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© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/15700593-13130204 ARIES 13 (2

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/15700593-13130204 ARIES 13 (2013) 237–268 ARIES brill.com/arie Te Beginnings of Kabbalah in America: Te Unpublished Manuscripts of R. Levi Isaac Krakovsky Jonatan Meir Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Abstract L’article a pour sujet la personnalité extraordinaire du kabbaliste le Rabbin Levi Isaac Kra- kovsky (1891–1966), un des étudiants oubliés du Rabbin Yehuda Leib Ashlag (1885–1955). Krakovsky diﬀusait l’enseignement de son maître en Amérique en anglais, écrivait des dou- zaines de livres et essayait d’établir des yeshivot de Kabbalistes. Contrairement à son maître, il présentait un enseignement exotérique et une vision de diﬀusion de la Kabbale dans le monde entier.Soninﬂuenceétait minime,mais unde ses élèvesétait Shraga PhilipBergqui continuait son chemin et le complétait de plusieurs points de vue. L’article se base sur de riches matières archivales, parmi lesquelles de longues essays de l’auteur en manuscrit qui sont décrits ici pour la premiere fois. D’une telle façon, nous décrivons le dévelopment de la Kabbale en Amérique du début du vingtième siècle jusqu’ aujourd’hui. Keywords Kabbalah; Modern Kabbalah; Jewish Mysticism; Levi Isaac Krakovsky; Yehuda Leib Ashlag In 1939, a booklet on the essence of Jewish occult wisdom, Te Omnipotent Light Revealed: Te Luminous Tegument to Unite Mankind into One Loving Brother- hood, came out in Hollywood. Tis town was indeed a hotbed for a wide array of spiritual seekers interested in esoteric literature. Furthermore, it is evident from the work’s content that the author sought to adapt the traditional spirit of the kabbalah to this environment or, more precisely, to arouse interest in Jewish mysticism within these same circles. As we shall soon see, the situation was more complex. Te writer, Rabbi Levi Isaac Krakovsky (1891–1966), had returned to the United States in 1937 afer a circuitous spiritual voyage, which featured an extended stay in the Land of Israel. In Jerusalem, he became a stu- dent of R. Yehuda Leib Ashlag (1885–1955), a kabbalist who would eventually become one of the most inﬂuential thinkers in the ﬁeld. While Jewish occult wisdom’smetamorphosisinNorthAmericahasrecentlymeritedseveralin-depth 238 Jonatan Meir / ARIES 13 (2013) 237–268 discussions, Krakovsky’s role in this story has yet to be described in full.1 Var- ious archives contain a great deal of material on his enterprise, including book manuscripts,pamphlets,announcements,andletters.Tesetextshavethepoten- tial to illuminate a little known yet riveting chapter in the annals of American Jewish mysticism.2 Te Kabbalah Culture Society For the most part, Levi Krakovsky’s activities in the Land of Israel are veiled in mystery. We do not know how he turned up in Jerusalem or even how many years he spent under Ashlag’s wing. Tat said, Krakovsky seems to have been one of the kabbalist’s ﬁrst students, joining his circle in 1922. Although they were forced to part ways for much of the mid-1920s, the apprentice stayed in his mentor’s com- pany as much as possible.3 Before their encounter, Krakovsky was involved in a variety of spiritual pursuits. For instance, he wrote a bizarre psychologically- oriented pamphlet in Yiddish on overcoming pain and tribulations, which was apparentlyprintedathisinitiativeinthe1920s.4Accordingtohislatertestimony, Krakovsky also toiled over some ambitious kabbalah-related projects during this same period, such as thetranslation of several books. However, he made no eﬀort to publish any of these works while in Jerusalem. Upon returning to the United States in 1937, Krakovsky was bent on spreading the wisdom of the kabbalah, in the spirit of Ashlag, to English-speaking audi- ences. With this in mind, he endeavoured to bring numerous works to print and concocted a handful of ambitious plans, two of which stand out from the rest. Firstly, he aspired to compile a voluminous concordance of kabbalah litera- ture, for which he obtained haskamot (approvals) from Ashlag and several other rabbis.5 Secondly, he aspired to establish a kabbalah academy in North America 1) For a basic description of Krakovsky, see Simons, Benjamin Wolf Rosoﬀ, 377–379; Myers, Kabbalah and the Spiritual Quest, 23–31, 34–35. 2) Krakovsky’s manuscripts, which are in the possession of his family, were generously placed at my disposal by Jody Myers. 3) On the nascent stages of the Ashlag circle, see Meir, ‘Wrestling with the Esoteric’ 585–647; idem, ‘New Discoveries’, 345–368. 4) Krakovsky, Die Goldene Gezete. 