Some Forlorn Writings of a Forgotten Ashkenazi Prophet: R. Nehemiah ben Shlomo ha-Navi'

Abstract

Scholarship of the thirteenth century Hasidei Ashkenaz as represented by the studies of Joseph Dan, has assumed the existence of two main schools (one related to the Kalomynus family, the other named the circle of the Unique Cherub), and a variety of different treatises written by anonymous authors. More recently Yehuda Liebes proposed to identify an additional circle related to an anonymous commentary on the seventy names of Metatron. The present study proposes to identify those and additional anonymous treatises as written by a certain Rabbi Nehemiah ben Shlomo the prophet, an early thirteenth century figures. Among those short writings the most important one are the so-called Sefer ha-Navon, a commentary on the Seventy Names of Metatron, and a commentary on Ezekiel's account of the chariot. Most of these writings are extant in few manuscripts, while the commentary on the seventy names of Metatron is found in several versions and has already been printed. Rabbi Nehemiah' thought and style differ from the main schools, both because of the emphasis on the status of Metatron, and by the special interpretations given to the most anthropomorphic parts of the ancient Jewish literature. This author was less interested in Sefer Yetzirah, in philosophy or in magic than his Ashkenazi contemporaries. The impact of these writings are evident in the second part of the 13th century, in the fragments of Rabbi Moshe Azriel ben Eleazar ha-Darshan and in some texts of Abraham Abulafia's.

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