Moshe Idel

In creation and in ritual, the Hebrew language was considered by Jewish mystics as playing a role much more important than the common communicative one that language regularly plays. It was the main instrument of the creation of the world, and it is the vessel that is prepared by man to contain the divine light in order to experience an act of union or communion.

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Originally published in S. Katz, Mysticism and Language (OUP, 1992). Republished here with thanks.