Dialogue on Kabbalah by Samuel David Luzzatto

This is the first complete translation of  Vikuaḥ 'al Ḥokhmat ha-Kabbalah , a literary-philosophical dialogue composed by the great Italian Jewish scholar Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865), also known as Shadal. Originally published in Hebrew in 1852, the  Dialogue  depicts a multi-faceted and acrimonious disputation between two scholars, who debate the authority and authenticity of Jewish mystical traditions. This work subjects Kabbalah, along with its textual centerpiece the Zohar, to both a rigorous critique and an impassioned defense, thereby inviting the reader to critically examine this centuries-old debate.

Shadal’s  Dialogue  is a classic text of the Jewish enlightenment ( Haskalah ), in which trends of modern scholarship and historical criticism are brought into confrontation with rabbinic tradition and Kabbalistic mysteries. This translation has been augmented by over a thousand footnotes, extensive glossaries, and a lengthy introduction outlining the place of Shadal’s  Dialogue  within the history of Kabbalah criticism and the rise of modern Jewish scholarship.