Abulafianism Among the Counterculture Kabbalists

Abstract

In the late 1960s and early 1970s a group of Jewish poets in California became enthusiastic about the mystical texts of Abraham Abulafia, a medieval Kabbalist. His teachings inspired their poetry to such an extent that one might speak of “Abulafianism.”1 This Abulafianism had its roots in the Beat Generation and the 1960s counterculture. It fundamentally affected the poets David Meltzer, Jack Hirschman and Jerome Rothenberg.2 However, their interest in Hebrew letter mysticism was not singular. Other poets, such as Jackson Mac Low, Hannah Weiner, Stuart Perkoff and the artists Wallace Berman and Bruria Finkel shared their fascination with certain aspects of Kabbalah. Altogether, Abulafianism marks a shift in American-Jewish poetry, which in the earlier postwar period had hardly ever dealt with religious or mystical issues. Meltzer, Hirschman and Rothenberg were friends, who shared a background in the Jewish neighborhoods of New York (Bronx and Brooklyn) before they eventually moved to California. As they all came from secular families their sudden interest in Jewishmysticism andKabbalah – actually, a kind of counterculture Kabbalism – deserves attention.3 It stemmed primarily from themilieu of hippie culture, of course, where non-institutionalized religionbegan tobe thoughtofas spirituality, andbecamepivotal.But there were other influences as well. These included the appearance, at the