The mystical roots of psychoanalytic theory

This paper examines the similarities and differences between ideas deriving from Rabbinic and mystical Judaism and psychoanalytic concepts. It will present material both from the Talmud and the Kabbalah (particularly the Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalistic writings). While not arguing necessarily for any historical continuity it explores how Jewish ideas provide a deep structure underlying psychoanalytic thought. Kabbalah and psychanalysis share an emphasis on restitution. For Kabbalists it is the soul which is reconstituted and for psychoanalysts the self. Both aim to explore the conscious and unconscious aspects of existence, the obvious and the esoteric. The similarities between Freud and Klein’s ideas and Kabbalistic themes are discussed.