Abraham Abulafia

Abraham Abulafia (born Zaragoza, 1240) was the founder of "prophetic" or ecstatic Kabbalah. Raised in Tudela, where his father taught him Bible and Talmud, he set out around the age of twenty for the Land of Israel in search of the legendary river Sambatyon and the Ten Lost Tribes, but the Crusader wars let him reach only Acre. In Italy he studied Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed under Hillel of Verona, and went on to develop a distinctive mystical path built on the permutation of Hebrew letters (tzeruf), the recitation of divine names, breathing and meditation aimed at prophetic ecstasy — a "Kabbalah of names" different from the theosophical Kabbalah of the sefirot. In 1280 he travelled to Rome intending to present himself to Pope Nicholas III, who died on the eve of the audience. Later, in Sicily, he proclaimed himself a prophet and messiah, drawing the sharp opposition of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the Rashba). He spent his final years on the small island of Comino, writing works such as Chayei HaOlam HaBa, Sefer HaOt, and Imrei Shefer. His meditative techniques deeply influenced later Jewish mysticism.