Kabbalah: New Perspectives

by Moshe Idel

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In this prizewinning new interpretation of Jewish mysticism, Moshe Idel emphasizes the need for a comparative and phenomenological approach to Kabbalah and its position in the history of religion. Idel provides fresh insights into the origins of Jewish mysticism, the relation between mystical and historical experience, and the impact of Jewish mysticism on western civilization. "Idel's book is studded with major insights, and innovative approaches to the entire history of Judaism, and show more mastery of it will be essential for all serious students of Jewish thought."--Arthur Green, New York Times Book Review"Moshe Idel's original, scholarly, and stimulating study of Kabbalah contains the promise of a masterwork."--Elie Wiesel "Moshe Idel's book can help the nonspecialized reader to reconsider the whole of Kabbalistic tradition in comparison with many aspects of contemporary thought."--Umberto Eco "There can be no dispute about the importance and originality of Idel's work. Offering a wealth of complementary insights to Gershom Scholem and his school, it will command a great deal of attention and serious discussion."--Alexander Altmann show less

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CÁBALA: NUEVAS PERSPECTIVAS

El nuevo estudio de Moshe Idel establece una
distinción fundamental entre dos grandes corrientes
de la cábala o mística judía: una teosófico-teurgica
y otra extática. Mientras la primera se orientó en
formas, principalmente, ritualísticas de religiosidad
y en concepciones teocéntricas, la cábala extática,
de tipo antropocéntrico, se centró en la experiencia
mística del yo interior. El conflicto entre ambas
tendencias adquiere un momento de gran interés con
la obra del cabalista español Abraham Abulafia, quien
sufrió los ataques de los partidarios de la cábala
teosófica por sus actividades mesiánicas y proféticas.
A diferencia de la corriente teúrgica, muy próxima
a concepciones rabínicas clásicas, show more la cábala extática
reducía sus prácticas contemplativas y visionarias a un
grupo de practicantes más elitista y a formas extremas
de deveknt o unio mystica... Con esta obra Idel pone de
manifiesto la necesidad de los estudios comparatistas,
situando la mística judía en el contexto general de la
historia de las religiones.

Moshe Idel (Tirgu Neamt, Rumania, 1947) emigró en
1963 a Israel y en la universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén
se doctoró en filosofia de la cábala. Se ha dedicado
al estudio de las relaciones entre mística, hasidismo
y mesianismo, ha recibido prestigiosos premios, como
el Haim Nahman Bialik for Jewish Studies, el Gershonm
Scholem o el Israel in Jewish Thought, y publicado
también Hassidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic,
entre otros.
show less
> Borel Jean. Moshe Idel, La Cabale, Nouvelles Perspectives, traduit de l'anglais par Charles Mopsik, 1998.
In: Revue des Sciences Religieuses, tome 73, fascicule 3, 1999. p. 385… ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rscir_0035-2217_1999_num_73_3_3499_t1_0385_0000_1

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35+ Works 902 Members
Moshe Idel has lived in Israel since 1963. He received his Ph.D. on Kabbalah from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where he taught from 1974 until 2008. His major areas of interest include Kabbalah, Hasidism, magic and the history of religion. He is a member of the Israeli, Academy of Science and Humanities and the recipient of the Israeli Prize.

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Genres
Religion & Spirituality, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
296.1ReligionOther religionsJudaismJewish writings
LCC
BM526 .I338Philosophy, Psychology and ReligionJudaismJudaismSources of Jewish religion. Rabbinical literatureCabala
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