Toledot Adam (The Generations of Adam)

Elijah Loanz

1734

Facing-page Hebrew manuscript with charts with Hebrew letters on left side, and geometric drawings on right side.

This two-page spread from Elijah ben Moses Loanz’s Toledot Adam (The Generations of Adam) includes examples of some of the kabbalistic amulets and formulae for which he was famous.

Credits

Courtesy GFC Trust / William L. Gross.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Dream Question

A dream question: clean yourself from all impurity and abstain from eating meat, drinking wine, and lying with a woman. And lie in a clean bed after ritually immersing—a stringent immersion, because…

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Manuscript page of Hebrew text arranged in the shape of a eight-branched candelabrum.

Seder tefilot yesharot u-varot (The Order of Upright and Pure Prayers)

Kabbalists prayed using the basic Jewish prayers, but added certain elements according to their own tradition. The prayers are often presented with kavanot (special devotional forms, meanings, and…

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Facing page manuscript arranged vertically with Hebrew text in the shape of a figure wielding two long objects.

Compendium of Practical Kabbalah

This remarkable manuscript of practical kabbalah was written in Eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth century; at the end of that century it was owned by the Radvil Hasidic dynasty. In contrast to…

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Printed page with Hebrew words arranged in concentric squares and intersecting diamonds, and Star of David in the middle.

Creator Bio

The family of the rabbi and kabbalist Elijah ben Moses Loanz traced its ancestry back to Rashi. Loanz was born in Frankfurt am Main, studied under many prominent rabbis, and himself served as rabbi in Hanua, Fulda, Friedberg, and Worms. In Worms, he was also a ḥazzan (sexton), preacher, and head of the yeshiva. Loanz became a famed kabbalist: his amulets were very popular, and various miracles were attributed to him. He also engaged in disputes with Christian priests and corresponded with the Christian Hebraist Johannes Buxtorf. Loanz composed many works, most of which were not printed in his lifetime and have survived in manuscript form. These include commentaries and supercommentaries on biblical books, commentaries on the Zohar and other kabbalistic works, as well as some secular and liturgical poetry (among them a poetic dispute between wine and water). Examples of his amulets have been preserved in collections reproducing these formulas. Loanz also helped to prepare Moses Isserles’s work Darkhe Moshe (The Ways of Moses) for publication.