Along The Path

This book demonstrates the complexity of Jewish mysticism in the history of religions. The author provides morphology of deep structures of thought that emerge from the basic texts of Jewish mysticism. Combining the most sophisticated philological and phenomenological methods, he explores the fundamental issues.

“The author offers many contributions to a variety of topics in Jewish mysticisms. Each chapter stands by itself, but the whole book has a unified hermeneutical approach.” - Moshe Idel, Hebrew University

Eyewitness to Jewish History

The most dramatic moments of Jewish history through the eyes of those who were there, from biblical times to the present

Blending firsthand accounts, diaries, journals, and eyewitness reports with his own helpful introductions and explanations, Rabbi Blech has created a unique anthology. From a moving account of the burning of the Second Temple to a parent's letter to Lincoln asking that his son, a soldier, be allowed to rest on the Jewish Sabbath, the book captures the great themes of Jewish history as well as the texture of everyday Jewish life over the centuries. A perfect gift.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech (New York, NY) is Associate Professor of the Talmud at Yeshiva University and a tenth-generation rabbi. He is a frequent lecturer in Jewish communities around the world, has appeared on national television, and writes regularly for major newspapers and journals.

He is the author of nine other books, including If God Is Good Why Is the World So Bad?

Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic

"Idel's book has broken new ground in the study of the mystical Judaism of Eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By applying what he calls the panoramic approach, in contrast to the existentialist approach of Buber and the historicist approach of Scholem, Idel has been able to illuminate the phenomenon of Hasidism in all its complexity and diversity. Rather than focusing on any one immediate aspect of Jewish mysticism, Idel proposes to understand Hasidism as the aggregation of multiple streams, including magic, theosophic kabbalah, and ecstatic kabbalah. By applying Idel's orientation one can appreciate the complex fabric woven by the Hasidic masters from previous mystical sources. His book is provocative and stimulating." Elliot R. Wolfson, New York University.

"The author succeeds in broadening our understanding of Hasidism through clarifying its relations to phenomenological models that are typical of earlier stages of Jewish mysticism. As a result of Idel's vast knowledge of mystical and philosophical literature, he is able to demonstrate and clarify the extent that Hasidism is dependent on non-Lurianic schools of Kabbalah. Thus, Hasidism emerges as an important stage in Jewish mysticism, rather than as a mere reaction or result of historical and social forces such as Sabbatianism.

"Idel focuses on one of the most significant, yet little understood developments in the history of Jewish thought and religion. His close study of ecstasy and magic will be essential for all those who are in any way interested in this area.

"The book is full of brilliant insights concerning the meaning of key concepts and practices in early Hasidism." - Miles Krassen, Oberlin College

Moshe Idel is Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He is the author of Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on the Artificial Anthropoid; Language, Torah and Hermeneutics in Abraham Abulafia; The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia; and Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah, all published by SUNY Press.

Kabbalah

A comprehensive explanation and history of the secret tradition of Jewish mysticism - its methods, schools, and practitioners.

Kabbalah & Eros

In this book, the world’s foremost scholar of Kabbalah explores the understanding of erotic love in Jewish mystical thought. Encompassing Jewish mystical literatures from those of late antiquity to works of Polish Hasidism, Moshe Idel highlights the diversity of Kabbalistic views on eros and distinguishes between the major forms of eroticism.

The author traces the main developments of a religious formula that reflects the union between a masculine divine attribute and a feminine divine attribute, and he asks why such an “erotic formula” was incorporated into the Jewish prayer book. Idel shows how Kabbalistic literature was influenced not only by rabbinic literature but also by Greek thought that helped introduce a wider understanding of eros. Addressing topics ranging from cosmic eros and androgyny to the affinity between C. J. Jung and Kabbalah to feminist thought, Idel’s deeply learned study will be of consuming interest to scholars of religion, Judaism, and feminism.

On Judaism

On Judaism is a collection of lectures by Martin Buber that had a profound influence on European Judaism in the early 20th century. The most interesting parts of this book are the lectures Buber delivered between 1909 and 1918, whose achievement was to convince intellectuals once again to take seriously the mystical elements of Judaism, such as kaballah. Assimilationism, secularism, and materialist skepticism had convinced many European Jews that religious Judaism demanded mindless allegiance to outmoded laws--a situation, as Rodger Kamenetz notes in his introduction to this volume, that bears a striking resemblance to the mind set of many young Jews today. Buber's involvement with Theodore Herzl's Zionist movement (which led to the creation of the state of Israel) gave him credibility with Jewish intellectuals, however. He used this credibility to persuade his listeners that there is an essential difference between rigid, legalistic "religion" and the vital, world-engaging "religiosity" that, he contended, is the prevailing character of Torah. As Kamenetz writes, "Buber's enduring insight is that Judaism is a process, not a conclusion: a religion of presence, and not simply an historical religion." Obviously, much has changed since Buber delivered these early lectures--the two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the rise of Reformed Judaism have forever altered the context in which young Jews define their religious identity. But Buber's driving question--"I must ask myself again and again: Is this particular law addressed to me and rightly so?"--is still the most important one for Jews who seek to understand themselves as people of the book. Martin Buber asked that question with unremitting intensity and intellectual rigor, and On Judaism will help its readers to do so as well.--Michael Joseph Gross