In 1497, Portugal's King Manuel, instead of expelling the Jews, ordered them rounded up and forcibly converted. Historical BackgroundĪs the author suggests in his "Historical Notes", sixteenth-century Lisbon is a dangerous place, especially for Jews, who are living a half-hidden life on the run from the Spanish Inquisition. The Last Kabbalist is not about Kabbalah itself however the author, Richard Zimler, uses many Kabbalistic themes and ideas to develop this many-layered mystery in a captivating and thought provoking way. The Kabbalah is a tool, which if mastered can help unravel the mysteries of our lives and reveal the secrets in the apparent paradoxes we face. Unlike philosophy, which is logical and systematic, or to the "mainstream" literal approach of Jewish interpretation used to understand the tangible law, the Kabbalah is open to ideas that go deeper than the rational and obvious. Often written in a time of profound religious upheaval, these collections became of interest because they helped to give meaning to the difficulties that seemed inexplicable.
Later, entire books are written which contain collections of Jewish mystical insights such as Sefer Yetzira, the Bahir and the Zohar (written in 13th-century Spain and which opened the Kabbalah to the masses). Kabbalistic teachings can be found throughout the Talmud. It is Judaism's way of comprehending and experiencing the unity that lies just beneath the brokenness, contradiction and confusion of everyday life. Rather, it is the term used to describe the vast collection of Jewish teachings, symbols, rituals, customs and folklore that deal with mystical wisdom. The Kabbalah was an important part of the Sephardi (as well as the Ashkenazi) experience both before and after the "Inquisition." What is Kabbalah? Kabbalah is Judaism's mystical tradition. The KabbalahĪnother area of Jewish life that was often overlooked until recently is "Kabbalah". Many of us do not realize the magnitude of these events which, for its time, was as devastating and earth-shattering to the Jewish world as the Holocaust would be some five hundred years later. The period is often referred to as the "Inquisition," though this name is somewhat misleading.
The book is a "crash course" in the nuances and details of the persecution, forced conversion, clandestine worship, expulsion, flight and renewal that marked the Sephardi passage. These events mark an important period in Jewish history that is often overlooked. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is a compelling murder mystery and historical novel that uses the catastrophic events that overtook Spanish and Portuguese Jewry in the fifteenth century.
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