"Chayei ha-Olam ha-Ba" by Abraham Abulafia, Translation and Comment

This research is devoted to one of the main books on the prophetic Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia, «Chaye ha-olam ha-ba». As you know, this work was widely distributed underground among the Jewish mystical elites, despite the strict rabbinic ban on the thinker's texts. Despite the direct similarity of his practice with magical rites, the kabbalist adhered to the golden mean, confirming his teachings in the Sacred Scripture. In our work, an attempt was made to reconstruct and translate the manuscript, as well as to find the prerequisites for the creation of the text and to understand kabbalistic concepts, which often have a different meaning from the theurgic kabbalah for a mystic. It is worth noting that the research can be perceived as an interdisciplinary one, mainly of a philological and religious nature. In this work, we will try to show what is the ambivalence of the structure of the mystic, his methods, understanding and interpretation of Sacred Scriptures. In addition, we will try to explain what is the peculiarity of A. Abulafia's practices, how he describes them and evaluates them during the development of the manuscript. Also in our study we will resort to the analysis of the Divine Names and their modification according to the judgments of the thinker. In addition, we will consider the main methods that the Kabbalist uses in his teaching. This text can be perceived not only as one of the first Kabbalistic open works, but also as a textbook for novice adepts. It is important to note that the manuscript « Chaye ha-olam ha-ba» by A. Abulafii is translated into Russian for the first time.