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Title: Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism by Gershom Scholem ISBN: 0-8052-1042-3 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 02 May, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Very Helpful Text on a Very Esoteric Subject
Comment: This historical-critical text of some 350 pages took me longer to read than I'd expected: many of the subjects discussed tend to be complex, even though Scholem's prose is always comprehensible. Fortunately, the book is partitioned into more or less independent chapters on different subjects, so you don't have to read through the entire thing uninterrupted to avoid losing a particular train of thought.
In numerous places, Scholem compares the various schools of Jewish mysticism to Gnosticism. Like the Gnostics, most of the Kabbalists -- even really strange thinkers like Sabbatai Zevi -- pursued hidden knowledge, rather than faith, as a means of establishing a direct relation with God. And like the Gnostics, many Kabbalists assumed that the soul of man exists in a state of exile from the true God, as a result of a primordial cosmological imbalance. The Sabbatians went as far in Gnostical thinking as to assume the existence of two Gods, a hidden one and a revealed one; although the Sabbatians reversed the traditonal Gnostic interpretation by preferring the revealed God (the God of Israel, whom the Gnostics opposed) to the hidden God. This striking set of similarities between Gnosticism and Jewish mysticism was the strongest impression I came away with from reading the book.
I found the Jewish mystics to be a colorful and profound group of thinkers. While just a bit dry in a few places, this book engagingly describes an impressive, energetic theological tradition.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable and Enlightening
Comment: Although the print is kind of small and the notes are inconveniently at the end, this book is an excellent resource! I'm a Christian, and not a mystic. I bought this book to better understand some odd Christian teachings floating around in several modern church movements that I suspected, from other reading I'd done, are kabbalistic. The contents of this authorative book clearly delineate the relationship of Jewish mysticism and magic to the main features of these new Christian movements. (For instance, the current emphasis on holy spirit "anointings", visitations of the shekinah, and "the bride of Christ" clearly come from Judaica.) Christians interested in embracing their Hebrew roots need to read this, order to properly discern and divide what is scripture from what is tradition. (A copy of Abraham Cohen's "Everyman's Talmud" is very helpful too!)
Despite the esoteric topics, Gershom Scholem is fairly easy to understand, and the book is organized into logical topics. It also has a good index and tons of bibliographical references. A must for your reference shelf.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Scholarly Look at Mysticism
Comment: For those of you who want to understand where and how the major trends in Kabbalism developed, look no further. This book covers all of the major ideas in their proper historical context, from Gnosticism to Hasidism.
The author's concept or purpose is to dispel many of the misleading, and speculative notions on the nature of Jewish mysticism. In the process, taking the mystical/magical portions for the most part out of the equation.
What I like best about Scholem's work is that he is not so concerned with what the meaning of each Kabbalistic notion but is primarily concerned with where it originated and what circumstances allowed for the development of an idea. This allows for an objective and unbiased consideration of the concept being studied.
What you won't get in this book that you will find in most others about this subject is the promotion thereof. No evangelical tendencies exist which make for a more throrough reading.
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Title: On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism by Gershom Scholem ISBN: 0805210512 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 30 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Zohar: The Book of Splendor : Basic Readings from the Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem ISBN: 0805210342 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 07 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead : Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem ISBN: 0805210814 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 25 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem, Gershon Scholem ISBN: 0452010071 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: September, 1987 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Origins of the Kabbalah by Gershom Gerhard Scholem, Allan Arkush ISBN: 0691020477 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 January, 1991 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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