The Father of Jewish Mysticism: The Writing of Gershom Scholem

By Daniel Weidner

Book Overview

The Father of Jewish Mysticism offers an incisive look at the early life and writings of Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), the father of modern Jewish mysticism and a major 20th-century Jewish intellectual.

Daniel Weidner offers the first full-length study, published in English, of Scholem's thought. Scholem, a historian ofthe Kabbalah and sharp critic of Jewish assimilation, played a major role in the study and popularization of Jewish mysticism.

Through his work on the Kabbalah, Scholem turned the closed world of mystical texts into a force for Jewish identity. Skillfully drawing on Scholem's early diaries and writings, The Father of Jewish Mysticism introduces a young, soon-to-be legendary intellectual in search of himself and Judaism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 025306208X
• ISBN13: 9780253062086
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher