I had hoped in my heart to go out free, But [instead] they have taken crafty counsel to destroy Thy people.» — la voz es la de R. Sabbatai Horovitz, hijo del autor del SHeLaH, en su endecha por 1648.

«The difference between the [ordinary] woes of exile and the messianic woes is this, that the former ‘put a space between drove and drove’ [that is, are intermittent; cf. Gen. 32:17], whereas the messianic woes are unremitting. Indeed since the year 1648 until this day we have not» — la voz es la de R. Isaac el Reprensor en 1674: los dolores del exilio son intermitentes y los mesiánicos no cesan.

«Other preachers attempted to explain away the plain meaning of the kabbalistic prophecies after the bitter disillusionment. They argued that these prophecies referred to a revival of “prayer, penitence, and charity,” as the numerical value of the corresponding Hebrew terms equaled 408. Therefore, “408” indicated not a particular year but a revival of prayer and repentance.» — la salida que Scholem consigna en otros predicadores tras el desengaño: 408 no sería un año sino un despertar de oración y penitencia.

«The analysis and description of the various strands and elements that contributed to the tremendous messianic tension of those years, seem to leave but one riddle: Why did the messiah not come out of Polish or German Jewry?» — la pregunta con que Scholem cierra la sección y que su relato va a contestar: por qué el mesías no salió de la judería polaca ni de la alemana.

«Indeed, some writers have assumed—on what seem to me insufficient grounds—a causal connection between the Sabbatian movement and certain millenarian movements in the contemporaneous Christian world.» — Scholem consigna y acota la hipótesis de una conexión causal entre el sabatianismo y los movimientos milenaristas cristianos: los fundamentos le parecen insuficientes.

«But even if no such connection existed, the apparently similar manifestations of the Zeitgeist merit closer examination.» — y el criterio con que aun así trata el paralelo: manifestaciones semejantes del espíritu de la época.

«Official Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant—traditionally described the messianic hopes of Judaism somewhat disparagingly as material and carnal compared to its own more spiritual conception.» — Scholem consigna el juicio con que la cristiandad oficial describía la esperanza mesiánica judía: material y carnal.

«They saw no spiritual progress in a messianic conception that admittedly abdicated from the sphere of history and denied that redemption was a public act, manifest on this earth in soul and body.» — y la respuesta judía que Scholem le opone: no hay progreso espiritual en una redención que abdica de la historia.

«Although such trends were condemned by the official spokesmen of Christianity and stigmatized as “Jewish” or “Judaizing,” their influence and significance were far from negligible.» — y el nombre con que se las estigmatizaba: judaizantes.

«According to Schweitzer the apocalyptic messianism of Jesus was thoroughly Jewish, and all attempts to expurgate from it the utopian vision of a heavenly kingdom on earth are mistaken.» — la posición de Albert Schweitzer en The Quest of the Historical Jesus, que Scholem cita: el mesianismo apocalíptico de Jesús era enteramente judío.

«Revelation, charged as it is with intense hatred of the rulers of the earth and of the whore of Babylon, that is, the Roman Empire, became one of the most revolutionary books in literature.» — el juicio de Scholem sobre el Apocalipsis: uno de los libros más revolucionarios de la literatura.

«The prophecies concerning the last war, a development of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the war of Gog and Magog, and the appearance of the Antichrist (who, no doubt, originally signified the Roman persecutors of the church) applied remarkably well to whoever was in power or against whomever the commentators on Revelation wished to revolt.» — la plasticidad que Scholem le adjudica al libro: sus profecías del anticristo se aplicaban a quien estuviera en el poder.

«The book acquired dangerously explosive force when extreme sects and reform movements declared that the Antichrist was none other than the pope and that the whore of Babylon was Catholic Rome and the Catholic Church.» — el momento en que esa fuerza estalla según Scholem: cuando las sectas identifican al anticristo con el papa.

«The Second Coming is crowned by the establishment on earth of the kingdom of the saints who will rule together with the messiah in a period in which Satan has no power.» — la doctrina del milenio tal como Scholem la resume: el reino de los santos en la tierra junto al mesías.

«The affinity of this expectation with the traditional Jewish conception of the messianic age is evident.» — y el paralelo que Scholem da por evidente con la concepción judía de la era mesiánica.

«But from the third Christian century onward the tendency gained ground to discard this literal interpretation and not to count the millennium of the heavenly kingdom from the future appearance of Jesus but from the time of his first revelation.» — el desplazamiento exegético que Scholem fecha en el siglo III: contar el milenio desde la primera venida y no desde la futura.

«The whole history of ‘Christianity’ down to the present day, that is to say, the real inner history of it, is based on the delay of the Parousia, the non-occurrence of the Parousia, the abandonment of eschatology, the progress and completion of the ‘de-eschatologizing’ of religion which has been connected therewith.» — la voz es la de un autor citado por Scholem: la historia interna del cristianismo se apoya en la demora de la parusía y en la desescatologización de la religión.

«As the church attained a dominating position, her leaders grew more sensitive to the revolutionary implications and the utopian dangers of Revelation; they consequently threw all their weight in the balance to overcome millenarian tendencies that were now judged heretical.» — Scholem liga la condena del milenarismo a la posición dominante alcanzada por la iglesia.

«It is this same feeling which made the medieval rabbis quote Psalm 90:15, “Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil,” and argue that the messianic era ought to be equal in length to the period of suffering and exile.» — el paralelo judío que Scholem pone al lado: la era mesiánica debería durar lo que duró el sufrimiento.

«The ancient struggle between the heritage of Greek thought—which never inclined to apocalypse—and that of Judaism reached a new climax inside the Christian church in the chiliast controversy.» — la tensión que Scholem sitúa en el fondo de la controversia quiliasta: la herencia griega, poco inclinada al apocalipsis, contra la judía.

«The theological spokesmen of the “Greek” mentality denounced chiliasm as a “Jewish heresy” and argued that a kingdom limited in time was devoid of religious value.» — el argumento con que se denunció el quiliasmo como herejía judía: un reino limitado en el tiempo no tendría valor religioso.

«Chiliasm was officially condemned at the Council of Ephesus (431 C.E.) as “error and illusion.”» — la fecha de la condena oficial, en el concilio de Éfeso de 431.

«The decisive point about chiliasm is, of course, not the number 1,000 but its tenacious insistence on a literal understanding of the messianic prophecies.» — Scholem fija dónde está lo decisivo del quiliasmo: no en la cifra sino en leer las profecías al pie de la letra.

«Official opposition, however, kept chiliastic tendencies down, but also contributed to increasing their latent force and influence, particularly in times of crisis.» — el efecto doble que Scholem le adjudica a la represión: contiene la tendencia y aumenta su fuerza latente.

«The first period, from Abraham to Jesus, is the age of the Father and of the rule of the Law.» — la periodización de Joaquín de Fiore según Scholem: la edad del Padre y de la ley.

«The third period, whose inception Joachim awaited in the middle of the thirteenth century, would be the age of the Holy Ghost, in which the spirit alone would rule.» — la tercera edad joaquinita, la del Espíritu Santo, esperada para mediados del siglo XIII.

«All outward forms and mores would disappear, and the mystical meaning of the gospel would become manifest.» — lo que esa tercera edad traía y que Scholem subraya por su parentesco con lo que vendrá: la desaparición de toda forma externa.

«An anarchist conception of the freedom of the children of God could appeal to the authority of a gospel that had done away with all outward forms and laws.» — la carga explosiva que Scholem le encuentra al evangelio eterno: una concepción anarquista de la libertad de los hijos de Dios.

«Their criticism illustrates the vitality of the utopian ideal, which survived even in an atmosphere in which the original “materialist” notion of an earthly, millennial kingdom had long ceased to play any role.» — lo que Scholem lee en los spirituales joaquinitas: la utopía sobrevive aun cuando el reino milenario terreno ya no cuenta.

«In the Hussite movement, and more especially in its radical Taborite wing, chiliastic longings for perfection on this earth assumed the character of a social revolution for the first time.» — el paso que Scholem fecha en el husismo taborita: el anhelo quiliasta se vuelve revolución social.

«The Taborites in the first half of the fifteenth century were the first Christian sect to preach communist doctrines by appealing to the ideal communism of the early church in Jerusalem as described in Acts.» — y su contenido: la primera secta cristiana en predicar doctrinas comunistas apelando al comunismo de la iglesia primitiva.

«It was the motive force actuating Thomas Münzer, the spiritual leader of the German peasant revolt in 1525, who has been aptly described as the “theologian of revolution.”» — el primero de los tres movimientos que Scholem enumera: Thomas Münzer en la revuelta campesina alemana de 1525.

«In 1534 the messianic activism of an extremist Dutch group led to the proclamation of the kingdom of Zion and the establishment of a reign of apocalyptic terror in Münster in Westphalia.» — el segundo: la proclamación del reino de Sion y el terror apocalíptico de Münster en 1534.

«The failure of this messianic revolution put a damper on chiliastic propaganda for a long time to come,168 and actually promoted the development of a mystical, chiliast “underground” movement around the Dutchman David Joris (died 1556), reminiscent in some ways of the Sabbatian underground after the apostasy of Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — el paralelo que Scholem traza y que le importa: el subterráneo quiliasta en torno a David Joris recuerda al subterráneo sabatiano tras la apostasía.

«In the person of David Joris the fever pitch of Anabaptist chiliasm produced a messiah who—unlike Sabbatai Ṣevi—was also the prophet, theologian, and apostle of the movement.» — y la diferencia que declara: Joris fue a la vez mesías, profeta, teólogo y apóstol, y Sabbatai Ṣevi no.

«To be sure, the impact of the Anabaptist messiah not even remotely approximated that of the Sabbatian movement.» — Scholem acota la comparación: el efecto del mesías anabaptista no se acerca al del movimiento sabatiano.

«The Augsburg Confession of 1530, the chief Lutheran creed, drawn up by Philipp Melanchthon, explicitly condemns the chiliastic belief in the rule of the saints of the Most High on this earth as a “Jewish doctrine.”» — Scholem consigna que la Confesión de Augsburgo condena expresamente el quiliasmo llamándolo doctrina judía.

«We happen to know from a letter written by Melanchthon only a week before the composition of the Augsburg Confession, that Solomon Molkho’s apocalyptic and military propaganda, which created such a profound stir in Jewry, had come to his notice and had greatly irritated him.» — el dato documental que Scholem añade: una semana antes de redactarla, Melanchthon estaba irritado por la propaganda apocalíptica de Solomon Molkho.

«The insertion of an explicit condemnation of Jewish chiliasm into the most authoritative statement of the Lutheran faith may well be a reaction to Molkho’s messianic agitation.» — y la conjetura que propone en ese grado, no más: la condena pudo ser reacción a la agitación de Molkho.

«Even after Cromwell had clashed with them in 1653 and dissolved the “Parliament of Saints,” their views continued to exert considerable influence.» — Scholem consigna el peso de los Fifth Monarchy Men, con control del parlamento y con influencia después de disuelto el parlamento de los santos.

«Quakerism was born in Fifth Monarchy circles, and in its beginnings exhibited all the characteristic symptoms—later obscured—of a thoroughly chiliastic movement.» — la filiación que Scholem le adjudica al cuaquerismo: nacido en círculos de la Quinta Monarquía y quiliasta en sus comienzos.

«In 1656, only a few years before the great Sabbatian awakening, James Nayler, a simple peasant, entered Bristol amid shouts of Hosanna as the king of Israel, the Sun of Righteousness, the head of the prophets and the first-born of God.» — el episodio paralelo que Scholem fecha en 1656: James Nayler entrando en Bristol entre hosannas como rey de Israel.

«Chiliast sectarians were among the first to defend in public the rights of the Jews and to proclaim the restoration of the kingdom of Israel an essential part of millenarian fulfillment.» — lo que Scholem consigna de los sectarios quiliastas: defendieron en público los derechos de los judíos y la restauración del reino de Israel.

«Nevertheless, chiliast influence on the Sabbatian movement should not be exaggerated, as has been done by some Jewish scholars. The messianic awakening was nourished from internal sources.» — la tesis que Scholem opone a algunos estudiosos judíos: el despertar mesiánico se nutrió de fuentes internas.

«Only a small minority of the Jewish people lived at the time in Protestant countries where chiliasm can be said to have been a significant factor in public affairs.» — el argumento demográfico con que lo sostiene: pocos judíos vivían en países protestantes.

«There is no evidence that contemporaneous Christian chiliasm played a part in preparing Jewish hearts for the advent of the redeemer.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha: no hay evidencia de que el quiliasmo cristiano preparara los corazones judíos.

«Nor is there any evidence to confirm the hypothesis of Graetz and others that the messianic dreams of the young Sabbatai Ṣevi were inspired by the chiliast beliefs of English and Dutch merchants in Smyrna.» — y la segunda negativa, contra Graetz: nada confirma que los sueños del joven Sabbatai vinieran de mercaderes ingleses y neerlandeses de Esmirna.

«Some chiliast circles expected the Second Coming in the year 1666, basing their calculations on the “number of the beast” given in Revelation 13:18 as 666.» — la coincidencia que Scholem describe y enseguida acota: el cálculo cristiano sobre el número de la bestia daba 1666.

«It will be shown later that these computations had no influence whatever on the Sabbatian outbreak of 1665; the synchronism is accidental.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre esa coincidencia: sincronismo accidental, sin influencia sobre el estallido de 1665.

«These revolutionary tendencies expressed themselves in Christian history at least as much as in Judaism, where for many generations rabbinic authority exercised a sufficiently firm control.» — la comparación con que Scholem cierra el capítulo: esas tendencias revolucionarias pesaron en la historia cristiana al menos tanto como en la judía, donde la autoridad rabínica las contuvo.

«The Sabbatian explosion was no less significant for Judaism than the analogous chiliast movements had been for Christianity. In fact, Judaism was affected far more profoundly.» — y la medida final: el estallido sabatiano afectó al judaísmo mucho más hondo que los movimientos quiliastas al cristianismo.

«At first I believed that the biography of Sabbatai Ṣevi had been exhausted by historians.» — Scholem declara el punto de partida que luego enmienda: creía agotada la biografía de Sabbatai Ṣevi.

«But I quickly discovered that I was mistaken, for even with regard to the bare historical and biographical facts, not to mention the ideology of the movement, we remain far from knowing the whole truth, and stand in need of more information.» — y la enmienda que se hace a sí mismo: ni siquiera los hechos biográficos desnudos están sabidos del todo.

«Many details, particularly of his early life, still remain obscure. But it appears possible now to paint a more satisfactory picture of Sabbatai Ṣevi, even without resorting to the method of reconstruction of many earlier novelists and dramatists who imaginatively filled in the gaps where the sources failed them.» — el límite que Scholem declara y el método que rechaza: no rellenar los huecos como los novelistas y dramaturgos.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi was born in Smyrna on the Ninth of Ab—the day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples—in the year 5386 (August, 1626).» — la fecha de nacimiento que Scholem sostiene: el 9 de Ab de 1626, día del recuerdo de la destrucción de los dos Templos. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el año entre paréntesis es del cuerpo.

«The name Sabbatai thus confirms the accuracy of an otherwise suspect date, for the Ninth of Ab is also a “theological” date and fits rather too nicely the ancient rabbinic tradition that the date of the destruction of the Second Temple was to be the birth date of the messiah.» — el argumento con que Scholem sostiene la fecha y la reserva que declara a la vez: es también fecha teológica, y encaja demasiado bien con la tradición rabínica.

«A letter written from Constantinople in November, 1666, states that Sabbatai was born in 1625, but at the same time asserts that he was given the name Sabbatai because he was born on a Sabbath.» — la contradicción interna de una de las fuentes, que Scholem consigna sin armonizar: fecha el nacimiento en 1625 y a la vez explica el nombre por el sábado.

«Behold, a son has been born to Mordecai Ṣevi in the year 5386.» — la voz es la del Vision of R. Abraham, apocalipsis compuesto por Natán de Gaza en 1665; Scholem supone que el dato se lo dio el propio Sabbatai.

«In that case Sabbatai Ṣevi would himself have transferred his birthday to the “theologically” desirable date and consequently changed the year from 385 to 386.» — la hipótesis alternativa que Scholem deja planteada: que el propio Sabbatai trasladara su cumpleaños a la fecha teológicamente deseable.

«Among Sabbatians the accepted date was, of course, that given by Sabbatai Ṣevi himself and fixed by him during the high tide of the movement as a special feast, “The Nativity of our King and Messiah.» — la fiesta que Sabbatai instituyó en la marea alta del movimiento: la natividad de nuestro rey y mesías.

«forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart» — el verso del Salmo 95 con que Sabbatai, según el testimonio de Abraham Kokesh de Vilna recogido por Leyb b. Ozer, explicaba sus cuarenta años cumplidos en 1666.

«The family had lived in Greece until his father, Mordecai Ṣevi, moved to Smyrna, which was developing into a major center of Levantine trade.» — el origen familiar según Scholem: Grecia hasta que Mordecai Ṣevi se trasladó a Esmirna.

«The name Sevi is unknown among Sephardim, either as a personal or as a family name, and it is likely that both the name and the family are of Ashkenazi origin.» — el argumento onomástico con que Scholem propone origen asquenazí; el troceo imprime el apellido *Sevi* sin el punto bajo la ese.

«but hitherto no reference to it in other sources has been found, and Emanuel Frances’ account is not very reliable and contains many inaccuracies.» — y la reserva inmediata sobre Emanuel Frances, testigo del origen alemán de la familia, cuyo relato Scholem tiene por poco fiable.

«In any case there is no clear evidence here that Sabbatai was familiar with either German or Yiddish.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha tras pesar el episodio del schweig dicho a los emisarios polacos en 1666.

«His father would sell himself for a pair of shoes, and his mother would prostitute herself to get her food» — la voz es la de los libelos de los opositores sobre el linaje de Sabbatai, que Scholem cita para consignar que hasta Sasportas los tuvo por mentiras sin fundamento.

«In 1665, several Christians who had made inquiries about his father were told that in Morea and during his early days in Smyrna he had been a poulterer and egg-dealer but later became a broker and agent for some English merchants in Smyrna.» — el oficio del padre según las averiguaciones de cristianos en 1665: pollero y huevero primero, corredor y agente de mercaderes ingleses después.