5) Handwritten haskamot for Krakovsky’s various enterprises reached the hands of Jody Myers, Kabbalah and the Spiritual Quest. Among those who “approved” of his concordance project were Ashlag, Yitzhak Herzog (1947), Eliezer Silver (1943), and the Rebbe of Monas- trish (1937). Passages from Herzog’s commendation also embellish Krakovsky’s later books. Moreover, some of these “approvals,” particularly that of the former, were sent to potential donors, along with copies of his books. Krakovsky, ‘Haskamot’ (MS). Jonatan Meir / ARIES 13 (2013) 237–268 239 along the lines of those that were popping up in Jerusalem at the time. However, before elaborating on these two central projects, it behoves us to take stock of the organization that he set up to further these goals. Around the time of his return to the United States, Krakovsky founded the Kabbalah Culture Society of America—a makeshif association which operated in the 1930s and 1940s (ﬁrst in Brooklyn and later on in Hollywood). Its objec- tive was to disseminate Ashlagian kabbalah, albeit with revisions and additions that were meant to suit this corpus to a new environment. Krakovsky man- aged to obtain the support of several academic researchers, rabbis, and highly- inﬂuential American Jews, whose names were prominently displayed on oﬃcial letters that he distributed. Among the patrons were Leo Jung, Herbert S. Gold- stein, Joseph Lookstein, S.B. Hoenig, Hirsch Manischewitz, S. Margoshes, Max J. Mintz, D.S. Stern, and Isaac Sossnitz. It is worth noting that there are practi- cally no other known sources pointing to these ﬁgures’ involvement in spreading Jewish esoteric wisdom. Te only exception is Sossnitz, a doctor, psychologist, and Zionist functionary, who translated Adolph Franck’s book on the kabbalah into English in 1926.6 Some of Krakovsky’s letters from 1939 bear the name of the chief rabbi of MandatoryPalestine,IsaacHerzog,whohadgiventheformerhaskamotuponhis departure from the Land of Israel.7 Within the Society’s framework, Krakovsky published a number of pamphlets and booklets (in English, Hebrew, and Yid- dish) that faintly echo his grand visions for disseminating the kabbalah. Al- though there is scant information on this organization, we will attempt to glean some insights from Krakovsky’s publications during the years of its existence. Revealing Secrets and Disseminating Propaganda Krakovsky’s style was much more aggressive than that of his mentor, Yehuda Leib Ashlag. Tat said, his powerful urge to disseminate the kabbalah lacked the 6) Franck,TeKabbalah.Tebook’simpactwasconsiderable.Infact,itsimprintonthepopu- larKabbalahliteratureinEnglishisevidenttothisday.Onthebook’simmediatereception,see TeosophistMagazine,262–263.Sossnitz’sfather,JosephYehudahLeibSossnitz(1837–1910), was born to a Hasidic family in Eastern Europe and embraced the Jewish Enlightenment movement. Afer immigrating to America in 1891, he published popular books on science. See ‘Joseph L. Sossnitz’. Years later, the son touted him as a kabbalist in, say, the dedication of his above-mentioned translation: ‘Dedicated to the memory of my unforgettable teacher and father Joseph L. Sossnitz, great kabbalist, thorough scientist, true philosopher and indefatiga- ble seeker for truth’. 7) For some reason, Herzog’s name was erased from a couple of the letters. Several of these documents(bearingtheSociety’sname)arehousedinvariousarchives,seeKrakovsky.‘Letters’ (MS). 240 Jonatan Meir / ARIES 13 (2013) 237–268 pangs of a believer who has plunged into the depths of wisdom and is quaking with fear due to the secrets he revealed. Instead, standing before us is a cultural agent who distributed material on the importance of learning kabbalah. In many respects, Krakovsky’s writing falls under the rubric of propaganda whose allure rests exclusively on its sharp language. Conversely, Ashlag’s output is laden with dialectics of revelation and concealment, greatness and humility.8 Be that as it may, Krakovsky admired his teacher’s innovations and sought to translate his message for a new reality. Wielding a booming voice, he undertook to spread Ashlag’s message far and wide. However, his writing lacks the sense of intricacy that is usually associated with the unveiling of the occult. In 1938, Krakovsky printed one of his ﬁrst booklets, Te Wisdom of Kabbalah and its Importance. Te work beseeches readers to recognize the value of Jewish esoteric wisdom and labour on behalf of its revelation in manifold ways.9 On the inner cover page, the author describes the aim of his organization: ‘Te KabbalahCultureSocietyofAmerica:FortheSupportoftheKabbalahInstitute of Yeshivat ‘Itur Rabanim’ of Jerusalem. And for the Publication of Kabbalah Texts and the Concordance of the Kabbalah’. Itur Rabanim was the academy that Ashlag had founded in Jerusalem for the purpose of disseminating his own books and the said concordance, which Krakovsky had lugged to the United States.10 Te booklet’s text opens with an admonition to those who refrain from study- ing the kabbalah, which harbours the secret of the redemption: ‘Its learning and its dissemination, is known to the elect as the only healing balm for all ills which beset the whole of humanity’.11 For the sake of substantiating these claims, Krakovsky grounds the introduction on references to ‘Christian kabbalists’ who discovered the power latent in the Jews’ ancient wisdom.12 He also avails himself of their works to illustrate that the kabbalah should be classiﬁed as a science.13 Teauthorevenclaimsthat‘shouldthepagesof theKabbalahsometimebecome accessibletotheintelligentEnglishspeakingstudent,hewillbeastoundedaswell as delighted to ﬁnd such uploads/Geographie/ the-beginnings-of-kabbalah-in-america-t-pdf.pdf