Baraita of Samuel (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. A Baraita of Samuel was known to Jewish scholars from Shabbethai Donolo in the 10th century to Simon Duran in the 15th century, and citations from it were made by them. It was considered as lost until around 1900, when it unexpectedly appeared in print. Steinschneider correctly characterizes the Baraita as somewhat fantastic in its conception of the construction of the world, containing Talmudic elements, but uninfluenced by Greco-Arabic science. Its unscientific, half-mystic tendency caused it to be thrust aside in the Orient through the rising Arabic science, while in Europe, especially in France and Germany, it was regarded with special respect. From constituents of the Baraita joined with various elements of mysticism originated the kabalistic cosmography, first presented by the Book of Raziel, and which appears in later works influenced by the latter.