«As a result of the war between Turkey and Venice, which obstructed the sea route to Constantinople, Smyrna became an important center for trade with Europe, and the insignificant Jewish community there rose to prosperity in the years 1625–30.» — la coyuntura económica que Scholem describe: la guerra turco-veneciana hizo de Esmirna centro de comercio con Europa y la comunidad judía prosperó.

«Traders from Italy, Holland, France, and England settled there, and almost all employed Jewish agents who knew the languages of East and West and who could act for them in establishing local contacts.» — y el lugar de los judíos en esa coyuntura: agentes que sabían las lenguas de Oriente y de Occidente.

«It is thus possible that the knowledge of languages, which was part of his father’s business, came quite naturally to Sabbatai Ṣevi while still at home.» — la conjetura que Scholem propone en ese grado: las lenguas le vinieron a Sabbatai del oficio paterno.

«Both his elder brother Elijah and the younger Joseph followed their father’s profession and became commercial agents.» — los hermanos de Sabbatai, Elijah el mayor y Joseph el menor, agentes comerciales los dos.

«Although he had forsaken his religion in the footsteps of his brother, Elijah subsequently returned to the fold and died as a Jew.» — el dato que Scholem consigna sobre Elijah Ṣevi: apostató tras su hermano y volvió a la fe, muriendo judío.

«The tombstones of his father and his uncle (Isaac Ṣevi) still existed at the time of World War I; both died in the same year (Shebat and Nisan, 5423 = 1663), and both were referred to with the honorifics “aged, wise, and esteemed.» — el dato material que Scholem consigna: las lápidas del padre y del tío existían aún al tiempo de la Primera Guerra Mundial y los dos murieron en 1663. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis del nombre.

«Her first name was Clara and is mentioned in a poem written by Sabbatian sectarians (Dönmeh) in Salonika that has only recently come to light.» — el nombre de la madre, Clara, recuperado de un poema de los Dönmeh de Salónica aparecido poco antes de escribir el libro.

«Let the man called Isaac be remembered for the good; by him he was taught the ways of serving God, and from the age of five or six he made himself like an ox bearing a yoke and an ass bearing a burden to serve God.» — la voz es la del Vision of R. Abraham de Natán de Gaza sobre el primer maestro de Sabbatai; la frase del buey y el asno viene del Talmud y del midrash Tanna debey Eliyahu.

«The words of praise do not refer to Isaac Luria as one might be tempted to think, but to Sabbatai’s first teacher.» — la enmienda de identificación que Scholem hace a esa cita: el Isaac de la bendición no es Isaac Luria.

«Rabbi Isaac, who for six years labored with AMIRAH25 in the spiritual life, and AMIRAH first studied with him.» — la voz es la de Moses Pinheiro, amigo de juventud de Sabbatai; AMIRAH es el acrónimo con que los creyentes lo nombraban.

«From what we know of the rabbis of Smyrna it seems probable that the reference is to Isaac di Alba,» — la identificación que Scholem propone con su grado declarado: probablemente Isaac di Alba, luego firmante de la carta del tribunal de Esmirna contra Sabbatai.

«Thereafter he continued his studies under the most illustrious rabbi of Smyrna at the time, Joseph Eskapha, the author of Rosh Yosef and a recognized halakhist.» — el segundo maestro: Joseph Eskapha, el rabino más ilustre de Esmirna y autor del Rosh Yosef.

«Even after he had become a controversial personality no one ever thought of denying his competence as a Talmudic scholar.» — el punto en que, según Scholem, nadie disputó a Sabbatai: su competencia talmúdica.

«Thomas Coenen, the Protestant minister serving the Dutch congregation in Smyrna, tells us (no doubt on the authority of Sabbatai Ṣevi’s family) that he received the title ḥakham, the Sephardi honorific for a rabbi, when still an adolescent.» — la voz es la de Thomas Coenen, ministro protestante de la congregación neerlandesa de Esmirna, que Scholem cuenta entre sus fuentes centrales.

«Indeed, his opponents would call him a fool or madman but never an ignoramus.» — la fórmula con que Scholem fija lo que los opositores sí y no le imputaban.

«It hardly seems probable that the study of “matters pertaining to piety” and the strict discipline of the ascetic life of a Hasid should precede the normal study of law, nor that a child five or six years old should devote himself to their practice.» — la objeción que Scholem hace a la secuencia del Vision of R. Abraham: mal puede un niño de cinco o seis años emprender la disciplina ascética.

«When he [Sabbatai] was six years old a flame appeared in a dream and caused a burn on his penis; and dreams would frighten him but he never told anyone.» — la voz es del Vision of R. Abraham: la llama que en sueños le quemó el miembro a los seis años.

«And the sons of whoredom [the demons] accosted him so as to cause him to stumble and they beat him, but he would not hearken unto them. They were the sons of Naʿamah, the scourges of the children of man, who would always pursue him so as to lead him astray.» — sigue el apocalipsis: los hijos de la fornicación, azotes de los hijos del hombre, que lo perseguían.

«The vision or dream of a flame descending and injuring his sexual organ does, however, express what may have happened to a sixteen-year-old.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre ese relato: la escena corresponde más a los dieciséis años que a los seis.

«The reference to the injury is evidently an allusion to Sabbatai’s refusal to consummate any of his different marriages» — y lo que lee en la lesión: alusión a la negativa de Sabbatai a consumar sus matrimonios.

«The latter is the Zohar’s technical term for those demons born of masturbation, when Naʿamah, the queen of demons, seduces men by lascivious fantasies.» — la terminología que Scholem identifica en el pasaje: los demonios nacidos de la masturbación, con Naʿamah reina de los demonios.

«Contrary to what is stated there, it must be assumed that the story, which was probably told to Nathan by Sabbatai himself, refers to real temptations which he experienced in his adolescence when he set out upon the ascetic path—temptations that particularly beset those who embark on the spiritual and ascetic life.» — la adjudicación de Scholem: el relato viene del propio Sabbatai y describe tentaciones reales de su adolescencia.

«Moses Cordovero had already stated in his ʾOr Neʿerab35 that the appropriate age for commencing the study of the Zohar was “when man reached half the years of understanding.» — la autoridad con que Scholem normaliza el dato de que Sabbatai empezó la cábala hacia los dieciocho o veinte años.

«It appears that the ban was enacted as a result of the Sabbatian movement, and even so it is doubtful that it ever had any practical significance.» — la datación que Scholem propone para la prohibición de estudiar cábala antes de los cuarenta: posterior al movimiento, y de eficacia dudosa.

«According to their reports Sabbatai studied kabbalah by himself, without teacher and mentor and, at first, even without colleagues.» — el dato que Scholem dice que ha causado sorpresa, con dos testigos de Esmirna: Sabbatai estudió cábala solo, sin maestro.

«In the science of truth [kabbalah] he [Sabbatai] never studied any other books but the Zohar and the book Qanah.» — la voz es la de Moses Pinheiro, escribiendo en Liorna años después de la apostasía: Sabbatai no leyó en cábala más que el Zohar y el libro Qanah.

«He learned everything from himself, for he was one of the four to arrive at the knowledge of their Creator by themselves, as it is stated in the midrash; these are Abraham, Hezekiah, Job, and the messiah.» — sigue Pinheiro: Sabbatai se contaba entre los cuatro que llegaron por sí mismos al conocimiento de su Creador, según el midrash.

«He also said that he attained to it [to his doctrine of the Mystery of the Godhead] because he always prayed with great concentration (kawwanah) and always meditated on the plain meaning of the words, like one praying before his King.» — sigue Pinheiro sobre el método de Sabbatai: oración con gran concentración y meditación en el sentido llano de las palabras.

«At times he would recoil at the thought of saying such things of En-Sof, but he worked much to know the truth until he attained his great insights.» — y la perplejidad que Pinheiro le atribuye: retrocedía ante lo que habría que decir del En-Sof.

«He never practiced any [of the standard kabbalistic] meditations, except as indicated above.» — el dato que Scholem tiene por decisivo: Sabbatai no practicaba las meditaciones cabalísticas al uso.

«In the years 1644–48, when Sabbatai began his kabbalistic studies, Lurianic kabbalism was in the ascendant and practically all students of kabbalah immersed themselves in the writings—printed and in manuscript—of the Safed mystics.» — el contexto que Scholem opone al testimonio: en esos años todo estudiante de cábala se sumergía en los escritos de Safed.

«Pinheiro does not tell us what we would have expected to hear: how Sabbatai immersed himself in Lurianic kabbalism or in the writings of Cordovero, how he surpassed all his fellow students in his understanding of the mighty and complicated drama on which Lurianic kabbalah is based.» — y lo que el testimonio no dice, que es lo que a Scholem le importa: nada de inmersión en el lurianismo ni en Cordovero.

«His reading was restricted to the five volumes of the Zohar and the two volumes of the Qanah.» — la lectura acotada del joven Sabbatai según Scholem.

«The two books were not yet printed in Sabbatai’s days and only the Hasidim, toward the end of the eighteenth century, dared to publish them.» — el estado editorial del Peliʾah y el Qanah en el siglo XVII: circulaban en copias manuscritas.

«Moses Cordovero advised students not to use them, attacked some of their doctrines, and actually declared that they were of a late date, in spite of their disguise as productions of the Talmudic period.» — el desacuerdo entre autoridades que Scholem consigna: Cordovero desaconsejaba esos libros y los databa tardíos pese a su disfraz talmúdico.

«But they were esteemed by Luria’s circle, which upheld their early date, as appears from Luria’s own words quoted by Vital in the introduction to ʿEṣ Ḥayyim.» — y la posición contraria del círculo de Luria, que sostenía su antigüedad; las dos se consignan sin arbitrar.

«are a curious combination of mystical devotion and reverence for Talmudic halakhah and of half-veiled but occasionally very radical criticism of halakhic methods and precepts.» — el carácter que Scholem le adjudica al Peliʾah y al Qanah: devoción mística y reverencia a la halajá con crítica a veces radical de sus métodos.

«The author clearly wished to preserve the world of halakhah, but only by showing that a purely interpretive or “literal” Judaism simply cannot exist, and that there was no autonomous sphere of Talmudic and legal reasoning.» — la tesis de esos libros según Scholem: no hay judaísmo puramente literal ni esfera legal autónoma.

«We need not assume with Graetz that the author was a decided anti-Talmudist hiding his deadly critique under a cloak of kabbalistic piety. The book contains enough explosive material even if we do not credit the author with conscious anti-nomian intent.» — la enmienda que Scholem hace a Graetz y el límite que pone a la vez: el material es explosivo aunque no se le suponga intención antinomiana consciente.

«Very possibly the seed sown by the study of the Peliʾah and Qanah41 yielded fruit in its season, when visions of exaltation and greatness swept Sabbatai into their vortex.» — la conjetura que Scholem propone en ese grado: la semilla de esas lecturas dio fruto cuando llegaron las visiones de exaltación.

«It is a common error to regard these ascetic practices as evidence of Luria’s influence, for, as a matter of fact, popular piety (or “practical kabbalah,” as the misleading terminology of modern historians has labeled it) received its inspiration from Moses Cordovero, the master of “theoretical” kabbalah, and his disciples, rather than from Luria.» — la enmienda que Scholem hace a la historiografía corriente: la piedad popular venía de Cordovero, no de Luria.

«More than anything, the fact that Sabbatai abstained from special meditations at prayer shows his aloofness from, or even opposition to, Lurianic kabbalah.» — el índice mayor de la distancia de Sabbatai con el lurianismo: no meditaba en la oración.

«Instead he “concentrates on the words,” that is, simply speaks them with heartfelt devotion and with intellectual concentration on their exact sense, “like one speaking to a king,” careful not to attach hidden meaning to his words.» — la oración de Sabbatai según Scholem: simple por principio, sin sentido oculto añadido a las palabras.

«He is at home in the writings of the “ancients” (that is, in what was considered in his time to be ancient literature), but eschews the kabbalah of the later masters, seeking his own key to the Zohar.» — la fórmula con que Scholem lo aparta de sus contemporáneos cabalistas.

«He certainly is not representative of the new forces that moved kabbalistic thought; if he functioned as a kind of transformer of these forces, he did so unconsciously and unwittingly.» — y la reserva con que lo dice: si obró como transformador de esas fuerzas, fue sin saberlo.

«Certainly Lurianic kabbalah played no part at all in Sabbatai’s first messianic awakening.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha, y que su propia tesis del capítulo 1 obliga a explicar: el lurianismo no intervino en el primer despertar mesiánico de Sabbatai.

«The remarkable fact that this young rabbi became the messiah of a world steeped in Lurianic kabbalism may serve as a lesson in the need for caution, for clearly the course of the movement was determined by the public climate more than by the personality or the inner life of the young kabbalist Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — la lección de cautela que Scholem saca de esa asimetría: el curso del movimiento lo decidió el clima público más que la persona.

«His thought may well have developed and deepened with the years. As a matter of fact the final and more complicated version of the mystery (so far as its details are known at all) does not correspond to the original and apparently much simpler formulation which a number of his disciples claim to have heard from his own lips in his youth in Smyrna.» — la advertencia de método sobre el Misterio de la Divinidad: las tradiciones de los discípulos difieren y la versión final no corresponde a la primera.

«For even if the few pages of the short tract called The Mystery of Faith are genuine and authentic—we shall return to the subject in the last chapter—they were dictated to a follower when he lived as an exile in Dulcigno, in Albania.» — la razón por la que Scholem no usa el único texto cabalístico conservado de Sabbatai para reconstruir sus ideas de juventud.

«Who is the God of Israel whom we address in prayer and whose commandments we obey?» — la pregunta de la que sale el Misterio de la Divinidad según Scholem.

«Did not the kabbalistic texts explicitly state that En-Sof had no attributes whatsoever, that it was even beyond will and thought, and that it was absolutely inaccessible and hidden?» — y la dificultad que la aviva: el En-Sof sin atributos, más allá de la voluntad y el pensamiento.

«All kabbalistic writings agree that the divine name correlated with Tifʾereth is YHWH; in this sefirah God expresses Himself as the God of Israel and reveals Himself in His characteristic and ineffable name.» — el punto de acuerdo cabalístico del que Sabbatai parte: el nombre YHWH corresponde a Tifʾereth.

«The hidden Mystery of the Godhead was the realization that the God, who revealed Himself to Israel in His Torah, was not the inaccessible and utterly transcendent En-Sof, but that particular aspect of His power which is manifest in Tifʾereth.» — la formulación primera del Misterio según Scholem: el Dios que se reveló a Israel no es el En-Sof trascendente sino el poder manifiesto en Tifʾereth.

«and as this symbolism was a commonplace among kabbalists, one may rightly wonder what Sabbatai’s original contribution to it was.» — la objeción que Scholem se hace a sí mismo: ese simbolismo era lugar común, y cabe preguntar qué aportó Sabbatai.

«Pinheiro reports that in 1650 Sabbatai revealed to him that the Mystery of the Godhead was nothing but the sixth sefirah, Tifʾereth, the “attribute of mercy and the name YHWH.» — el testimonio de Pinheiro sobre la revelación de 1650, recogido de sus conversaciones con Cardozo en Liorna en 1675.

«AMIRAH was then a mere youth and had only just begun to enter into the mystery of the Godhead, and as he adhered to the kabbalistic system of these sages he seized on the sefirah Tifʾereth. This is also what he revealed to the disciples in 1650, and when they advanced objections from the Talmud,42 he met their objections with great sagacity and finally said to them: ‘The Lord will grant wisdom.» — la voz es la de Abraham Cardozo: Sabbatai era entonces un muchacho que se aferró a Tifʾereth y contestó a las objeciones talmúdicas con un el Señor dará sabiduría.

«The fact that the later formulations are much profounder suggests that Cardozo’s assumption may be correct and that Sabbatai’s thought developed as time went on. But we must not exclude the possibility that there was a profounder layer in his teaching from the very beginning.» — Scholem acepta la lectura de Cardozo con su reserva: no se excluye que hubiera desde el principio un estrato más hondo.

«It amounts to transferring the supervision of providence from the hidden substance (En-Sof, or whatever we choose to call it) to the “God of Israel.”» — la implicación que Scholem le extrae a esa paradoja: la providencia pasa de la sustancia oculta al Dios de Israel.

«What we know for certain is that Sabbatai’s mystical thinking developed in a definitely gnostic direction.» — lo que Scholem da por seguro tras declarar lo que no puede decidirse: el pensamiento místico de Sabbatai fue en dirección gnóstica.

«Although Sabbatai never accepted the propositions of Lurianism as they are formulated in the kabbalistic writings of the school, it is quite possible that they stimulated him to a more novel and daring formulation of his own Mystery of the Godhead.» — la conjetura de Scholem sobre el estímulo luriánico: el Adam Qadmon por encima de la emanación pudo empujarlo a su formulación.

«they [the qelippoth] would show him that they had dominion and that their power was equal to that of [the object of] his faith, which is Tifʾereth.» — la voz es la de Natán de Gaza en el Treatise on the Dragons de 1666: en las depresiones de Sabbatai las qelippoth le mostraban un poder igual al del objeto de su fe.

«These excursions were not ordinary country walks but, probably, an imitation of similar practices by groups of kabbalists in sixteenth-century Safed.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre las salidas al campo del círculo de Esmirna: imitación de las prácticas de los cabalistas de Safed.

«The only deviation from the norm was Sabbatai’s exclusive study of the early kabbalists to the neglect of the doctrine of “intentions,” or meditation in prayer.» — lo único fuera de norma en aquel joven estudioso según Scholem.

«There is not one book that he has written, no treatise, not even a responsum or Talmudic novellae.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha sobre la obra escrita de Sabbatai: no hay ninguna.

«Judging from his later development, he was probably never capable of a sustained and organized creative intellectual effort» — el juicio que Scholem deriva de ese silencio: probablemente nunca fue capaz de un esfuerzo intelectual sostenido y organizado.

«He did not approach his wife and preferred to divorce her a few months later, after his father-in-law had complained to the rabbinic court.» — el primer matrimonio de Sabbatai, no consumado y disuelto tras la queja del suegro al tribunal rabínico.

«Coenen reports that the local populace accounted for Sabbatai’s behavior by reference to his excessive purity and saintliness.» — la explicación que corría en Esmirna según Coenen: pureza y santidad excesivas.

