Kabbalah: Mythic Judaism
Published by Atlas Games
Written by David Honigsberg, Adam Bank, and Jeremiah Genest
$21.95Much of the point of Atlas Games' Ars Magica is its very detailed treatment of life in early-13th-century Europe, albeit with the addition of a bunch of cranky and powerful magicians. However, anyone who thought that the Order of Hermes were a strange bunch really needs to look at this, the latest supplement, which deals with some of the Order's most formidable neighbors; the rabbinical Kabbalists of the European Jewish community.
This is a group that draws its power and philosophy very much from the ideas of its community, and so the supplement spends a good many pages discussing Medieval Jewish life and culture -- which in itself makes fascinating reading. Almost a nation unto themselves, found within every city and large town, and yet cut off by religious prejudice and incomprehension, the Jews live by an intricate and detailed, and yet (mostly) humane and fair-minded, body of rules. Those who know anything about modern Jewish belief will know about some of this -- but the context here is Medieval Europe, where the community is allowed and required to make its own laws, and where religious belief is a powerful force. (In fact, in game-mechanical terms, a Jewish community has its own special Aura, and Hermetic mages find that the Kabbalists have an insufferable ability to work powerful magic within the most holy . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 26, 1998
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