This article analyzes the organismic tandem of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the divine name Ehyeh as it appeared in the writings of early kabbalists and describes how they developed distinct strands of biblical, rabbinic, and medieval Jewish literature into a unique theosophical formulation of the Godhead in which the names Ehyeh and YHWH are of central importance and the primary expression of the divine. This examination illuminates how the early kabbalists developed a conception of the Godhead that followed the internal (...) logic of central biblical verses as well as phonetic considerations, in contrast to the more arbitrary sefirotic emanation of the Godhead. (shrink)

The article presents an analysis of a mystical practice of letter permutation conceived as part of the practice of “kavannah” in prayer. This practice was articulated by a 13th century anonymous ecstatic kabbalist writing in Catalonia. The anonymous author draws on earlier sources in the kabbalah and Ashkenazi spirituality. The article explores the wider connection between ecstasy and ritual, particularly prayer in the earlier stages of Judaism and its development in medieval theology and kabbalah. The anonymous author describes a unique (...) permutation technique capable of inducing ecstatic experiences as part of the liturgical ritual. (shrink)