«On the other hand, Leyb b. Ozer noted rumors that Sabbatai had declared that the Holy Spirit had revealed to him only after the wedding that this woman was not his predestined mate.» — la otra explicación que Scholem consigna sin armonizar, la de Leyb b. Ozer: el Espíritu Santo le habría revelado que aquella mujer no era la predestinada.

«Needless to add that such epithets, when used by opponents in polemical writings, are not to be overvalued.» — la cautela que Scholem pone a los epítetos de loco y necio usados en la polémica.

«In matters of religion and faith, who has not been dubbed “mad,” “foolish,” or “wicked” by his enemies?» — y la pregunta con que la sostiene: en materia de religión, quién no ha sido llamado loco o malvado por sus enemigos.

«on our wanderings, when we wandered through the fields with the kabbalist R. Solomon Alkabeṣ48 and discussed verses from the Pentateuch, all of a sudden [that is, spontaneously] and without conscious thinking new insights came to us that cannot be believed unless one has seen or experienced it a number of times.» — la voz es la de Moses Cordovero en el ʾOr Neʿerab sobre esas caminatas: intuiciones repentinas al discutir versículos por los campos con Solomon Alkabeṣ.

«His contemporaries speak of him as a madman, a lunatic, or a fool, and even his followers admitted that his behavior, at least from puberty onward, provided ample reason for these appellations.» — lo que Scholem consigna sin arbitrar: los contemporáneos lo tenían por loco y aun sus seguidores admitían que su conducta daba motivo.

«The statements of his opponents must be assessed even more critically if we remember that none of them ever spoke to Sabbatai or knew him.» — la criba de fuentes que Scholem aplica: ninguno de los opositores que escribieron sobre Sabbatai habló con él ni lo conoció.

«It is a strange fact that of the “unbelievers” who did know him none troubled to write down his report.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha: los incrédulos que sí lo conocieron no dejaron testimonio escrito.

«Some have spoken of pathological hysteria, others of paranoia. Because none could adduce definite proof,53 and because their information derives from secondary and antagonistic sources, it would be easy to dismiss their theories as mere guess-work.» — los diagnósticos anteriores que Scholem consigna y el motivo por el que serían descartables: ninguno adujo prueba y todos venían de fuentes secundarias y hostiles.

«However, the picture has changed completely with the discovery of the original Sabbatian sources. These preserve the memoirs of members of Sabbatai’s closest entourage and thus enable us to re-examine critically the core of truth contained in the polemical writings of his opponents.» — lo que cambia el cuadro según Scholem: los documentos sabatianos originales, memorias del entorno más próximo.

«The manic-depressive type develops with puberty, and the characteristic pathological phenomena generally appear between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five and not during infancy.» — el dato clínico con que Scholem apoya su relectura del apocalipsis de Natán: los síntomas aparecen entre los quince y los veinticinco años.

«The “ups” consist of states of excessive mental exaltation, joyful enthusiasm and feelings of sublime happiness to the point of ecstasy, and the certainty of inspiration from above.» — la descripción de la fase alta que Scholem toma de la psiquiatría: exaltación, éxtasis y certeza de inspiración de lo alto.

«Then there are the “downs”: periods of dejection and melancholia, utter passivity and lack of initiative, agony of mind and a feeling of being persecuted from without and— worse—even from within.» — y la fase baja: abatimiento, pasividad y sentimiento de persecución desde fuera y desde dentro.

«It is different with the manic-depressive psychosis which, though certainly introducing dangerous oscillations into the mental life of the sufferer, does not loosen the bonds of reason.» — y el contraste con la esquizofrenia, que Scholem describe como destructiva de la unidad de la persona.

«It is precisely this typical pattern that began to emerge as Sabbatai Ṣevi approached his twentieth year, and it fully manifested itself when he was twenty-two.» — la cronología que Scholem fija para la aparición del patrón.

«He would quote Isaiah 14:14, ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high’ …, and once it happened that he recited this verse with such ecstasy that he imagined himself to be floating in the air.» — la voz es la de Coenen recogiendo a los conciudadanos de Esmirna: Sabbatai recitaba el versículo de Isaías con éxtasis y se imaginaba flotando.

«You were not worthy to behold this glorious sight because you were not purified like me.» — la respuesta que Coenen atribuye a Sabbatai cuando sus amigos negaron haberlo visto levitar.

«One hint was added to another until, at last, he revealed himself as the messiah son of David.» — la gradación con que Scholem describe la primera revelación en el círculo de Esmirna.

«By itself the diagnosis of a manic-depressive psychosis does not tell us anything about the content or value of the patient’s thoughts and actions.» — el límite que Scholem pone a su propio diagnóstico: no dice nada del contenido ni del valor de lo pensado y hecho.

«The young rabbi, whose conscious life was devoted to ascetic piety and who mortified himself for six days each week, would transgress the law and act in a manner that seemed strangely incompatible with his normal behavior.» — la contradicción que Scholem sitúa en el centro del personaje: el asceta que en la exaltación transgredía la ley.

«This highly significant and ambiguous term, maʿasim zarim, has a double meaning in Sabbatian tradition. It refers to actions which in themselves were not prohibited by either biblical or rabbinic law, but were merely bizarre, strange and amazing, bordering perhaps on the absurd and foolish; but it also refers to actual transgressions, both light and serious, of Jewish religious law.» — el término sabatiano de los actos extraños, cuyo doble sentido Scholem desglosa: lo meramente bizarro y la transgresión real.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi felt himself subject to a superior and mysterious impulse that drove him to act in a thoroughly irrational way, flouting the commandments of the Torah and offending its dignity.» — cómo vivía Sabbatai esos actos según Scholem: un impulso superior y misterioso que lo llevaba a ofender la dignidad de la Torá.

«These actions no doubt expressed a hidden and unconscious opposition to traditional religious law, at first in a relatively harmless, later in a more violent form.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre esos actos: oposición oculta e inconsciente a la ley religiosa tradicional.

«They amount to what in an otherwise rather passive personality could be called an attitude of aggression.» — y el nombre que les da dentro de una personalidad por lo demás pasiva: agresión.

«It is said of him [Sabbatai Ṣevi] that for fifteen years he has been afflicted in the following manner: he suffers anxieties that leave him constantly depressed and do not even permit him to read, without his being able to say what is the nature of this pain that has come upon him.» — la voz es la de Samuel Gandoor, cabalista de la corte del nagid Raphael Joseph Chelebi, en el testimonio más temprano sobre la enfermedad.

«Thus he suffers until the anxiety departs from him, when he returns with great joy to his studies. For many years he has suffered from this illness and no doctor has found a remedy for it, but it is the sufferings [inflicted] by Heaven.» — sigue Gandoor: ningún médico halló remedio y lo atribuye a sufrimientos del Cielo.

«R. Sabbatai Ṣevi was suddenly overcome by anxiety [that is, depression] and he remained in his house, like a man sick with worry [in a state of melancholia], for he could not even go to read [the liturgy of the Shabuʿoth vigil] with R. Abraham Nathan, as is the custom [of that night].» — el episodio de la vigilia de Shabuʿoth de 1665 que Gandoor consigna: Sabbatai quedó en casa, enfermo de angustia.

«It is noteworthy that no mention is made in this account of the manic phases of the illness.» — lo que Scholem señala que falta en ese testimonio: las fases maníacas.

«The description corroborates the statement in psychiatric textbooks that although the depression is keenly felt by the patient and considered by him an acute illness, no such consciousness of disease exists with regard to his manic euphoria.» — la explicación clínica que Scholem le da a esa ausencia: la euforia maníaca no se vive como enfermedad.

«For after the beginning of the mass movement in 1666, the believers no longer spoke of an “illness.” This term disappears.» — el cambio de vocabulario que Scholem fecha en 1666: los creyentes dejan de hablar de enfermedad.

«In their view both phases of the disease were divine dispensations for which they employed theological terms, traditional ones as well as new coinages, corresponding exactly to the modern terms “depression” and “mania.”» — y lo que pusieron en su lugar: términos teológicos que Scholem hace corresponder exactamente con depresión y manía.

«the severe afflictions, too immense to be conceived, which R. Sabbatai Ṣevi suffered on behalf of the Jewish nation.» — la voz es la de Natán de Gaza en el verano de 1665, dando sentido teológico a la melancolía de Sabbatai.

«All the sufferings of Job really refer to him [Sabbatai] who has suffered many great afflictions by all kinds of qelippoth.» — la voz es la de Natán en el Treatise on the Dragons: los sufrimientos de Job se refieren a Sabbatai.

«The reference is clearly not to voluntary fasts and mortifications, as has been erroneously thought.» — la enmienda que Scholem hace a lecturas previas de ese pasaje: no habla de ayunos voluntarios.

«Many times when he stood in the height of heaven, he fell again into the depth of the great abyss where the serpents tempted him, saying, ‘Where is thy God» — sigue Natán describiendo la caída al abismo donde las serpientes lo tentaban preguntándole dónde está su Dios.

«This is a thing which reason can hardly bear, yet he remained steadfast in his faith. Also apart from this he suffered other severe and bitter afflictions in all his limbs; and when he was thus tempted, his name was Job.» — cierre de esa cita de Natán: cosa que la razón apenas soporta, y en la tentación su nombre era Job.

«And as he labored to extract great holiness from among the qelippoth, they would attach themselves to him whenever his illumination63 was taken away, and then they would show him that they too had dominion» — sigue el Treatise on the Dragons: las qelippoth se le pegaban cuando se le quitaba la iluminación.

«But when the illumination came over him, in the days of calm and rejoicing … then he was in the state of which it is said [of Job] “and eschewed evil”; for then he emerged from the realm of the qelippoth where he had sunk in the days of darkness.» — y el reverso: con la iluminación salía del reino de las qelippoth.

«Sabbatai’s illness was not a matter of a single, unique transition from illumination to depression; the change was a regular, recurring phenomenon.» — lo que Scholem extrae de esos textos: la alternancia era regular y recurrente, no un tránsito único.

«The days of “anguish” and depression regularly alternate with days of rejoicing and illumination, according to a scheme which is a strange mixture of mythology and psychology.» — y cómo caracteriza el esquema resultante: mezcla extraña de mitología y psicología.

«with the difference that we are now explicitly told that these seductions or allurements pursued him only when “God’s face was hid from him.» — la diferencia que Scholem mide entre el Vision of R. Abraham y el Treatise on the Dragons: ahora las seducciones se sitúan solo en el ocultamiento del rostro.

«such as his faithful servants,” know that at the time his face was “like the face of Moses which was like the face of the sun.» — la voz es la de Israel Ḥazzan sobre el rostro de Sabbatai en los días de iluminación en Adrianópolis.

«I talked to people who had eaten and drunk with him and who had been with him in the fortress where he was imprisoned but who were not of his party. They told me that there is no comparison to his majesty» — la voz es la de Leyb b. Ozer citando a testigos que no eran de su partido.

«They also testified that whenever he was singing songs of praise to God, as he would do several times every day, it was impossible to look into his face, for it was like looking into a fire. Many worthy people who had visited him have testified to this, and although they opposed him, yet they confirmed that this was the truth; for this reason also many believed in him.» — sigue ese testimonio: era imposible mirarle la cara al cantar, y aun los que se le oponían lo confirmaban.

«About 1673 Nathan writes in a letter that “at the times when God lets His light shine upon him [Sabbatai], he does some exceedingly strange things in the sight of all.» — la voz es la de Natán hacia 1673 ligando los actos extraños a los momentos de iluminación.

«Keep as far away as possible from AMIRAH when he is in a state of illumination, for at such moments he wants to persuade all those in his presence to embrace Islam!» — la advertencia que Israel Ḥazzan atribuye a Natán tras la apostasía: en la iluminación Sabbatai quería persuadir a todos de abrazar el islam.

«He did not have any regular sleep, only dozed occasionally, and his face was like a shining mirror and like the sun going forth in its might.» — la voz es la de R. Solomon Kohen, creyente de Volinia que lo vio una semana entera en Adrianópolis en 1672.

«When the messianic king comes, he will not reveal himself by [bringing complete] redemption, but he will appear first in all manner of pain and suffering, as our very eyes have seen it with Our Lord in whom there is at some times darkness and at others light.» — la voz es la de Abraham Yakhini en el Wawey haʿAmudim, dando forma doctrinal a la alternancia.

«I remained in Durazzo for fifteen days and sent a messenger to ask for permission [to visit Sabbatai] but he refused. So I was compelled to come here to Berat and wait until his great light would shine again.» — la voz es la de Natán en 1675 a los rabinos de Kastoria: no lo dejaron ver a Sabbatai, que estaba en el misterio del bar nafle, el caído.

«And the Lord saw my great affliction [or sickness] and covered me with great joy and comfort, by which I understood … that the expected time for the hope of Israel is very near…. My soul, whose trouble and anguish were great, has now been filled with light and leaps with joy.» — la voz es la del propio Sabbatai en la carta conservada en traducción latina por Johann Heinrich Hottinger, escrita al llegar a Galípoli en 1666.

«The times of Our Lord the true messiah [Sabbatai Ṣevi] were diverse, at times [he was] in an exalted illumination, at others in darkness, as is well known to the faithful. Therefore David said [Ps. 31:15], ‘My times are in thy hand.» — la voz es la de Abraham Yakhini en 1681: los tiempos del mesías fueron diversos, a ratos en iluminación y a ratos en tinieblas, cosa sabida de los fieles.

«from a manic-depressive psychosis, possibly combined with some paranoid traits—a constitutional disease, perhaps not a mental illness at all in the ordinary sense, though psychiatrists generally consider it as such.» — el diagnóstico retrospectivo que Scholem propone, con su reserva: enfermedad constitucional, quizá no una enfermedad mental en sentido ordinario; Dweck cita el arranque de la frase por la página impresa 126.

«speaks of periods of “illumination” and of the “hiding of the face” respectively.» — los dos términos de esa teología del ánimo en Natán, Baruch de Arezzo, Abraham Yakhini, Mattathias Bloch Ashkenazi, Jacob Najara e Israel Ḥazzan: iluminación y ocultamiento del rostro.

«how in the year 1648 the Spirit of God descended upon him one night while he was walking at about two hours distance from the city in solitary meditation, until he heard the voice of God speaking to him» — la voz es la de R. Solomon Laniado de Alepo en 1669, refiriendo lo que Sabbatai le contó de su primera revelación de 1648.

«Thou art the savior of Israel, the messiah, the son of David, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and thou art destined to redeem Israel, to gather it from the four corners of the earth to Jerusalem» — las palabras que, según ese relato, oyó Sabbatai de la voz de Dios.

«From that moment on he was clothed with the Holy Spirit and with a great illumination; he pronounced the [ineffable] name of God and performed all sorts of strange actions as seemed fit to him by reason of the mystical tiqqun intended by them. Those who saw him did not understand his actions, and in their eyes he was like a fool.» — sigue Laniado: pronunció el Nombre y ejecutó actos extraños por el tiqqun místico que veía en ellos, y quienes lo vieron lo tomaron por necio.

«Every time he appeared again he had grown mightier, seeing what no mouth can utter, though at other times he suffered great anguish.» — sigue el relato de Laniado, con la alternancia dicha por el propio Sabbatai.

«But afterward he adjured God with a mighty oath and with many prayers and supplications not to tempt him again and since the day that he made this adjuration, the Holy Spirit has forsaken him and so has his illumination, and he became like an ordinary man.» — el desenlace que Laniado transmite: Sabbatai conjuró a Dios a no tentarlo más y desde entonces lo dejaron el Espíritu Santo y la iluminación.

«He also repented all of his “strange acts,” since he could no longer understand their [mystical] significance which he had understood when he originally performed them.» — cierre de esa cita: Sabbatai se arrepintió de sus actos extraños porque ya no entendía su sentido.

«We also learn that in his normal moods, after the illumination had departed and he was like “an ordinary man,” he himself could no longer understand the meaning of his actions, “repugnant to reason” and offensive as they were.» — lo que Scholem extrae del testimonio de Laniado: en sus horas normales Sabbatai no entendía el sentido de sus propios actos.

«If Gandoor, as we have seen, stresses the periods of depression (which he recognized as an illness), Laniado stresses the illuminations.» — el modo en que Scholem compone los dos testimonios sin arbitrar entre ellos.

«so that some people voiced their disapproval, calling him a fool from beginning to end» — la voz es la de Abraham Cuenque de Hebrón, creyente, que no oculta la desaprobación que la conducta de Sabbatai provocaba.

«He would retire to the mountains or caves without his brothers or family knowing his whereabouts; at other times he would withdraw to a miserable little room where he locked himself in and from which he emerged only occasionally» — sigue Cuenque: se retiraba a montes y cuevas o se encerraba en un cuartucho.

«His brothers were grieved by his behavior and were greatly ashamed but could not prevail upon him to change his ways…. Being wealthy, they felt disgraced by his behavior; they upbraided him but to no avail.» — y el efecto familiar que Cuenque describe: los hermanos ricos se sentían deshonrados.

«The epithet “fool” seems to have accompanied Sabbatai for many years and to have left an impression on him but, as happens often with such terms of abuse, he turned it into a title of honor for himself.» — el vuelco que Scholem mide en el insulto: Sabbatai lo convirtió en título.

«Israel Ḥazzan of Kastoria claimed to have seen a handwritten note of Sabbatai that began with the words, “Thus speaketh the utter fool.» — la nota autógrafa que Israel Ḥazzan dice haber visto, con la fórmula con que Sabbatai se nombraba.

«He who appeared in the eyes of the world as an utter fool was in his own eyes the holiest of saints!» — la fórmula con que Scholem cierra el punto, en la voz del retrato y no del juicio.

«Then the year 1648 arrives, which had been mentioned in the Zohar as the year of the resurrection, and which was widely believed to be the date of the potential, if not of the actual, redemption» — el cruce de cronologías que Scholem monta: el año que el Zohar daba para la resurrección.

«The cry went up from the whole House of Israel at the horrors of the Cossack insurrection that had broken out in Poland and Russia and that became known in Jewish history as the Chmielnicki massacres.» — y lo que ese año trajo en cambio: la insurrección cosaca de Polonia y Rusia.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi, torn between the extreme moods of exaltation and melancholia, must have been impressed both by the messianic expectations and by the shattering news, though we cannot tell which of the two affected him most.» — la abstención que Scholem declara: no puede decirse si pesaron más las noticias o la expectativa.

