Medieval alchemy, Kabbalah and Islamic esotericism
Isaac the Blind
Isaac ben Abraham · Isaac Saggi Nehor
The first figure in this history who can be called a kabbalist by name. The earliest kabbalistic commentary on Sefer Yetzirah is his, and the term Ein-Sof is first used in something like its later sense in his circle.
- Dates
- c. 1160 – c. 1235
- Dating
- approximate dates
- Born
- Provence
The life
He taught in Provence, in a milieu where the Bahir was circulating, and sent students south into Catalonia.
Place in the tradition
Provence is where an anonymous literature acquires named teachers. His students carried the teaching to Gerona, which is where it was written down systematically.
a note on the record
History and later legend
Very little survives under his own name and the attribution of several texts to him is disputed. He is also reported to have objected to how openly his Gerona students wrote.
the written record
Principal works
-
early 13th century
Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah
The earliest kabbalistic commentary on Sefer Yetzirah that can be attached to a named teacher. It does not point at the Text this site holds for Sefer Yetzirah: that row is the book being commented on, not the commentary.