The Train Wreck part 2

In the immediate aftermath of the Shabbatean debacle, several things happened. First, many communities threw out Kabbalah entirely. Kabbalah had been too closely associated with the Shabbatean movement. In fact, the Shabbateans were often referred to as "Zoharites". Western European communities jettisoned anything that smacked of Kabbalah. Central and Eastern European communities greatly restricted Kabbalah. This is when the "rule" that one must be over forty years of age, and well versed in Talmud came in. Kabbalists who followed these rules were required to pray in their own synagogues or prayer rooms. Books of Kabbalah written at this time were generally dry and non inspiring. Emotion played little part. In fact, neither did ideology. Scholars kept their noses in the books, and didn't dare speculate. In fact, even Talmudic study was, at this juncture, limited to eight tractates that didn't deal with speculative or spiritual matters. Thus was born the Lithuanian Yeshiva approach; deep study with no spirituality. In my opinion, this is one of the great tragedies of the Shabbatean aftermath. The creation of a text-wise but virtually G-d absent Judaism, that has become "normative Orthodoxy", and has remained so ever since. RAMCHAL was excommunicated and banished because he claimed prophetic powers. That would not have raised an eyebrow a few years earlier. The Spanish-Portuguese communities all across Europe, were terrified of Kabbalah and its implications. The great community of Amsterdam, not only jettisoned Kabbalah, but actually brought in secular humanist rabbis from Italy. Many East European smaller communities maintained a close connection with Kabbalah, but were unwittingly using Shabbatean texts! Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all was the redefining of Judaism at this point. Medieval Judaism, especially in Spain, had two streams of intellectual thought. One was solidly based on the Spanish Kabbalah. The other was philosophical, largely based on RAMBAM's "Guide". Little by little, the philosophical approach almost died out among scholars. But now, without Kabbalah, an ideology was badly needed. Although most stuck to Talmudic study, without raising the great existential questions of life, a significant portion went to philosophy. But "The Guide" interpreted the Mitzvot not as great spiritual exercises, bringing tikkun to the Universe, but as educational exercises meant to impress the person with important lessons. G-d didn't really care. A synthesis of these ideas was soon to mix with Shabbatean ideas, with far-reaching results. Next time.