«The agitation that swept Jewry as a result of the atrocities and Sabbatai’s inner excitement during the euphoria of his illumination coalesced.» — la coincidencia que Scholem sí afirma: la agitación externa y la euforia interna se juntaron.

«I swear by my right hand and by the strength of my arm, that thou art the true redeemer, and there is none that redeemeth besides thee.» — las palabras de la voz según otra versión del relato, con el juramento por la diestra.

«There is no proof that anybody took him seriously at the time, and the view of historians to the contrary is based either on a misunderstanding of the original sources or on fantasy.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra la historiografía anterior: nadie lo tomó en serio en 1648.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi was considered to be ill or to be possessed by an evil spirit; if he provoked any reaction at all, it was pity rather than excitement or faith.» — y la reacción que sí hubo, según Scholem: lástima antes que entusiasmo o fe.

«But no trace of such factions seems to have remained, and even at the high tide of the movement nobody ever came forward to say that he had believed in Sabbatai as early as 1648.» — el argumento de silencio con que Scholem objeta la noticia de Coenen sobre facciones: nadie se presentó luego diciendo haber creído desde 1648.

«Elsewhere Coenen reports a detail that actually implies the contrary, for he tells us that after 1648 a very pleasant and fragrant odor exuded from Sabbatai’s body.» — el detalle con que Scholem apoya lo contrario: el olor fragante que se decía que exhalaba el cuerpo de Sabbatai desde 1648.

«Finally a Smyrna physician, Dr. Baruch,87 reproved Sabbatai, who thereupon took him home and stripped himself so that the physician could smell the odor.» — la escena que Coenen refiere: el médico reprendió a Sabbatai por usar perfumes y él se desnudó para que lo oliera.

«Sabbatai then told him of the vision of the patriarchs, who had anointed him with oil, and commanded him not to reveal this mystery to anyone until the proper time.» — y lo que le confió entonces: la visión de los patriarcas que lo ungieron, con orden de callar.

«a voice calling out three times, night after night, ‘Do not touch my anointed Sabbatai Ṣevi,’ and at the third time he was visited by the patriarchs who anointed him.» — la voz es la de Moses Pinheiro interrogado en Liorna sobre sus recuerdos: la voz que tres noches seguidas decía que no tocaran a su ungido.

«This witness suggests that the story of the anointing by the patriarchs was no late invention but formed part of the original account of Sabbatai’s vision as known to his intimate circle.» — lo que Scholem deduce de la coincidencia entre Laniado, Coenen y Pinheiro: el relato de la unción no es invención tardía.

«Sabbatian tradition thus substituted Elijah for the patriarchs, and it seems probable that Sabbatai himself later altered the story when he told it to the faithful.» — la variante que Scholem consigna y su hipótesis sobre ella: el calendario sabatiano pone a Elías en lugar de los patriarcas.

«After being anointed messiah by the patriarchs, his face was exceedingly bright and shining, like the face of Moses after the giving of the Law» — el detalle que Coenen recogió de los hermanos de Sabbatai, ligando la unción al brillo del rostro.

«There is no evidence that Sabbatai experienced messianic dreams when not in a state of manic exaltation, and there is not the slightest proof that he made any messianic claims in public.» — la doble negativa que Scholem ficha: ni sueños mesiánicos fuera de la exaltación ni reclamo público.

«some twenty years ago, he [Sabbatai] opened his mouth, saying, ‘I am the messiah’ and uttering the Ineffable Name of God, so that the great rabbi Joseph Eskapha, who was his principal teacher, rebuked and outlawed him, and announced ‘whoever strikes him down first deserves well, for he will lead Israel into sin and make a new religion.’ He also wrote to Constantinople about this matter.» — la voz es la de Jacob Sasportas hacia 1669: Sabbatai se habría proclamado mesías y pronunciado el Nombre, y Joseph Eskapha lo puso fuera de la ley.

«Sasportas’ details are not always reliable, particularly as he was fond of rewriting earlier accounts and statements in the light of subsequent developments.» — la criba que Scholem aplica a Sasportas: reescribía relatos anteriores a la luz de lo que vino después.

«What Sabbatai definitely did do in public—and apparently more than once—was to pronounce the holy name of God; all the rest, and particularly the messianic proclamations, are probably later additions.» — lo que Scholem retiene de ese testimonio y lo que descarta: la pronunciación del Nombre sí, la proclamación mesiánica probablemente no.

«but there is nowhere the slightest hint that the messiah was supposed to pronounce the Ineffable Name. Indeed, the subject is never mentioned in rabbinic sayings about the messianic era.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha contra la lectura mesiánica del gesto: ninguna fuente rabínica liga el Nombre pronunciado al mesías.

«Sabbatai’s action merely implied that the new age was at hand, and that he did not distinguish clearly between the world to come and the messianic era; it was a proclamation of imminent redemption and not of the messiah’s person.» — la lectura que Scholem propone del gesto: proclamación de la redención inminente, no de la persona del mesías.

«We know from an unimpeachable source that in 1650 Sabbatai and his friends were still in Smyrna, studying kabbalah without hindrance.» — el dato con que Scholem objeta la cronología de Sasportas sin llamarla falsa: en 1650 el círculo seguía en Esmirna sin estorbo.

«Cardozo had spoken to them personally102 and learned that Moses Pinheiro had received the Mystery of the Godhead from Sabbatai in Smyrna, in 1650, and so had the rabbis Barzillay, Moses Calameri, Silveira, and some others.» — los nombres del círculo de 1650 que Cardozo recogió de viva voz en Esmirna en 1675.

«They show that they were mainly concerned with Sabbatai’s Mystery of the Godhead, and not with belief in his messiahship» — lo que Scholem concluye de esos nombres: al círculo le interesaba el Misterio de la Divinidad, no la mesianidad.

«Coenen tells us that as early as 1665 there was talk of a miracle said to have happened to Sabbatai about 1648–50 when he was almost drowned in a whirlpool while bathing in the sea.» — el episodio del remolino del que Sabbatai salió con vida hacia 1648-50, que los sabatianos harían fiesta.

«16 Kislev—the day when he rose from the sea and was saved; it is like the day of Purim.» — la entrada del calendario festivo sabatiano más antiguo conservado.

«His disciple Barzillay was strong, till evening he cried. He brought new clothes from his home, and rejoiced with the son of David.» — la voz es la de un himno sabatiano sobre aquel día, que nombra al discípulo Barzillay.

«Sabbatai did not discover his Mystery of the Godhead at once in his manic illuminations. It is more probable that the idea that the true God of his faith was the sefirah Tifʾereth, or the supernal principle within the sefirah, emerged slowly and as a result of prolonged searching.» — la cautela con que Scholem data el Misterio: no salió de golpe en las iluminaciones.

«In the symbolic language of kabbalism this can only mean that he rose to the sefirah Binah, which is also called the Supernal Mother.» — la lectura que Scholem hace del apocalipsis yemení Gey Ḥizzayon: subir a la madre es subir a Binah.

«He had risen to the stage of Binah (“Understanding”), and had “understood” the Mystery of the Godhead, but Israel was in mourning over the unabating atrocities in Poland.» — y la interpretación que propone en ese grado: Sabbatai habría entendido el Misterio mientras Israel guardaba luto.

«He was known as a sick man, and his strange behavior was of little consequence, particularly as it manifested itself only when the spirit was upon him.» — el saldo del episodio de 1648 según Scholem: se le tenía por enfermo y su conducta no tuvo consecuencia.

«Without method or deliberate purpose, Sabbatai’s actions established a pattern of positive experience that went beyond the recognized limits of historical Judaism.» — lo que Scholem adjudica a los actos extraños sin atribuirles plan: un patrón de experiencia positiva fuera de los límites del judaísmo histórico.

«Transgressions” by ordinary, traditional standards, these actions, such as uttering the Ineffable Name, were positive commandments to Sabbatai and acts of tiqqun, which he performed at a superior, divine behest.» — la doble lectura del mismo acto que Scholem consigna: transgresión para la norma común y mandamiento positivo para Sabbatai.

«The very possibility of such a positive evaluation points to the presence of latent antinomian tendencies.» — y lo que esa valoración positiva revela según Scholem: tendencias antinomianas latentes.

«Yet this paradox proved to be his one distinct and dangerous contribution to the movement that bore his name.» — la contribución que Scholem le adjudica al propio Sabbatai: la paradoja de hacer una buena obra pecando.

«The inner law of the Sabbatian movement sprang from the depth of its founder’s torn personality, though he himself lacked the intellectual power to formulate it.» — la tesis que ordena el libro entero: la ley interna del movimiento sale de la personalidad partida de su fundador, que no supo formularla.

«To Sabbatai, these strange acts remained mere mystical improvisations, whose profound and holy mystery he could neither fully grasp nor explain.» — cómo vivía Sabbatai sus propios actos según Scholem: improvisaciones místicas cuyo misterio no alcanzaba a explicar.

«We do not know what brought about the intensification of the action against him.» — la abstención que Scholem declara sobre el paso de la tolerancia a la persecución.

«This shows that Our Lord, before his kingdom became manifest, used to pronounce the holy name when reciting the blessing during his illuminations…. This is the meaning of ‘thou preventest’—thou preventest [= anticipate] his fame by ‘blessings of goodness,’ that is, by his blessings in which he uttered the divine name.» — la voz es la de Israel Ḥazzan leyendo el Salmo 21:3 como alusión al hábito de Sabbatai de pronunciar el Nombre en las bendiciones durante sus iluminaciones.

«and they went up the mountains and Sabbatai cried to the sun with a mighty voice to stand still, and so did his disciples, until they were ashamed.» — la voz es la de Emanuel Frances de Liorna, enemigo del movimiento, contando el intento de detener el sol; Scholem declara que no puede verificar el relato.

«that his little finger was bigger than his [Eskapha’s] loins113 and that he excommunicated him and his associates» — la respuesta que Frances atribuye a Sabbatai ante la amenaza de excomunión: devolvió el anatema a Joseph Eskapha y a su tribunal.

«When it was suggested killing Sabbatai, R. Eskapha objected and advised “castigating him, so that he should not return to his foolish ways, and banishing him from the city.» — la resolución que Frances atribuye a Eskapha: castigo y destierro en lugar de muerte.

«These reports cannot simply be dismissed as polemical inventions, since they are supported by Sabbatai’s statement to Laniado concerning his great exorcism of the Holy Spirit in 1665.» — por qué Scholem no descarta las noticias sobre la cábala práctica de Sabbatai: las apoya lo que él mismo le contó a Laniado.

«The fact of his persecution by the rabbis seems to be established beyond doubt by testimonies from both sides, though the details are far from clear and no original documents on the subject have survived.» — lo que Scholem da por establecido y lo que declara oscuro sobre la persecución de Esmirna.

«proclaimed himself a prophet”—he does not say messiah—“and the whole congregation persecuted him. He and his friends were thoroughly beaten, and banished from the district.» — la voz es la de R. Joseph ha-Levi de Liorna, que dice profeta y no mesías.

«In 1665 Nathan writes119 that Sabbatai “suffered exile for eighteen years, hunted from pillar to post, and many a time his blood was declared free for all.» — la voz es la de Natán de Gaza en 1665, contando dieciocho años de exilio y persecución de Sabbatai.

«Very possibly his banishment was precipitated by an increase in the violence of his disease leading him to more serious transgressions of the Law.» — la conjetura que Scholem propone en ese grado sobre la causa del destierro.

«We may thus put the probable date some time between 1651 and 1654.» — la horquilla que Scholem fija para la salida de Esmirna, entre una crónica neerlandesa y una carta jesuita.

«This servant told me many stories and details about Sabbatai Ṣevi. But since for many of these I depend on his word alone—they may be either true or false—I preferred not to recount them here…. But everything that I have told so far has been vouched for by this servant or valet.» — la voz es la de Leyb b. Ozer declarando la reserva con que usó a Yeḥiel, el criado de Sabbatai, como fuente.

«Here the critical historian finds himself on the horns of an uncomfortable dilemma. Either Yeḥiel is responsible for all the chronological inaccuracies and bad mistakes in Leyb’s “account,” in which case he was certainly a liar and his testimony has no value» — el dilema de fuentes que Scholem plantea sin resolver: o el criado mentía o Leyb no supo asimilar lo que le contaba.

«Leyb’s account of Sabbatai’s travels in the “dark years” until 1665 is undeniably the worst and most unreliable of all, and can be refuted at almost every point.» — la criba que Scholem aplica al relato de Leyb b. Ozer sobre los años oscuros.

«The gravest doubts must arise as to the value of the whole memoir which, nevertheless, often reveals sound historical and psychological insight.» — y la reserva con que a la vez lo conserva: el memorial revela a menudo buen criterio histórico y psicológico.

«came to Jerusalem without servants and attendants. He lived alone in one room, fasting throughout the week and on Sabbath eve buying Sabbath provisions himself.» — la voz es la de Abraham Cuenque de Hebrón, que contradice la existencia del criado.

«Pending the discovery of further documents, our attitude to Yeḥiel’s story of his thirteen years of service with Sabbatai Ṣevi must be marked by extreme caution.» — la regla de cautela con que Scholem cierra el punto sin arbitrar entre los dos testimonios.

«sometime between 1651 and 1654 Sabbatai was compelled to leave his birthplace and go into exile.» — lo poco que Scholem da por sabido de ese tramo.

«There is not the slightest historical justification for any of these fond inventions.» — la negativa con que Scholem despacha esa cadena de hipótesis.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi needed no Christians to be impressed with the probability of 1666 being a messianic year. He had much closer stimuli in this direction from his immediate religious tradition and upbringing.» — el argumento que opone: el estímulo estaba en su propia tradición.

«There is not a shred of evidence to show that Mordecai Ṣevi’s employers were millenarians, and we may positively assert that they could not have mentioned 1666 as a messianic year.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha sobre los patrones ingleses del padre.

«The propaganda for this date made its appearance in Dutch and English literature in the fifties only, that is, after Sabbatai had left Smyrna.» — el argumento cronológico que la sostiene: la propaganda del año 1666 aparece en los años cincuenta.

«Parallelism and synchronicity are no rare phenomena in history, but as an explanation of Sabbatai’s development they are useless.» — la regla de método con que Scholem trata las coincidencias, incluida la de los folletos de Peter Serrarius de 1665.

«On the other hand, there is sufficient evidence to show that the imagination of Christian contemporaries could by itself be productive of Jewish messiahs.» — la advertencia que Scholem pone junto a ese dato: la imaginación cristiana producía mesías judíos por sí sola.

«The ambassador residing in Constantinople writes from there that a new messiah was born to a Turkish Jewess in Ossa. He has conquered not only mighty cities and fortresses such as Aleppo, Alexandria, and Filandia [?], but even Popistel [?], the kingdom of Egypt, and the provinces of lower Syria.» — la voz es la de un pliego alemán de 1642, que Scholem reproduce entero como muestra de noticia fabricada.

«He calls himself Jesus Eli-Messias, the God of heaven and earth, pretending that he created all and that without him no man can attain to eternal life.» — sigue el pliego de 1642, con el nombre que reaparecerá deformado en los primeros informes cristianos sobre Sabbatai.

«On the day of his birth mighty signs and wonders occurred. The sun became dark in the middle of the day; at about the eighth hour, a mighty voice was heard at a hundred miles distance calling out, “Repent ye sons of men, for today the messiah was born,” and many fiery dragons and devils were seen in the air.» — sigue el pliego: prodigios en el cielo, oscurecimiento del sol y una voz oída a cien millas.

«He has twelve apostles, whom he calls prophets, and they preach that only in his name is eternal life.» — sigue el pliego: doce apóstoles a los que llama profetas.

«Let all Christians take this to their hearts and repent, as it is evident that the end of all flesh is not far away, and that he is the Antichrist prophesied by Daniel, John, and Paul in their epistles. Here ends the tale.» — cierre del pliego de 1642, con la exhortación a la penitencia ante el anticristo.

«In this weird description we find the Antichrist of Revelation combined with fantastic popular ideas about the Jewish messiah.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre ese pliego: el anticristo del Apocalipsis mezclado con ideas populares sobre el mesías judío.

«Apparently the two popular traditions were confused in the later pamphlets, since even the name of the Jewish messiah reappears in the first Christian reports about Sabbatai Ṣevi, where Jesus Eli-Messias has become Joshua El Kam, or Helkam» — y la filiación que traza: el nombre del mesías fabricado de 1642 reaparece en los pliegos de 1666.

«All early sources are agreed that after his banishment from Smyrna, Sabbatai proceeded to Salonika,131 which was then the largest Jewish community in the Turkish Empire and an important center of rabbinic and kabbalistic learning.» — el destino del destierro según todas las fuentes tempranas: Salónica, la mayor comunidad judía del imperio.

«None of his friends and associates accompanied him into exile, and none seems to have remained in communication with him.» — la soledad del destierro que Scholem consigna.

«Sabbatai was undoubtedly a well-educated and competent, though in no way outstanding, scholar. His intellectual capacities were well developed but by no means extraordinary. He was not intellectually creative or original, and he was completely devoid of literary talent.» — el retrato intelectual que Scholem fija para no inflar al personaje.

«His emotional life, however, was intense and stormy. He had a gift for music and loved music and song.» — el contrapunto del retrato: vida emocional intensa y don musical.

«whenever he chanced upon a Spanish love song whose tune caught his fancy he would convert it into a mystical song of divine love» — la práctica de Sabbatai con las canciones de amor españolas, que Scholem compara con los ṣaddiqim jasídicos que redimían tonadas de su exilio.

«But even apart from his musical gifts, Sabbatai must have possessed a very real personal charm. This is attested by all witnesses.» — el rasgo en que Scholem dice que todos los testigos coinciden: un encanto personal real.

«many of them, particularly some chroniclers, were frankly puzzled by its most striking manifestation: the evident liking for him which the sultan evinced for at least six years after his apostasy.» — el efecto de ese encanto que más desconcertaba a los cronistas cristianos: la simpatía que el sultán le mostró tras la apostasía.

