ON THE KABBALAH

A Certain Introduction

BY THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS COUNT

CARLO MONTECUCCOLI

CHAPTER ONE.

What the Kabbalah is, what it deals with, and from where it originated.

KABBALAH original: "Cabala", rendered into Latin, signifies "reception," as appears in the first chapter of the book titled Chapters of the Fathers original: "Capitula Patrum"; this refers to the Pirkei Avot, a famous collection of ethical teachings and aphorisms from the Rabbis of the Mishnaic period, in these words: "Moses received the law from Sinai, and handed it down to Joshua," original: "Moses recepit legem de Sinai, & tradidit eam Ieosuah" etc. By "the law" in this passage, the Hebrews do not mean the written law, but the spiritual or mystical law—that is, the meaning and explanation of the law. For the Jews believe that Moses [received] from the Lord a twofold The text breaks here at the end of the page; the catchword "cem" indicates the next page begins by completing the word "duplicem" (twofold), likely referring to the tradition of the "Double Law": the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.