what is the area of large Essene communities referred to as ?
According to a Jewish legend , one of the Essenes , named Menachem , had passed at least some of his mystical knowledge to the Talmudic mystic Nehunya ben HaKanah , to whom the Kabbalistic tradition attributes Sefer HaBahir and , by some opinions , Sefer HaKanah , Sefer HaPeliah and Sefer HaTemunah .