«The same man who would deliver himself to unbridled emotionalism during his illuminations could deport himself at other times with skill and superior tact.» — la doble compostura que Scholem retiene del personaje.

«In spite of his charm, however, Sabbatai did not succeed in establishing around himself a permanent circle of obedient followers and companions, obviously because of his psychopathological traits.» — el límite que Scholem le pone a ese encanto y la causa que le adjudica.

«The deeply shocked rabbis would not be reassured by his mystical explanation that every lover of the Torah could be considered her bridegroom or husband, and that this mystery had already been adumbrated in the Book of Proverbs.» — la explicación mística que Sabbatai dio y que no calmó a los rabinos.

«Instead of attributing this action to his great holiness, they accused him of madness. And as they were afraid that these and similar innovations might have dangerous consequences, they forced him to leave the city.» — la voz es la de de la Croix: acusado de locura y expulsado de Salónica.

«The story bears the mark of authenticity and clearly brings out the characteristic features of Sabbatai’s later “strange actions”: his fondness for bizarre and singular ceremonials and for the invention of ritual with a hidden, personal symbolism.» — lo que Scholem retiene de ese relato: la afición de Sabbatai al ceremonial bizarro y al rito inventado con simbolismo personal.

«Actions of this kind do not constitute, strictly speaking, transgressions of the Law. They were the paradoxical and odd behavior of a “queer” person, who seemed to consider his grotesque demonstrations as the performance of some exalted and mysterious commandment.» — la distinción que Scholem mantiene: esos actos no eran transgresiones en sentido estricto.

«The essential correctness of the report about the mystical marriage is confirmed by Sabbatai’s letters, which he occasionally signed “the bridegroom coming out of his chamber, the husband of the dearly beloved Torah, who is the most beauteous and lovely lady.» — la prueba con que Scholem apuntala el relato de la boda con la Torá: la firma que Sabbatai usaba en sus cartas de 1666.

«The scandal in Salonika is said to have been a repetition of that in Smyrna, which, of course, casts serious doubt on the correctness of Leyb’s account.» — la objeción de Scholem a la versión de Leyb b. Ozer: repite el escándalo de Esmirna, lo que la hace dudosa.

«Thereafter Sabbatai wandered through the cities of Greece, visiting Athens, the communities of the Peloponnese,137 and probably also the original home of his family, Patras. His rovings continued until 1658, when he arrived in Constantinople.» — el itinerario de los años oscuros hasta 1658.

«We are relatively well informed about this period, since de la Croix’s informant, a former Sabbatian believer, had been closely associated with Sabbatai Ṣevi. His information contains much valuable local tradition and is essentially reliable.» — la fuente de ese tramo según Scholem: un creyente sabatiano apóstata que informó a de la Croix.

«One day he bought a very large fish, dressed it up like a baby, and put it into a cradle.» — el acto extraño de Constantinopla: un pez grande vestido de niño y puesto en una cuna.

«The rabbis who heard of this incident were much amazed and saddened at the mental derangement [bouleversement de la cervelle] of such a scholar.» — la reacción rabínica que de la Croix registra, en francés dentro del inglés: trastorno de la cabeza de un erudito.

«He himself explained his last performance in terms of astrological symbolism.» — la explicación que Sabbatai daba al episodio del pez: simbolismo astrológico, con la redención bajo el signo de Piscis.

«but for Sabbatai the cradle evidently symbolized the slow growth toward the fullness of Israel’s redemption» — la lectura que Scholem propone de la cuna dentro de ese simbolismo.

«that some new sect, which might confuse minds, was fermenting in his brain, they did not act like the rabbis of Salonika who expelled him, but dispatched an officer of the rabbinic court who gave him forty stripes, and forbade his company to all Jews on pain of a penalty» — la voz es la de de la Croix sobre la reacción rabínica de Constantinopla: cuarenta azotes y excomunión.

«A supplement to the apocalypse of the Vision of R. Abraham prophesies a violent antinomian outbreak for the year 1658.» — la fuente sabatiana con que Scholem completa el cuadro de 1658, escrita en futuro sobre hechos pasados.

«In the year 1658 he [the messiah] will celebrate the three festivals of pilgrimage in one week, so as to atone for all the sins ever committed by Israel during festival times.» — la voz es de ese suplemento apocalíptico: las tres fiestas de peregrinación celebradas en una semana.

«Then God will give him a new law and new commandments to repair all the worlds. In the year 1658 he shall bless ‘Him who permits that which is forbidden.» — y la bendición que Scholem llama blasfema, que acompañará al movimiento entero: bendito el que permite lo prohibido.

«This was strong stuff indeed and far more provocative than the incident with the fish, which could, if necessary, be dismissed as a puerile and harmless folly.» — la escala de gravedad que Scholem fija entre el pez y las tres fiestas en una semana.

«for throughout his career he exhibited a predilection for shifting dates, changing fixed times, and moving Sabbaths and holy days to other days.» — el rasgo constante que Scholem le adjudica a Sabbatai: mover fechas, tiempos fijos y días santos.

«Half a year before his death, he again celebrated the feasts of Tabernacles and Pentecost in one week, in his place of exile, Dulcigno.» — la última repetición documentada de ese gesto, medio año antes de su muerte.

«The essence of the new law, apparently valid for Sabbatai only, is to be found in the sanctification of transgressions and their elevation to the level of positive religious precepts requiring a formal ritual blessing.» — la definición que Scholem da de la ley nueva: santificar la transgresión y elevarla a precepto con bendición.

«The “loosening of them that are bound [ʾasurim]” of the traditional prayer formula, becomes, in a far-reaching pun, the “loosening of all bonds [ʾissurim]” of religious obligation and prohibition.» — el juego de palabras con que Scholem explica la fórmula: soltar a los atados se vuelve soltar todos los vínculos.

«Until now Sabbatai’s actions had been blind and haphazard; now they acquired the paradoxical character of holy deeds through sinning.» — el paso que Scholem fecha en 1658: de lo azaroso a la obra santa por el pecado.

«We cannot be sure whether the Sabbatian formulation of this principle was not influenced by subsequent events in 1666.» — la reserva que Scholem declara sobre la formulación del principio.

«In 1658 Sabbatai “issued out” of the authority of the law that he had studied in his youth. Henceforth he was beyond the authority of rabbinic Judaism, and subject to a higher law.» — lo que Scholem lee en el testimonio de Israel Ḥazzan sobre la unción de 1658.

«Illuminations of an antinomian character, such as experienced by Sabbatai Ṣevi, are by no means rare in the history of religious mysticism.» — el encuadre comparado con que Scholem normaliza el fenómeno sin arbitrar doctrina.

«God brings upon those that love him a kind of sudden and supernatural madness, in which a man may speak and act against the directions of religion, without his being responsible for his actions and without God caring to make them accord with the religion which He has revealed from heaven.» — la voz es la del místico sufí al-Junayd, muerto en 911, citado por Scholem como paralelo de los actos extraños.

«Abraham Cardozo, however, mentions in one of his letters147 that Sabbatai was imprisoned twice.» — el dato de Cardozo que obliga a Scholem a suponer una prisión anterior a Galípoli.

«The revelation by the messiah of a new meaning to the Law is one thing; the revelation to him of a new law is quite another.» — la distinción que Scholem mantiene entre revelar un sentido nuevo de la ley y revelar una ley nueva.

«It was only in Christianity that the messiah had revealed new commandments—or so, at least, it seemed to Jews who had heard Christian arguments about the Law of Moses being superseded since the advent of the messiah by the laws and customs of the church.» — y el único precedente que le encuentra, con la reserva de cómo llegaba a oídos judíos.

«The basis of Sabbatai’s antinomianism and his revaluation of sin as a holy act were definitely not Christian; they welled up from hidden impulses in his soul.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre el origen de ese antinomianismo: no cristiano, sino de impulsos ocultos del alma.

«As a result of a misunderstanding due to a slight confusion in one of Sasportas’ letters (see p. 229), the purely imaginary “fact” has been established that Yakhini was one of Sabbatai’s earliest followers in Constantinople, and that it was he who actually composed the notorious “ancient scroll” in which “R. Abraham the Pious, a contemporary of R. Judah the Pious” (twelfth century) prophesied the messiahship of Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — el error historiográfico que Scholem localiza: la adjudicación a Abraham Yakhini de la falsificación del rollo antiguo.

«The one flaw in this theory is that we definitely know the scroll to have been written in the spring of 1665 in Gaza.» — el dato con que Scholem lo objeta: el rollo se escribió en Gaza en la primavera de 1665.

«There is not a shred of evidence to show that Yakhini believed in Sabbatai at that early date, let alone that he conspired to lead Jewry astray.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra la construcción que engañó incluso a Graetz.

«Then a beautiful maiden came forth, embraced and kissed him, and adjured him not to forget her, as he was to marry a queen.» — la voz es la de Abraham Yakhini contando su sueño de 1652, con el camello que lo perseguía y la doncella que lo desposa con una reina.

«Yakhini marvels at this extraordinary dream and adds “by the life of Torah, I have not withheld anything.» — la fórmula con que Yakhini cierra el relato de ese sueño.

«the short glosses on the margins of his copy of the Mantua edition of the book Tiqquney Zohar (1558). They do not amount to much.» — lo único que se conserva de su mano en cábala, según Scholem: glosas al margen de su Tiqquney Zohar de Mantua. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el año entre paréntesis es la fecha de la edición dentro del cuerpo.

«it was valid during moments of illumination only, that is, when in a state of contact with the supernal light» — el límite de la ley nueva según Scholem: valía solo en los momentos de iluminación, en contacto con la luz superna.

«They deviated too much from the expected behavior of the messiah, who, far from abolishing the Law and the commandments, was supposed to restore them to their full glory.» — la razón por la que aquellos actos no leían como mesiánicos: se esperaba del mesías restaurar la ley, no abolirla.

«His dreams are extremely revealing, and should be of considerable interest to psychologists. Few rabbis ever committed similar dreams to writing.» — lo que Scholem destaca de los sueños de Yakhini, conservados de 1652 a 1663: pocos rabinos pusieron por escrito sueños así.

«the latter suddenly changed into a beautiful maiden, “and I took her in my arms … embracing and kissing her violently. I then arose in great fear, my hair standing on end, trembling and weeping over this great vision—God understands the way of it, and he knows the interpretation of it.» — la voz es la de Abraham Yakhini contando el sueño en que la Mishná se le vuelve doncella; Scholem lo lee como seducción del instinto sexual a quien busca santificarse.

«These dreams are characteristic of the seductions with which the sexual instinct in man accosts those who want to sanctify themselves.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre esos sueños, y sobre la confusión entre las esferas de lo santo y lo sensual.

«Not that I would deprecate, God forbid, the worth of these holy rabbis …, for they attained to the mystical insight which their generation was worthy of receiving … [but now] their writings no longer correspond to the true intent of mystical wisdom.» — la acotación con que Yakhini suaviza esa sentencia: no desprecia a los maestros anteriores, cuyos escritos ya no corresponderían a la intención verdadera.

«There is not a single reference to Sabbatai as the messiah or to Sabbatai’s other kabbalistic doctrines in these intimate notes.» — la negativa documental que Scholem ficha sobre las notas privadas de Yakhini de 1658 a 1663.

«a comparison of Razi Li with the later Wawey ha-ʿAmudim is enough to show the tremendous change which the faith in an actual, specific messiah had wrought in the kabbalist preacher.» — la medida del cambio en Yakhini que Scholem obtiene comparando sus dos libros.

«Sabbatai, as we know, rejected Lurianic kabbalism in practice, though theoretically admitting its truth, “for it caused him confusion and no advancement in his pursuit of the knowledge of the Lord.» — la voz es la de Abraham Cardozo sobre el trato de Sabbatai con el lurianismo: lo admitía en teoría y lo dejaba en la práctica porque le confundía.

«it is possible that Elijah Carcassoni was a “practical kabbalist,” that is, “a master of the Name,” who exorcised evil spirits, and that in his company Sabbatai began to use holy names.» — la conjetura que Scholem propone sobre el cabalista de Constantinopla que estudió con Sabbatai pese a la excomunión.

«The rumor is probably true, for, as we know, exorcisms and the like were practiced not only by the lower sort of “masters of the Name,” but also by prominent kabbalists, such as Ḥayyim Vital and his son Samuel.» — el argumento con que Scholem normaliza la noticia de que Sabbatai practicaba exorcismos.

«we may infer with almost absolute certainty that the reference is to R. David Ḥabillo» — la identificación que Scholem propone del David Capio de de la Croix con el cabalista David Ḥabillo, emisario de Jerusalén.

«A disciple of the leading Lurianic kabbalist Benjamin ha-Levi, Ḥabillo was completely immersed in Lurianism.» — el perfil de Ḥabillo, que Scholem necesita para su hipótesis.

«When we learn that this prominent Lurianic kabbalist had personal relations with Sabbatai and even taught him mystical lore, we may safely presume that he initiated him into the Lurianic kabbalah which Sabbatai had, perhaps, not known before.» — la conjetura que Scholem extrae de ese trato: Ḥabillo pudo iniciar a Sabbatai en el lurianismo.

«Many Sephardi Jews pronounced names ending in “illo” without the “ll,” for example, Amario (particularly in Salonika) for Amarillo, Kario for Karillo, and so on. Also “b” and “p” were often interchanged.» — el argumento fonético con que Scholem sostiene la identificación del nombre deformado.

«The speeches and discussions attributed to Sabbatai, Nathan, and others are hardly more than a romanticized literary setting, yet the names as well as the basic outline of events seem to go back to authentic local tradition, and stand the test of historical criticism.» — la criba que Scholem aplica a de la Croix: los discursos son literatura y los nombres y el esqueleto de los hechos aguantan.

«In a very daring and revealing saying Ḥabillo once declared that there were two kinds of Satans, one the “Satan of holiness,” who was mystically indicated by the four-headed letter shin ( )178 of the tefillin.» — el dicho de Ḥabillo que Scholem destaca: hay dos clases de Satanes, uno el Satán de la santidad.

«This remarkable dictum seems to suggest that not all “satanic” actions were necessarily evil or infernal. It would not be surprising if Ḥabillo did not outrightly reject Sabbatai Ṣevi, whose strange actions may have appeared to him as inspired by the “Satan of holiness.”» — la conjetura que Scholem propone en ese grado: Ḥabillo pudo no rechazar a Sabbatai, cuyos actos extraños le parecerían inspirados por ese Satán santo.

«Sabbatai is said to have been pleased about it, “not because of the insults he had suffered in Constantinople, but because he saw in it the finger of God, calling his people to repentance.» — la reacción que se atribuye a Sabbatai ante el gran incendio de Constantinopla de 1660.

«The emissaries from Jerusalem, all of them men of Talmudic learning, were generally considered supreme spiritual authorities by Sephardi Jewry; if Ḥabillo told them to leave Sabbatai in peace, they would probably have obeyed.» — la conjetura con que Scholem explica la tolerancia de Esmirna: el aval de un emisario de Jerusalén pesaba.

«Trustworthy people” had told Cuenque that they had seen Sabbatai in this room, “wallowing in the dust and his bed turned upside down.» — la voz es la de Abraham Cuenque sobre las melancolías de Sabbatai en Esmirna.

«All this sounds credible enough, even though Cuenque’s informants added that they had also seen two angels holding Sabbatai, comforting him, and drawing him up, and saying, “Shake off your dust, arise, and return, O Jerusalem.» — la criba que Scholem aplica a ese testimonio: creíble el cuadro, legendarios los dos ángeles que lo consolaban.

«The business of extracting a core of fact from what may be later legend is a dubious and difficult one; so we pass on to more solid evidence.» — la regla de método que Scholem declara ante la leyenda sabatiana.

«had to spend seven years in the prison of the qelippah, during which time he suffered very great afflictions, as it is said in the Pesiqta [Rabbathi] on the chapter ‘Arise, shine» — la voz es la de Natán de Gaza en 1666 sobre los siete años de Sabbatai en la prisión de la qelippah.

«Nathan does not specify which seven years; he may refer either to the period of Sabbatai’s youth 1642–48, which ended with the first messianic outburst, or to the years of wandering and exile in Greece and Constantinople, which ended with the revelation of the “new law” in 1658.» — la abstención de Scholem sobre a qué siete años se refiere Natán.

«In any event we learn that the demons not only persecuted and afflicted Sabbatai, but actually overpowered him in his states of melancholia, for which the expression “prison of the qelippah” would seem a suitable description.» — lo que Scholem sí extrae de esa fórmula: una descripción de los estados de melancolía.

«At home his brothers felt disgraced by his “strange actions” which “were a burden and a scandal to them.» — el motivo familiar del viaje a Palestina según Cuenque.

«The exact opposite is told by de la Croix: Sabbatai decided to go to Palestine, and his brothers amply provided him with money and other necessities because they believed that it was through his merits that they had prospered.» — el desacuerdo entre Cuenque y de la Croix sobre el dinero del viaje, que Scholem consigna sin armonizar y resuelve por lo que pasó después en Jerusalén.

«three years before AMIRAH revealed himself, that is, in the year 422 [1662], he passed through Rhodes on his way from Smyrna to Jerusalem. He stayed at his father’s [de Bossal’s father, the rabbi of Rhodes] house for one month, and studied with him the book Zohar.» — la voz es la de R. Solomon b. Moses de Bossal de Rodas, recogida por R. Ḥayyim Segré: Sabbatai pasó por Rodas en 1662 camino de Jerusalén.

«Though we cannot attach much historical value to the Sabbatian legends, and must make allowance for the habit of the “believers” to support their stories by oaths, we may accept the authenticity of at least the skeleton of de Bossal’s report.» — la criba de Scholem sobre ese testimonio, con la advertencia sobre la costumbre de los creyentes de jurar por sus relatos.

«He was called the chelebi (Turkish, “lord”) which, in this case, was not a complimentary title of esteem or courtesy, but a title of office, corresponding to the earlier and traditional nagid.» — el cargo de Raphael Joseph, jefe civil de la judería egipcia. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el paréntesis es la glosa del propio Scholem al término turco.

«The chelebi was the Egyptian viceroy’s treasurer, master of the mint and controller of all banking activities; often he was also tax farmer and collector—an office which did not necessarily increase the popularity of its holder.» — las funciones del chelebi y su costo de popularidad según Scholem.

