This collection of original materials provides a sweeping view of medieval and early modern Jewish ritual and religious practice. Including such diverse texts as ritual manuals, legal codes, mystical books, autobiographical writings, folk literature, and liturgical poetry, it testifies to the enormous variety of practices that characterized Judaism in the twelve hundred years between 600 and 1800 C.E. Its focus on religious practice and experience--how Judaism was actually lived by people from day to day--makes this anthology unique among the few sourcebooks available.
The...
This collection of original materials provides a sweeping view of medieval and early modern Jewish ritual and religious practice. Including such di...
Isaac Luria (1534-1572) is one of the most extraordinary and influential mystical figures in the history of Judaism, a visionary teacher who helped shape the course of nearly all subsequent Jewish mysticism. Given his importance, it is remarkable that this is the first scholarly work on him in English. Most studies of Lurianic Kabbalah focus on Luria's mythic and speculative ideas or on the ritual and contemplative practices he taught. The central premise of this book is that Lurianic Kabbalah was first and foremost a lived and living phenomenon in an actual social world. Thus the book...
Isaac Luria (1534-1572) is one of the most extraordinary and influential mystical figures in the history of Judaism, a visionary teacher who helped sh...
Isaac Luria (1534-1572) is one of the most extraordinary and influential mystical figures in the history of Judaism, a visionary teacher who helped shape the course of nearly all subsequent Jewish mysticism. The central premise of this work is that Lurianic Kabbalah was first and foremost a lived and living phenomenon in an actual social world. Thus it focuses on Luria the person and his relationship to his disciples. What attracted Luria's students to him? How did they react to his inspired and charismatic behaviour? And what roles did Luria and his students see themselves playing in their...
Isaac Luria (1534-1572) is one of the most extraordinary and influential mystical figures in the history of Judaism, a visionary teacher who helped sh...
As recently as 1915, when the legendary scholar of Jewish mysticism Gershom Scholem sought to find someone--anyone--to teach him Kabbalah, the study of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah was largely neglected and treated with disdain. Today, this field has ripened to the point that it occupies a central place in the agenda of contemporary Judaic studies.
While there are many definitions of Kabbalah, this volume focuses on the discrete body of literature which developed between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. The basis for most of this kabbalistic literature is the concept of the...
As recently as 1915, when the legendary scholar of Jewish mysticism Gershom Scholem sought to find someone--anyone--to teach him Kabbalah, the stud...
The renewed and growing interest in ethical wills today speaks to the attraction they have to people who want to reflect on the deeper meaning of their own lives and share what they have learned with those they love. These very personal documents, with origins in the Bible, grew into a particularly Jewish custom. Hebrew Ethical Wills can teach us much about the past and gives us food for thought for the present. First published in 1926, this expanded edition includes new material: Lawrence Fine s excellent introduction, passages from the autobiography of Gluckl of Hameln (to give...
The renewed and growing interest in ethical wills today speaks to the attraction they have to people who want to reflect on the deeper meaning of thei...
Leading scholars and teachers share their favorite texts of the Jewish mystical tradition--many available in English for the first time--and explore why these materials are meaningful and relevant to us today.
In this unique volume, some of Judaism's most insightful contemporary thinkers bring the words of sages past to bear on the present. They explore how we can become closer to God through our relationships with others, our observance at home and our actions in the world, asking:
What do mitzvot have to do with mysticism?
Is...
Leading scholars and teachers share their favorite texts of the Jewish mystical tradition--many available in English for the first time--an...
