Absorbing Perfections: Kabbalah and Interpretation

by Moshe Idel

Book Overview

In this wide-ranging discussion of Kabbalah-from the mystical trends of medieval Judaism to modern Hasidism-one of the world's foremost scholars considers different visions of the nature of the sacred text and of the methods to interpret it. Moshe Idel takes as a starting point the fact that the postbiblical Jewish world lost its geographical center with the destruction of the temple and so was left with a textual center, the Holy Book. Idel argues...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300191472
• ISBN13: 9780300191479
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 2.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"