Creator Bio
Joseph of Hamadan
13th Century–14th Century
Almost nothing is known about the figure who went by the name Joseph of Hamadan or Joseph of Shushan (the city in Persia). All the writings associated with Joseph place him in Spain, although some scholars point to parallels between his ideas and those of Zoroastrian mystics. The many kabbalistic works ascribed to Joseph have a close relationship with the earliest strata of the Zohar, especially stylistically, and he is now thought to have been an integral member of the circle of kabbalists who composed the Zohar. At the same time, Joseph’s writings at times wildly diverged from the system laid out in the Zohar.
Content by Joseph of Hamadan
Primary Source
The Sabbath Within God: The Candelabrum of the Sefirot
Joseph presents the structure of the sefirot—the inner life of God—as a dynamic relation between the six middle “days” and the sefirah referred to as the Sabbath.