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Pardes Rimonim (meaning "Orchard of Pomegranates,"[1] with the wordpardes having the double meaning ofkabbalistic "exegesis") is aprimary text of Kabbalah composed in 1548 by theJewish mysticMoses ben Jacob Cordovero inSafed,Galilee.
16th-century Safed saw the theoretical systemisation of previousKabbalistic theosophical views.Pardes Rimonim was the first comprehensive exposition of Medieval Kabbalah, though the subsequent 16th-century Safed mythological scheme ofIsaac Luria superseded itsrationally influenced scheme.
Cordovero indicates in his introduction that the work is based upon notes he took during his study of theZohar, the foundational work of the Kabbalah. He notes that he composed thePardes Rimonim "not to become lost and confused in its [the Zohar] depths."[2]
The work is an encyclopedic summary of the Kabbalah, including an effort to "elucidate all the tenets of the Cabala, such as the doctrines of thesefirot, emanation, the divine names, the import and significance of the alphabet, etc."[3] ThePardes Rimonim was one of the most widely read and influential Kabbalistic works. It was considered a basis of the Kabbalistic outlook until the works of Isaac Luria ultimately overshadowed it.[4]
ThePardes Rimmonim comprised 32 gates or sections, subdivided into chapters. It was first published inKraków in 1591. A précis of it was published under the titleAsis Rimmonim, by Samuel Gallico; andMenahem Azariah da Fano, Mordecai Prszybram, andIsaiah Horowitz wrote subsequent commentaries on some parts of it. The original work was partly translated into Latin by Bartolocci, by Joseph Ciantes (inDe Sanctissima Trinitate Contra Judæos, Rome, 1664),[5] byAthanasius Kircher (Rome, 1652–54), and byChristian Knorr von Rosenroth (inKabbala Denudata, Sulzbach, 1677).[6]
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