Construction Through Appropriation: Kabbalah in Blavatsky’s Early Works 1 Julie Chajes To regain this treasure, long lost by humanity, we must study the seers who gathered it, gem by gem, and coin by coin (HIRAF. Rosicrucianism. Spiritual Scientist. 8 July 1875: 212). One who wants “to become” has to hunt for his knowledge through thousands of scattered volumes, and pick up facts and lessons, bit by bit (Blavatsky. A Few Questions to Hiraf. Spiritual Scientist. 15 July 1875: 218). Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) discussed Kabbalah in her first doctrinal statement—an article in a Boston spiritualist periodical—”A Few Questions to Hiraf” (1875), and in her first major work, Isis Unveiled (1877), first published in New York. These compositions are central sources in the history of Theosophy and Occultism, as well as important documents of the nineteenth century. Blavatsky had perspectives on Kabbalah that remained constant throughout her works. A central and unchanging thesis was that diverse historical varieties of Kabbalah were of non-Jewish, Eastern provenance. This Kabbalah taught the emanation of the cosmos from an impersonal divine, Ain Soph. The continuity of this thesis notwithstanding, Blavatsky’s statements on Kabbalah in each of the sources under consideration here have unique features, such as an emphasis on the “Rosicrucian Cabala” in “A Few Questions” and the claimed Buddhist source of Kabbalah in Isis 33 1 The publication of this chapter was made possible through an Israel Science Foundation grant, number 774/10. With thanks to Boaz Huss, John-Patrick Deveney, Massimo Introvigne, David Loring, and Jean-Pierre Brach for helpful comments on an earlier draft. 2 Her later perspectives on Kabbalah—such as those presented in her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine (1888)—require separate treatment because they have distinct features. For example, in The Secret Doctrine, neither Buddhism nor the Rosicrucians would be emphasized. Unveiled. 2 As a consequence, each of her works must be treated