The Messianic Idea in Judaism: And Other Essays on Jewish Spirituality
by Gershom Scholem
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Gershom Scholem was the master builder of historical studies of the Kabbalah. When he began to work on this neglected field, the few who studied these texts were either amateurs who were looking for occult wisdom, or old-style Kabbalists who were seeking guidance on their spiritual journeys. His work broke with the outlook of the scholars of the previous century in Judaica--die Wissenschaft des Judentums, the Science of Judaism--whose orientation he rejected, calling their "disregard for the show more most vital aspects of the Jewish people as a collective entity: a form of "censorship of the Jewish past." The major founders of modern Jewish historical studies in the nineteenth century, Leopold Zunz and Abraham Geiger, had ignored the Kabbalah; it did not fit into their account of the Jewish religion as rational and worthy of respect by "enlightened" minds. The only exception was the historian Heinrich Graetz. He had paid substantial attention to its texts and to their most explosive exponent, the false Messiah Sabbatai Zevi, but Graetz had depicted the Kabbalah and all that flowed from it as an unworthy revolt from the underground of Jewish life against its reasonable, law-abiding, and learned mainstream. Scholem conducted a continuing polemic with Zunz, Geiger, and Graetz by bringing into view a Jewish past more varied, more vital, and more interesting than any idealized portrait could reveal. --from the Foreword by Arthur Hertzberg, 1995 show lessTags
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This book is eye opening for those unfamiliar with the historical origins of Messianism, Kabbalah, Hasidism, Jewish Symbols, apostasy of Shabti Shevi, among other things.
NO OF PAGES: 376 SUB CAT I: Messianic Issues SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: At a time when apocalyptic impulses are intensifying with the approach of a millennial moment in the Christian calendar, we can only welcome Scholem's soberly presented and scrupulously researched account of their Jewish counterparts.NOTES: SUBTITLE: And Other Essays On Jewish Spirituality
LE MESSIANISME JUIF: ESSAIS SUR LA SPIRITUALITÉ DU JUDAÏSME
Élément décisif de la compréhension juive de l'Histoire, l’attente messianique a connu au cours des temps les expressions les plus diverses.
Gershom Scholem étudie dans cet ensemble d’essais les mutations profondes qu’elle a subies, l’apparition des nombreuses utopies qu’elle a suscitées, et s’interroge sur le sens de cette idée dans l’œuvre des maîtres du judaïsme contemporain, comme Buber ou Rosenzweig.
À travers ce thème privilégié, il propose une formidable ouverture à la grande tradition culturelle juive.
Élément décisif de la compréhension juive de l'Histoire, l’attente messianique a connu au cours des temps les expressions les plus diverses.
Gershom Scholem étudie dans cet ensemble d’essais les mutations profondes qu’elle a subies, l’apparition des nombreuses utopies qu’elle a suscitées, et s’interroge sur le sens de cette idée dans l’œuvre des maîtres du judaïsme contemporain, comme Buber ou Rosenzweig.
À travers ce thème privilégié, il propose une formidable ouverture à la grande tradition culturelle juive.
Feb 22, 2025Spanish
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98+ Works 5,388 Members
Gershom Scholem's contribution to the understanding of Jewish mysticism is so dramatic that it warrants a separate introduction. As a young student of mathematics, he became a Zionist and his interest shifted to Jewish history. Scholem moved from Germany to become the librarian of the new University and National Library in Jerusalem in 1923 and show more served as a professor at Hebrew University from 1935 to 1965. Before him, Jewish historians during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries scorned the ignored mystical dimension of Judaism as a relic of premodern superstition and ignorance. Scholem's erudition and deep insight gave Cabala a scholarly audience. His writings are often difficult to read, but they are indispensable for any thorough knowledge of the subject of Jewish mysticism. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Zum Verstaendnis der messianischen Idee im Judentum
- Original publication date
- 1971
- People/Characters
- Martin Buber; Isaac Breuer; Sabbatai Tzvi
- Original language
- German; Hebrew
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 314
- Popularity
- 100,930
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.22)
- Languages
- 5 — Czech, English, French, Greek, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 5