«he raised the standard of the Law to observe and to keep it, and there was no king like him before him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might.» — la voz es la del cronista Joseph Sambari, que vivió meses en casa de Raphael Joseph.

«All his days were spent in fasting, and at night, when the members of his household would eat sumptuously, he would eat pulse. At midnight he arose and studied the Law in holiness and purity, for he immersed himself in a ritual bath and flogged himself; he also wore sackcloth on his body.» — sigue Sambari con las mortificaciones del chelebi: ayuno, azotes, cilicio y baño ritual a medianoche.

«Raphael Joseph was representative of the wealthy and ascetic Jewish lay leader—a type fairly frequent in Jewish history, before and after him.» — el tipo social que Scholem reconoce en Raphael Joseph.

«For many years Samuel had lived in Damascus, where he arranged and edited his father’s papers, adamantly refusing permission for them to be copied.» — el celo de Samuel Vital con los papeles de su padre.

«Gifted scholars trained themselves to memorize whatever they learned whenever they were permitted to look at the precious manuscripts; then they hurried home and wrote down what they recalled. In this way the first collections of “Lurianic writings” were formed, as that by R. Jacob Ṣemaḥ.» — cómo se formaron las primeras colecciones de escritos luriánicos según Scholem: de memoria y a escondidas.

«Sambari could have given us a firsthand description of Sabbatai; in fact, he did, and it is one of the ill-fated vicissitudes of Jewish historiography that the precious pages have been torn out of the only two extant manuscripts of his chronicle.» — la pérdida documental que Scholem consigna: las planas de Sambari sobre Sabbatai arrancadas de los dos manuscritos.

«And now we shall report matters of controversy, strife, and discord which befell in the market places and streets.» — la única frase que sobrevive de esa historia perdida de Sambari.

«The rest of the account has fallen victim to the censorship of later anti-Sabbatian zealots.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre esa mutilación.

«By a stroke of luck, Sabbatai had encountered a Jewish scholar with a genuine interest in history who, unlike his contemporary fellow historian David Conforti, did not wish to suppress the whole affair.» — el contraste que Scholem traza entre Sambari y su contemporáneo David Conforti.

«The accounts of his passage through Gaza, his encounter there with his future prophet Nathan, and their joint intrigue are purely fictitious, since Nathan did not yet live in Gaza at that time.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra el relato del encuentro temprano con Natán y su supuesta intriga conjunta.

«One can hardly imagine the elders of Jerusalem charging a man they despised with such an honorable and public mission or choosing a man whose orthodoxy was not above suspicion, even according to their exacting standards.» — el argumento con que Scholem sostiene la buena reputación de Sabbatai en Jerusalén: lo mandaron de emisario a Egipto.

«There is no mention of persecution or opposition in connection with messianic claims and the like, only of mockery and derision.» — lo que Scholem encuentra en las primeras cartas antisabatianas sobre los años de Jerusalén: burla, no persecución por reclamos mesiánicos.

«That which was really peculiar and irregular in Sabbatai’s behavior was considered as folly; the appropriate reaction was pity and derision, not public indignation or hatred.» — la reacción que su conducta provocaba en Jerusalén: lástima y burla.

«The Jewish community of Jerusalem numbered at the time two to three hundred families. They lived poorly in the narrow lanes of the Jewish quarter in the Old City.» — la escala de la comunidad de Jerusalén que Scholem fija para medirlo todo: dos o tres centenares de familias.

«The report that there were only three scholars of standing in Jerusalem200 is a gross understatement, for we know of many rabbis at the time of Sabbatai’s arrival—such as Moses Galanté, Samuel Garmizan, Jacob Ḥagiz, Abraham ibn Ḥananiah—and also possess their writings.» — la enmienda de Scholem a la noticia de que solo había tres estudiosos de peso en Jerusalén.

«The causal connection between his father’s arrival in Jerusalem and the subsequent influx of prominent scholars may be no more than a tribute of Moses Ḥagiz’ imagination to the revered memory of his father» — la reserva con que Scholem trata el elogio de Moses Ḥagiz a su padre.

«They were the true and authoritative representatives of Lurianic kabbalism after the decline of Safed at the beginning of the seventeenth century.» — el lugar que Scholem asigna a los cabalistas de Jerusalén tras la decadencia de Safed.

«Benjamin ha-Levi (the teacher of David Ḥabillo), Jacob Ḥayyim Ṣemaḥ (a former marrano from Portugal), and Meir Kohen Poppers had prepared in Jerusalem the three different versions of the “Lurianic writings” which subsequently circulated in many manuscripts.» — los tres cabalistas de Jerusalén que fijaron las versiones de los escritos luriánicos. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el paréntesis es aposición del cuerpo.

«The example of David Ḥabillo shows that even a strict Lurianist could appreciate Sabbatai and sympathize with him.» — la cautela que Scholem impone al deducir actitudes desde la doctrina.

«On the other hand, it is beyond doubt that Sabbatai could never have fitted into the messianic conceptions of Lurianism to which Ṣemaḥ adhered with all his soul.» — y lo que sí da por seguro: Sabbatai no cabía en las concepciones mesiánicas del lurianismo de Jacob Ṣemaḥ.

«Coenen heard a story that Sabbatai had been miraculously cured of blindness after all medical efforts had failed.» — la noticia de la curación milagrosa de una ceguera que Coenen recogió.

«This is probably a garbled reminiscence of one of Sabbatai’s severe fits of depression during which, as we know, he was unable to read.» — la lectura que Scholem propone de esa noticia, apoyándose en la incapacidad de leer durante las depresiones.

«It was his habit to cease taking food after the fourth Sabbath meal.» — la disciplina de ayuno de Sabbatai en Jerusalén, de sábado a sábado.

«Occasionally Sabbatai would leave his house and spend a few days in utter solitude in the mountains and caves of the Judean desert where, as he told Laniado in Aleppo, he would hear voices from the graves.» — lo que el propio Sabbatai le contó a Laniado de sus retiros al desierto de Judea: oía voces de las tumbas.

«In Jerusalem he made the acquaintance of a number of people who were subsequently to become the most active members and apostles of his messianic movement. Some of them were notable scholars, such as David Yiṣḥaki of Salonika, Samuel Primo of Brussa, and Judah Sharaf; others, such as Sabbatai Raphael of Mistra in Greece, were downright scamps.» — el elenco que Scholem presenta ahí, sin dorarlo: junto a los eruditos, granujas como Sabbatai Raphael de Mistra.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi was in the Holy Land and studied with a few disciples, though he was not yet called messiah. He [Sabbatai Raphael] went to him and became a member of his circle.» — la voz es la de Sabbatai Raphael a Sasportas en 1667 sobre el círculo de Jerusalén de 1663, con la aclaración de que aún no se lo llamaba mesías.

«but as Sabbatai Raphael’s mendacity appears in practically everything he said, it is of little value, and no conclusions can be based on it.» — la criba que Scholem aplica a ese único testimonio de un círculo en Jerusalén.

«The troubles of the Jewish community of Jerusalem were many and frequent, but among the principal causes of its distress were the recurrent extortions of the Turkish governors and pashas.» — la causa principal de la penuria de Jerusalén según Scholem.

«Unfortunately the text presented by Toledano is a jumbled collection of incoherent and fragmentary sentences which make no sense, but are sufficient to raise serious doubts whether the letter was really written in 1664 and not in 1665, after Sabbatai had left Jerusalem and formally proclaimed himself messiah.» — la reserva documental que Scholem declara sobre la carta que Toledano copió.

«The Jewish community had dwindled so much that documents speak of its “destruction.”» — el estado de Safed en esos años según los documentos.

«Their choice fell on Sabbatai Ṣevi, whose friendly relations with the chelebi Raphael Joseph on the occasion of his previous stay in Cairo were well known.» — la razón de la elección de Sabbatai como emisario de Jerusalén a Egipto en 1663.

«I did not take my eyes off him from the moment of his arrival, both when he said the afternoon prayer with us in the synagogue, and when he recited the evening prayer in the cave of Machpelah, together with the crowd that had accompanied him.» — la voz es la de Abraham Cuenque, que vio a Sabbatai una sola vez, en Hebrón, siendo un muchacho de quince años.

«He strode up and down in the house, which was illuminated at his command with many candles. All night he recited psalms with a mighty voice, ‘the voice of joy and the voice of gladness,’ a most agreeable and pleasing voice, until the light of morning» — sigue Cuenque: toda la noche recitando salmos con voz potente en una casa iluminada por su orden.

«I testify that his demeanor was awe-inspiring, different in every respect from that of other men, and my eyes were not satisfied with seeing him.» — el testimonio de Cuenque sobre el porte de Sabbatai, distinto en todo del de los demás.

«While he was among us, he neither ate nor drank, nor did he sleep at all. He left, as he had come, fasting, and my eyes have not seen him since then.» — cierre del testimonio de Cuenque: ni comió ni bebió ni durmió, y se fue ayunando.

«What Cuenque really describes is Sabbatai in a typical state of manic illumination, and the psychological truth of his account greatly strengthens its general reliability.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre ese relato: un estado típico de iluminación maníaca, y su verdad psicológica refuerza la fiabilidad del testigo.

«The sweetness of his singing was one of his most outstanding qualities, and exercised a powerful attraction on others.» — el rasgo que Scholem destaca entre los atractivos de Sabbatai.

«During the great illumination in Gallipoli, musicians were in attendance who played to him day and night, and all his life he used “to sing melodies and romances.» — la música en la prisión de Galípoli, con músicos tocando día y noche.

«Cuenque does not specify the nature of the “awe-inspiring” (or “frightening”) behavior, “different from that of other men,” which he beheld that night, but perhaps we are not far wrong in surmising that he witnessed some of Sabbatai’s “strange actions.”» — la conjetura que Scholem propone sobre lo que Cuenque calló.

«Cuenque, who was a believer, would certainly not reveal to outsiders what he had seen.» — y la razón del silencio que le atribuye.

«his face [was] very bright, inclining to swarthiness, his countenance beautiful and majestic, a black, round beard framed his face, and [he was] dressed in royal robes; he was very stout and corpulent.» — el retrato físico de Sabbatai según Cuenque, que otras fuentes confirman.

«the hairs of his beard stood in one equal row from his upper jaw to his chin, not one hair protruded beyond the others.» — la voz es la de Israel Ḥazzan de Kastoria sobre la barba redonda de Sabbatai.

«It was drawn, according to Coenen, by a Christian who saw Sabbatai in Smyrna toward the end of 1665, and who immediately went home to do the portrait.» — la procedencia del único retrato auténtico conservado, el del frontispicio del volumen.

«This messianic marriage is a baffling paradox by any standards, for Sarah’s story is indeed amazing. Although it is almost impossible to separate fact from fiction, there can be no doubt that the girl’s life had been—to say the least— extraordinary.» — el matrimonio con Sarah, que Scholem presenta como paradoja y declara difícil de separar de la ficción.

«The nature of her influence on, and the measure of her significance for, Sabbatai’s messianie career will always remain matters of conjecture and speculation.» — la abstención que Scholem declara sobre el peso de Sarah en la carrera mesiánica de Sabbatai.

«Emanuel Frances reports (or invents) a rumor to the effect that Sabbatai had never made messianic claims until incited by her “to set himself as king over Israel.» — la versión de Emanuel Frances, que Scholem consigna sin aceptarla: Sarah lo habría incitado a hacerse rey de Israel. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el paréntesis es la reserva del propio Scholem.

«This is clearly an exaggeration, since there is no evidence that Sarah ever took any initiative in the movement.» — la negativa que Scholem opone a esa versión.

«a girl devoid of intelligence, who in her madness said that she would marry the messianic king. Everybody laughed at her, and she betook herself to Leghorn» — la voz es la de Sasportas, que la había conocido de niña en Ámsterdam en 1655.

«This chronology recommends itself by its inherent probability: letters from Leghorn arrive in Egypt, telling of a beautiful maiden who does “strange things” and announces herself as the bride of the messiah.» — por qué Scholem acepta esa cronología: las cartas de Liorna llegaban a Egipto.

«Might it not be that she really is his predestined mate? For the first time in his life, flesh and blood seemed to respond to his heart’s most secret dreams and wishes.» — la lectura que Scholem propone del efecto de esa noticia sobre Sabbatai.

«It is, of course, equally possible that Sarah chanced to come to Egypt in the course of her wanderings, and that her being sent for by Sabbatai is a later embellishment of the story.» — y la alternativa que deja abierta sobre cómo llegó Sarah a Egipto.

«It appears that she and her brother were orphaned in the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648. The children subsequently came to Amsterdam, and Sarah later drifted to Italy and apparently spent some years in Mantua and Leghorn.» — lo que Scholem retiene de la biografía de Sarah: huérfana de las matanzas de 1648, criada en Ámsterdam y luego en Italia.

«Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi wrote letters to Sasportas and others—it is true, only after the apostasy—in which he declared that in Leghorn she had prostituted herself to everybody.» — los rumores sobre Sarah que Scholem consigna con su fecha: cartas posteriores a la apostasía.

«Emanuel Frances, who lived in Leghorn at the time and knew that she had been a maidservant in the house of David Jessurun, called her a “witch” and composed a satirical poem on her “whoredoms.”» — el testimonio de Emanuel Frances, que la llamó bruja y le hizo un poema satírico.

«She was a maidservant in a charitable institution [or beggars’ hospice] in Mantua, which housed all sorts of people and which she did not leave without damage to her reputation; I refrain on purpose from enlarging on the subject.» — la voz es la de Coenen sobre los rumores que corrían en Esmirna, con su propia reticencia declarada.

«These stories were evidently the joint product of her own fantasies and of the imaginations of the Sabbatian believers.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre las historias que corrían de Sarah.

«Since, in their present form, they could not have circulated before 1666, it is impossible to ascertain what measure of truth they contain.» — la abstención que declara sobre su fondo de verdad.

«It is difficult, in this context, to determine what are kabbalistic metaphors for processes in the “spiritual worlds,” and what are veiled references to real situations, if any, in Sabbatai’s life.» — la dificultad de lectura que Scholem declara ante el Treatise on the Dragons: qué es metáfora cabalística y qué referencia velada a la vida de Sabbatai.

«though it is not unlikely that Nathan on purpose kept his utterances concerning the messiah’s wife as dark as possible, and from later evidence (see ch. 7) it is clear that he disliked her.» — la conjetura de Scholem sobre la oscuridad deliberada de Natán al hablar de la esposa del mesías, y el dato que sí da por claro.

«Baruch of Arezzo was told by R. Isaac ha-Levi Vali (or Valle, died 1680) of Sarah’s reputation as a fortuneteller; Vali himself had consuited her in order to learn “the root of his soul” and other matters—“and she answered all his questions.» — el testimonio italiano sobre Sarah adivinadora, que consultó R. Isaac ha-Levi Vali para saber la raíz de su alma. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, porque el paréntesis es del cuerpo.

«Does your reverence know what this girl says? That she will be the messiah’s wife?” Sarah remained silent.» — la escena que Baruch de Arezzo transmite: la casera dice que la muchacha se declara futura esposa del mesías y Sarah calla.

«There are, therefore, at least some common elements in what believers and unbelievers told of her.» — el criterio con que Scholem cruza los testimonios de los dos bandos sobre Sarah.

«Whatever the messianic implications of his manic actions, he did not think of proclaiming himself as the messiah of Israel; much less did he leave Palestine for Egypt with the preconceived plan of launching a movement.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra la tesis del plan premeditado.

«He struggled with himself and with the demons that possessed his soul, and his one desire was to rid himself of those troublesome mental states that were to him, no doubt, an unbearable affliction.» — lo que Scholem sitúa en lugar de ese plan: la lucha consigo mismo.

«He had but one wish: to be a rabbi or, as the parlance of the Sephardim would have it, a ḥakham, among others.» — el deseo que Scholem le atribuye a Sabbatai en Egipto.

«One day he performed a great exorcism, as a result of which his “illumination” departed from him.» — el exorcismo que Sabbatai le contó a Laniado, tras el cual lo dejó la iluminación.

«The modern historian with his psychological bias may suspect it to have been the other way around: after the natural termination of a phase of illuminate intoxication with its feeling of exaltation, Sabbatai’s normal self reasserted itself, together with the desire to make this state of normalcy a permanent one.» — la lectura alternativa que Scholem propone declarando su propio sesgo: el fin natural de una fase maníaca y el deseo de fijar la normalidad.

«Alas, it was a vain hope that he entertained, and psychological laws are not changed by either exorcisms or supplications.» — el veredicto de Scholem sobre ese intento.

«He successfully discharged his mission and collected between three and four thousand lion’s thalers for the poor of Jerusalem.» — el resultado de la misión de Sabbatai en Egipto: entre tres y cuatro mil táleros de león para los pobres de Jerusalén.

«His name was Abraham Nathan b. Elisha Ḥayyim Ashkenazi, and he was to become famous as Nathan, the prophet of Gaza, or simply—at least among the anti-Sabbatians after the debacle—as» — el nombre completo del profeta y el nombre con que la polémica posterior lo fijó; Scholem consigna que la forma Natán de Gaza se impuso entre los antisabatianos tras la debacle.

«The father spent many years traveling as an emissary of the Jewish community of Jerusalem; he visited Poland, Germany, Italy, and (repeatedly) Morocco,2 and was everywhere received with great respect.» — el oficio del padre de Natán, Elisha Ḥayyim Ashkenazi, emisario de Jerusalén por Polonia, Alemania, Italia y Marruecos.

«His activities on behalf of the Sabbatian movement did not in the least detract from—and perhaps even increased—his prestige with the Moroccan rabbis.» — el dato que Scholem consigna sobre la reputación del padre entre los rabinos marroquíes pese a su sabatianismo.

«His son Nathan remained in Jerusalem where he studied under Jacob Ḥagiz, whose son R. Moses Ḥagiz—a violent and relentless opponent of the Sabbatians—later admitted that Nathan Ashkenazi had been one of his father’s foremost disciples.» — lo que Moses Ḥagiz, enemigo declarado del sabatianismo, admitió sobre Natán: fue de los discípulos principales de su padre.

«His talents, as displayed in his writings, are noteworthy for their rare combination of intellectual power and capacity for profound thinking with imagination and strong emotional sensitivity (even excitability).» — el retrato intelectual de Natán que Scholem fija. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis del propio Scholem.

