José Costa

Is 6, 3 et la qedusha dans le corpus rabbinique ancien : une approche phénoménologique

This article systematically analyses all ancient aggadic sources referring to Isaiah 6:3 with a mainly phenomenological approach. In explaining the meaning of this verse, the rabbis are interested in four topics. First, several texts deal with the relationship between the angels and Israel and often make a distinction between their songs. We ask the following questions: Is there any agreement as to how these songs are defined and eventually connected together? To what extent is the motif of the song related to the more general topic of the relationship between the angels and Israel? According to our investigation, the answers to these questions are less simple than usually thought. Second, the second part of the verse may refer to the body of God or to the Shekhina. Third, the rabbis try to describe more precisely how the kedusha is recited by the angels. Fourth, Isaiah 6:3 is also related to practical concerns. The last part of the article explores the implications of the midrashic data already studied for a better understanding of the Palestinian and Babylonian versions of the kedusha.

Entre judaïsme rabbinique et judaïsme synagogal : la figure du patriarche

This article deals with the well-known but still problematic subject of the Jewish patriarch (nasi). It includes a clear and synthetic presentation of the sources and main interpretations, particularly in the form of tables, making it easier to compare them. It is above all based on a new hypothesis: the patriarch, who was at first the leader of the rabbinic movement, became eventually the leader of the dominant Palestinian Judaism, that is to say synagogal Judaism. The tensions between rabbis and patriarchs as well as their relation with Hellenism take on a new meaning within the framework of this hypothesis. Comparing rabbinic sources with the other ones brings a marked contrast to light: in the rabbinic sources, the patriarch essentially interacts with the rabbis, and has only few connections with the synagogue, whereas in the other sources, there is almost no mention of the rabbis, and the Theodosian Code describes the patriarch as the head leader of the whole synagogal network. Last but not least, hi...

Emanation et création: le motif du manteau de lumière revisité

In many texts, the rabbis of Antiquity interpreted Ps 104:2 (“He covereth Himself with light as with a garment”) with reference to the first light. Three great scholars were interested by these commentaries: V. Aptowitzer, A. Altmann and G. Scholem. Hovewer, none of them has taken into account all the texts concerned. A comparison of all existing versions makes possible a reevaluation of the already proposed models and shed new light on four essential topics: a double structure which explains the origin of light in two different ways (the garment explanation and the place of the Temple explanation), two groups of texts, one which deals with the apparition of light, the other with the creation of the world from light, the relation between emanation and creation and the esoteric/mystic dimension of the texts. The articulation between emanation and creation which characterizes explicitly the latest versions and maybe also the ancient ones, comes from Hellenistic Judaism. It anticipates the similar concerns of the medieval Jewish philosophers and mystics or may be contemporary with them.

L'interprétation D'isaïe 6,3 Et Son Usage Liturgique Dans Le Judaïsme Et Le Christianisme Anciens

Le present article porte sur les usages liturgiques, exegetiques et mystiques du verset d’Is 6,3, aussi bien dans le corpus juif, essentiellement rabbinique, que dans le corpus chretien ancien. La qedusha comme le sanctus ont une origine incertaine et difficile a determiner et il est loin d’etre evident que la premiere soit la source directe du second. Sur la question du lien entre liturgie celeste et liturgie terrestre, les sources chretiennes seraient plutot proches des textes de Qumran et dans une moindre mesure de la litterature mystique des Hekhalot. Chez les Peres, liturgie et exegese sont caracterisees par une forte interaction, voire une compenetration, a l’inverse du corpus rabbinique, ou l’interpretation d’Is 6,3 n’est pratiquement jamais mise en relation avec le rituel de la qedusha synagogale. La notion rabbinique de corps divin et celle chretienne d’incarnation sont toutes deux associees a Is 6,3.