Have there been earlier periods when the kabbalah was in fashion?
Yes. In the Renaissance there was a fascination with kabbalah in the Christian world. Key figures in the late 15th and 16th centuries—people like Johannes Reuchlin in Germany, and a little before him, in Italy, Pico della Mirandola—were attracted to kabbalah because they also thought it conveyed ancient wisdom and saw parallels with Christian theology. They created what became known as Christian kabbalah. In the feminine half of God they saw some parallel with Mary. And in the symbol system of kabbalah, the ten sefirot—aspects of God’s personality, you could say—are also grouped in triads they thought were similar to some Trinitarian structure. Are talismans like the red string bracelet, or the Kabbalah Mountain Spring Water sold by the Kabbalah Centre, bona fide parts of the tradition? Things like that are part of folk tradition, which some people who are drawn to kabbalah may have also been drawn to. I don’t know in detail that particular custom of the string, but I doubt it has a sp