«The strange ascetic and kabbalist rabbi, persecuted because demonic powers impelled him to do bizarre and at times even forbidden things, and leading a saintly life until the spirit of madness came upon him, must surely have been the talk of the small city, and particularly of its synagogues and rabbinic schools.» — lo que Scholem sí da por probable: que la fama del rabino extraño corriera por la ciudad pequeña.

«The occasional glimpses of the ḥakham Sabbatai Ṣevi, as well as the rumors and legends circulating about him, may well have left a mark in some profound albeit unconscious layer of the young scholar’s impressionable soul.» — la conjetura psicológica que Scholem propone en ese grado sobre la huella dejada en Natán.

«Whosoever knoweth me can truthfully testify that from my childhood unto this day not the slightest fault [of sin] could be found with me. I observed the Law in poverty, and meditated on it day and night. I never followed after the lusts of the flesh, but always added new mortifications and forms of penance with all my strength, nor did I ever derive any worldly benefit from my message.» — la voz es la de Natán de Gaza hacia 1673, defendiéndose de las acusaciones posteriores a la apostasía.

«I studied the Torah in purity until I was twenty years of age, and I performed the great tiqqun which Isaac Luria prescribes for everyone who has committed great sins. Although, praise be to God, I have not advertently committed any sins, nevertheless I performed it in case my soul be sullied from an earlier transmigration.» — sigue Natán: hizo el gran tiqqun que Luria prescribe para los grandes pecados, por si su alma venía sucia de otra transmigración.

«When I had attained the age of twenty, I began to study the book Zohar and some of the Lurianic writings. [According to the Talmud] he who wants to purify himself receives the aid of Heaven; and thus He sent me some of His holy angels and blessed spirits who revealed to me many of the mysteries of the Torah.» — sigue Natán con el arranque de sus estudios cabalísticos a los veinte años y las revelaciones de ángeles y almas benditas.

«Having locked myself in a separate room in holiness and purity, and reciting the penitential prayers of the morning service with many tears, the spirit came over me, my hair stood on end and my knees shook and I beheld the merkabah» — la escena de la revelación profética de Natán en la semana anterior a Purim, con el ayuno prolongado y el cabello erizado.

«and I was vouchsafed true prophecy like any other prophet, as the voice spoke to me and began with the words: “Thus speaks the Lord.» — sigue Natán: profecía verdadera como la de cualquier profeta, con la voz que empieza diciendo así habla el Señor.

«And with the utmost clarity my heart perceived toward whom my prophecy was directed [that is, toward Sabbatai Ṣevi], even as Maimonides has stated that the prophets perceived in their hearts the correct interpretation of their prophecy so that they could not doubt its meaning.» — y la certeza que Natán declara sobre el destinatario de su profecía, apoyándose en Maimónides.

«Until this day I never yet had so great a vision, but it remained hidden in my heart until the redeemer revealed himself in Gaza and proclaimed himself the messiah; only then did the angel permit me to proclaim what I had seen.» — la cronología que Natán da: la visión quedó oculta hasta que el redentor se reveló en Gaza.

«I recognized that he was [the] true [messiah] by the signs which Isaac Luria had taught, for he [Luria] has revealed profound mysteries in the Torah and not one thing faileth of all that he has taught.» — el criterio de reconocimiento que Natán declara: las señales enseñadas por Isaac Luria.

«He used to see [says Pinheiro] a sight like unto a pillar of fire that spoke to him, and sometimes he would see a sight like unto a human face. He would always know the nature [the degree of spiritual perfection, or possibly the identity] of the soul that spoke to him, but he would never speak of it, so as not to appear presumptuous.» — la voz es la de Moses Pinheiro recogiendo lo que Natán le contó en Liorna en 1668 de sus primeras experiencias proféticas.

«as he was attired in his tallith20 and tefillin21 all his senses were extinguished, though his eyes remained open and his reason was more lucid than ever. And he beheld all the stages [of creation], and the merkabah, and the countenance of AMIRAH.» — sigue ese relato: con manto y filacterias, apagados los sentidos y la razón más lúcida, vio los grados de la creación, la merkabah y el rostro de Sabbatai.

«Suddenly he saw the image of Sabbatai Ṣevi engraved on the merkabah, even as the image of the patriarch Jacob was engraved, according to a well-known rabbinic legend, on the Throne of Glory, and his mouth uttered the prophecy: “Thus saith the Lord, behold your savior cometh, Sabbatai Ṣevi is his name. He shall cry, yea, roar, he shall prevail against his enemies.» — el momento decisivo del libro según Scholem: la imagen de Sabbatai grabada en la merkabah y el oráculo que Natán pronuncia.

«The ecstatic experience, which took place some time between the end of February and early March, 1665,25 opened two apparently distinct vistas: visions of cosmogony and the merkabah, on the one hand, and messianic visions of redemption, on the other. The speculative and imaginative originality of Nathan’s mind showed itself in the manner in which these two spheres were made to interpenetrate and elucidate each other.» — las dos vistas que Scholem distingue en esa visión de comienzos de 1665, cosmogónica y mesiánica, y la originalidad que adjudica a Natán al hacerlas interpenetrarse.

«The crucial point of this vision, as far as the history of Sabbatai Ṣevi is concerned, is the fact that for the first time someone else had recognized him, in an ecstatic vision, as the messiah.» — lo que Scholem señala como decisivo: por primera vez otro lo reconoce como mesías.

«In vain have historians tried to discover Sabbatai’s early followers. They never existed.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha en su forma más rotunda: no hubo seguidores tempranos.

«Even his old friends and disciples were converted to faith in his messiahship only by Nathan’s gospel.» — y la consecuencia: hasta los amigos viejos creyeron por el anuncio de Natán.

«By virtue of his visionary power, intellectual capacities, and untiring energy he became the precursor and harbinger of the messiah, as well as the ideological and theological exponent of the Sabbatian faith.» — los tres oficios que Scholem le adjudica a Natán en el movimiento.

«Borrowing a metaphor from an earlier but in many ways analogous messianic movement, Nathan was at once the John the Baptist and the Paul of the new messiah.» — la fórmula que Dweck cita en su introducción por la página impresa 207: Natán fue a la vez el Juan Bautista y el Pablo del nuevo mesías.

«For although he continued to receive illuminations and to hear voices, only on that one occasion did he consider himself a prophet in the full sense.» — el límite que Natán se puso a sí mismo según Scholem: solo aquella vez se tuvo por profeta en sentido pleno.

«His first experience was the source of his gospel. All subsequent graces were but interpretations.» — la economía de la profecía de Natán según Scholem: una sola fuente y todo lo demás interpretación.

«Sabbatai’s fumbling attempts in theology, for example, his “Mystery of the Godhead,” are pale shadows when compared to the systematic audacity that made Nathan the first great theologian of heretical kabbalism.» — y su corolario: Natán como primer gran teólogo del cabalismo herético.

«For seventeen years he had never taken an active initiative except for temporary outbursts, which he often seemed to regret afterward.» — la pasividad que Scholem le adjudica a Sabbatai a lo largo de diecisiete años.

«The two men complemented each other in a remarkable fashion, and without that combination the Sabbatian movement would never have developed.» — la tesis de composición con que Scholem explica el movimiento entero.

«But his paradoxical personality inspired Nathan and provided him with the impetus for his actions and ideas.» — lo que Scholem le reconoce al mesías dentro de esa composición.

«It is certain that only the encounter of the two gave birth to the Sabbatian movement.» — lo que Scholem da por cierto tras declarar ociosa la especulación contrafactual.

«He functioned as a kind of “transformer”—concentrating in his person, articulating, and transmitting the historical forces at work.» — la figura con que Scholem describe el oficio histórico de Natán.

«I have seen a letter written by my father of blessed memory, wherein he commanded his disciple Nathan, on pain of excommunication (?), to tell him whence he had got that knowledge. Nathan replied that [he had learned all this] from a book of practical kabbalah which he had stolen from the rabbi Abraham Ḥananiah, when the latter had fled to Gaza on account of the plague. There he fell ill, and commanded that he be carried to the city of the tombs of his ancestors, that is, the valley of Hebron; and while he was busy with his departure, he [Nathan] stole from him the book with which he [then] practiced his magic, and hence the event.» — la voz es la de Moses Ḥagiz con la leyenda antisabatiana del libro de cábala práctica robado a Abraham Ḥananiah.

«This is obviously a hostile legend, in spite of the appeal to an alleged correspondence between the master and his disciple.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre ese relato.

«R. Abraham Ḥananiah did not flee in 1662 from a (legendary) plague, but in 1663 from the extortions of the Turkish governor of Jerusalem. He fled to Ramleh and not to Gaza.» — las enmiendas de hecho con que Scholem desarma la leyenda. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis del propio Scholem.

«On the other hand, there may well be a core of truth in Ḥagiz’s impossible story. Abraham Ḥananiah may have been in Gaza at a later date, after Nathan had settled there.» — y el resto de verdad que le concede pese a todo.

«It was precisely the “Lurianic” kabbalah stemming from Sarug which fathered the kabbalistic doctrines of Sabbatian theology.» — la filiación doctrinal que Scholem fija: la cábala luriánica en versión de Sarug, no la de Vital, engendró la teología sabatiana.

«Since Nathan studied by himself and without the guidance of expert masters, he may have been unaware, at the time, that the details of the doctrine of tehiru, which fascinated him so powerfully and which he was later to reinterpret so thoroughly, formed the subject of sharp controversies among the kabbalistic pundits.» — la consecuencia de estudiar sin maestro: Natán pudo no saber que la doctrina del tehiru estaba en disputa.

«Penitence was not, therefore, a conditio sine qua non of redemption, though it would alleviate the sufferings and tribulations of the messianic woes.» — la doctrina que el ángel revela a Natán y que decide la forma de su prédica: la penitencia alivia los dolores y no condiciona la redención.

«This important passage explicitly poses the problem of faith which, in all its variety of shades and nuances, played a central role in Nathan’s teaching.» — lo que Scholem señala en ese pasaje: el problema de la fe en el centro de la enseñanza de Natán.

«A distinctly Christian flavor in Nathan’s use of the term “faith” is beyond doubt in many instances; for example, in the long letter to Raphael Joseph (summer, 1665) where it is stated that man is saved by his faith in the messiah and not by good works or other merits.» — el resabio cristiano que Scholem da por indudable en algunos usos de Natán, con la carta a Raphael Joseph como ejemplo.

«On the other hand, the association between faith and redemption is attested also in genuine Jewish traditions untainted by foreign influences.» — y la reserva que pone enseguida: el nexo entre fe y redención también está en tradiciones judías propias.

«though, of course, faith never means, in the old rabbinic sources, faith in the redeemer.» — la distinción que Scholem mantiene dentro de esa reserva: la fe rabínica antigua no es fe en el redentor.

«Maimonides had ruled in his code, Mishneh Torah, Teshubah xi; “Do not conceive the idea that the messiah would have to perform signs.» — la autoridad rabínica que Scholem aduce para la doctrina de creer sin señales: el propio Maimónides.

«the children of Israel did not believe in our master Moses because of the signs which he wrought, for he that believes because of miracles will of necessity feel doubt whether he [the prophet] did not work [the miracle] by means of magic and sorcery» — sigue Maimónides: quien cree por milagros dudará siempre de si hubo magia.

«Nathan’s exhortation that “one should believe in him without a sign” does not, therefore, constitute a radical innovation.» — lo que Scholem concede a Natán en ese punto.

«The conclusion of the sentence, however, which ascribes unbelief to a depravity of the soul, seems to introduce a novel idea.» — y dónde sitúa la novedad: adjudicar la incredulidad a una depravación del alma.

«Faith now appears as a special merit, peculiar to the souls of the saints. The shift of emphasis may seem but slight, yet it constitutes a turning point even if Nathan was not conscious, at the time, of all its implications.» — el giro que Scholem mide y su cautela sobre la conciencia que Natán tuviera de él.

«He began to act as spiritual director for those who sought the tiqqun, the “reformation” of their souls.» — el oficio que Natán asume tras la visión: director espiritual para el tiqqun de las almas.

«In this he followed in the footsteps of Isaac Luria, who was said by his disciples to have read people’s secret sins from their faces and to have prescribed their tiqqun accordingly.» — el modelo que Scholem le adjudica a esa práctica.

«Nathan was visited by penitents seeking the tiqqun of their souls, and—if we may judge from similar events in 1666—he imposed on them heavy and prolonged fasts, and other mortifications. He himself practiced the same austerities.» — las penitencias que Natán imponía y practicaba.

«Raphael Joseph immediately decided to find out more about the matter, and dispatched several emissaries to investigate on the spot.» — la reacción del chelebi de Egipto a las noticias de Gaza: mandar emisarios a comprobar.

«The next visitor was R. Samuel Gandoor, who came to find out whether Nathan owed his success to the use of magical formulas or whether he was truly filled with the spirit of God.» — la pregunta con que Samuel Gandoor fue enviado a Gaza: fórmulas mágicas o espíritu de Dios.

«Gandoor, who seems to have been a member of Raphael Joseph’s circle of scholars, completely succumbed to Nathan’s power of fascination.» — el resultado de esa misión.

«At first nobody seems to have mentioned Sabbatai’s name in connection with the excitement about the appearance of the prophet.» — el orden de los hechos que Scholem restablece contra la leyenda: el revuelo era por el profeta, no por el mesías.

«he abandoned his mission and repaired to Gaza in order to find a tiqqun and peace for his soul.» — la voz es la de una carta de Egipto sobre el motivo del viaje de Sabbatai a Gaza: buscar tiqqun y paz para su alma.

«But when R. Abraham Nathan beheld him, he fell to the ground before him, and asked his forgiveness for not having done homage to him when he had passed through [Gaza] on his way to Egypt. He also announced to him that he was a very exalted soul.» — sigue esa carta con el encuentro: Natán se postró y le pidió perdón por no haberle hecho homenaje antes.

«Sabbatai came to Gaza neither in accordance with a secret plan hatched years before, nor because he was on his way home after having achieved his mission.» — la doble negativa que Scholem ficha sobre ese viaje.

«He went a shaliah (‘emissary’) and returned a mashiaḥ (‘messiah’).» — el juego de palabras que, según Moses Ḥagiz, corría por Jerusalén. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por los paréntesis de traducción del propio volumen.

«Sabbatai did not come as a messiah to his prophet, but, rather, as a sick man to the doctor of souls, who knew the hidden roots of every soul and who could prescribe to each its appropriate tiqqun.» — la fórmula con que Scholem invierte la escena esperada: el mesías llega como enfermo al médico de almas.

«But the cure was a surprise. Nathan announced to him that his was a soul of a very high order which needed no tiqqun; he was, in fact, the messiah.» — el desenlace de la consulta.

«The accounts according to which Nathan publicly welcomed Sabbatai with a messianic proclamation41 are clearly contradicted by Nathan’s own story in the letter quoted above.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra los relatos de una proclamación pública en la llegada.

«But this view is a rationalistic induction from events that in reality followed very different laws, and which unfolded in accordance with the peculiar psychological dynamics of the dramatis personae.» — la objeción de Scholem a quienes leyeron esa negativa como disimulo.

«There was no carefully laid plot and Sabbatai did not dissimulate; yet we can also understand the perplexity of the unbelievers as they tried to account for what had happened in terms intelligible to them.» — la negativa del complot y a la vez el reconocimiento de la perplejidad de los incrédulos.

«he showed him a phantom, or made him hear a voice which declared that he was the messiah.» — la explicación que Sasportas propuso: Sabbatai habría hipnotizado a Natán con una fórmula mágica.

«Nathan would listen to Sabbatai’s story of his life, illness, and afflictions, of his dreams and persecutions, and he would fit all these details into the picture of the Godhead and the cosmos which he had formed as a result of his apocalyptic vision.» — lo que Scholem describe de aquellas semanas juntas: Natán encajando la vida de Sabbatai en el cuadro de su visión.

«It was, perhaps, during these conversations that Nathan imbibed some of the curiously “Christian” elements of his theological terminology.» — la conjetura que Scholem propone sobre el origen del vocabulario cristiano de Natán.

«Sabbatai, on the other hand, may well have heard the history of Jesus during his wanderings, and may even have meditated on the possibility of a mysterious connection between Jesus and himself.» — y la vía que le parece más probable, dicha en ese grado.

«Some of his later actions leave no doubt that they were modeled on examples from the Gospels.» — lo que Scholem sí da por fuera de duda sobre los modelos evangélicos de algunos actos de Sabbatai.

«The more Nathan learned about Sabbatai’s personality, the more he was fascinated by it, but still Sabbatai would not surrender. This was not the cure for which his soul had been yearning.» — el saldo de aquellas semanas: Sabbatai seguía sin rendirse.

«On the eve of Pentecost he had one of his “unaccountable” fits of melancholia, “and he was like a sick man filled with anxiety, because he was unable to attend the reading» — la recaída de Sabbatai en la víspera de Pentecostés de 1665, que lo dejó fuera de la vigilia de Shabuʿoth.

«In Sabbatai’s absence, and while the assembled scholars were chanting hymns, Nathan fell into a swoon during which he uttered individual exhortations to those present to repent of their sins.» — la escena de la vigilia: Natán cae en trance y exhorta uno a uno a los presentes.

«And now Nathan came forward, for the first time, with a public messianic declaration: Sabbatai Ṣevi is worthy to be king over Israel.» — la primera declaración mesiánica pública de Natán, hecha al explicar la voz a los rabinos que no la entendían.

«But the essential facts seem fairly clear, and their likelihood is increased by their striking resemblance to many well-known and well-attested “maggidic” phenomena, that is, cases of voices proceeding from the lips of kabbalist rabbis in an unconscious, or trancelike, state.» — por qué Scholem tiene por verosímil el núcleo del relato: se parece a los fenómenos maggídicos bien atestiguados.

«His account of the brethren’s enthusiastic singing, and of Nathan’s ecstatic dance during which he gradually stripped himself of his clothing until he fell into a swoon, is realistic and convincing.» — el testimonio de R. Meir b. Ḥiyya Rofe sobre la danza extática de Natán, que se fue desnudando hasta caer en desmayo.

«in the messiah] without any sign or miracle. And whoever does not believe, it is evident that his soul contains an admixture of evil from the generations that rebelled against the kingdom of Heaven and against the kindgom of David.» — la voz es la del ángel según Natán: hay que creer sin señal ni milagro, y la incredulidad delata mezcla de mal en el alma; el troceo imprime *kindgom*.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi also told Laniado that when Nathan addressed him as the messiah, “he laughed at him and said, ‘I had it [the messianic vocation], but have sent it away.» — la respuesta de Sabbatai a Natán según su confesión a Laniado: se rio y dijo que ya la había despedido.

«a voice went forth from his mouth, saying [Hos. 6:2], ‘After two days he will revive us, in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight’—and this was all.» — lo que Sabbatai le contó a Laniado del trance de Natán: el versículo de Oseas 6:2 sobre el tercer día.

«Sabbatai may well have begun to ponder the meaning of this verse, and perhaps he even thought of the Christian interpretation according to which it referred to the resurrection of the messiah.» — la conjetura de Scholem sobre el eco cristiano de ese versículo en Sabbatai.

«for n indicates nistar (‘hidden, absent’ [the grammatical term for ‘third person’]), meaning that God would revive him and raise him up. Not as the plain sense would have it, that the speakers—in the first-person plural—would be revived, but … the verse means a third-person singular, and this singular individual would be revived.» — la lectura gramatical con que Sabbatai se aplicó a sí mismo el versículo, según Laniado. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis de glosa del volumen.

«on the third day after the prophet Nathan’s utterance, the illumination and the holy spirit returned to Our Lord with redoubled power, and his spirit revived …, for since the aforementioned exorcism his spirit had been [as] dead within him. But now on the third day after Nathan’s prophecy, his spirit was renewed and Our Lord had [new] strength.» — el desenlace según Laniado: al tercer día volvió la iluminación con fuerza redoblada tras el exorcismo que la había apagado.

«With the renewed manic onrush,60 everything erupted that had remained hidden and repressed in Sabbatai’s heart during the preceding months.» — la lectura de Scholem sobre ese retorno: brota lo reprimido.

«At long last he was no longer alone, a pitiful object of derision. With the far-famed man of God at his side, his messianic dream could express itself with redoubled strength.» — lo que Scholem señala como decisivo en el cambio de Sabbatai: la compañía del hombre de Dios.

«At last Sabbatai announced himself, during prayer, by his favorite biblical title, as the “anointed of the God of Jacob,” Meshiaḥ ʾElohey Yaʿaqob.» — el título con que Sabbatai se anunció en la oración: el ungido del Dios de Jacob.

«The beginning of the Sabbatian movement could thus be formally dated on May 31, 1665, the day of Sabbatai’s first proclamation of himself as the messiah.» — la fecha con que Scholem abre formalmente el movimiento, el 31 de mayo de 1665.

«the Seventeenth of Sivan, the day on which AMIRAH’s kingdom began to grow in Gaza.» — la entrada del calendario festivo sabatiano para ese día.

«There is, however, a serious difficulty, suggesting that two different dates and events may have been confused in these accounts.» — la dificultad cronológica que Scholem declara entre el 17 de Siván y el 17 de Tammuz.

«went forth like a king in the city of Gaza, mounted on a horse with a man walking in front of him, but no one knew his intention in this.» — la voz es la de cartas de Egipto: Sabbatai salió como rey por Gaza, a caballo y con un hombre delante.

«Sabbatai bore himself with majesty: he “was higher than any of the people” and his face was shining with a great radiance. The whole congregation assembled in the synagogue, where they spent many hours while Sabbatai’s countenance shone radiantly so that all stood in fear and trembling.» — la escena de la sinagoga de Gaza según Laniado, en el patrón de las fases maníacas.

«for during the same assembly in the synagogue, Sabbatai chose twelve of the rabbinic scholars of Gaza to represent the twelve tribes.» — el acto extraño de aquel día: doce eruditos de Gaza elegidos para representar a las doce tribus.

«The analogy with the Gospel account of the choice of the apostles comes to mind, though, of course, the idea of a symbolic representation of Israel by twelve disciples or adherents may well have struck Sabbatai spontaneously and without outside influence, much as it did in the case of Jesus.» — la analogía evangélica que Scholem señala y a la vez acota: la idea pudo ocurrírsele a Sabbatai por sí sola.

«Henceforth the habit of decreeing fanciful changes in the liturgy and in religious custom, and of making all sorts of bizarre appointments persisted throughout his career.» — el hábito que Scholem fija desde aquel día: cambios caprichosos en la liturgia y nombramientos extraños.

«Sabbatai had explained to Nathan his right to transgress the Law, and even to command others to do so, by way of special dispensation.» — el primero de los dos asuntos que trataron: el derecho a transgredir y a mandar transgredir.

«If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.» — el versículo de Jeremías 31:35 con que Sabbatai justificaba ese derecho.

«Forever,” Sabbatai explained, meant that these ordinances would not depart, but that they might depart temporarily!» — la lectura con que le daba la vuelta, según la carta de Natán.

«Clearly the problem of justifying his “strange actions” exercised him greatly, but he was unable to arrive at a more original answer than the traditional Talmudic concept of a special dispensation to meet the requirements of the moment (horaʾath shaʿah).» — el límite intelectual que Scholem le marca a Sabbatai en ese punto. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis del término hebreo.

«He was aware of a very special and intimate relationship between himself and the “God of his Faith,” and already at this early date there seems to have been an element of self-deification, or identification with some divine principle, in his understanding of his messianic character.» — el elemento de autodeificación que Scholem le adjudica a Sabbatai ya en esta etapa.

«This species of Sabbatian literature was initiated one day in the spring of 1665, apparently sometime between Sabbatai’s return to Gaza and the “Growth of the Kingdom” at the end of May (cf. p. 225, n. 75), when Nathan “discovered” a leaf from an allegedly ancient apocalypse.» — el nacimiento de la pseudoepigrafía sabatiana: el hallazgo del apocalipsis supuestamente antiguo.

«The language and symbolic imagery leave no doubt that it was composed by Nathan himself.» — la adjudicación de autoría que Scholem hace del Vision of R. Abraham.

«Behold a son will be born to Mordecai Ṣevi in the year 5386 [1626] and he will be called Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — la voz es la del Vision of R. Abraham, puesta en boca de un sabio del siglo XIII.

«He will subdue the great dragon, and take away the strength of the piercing serpent and the strength of the crooked serpent, and he will be the true messiah.» — sigue el apocalipsis con la guerra contra el dragón y las dos serpientes.

«He will go forth to the war without hands [that is, without weapons], [until the time of the end]. His kingdom will be forevermore and there is no redeemer for Israel besides him.» — la nota que Scholem subraya de ese texto: el redentor irá a la guerra sin manos, es decir sin armas.

«And now write the vision and conceal it in an earthen vessel, that it may continue many days.» — la orden de ocultar la visión en vasija de barro, con que el texto se explica a sí mismo como hallazgo.

«His contemporaries shall rise against him with reproaches and blasphemies—they are the “mixed multitude” [cf. Exod. 12:38], the sons of Lilith, the “caul above the liver,”81 the leaders and rabbis of the generation.» — la identificación que el apocalipsis hace de los adversarios del mesías con la multitud mezclada y los hijos de Lilit.

«Its author had read, and been impressed by, the visions of Solomon Molkho.» — la fuente de imaginería que Scholem le encuentra al apocalipsis.

«There is, as yet, no explicit contradiction to the traditional messianic image, but the messiah of the Vision was clearly made to fit not so much the ancient legends as a concrete, personal experience.» — lo que Scholem mide en ese texto: la figura del mesías rehecha desde una experiencia concreta.

«The redeemer will not appear at the head of an army to fight the messianic war; he will come “without hands” and without military strength.» — la primera consecuencia de esa refundición: un mesías sin ejército.

«His real war will be against the demonic powers of the qelippah, and it will be waged essentially on the “inner,” spiritual levels of the cosmos» — y el terreno donde se libra esa guerra.

«He is locked in combat with the very principle that is his own metaphysical source, subduing it, but at times also subdued by it and falling into its bottomless abyss.» — la paradoja que Scholem lee en el apocalipsis: el mesías combate el principio del que él mismo procede.

«His ultimate messianic task consists, apparently, not merely in the defeat and annihilation of the power of evil, but in raising it up to the sphere of holiness, that is, in the tiqqun of the qelippah.» — la tarea última que ese texto le asigna: no aniquilar el mal sino elevarlo a la santidad.

«The “wondrous and awesome” things which, according to the apocalypse, the messiah had to do (and which, in fact, he had already done), were the “strange actions” by which transgressions were sanctified, and the qelippah transformed and hallowed at its very root; they symbolize the transformation of values inherent in the messianic task.» — la lectura que el apocalipsis da a los actos extraños: transgresiones santificadas y transformación de valores.

«The Zoharic writer had used the typological expressions “mixed multitude” and “sons of Lilith” to designate the leaders and the rich in his generation, possibly also the scholars who clung to exoteric traditional teaching and rejected kabbalistic esotericism.» — el sentido original de las expresiones del Raʿya Mehemna que Natán reutiliza.

«In this apocalypse the terminology acquires a new signification. It is they who deny the messiah and who persecute him on account of his “awesome actions” whose hidden light they cannot comprehend, that are the “mixed multitude.”» — y el desplazamiento que Natán les imprime: la multitud mezclada son ahora los que niegan al mesías.

«There is a striking analogy between the “sons of Lilith” of this apocalypse, and the “children of Satan,” namely, the leaders of the Jews who rejected the messiah, in the Fourth Gospel.» — el paralelo cristiano que Scholem señala en esa terminología.

«They are rooted in the contempt which the founders of the movement, true spiritueles, felt from the very beginning for the carnal rabble that could not comprehend the spiritual light.» — la raíz que Scholem le encuentra a la violencia de la polémica posterior: el desprecio inicial de los fundadores por la plebe carnal.

«He had performed no “strange actions”; he merely interpreted someone else’s.» — la asimetría que Scholem mantiene entre profeta y mesías.

«He remained a meticulously observant Jew and no complaints were ever voiced against him on that score, however numerous and grave the accusations leveled against him in other respects.» — la negativa que Scholem ficha sobre la observancia de Natán, pese a todo lo que se le imputó.

«All these accounts can be traced back either to Nathan or to his friends, and they all agree on one essential point: the apocalypse was found by Nathan and by nobody else.» — el punto en que coinciden todos los relatos del hallazgo del apocalipsis.

«We now also know how the mistake arose; it was born from a confusion in the memory of Sasportas, who failed to check his story against the documents in his archive.» — el origen del error que atribuía el apocalipsis a Abraham Yakhini: una confusión de memoria de Sasportas.

«Sasportas never realized the importance of the apocalypse; in fact, he lacked the background knowledge for understanding it.» — la limitación que Scholem le señala a Sasportas como testigo.

«He was a rabbinic judge and not a psychologist. If Sabbatai was guilty of wicked deeds it mattered little why he did them. Folly and madness are no justification, and hence Sasportas paid little attention to details to which we would attach major importance.» — y el criterio con que explica sus silencios: para un juez, la locura no justifica.

«Elsewhere he dismisses the Vision as “tales wherewith to frighten children.» — el juicio de Sasportas sobre el apocalipsis.

«There is no way of telling whether he wrote these works in full consciousness as mystical pseudepigrapha, or in states of ecstasy wherein he felt himself to be the copyist rather than the author.» — la abstención de Scholem sobre el estado mental de Natán al componer sus pseudoepígrafes.

«There are many psychological stages of transition between downright forgery, and composition in a state of ecstasy or trance.» — la escala que Scholem interpone entre la falsificación y la escritura en trance.

«The fact remains that the Vision is a literary forgery, though we may prefer to call it a “pseudepigraph” in order to avoid the moral opprobrium attached to the former term.» — la adjudicación de Scholem sobre el género del texto, con el matiz de vocabulario que propone.

«Almosnino evidently realized that Nathan was identical with R. Abraham the Recluse—without detriment to his religious acceptance of the text.» — el caso que Scholem destaca: Joseph Almosnino sabía quién era el autor y creía igual en el texto.

«Almosnino was right, for the apocalypse does hint obliquely at its author’s name which, in full, was Abraham Nathan.» — la señal interna de autoría que Scholem encuentra en el apocalipsis.

«An element of probably unconscious or half-conscious projection seems to be present in the apocalypse: Abraham Nathan sees himself in the role of a twelfth-century R. Abraham, who beholds in a vision what he himself had learned only a short while ago, partly in a prophetic experience and partly in conversation with Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — la proyección que Scholem lee en la ficción del R. Abraham del siglo XII.

«The details of Sabbatai’s sexual temptations are hardly of the kind which Sabbatai would have confided to an unknown youth in Jerusalem.» — el argumento con que Scholem fecha el apocalipsis después de los encuentros de Gaza.

«The apocalypse is the product of Nathan’s struggle with a messiah who refused the mission laid upon him by his prophet.» — la función que Scholem le asigna al texto dentro del pulso entre los dos.

«For the first time he was surrounded by believers and supporters, and “in the multitude of people is the king’s honor.» — la causa que Scholem da para la nueva fase maníaca de Sabbatai.

«Gandoor emphasizes the virtue and saintliness of Sabbatai’s behavior, although we know that in his fits of euphoria the saintly ascetic was apt to do the most surprising things.» — la reserva con que Scholem lee ese elogio.

«While still in Gaza, Sabbatai had made himself three rings, which he always wore on his fingers.» — los tres anillos de Sabbatai según el testimonio de Israel Ḥazzan.

«Sabbatai Ṣevi busied himself with inventing mystical allusions to himself by way of gematria (numerology).» — la práctica que Scholem le adjudica a Sabbatai. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis de glosa del volumen.

«The numerical value of the full spelling of the divine name Shadday (Shin, Daleth, Yod) is 814, which also happens to be the numerical value of the name Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — la gematría que iguala el nombre divino Shadday con el nombre del mesías.

«This gematria appears frequently in later Sabbatian writings, and it was evidently invented by Sabbatai himself.» — la adjudicación de autoría que Scholem hace de esa gematría.

«In fact, the first word of the Bible contained a messianic prophecy, since the letters of the Hebrew word for “in the beginning,” בדאשית, contain the letters that make up the word “sabbatai,”» — la primera de esas gematrías: las letras de la palabra inicial del Génesis contienen las de su nombre.

«Sabbatai discovered that the numerical value of the Hebrew words for “God moved” was equal to that of his name. The verse thus mystically signified “and the spirit of Sabbatai Ṣevi was upon the waters.» — la segunda: el espíritu que se movía sobre las aguas leído como el espíritu de Sabbatai Ṣevi.

«Poor as these fancies are as a spiritual or mental effort, they served as a considerable imaginative stimulus. Nathan took them over from Sabbatai and made them part and parcel of his doctrinal system.» — el juicio de Scholem sobre esas gematrías y su efecto en la doctrina de Natán.

«Moreover, we learn from these rings that Sabbatai genuinely sought to establish a connection between himself and the names of God.» — lo que Scholem lee en los anillos.

«there is no division, distinction, or separation whatever between me and Him—these were his holy words.» — la voz es la de Sabbatai a Israel Ḥazzan en Adrianópolis, sobre su relación con el Dios de su fe.

«Sabbatai’s awareness of a relation of particular intimacy with his father in Heaven, is reminiscent of similar utterances of Jesus as reported in the Gospels.» — el paralelo evangélico que Scholem señala en esa fórmula.

«For the time being, all this was merely hinted at, but it was only a short step from there to such public and audacious expressions of his faith as his later signatures to his letters: “the firstborn” of the Lord, or even “I am the Lord your God Sabbatai Ṣevi.» — la escalada que Scholem anuncia hasta las firmas más audaces de las cartas.

«R. Moses Galante, one of the most prominent rabbis in Jerusalem and for some time a follower of Nathan (he actually accepted the latter’s invitation to join him in Gaza), later confessed to his disciples that he had not opposed Sabbatai until the receipt, by the believers in Jerusalem, of the first letters with the offensive signature.» — el testimonio de R. Moses Galante sobre cuándo dejó de seguir a Sabbatai.

«As will be shown, Galante was more of a follower of Sabbatai than he later cared to admit.» — la enmienda que Scholem le hace a ese testimonio.

«We do know that Sabbatai signed his letters with the figure of a crooked serpent after his name.» — el sello de Sabbatai: la serpiente torcida.

«The meaning of the symbol is obvious: it is the “holy serpent,” the numerical value of which was equal to that of the Hebrew word mashiaḥ (“messiah”).» — la gematría que iguala serpiente santa y mesías. Tramo releído entero en el crudo y extraído con la guarda anticosido apagada, por el paréntesis de traducción.

«However that may be, it is certain that Sabbatai never used the symbol of the ouroboros, the circular serpent biting its own tail, which is one of the best-known symbols of the unity and eternal renewal of life» — la negativa que Scholem ficha contra la tentación de leer allí el ouroboros.

«His word was obeyed in Gaza, and instead of the liturgy of the fast “the Great Hallel [the festival psalms, 113–118] was recited, and there was rejoicing in the gardens.» — lo que se hizo en Gaza en lugar del ayuno.

«and the Seventeenth of Tammuz was made a festival day of feasting and rejoicing in honor of the Shekhinah, for thus had it been revealed.» — la voz es la de la carta enviada de Gaza a Alepo en julio de 1665.

«forbidding all the fasts of the Jews at Jerusalem; and declaring that the bridegroom being come, nothing but joy and triumph ought to dwell in their habitations, writing to all the assemblies of the Jews to persuade them to the same belief.» — la voz es la del cónsul inglés en Esmirna, Paul Rycaut, que parece citar una de esas cartas: llegado el novio, solo cabe la alegría.

«The absence of any messianic propaganda in the early summer of 1665 has always been a puzzle.» — el enigma que Scholem plantea sobre los primeros meses.

«Nathan was still completely absorbed in a paroxysm of visionary fever; his missionary activity consisted of calls to repentance so that Israel might be spared the messianic woes.» — en qué consistía entonces la actividad de Natán.

«The abolition of the fast, however, precipitated the crisis. It sounded the alarm for the rabbis of Jerusalem, who considered themselves the guardians of Israel’s tradition.» — el efecto de la abolición del ayuno sobre los rabinos de Jerusalén.