Pascal Themanlys (27 September 1909 – 25 June 2000) was a French (later Israeli) poet,
Zionist
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
, and
Kabbalist. His books on
Jewish mysticism
Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's ''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbal ...
have been published in French, English and Hebrew.
Pascal was born in Paris; his French parents
Louis
Louis may refer to:
People
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
Other uses
* Louis (coin), a French coin
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
...
and Claire Themanlys were important disciples of
Max Theon
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ( ...
, and in charge of the "Cosmic Movement" in France. Pascal himself only met Theon once in 1920 (when he was eleven, Théon was well into his seventies), although he claimed later he was
initiated
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...
by his father Louis. This supplemented his own studies of traditional
Lurianic
Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (; Fine 2003, p24/ref>July 25, 1572), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal, was a leading rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of ...
Kabbalah.
At fifteen, he published his first collection of poems, work of poems, a booklet called the ''Emerald Monocle'', in 1924. He met a number of important authors and artists such as
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
and
Paul Valéry
Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher.
In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...
. In 1934 his book ''Les merveilles du Becht'' (''Wonders of Becht'') was published, the first book in French about the
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...
.
During the Second World War he was a member of the
French resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
. In 1947, he married his wife, Raymonde; they would later have three children.
In 1949 he emigrated to Israel where he became the head the French section of the Department of Information of the
Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
As an ...
.
He was also the founder of the ''Amitiés Israël-France'' (Israel-France Friendship) society.
After his retirement from the civil service he founded the
Argaman Center, and taught and studied Kabbalah. He seems to have had a very poor opinion of liberal Judaism.
Bibliography
*''Le monocle d’émeraude'' ("The Emerald Monocle"), foreword by
Hélène Vacaresco
Helene or Hélène may refer to:
People
* Helene (name), and Hélène, a female given name, including a list of people with the name
* Hélène (singer) (Hélène Rollès, born 1966), French actress and singer
* Helen of Troy, a figure in Greek ...
, Delpeuch, Paris 1924.
*''Le Souffleur'', illustrated by Mouth, Marcelle Lesage, 1927.
*''Figures Passionnées'' ("Impassioned Figures"), Delpeuch, Paris 1930.
*''Les merveilles du Becht'' ("Wonders of Becht"), Lipschutz, Paris 1934.
*''Grands d'Israël'', Rieder, Paris 1938.
*''Cocktail de Fruits'' ("Fruit Cocktail"), Beresniak, Paris 1938.
*''Détresse et Résistance Juives'', M.N.C.R., Grenoble, October 1944.
*''Influences'', Pro Libro, Paris 1949.
*''Max Théon and Cosmic Philosophy'', Cosmic library, 1955.
*''Un itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem'', Books of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 1963.
*''Shaar Lesodoth Hahitbonenouth'' (in Hebrew), Argaman, Jerusalem, 1981 .
*''In Way of Meditation in the Light of the Kabbala'' (in English), Argaman, Jerusalem, 1981 .
*''Likrat Haboker Hagadol?'' (in Hebrew), Argaman, Jerusalem, 1982 .
*''Si ‘hou Bekhoi Niflotav'' (conversations with Danièle Storper) (in Hebrew), Argaman, Jerusalem 1987.
*''Or ‘Hadash al Tsion'' (in Hebrew), Argaman, Jérusalem, 1987.
*''Visions of the Eternal Present'' (Selections from the Cosmic Works of Max Theon) - (in English), Argaman, Jerusalem, 1991.
*''A l’approche du grand matin'' Argaman, Jérusalem, 1996.
*''Rééditions des Merveilles du Becht'' : Hebrew : Editions Argaman, Jerusalem, 1999. French: Yerid Hasfarim, 6 rue Mea Shearim Jérusalem, 2000
External links and references
Pascal Themanlys- biography on ''Cosmique Review''
*Oscar Laurens Schrover 200
- includes biographical comments
miscellaneous notes, on Kheper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Themanlys, Pascal
1909 births
2000 deaths
Hermetic Qabalists