Gershom Scholem: A Mystic Or Not?

Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) was a prominent Jewish intellectual of the twentieth century, known for pioneering the study of Jewish mysticism as a legitimate academic discipline. He overturned the rationalist bias of his predecessors and revealed an extraordinary world of myth and messianism. Scholem was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian, widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah. He was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Scholem was born to an assimilated Jewish family, but unlike the kabbalists themselves, he did not regard biblical prophets as mystics. In his view, mysticism was a phenomenon that succeeded the religious prophets. Scholem published hundreds of books and articles on Jewish mysticism, and his work has been influential in today’s intellectual imagination.

As a major figurehead of mystical, historical, and theological currents within both Reform and Conservative Judaism after World War II and the Destruction of the European Jewry in the Holocaust, Scholem’s stature within Jewish tradition is roughly equivalent to that of Martin Buber. Mysticism argues that our systems of rationality and knowledge are always incomplete, and Scholem found a revolutionary religious spirit that questioned morality without religion behind it.

One of the challenges that Jewish mysticism presented to him was the enigma of the book Bahir, the first book of the kabbalah. Scholem experimented with secret mystical techniques, finding one manuscript in Munich that contained a 1552 manuscript.

In summary, Gershom Scholem was a significant figure in the field of Jewish mysticism, a significant contributor to the development of modern academic studies in the field. His influence extends beyond the realm of Kabbalah and continues to shape the intellectual landscape of today.

What is the lineage of Gershom?

Gershom, the eldest son of Moses and Zipporah, was named in commemoration of Moses’ arrival in a foreign land.

What is considered mysticism?

Mysticism is defined as the experience of mystical union or direct communion with ultimate reality, as reported by mystics. The doctrine maintains that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience, such as intuition or insight. This vague speculation is devoid of a sound basis and is therefore regarded as such.

Does Kabbalah believe in God?

Medieval Kabbalists believed that all things are linked to God through emanations, making all levels in creation part of a great, gradually descending chain of being. They agreed with the divine transcendence described by Jewish philosophy but only referring to the Ein Sof unknowable Godhead. They reinterpreted the theistic philosophical concept of creation from nothing, replacing God’s creative act with panentheistic continual self-emanation by the mystical Ayin Nothingness/No-thing sustaining all spiritual and physical realms as successively more corporeal garments, veils, and condensations of divine immanence.

The innumerable levels of descent divide into Four comprehensive spiritual worlds: Atziluth (“Closeness” – Divine Wisdom), Beriah (“Creation” – Divine Understanding), Yetzirah (“Formation” – Divine Emotions), and Assiah (“Action” – Divine Activity). Together, the whole spiritual heavens form the Divine Persona/ Anthropos.

Hasidic thought extends the divine immanence of Kabbalah by holding that God is all that really exists, all else being completely undifferentiated from God’s perspective. This view can be defined as acosmic monistic panentheism, which states that God’s existence is higher than anything that this world can express, yet he includes all things of this world within his divine reality in perfect unity, so that the creation effected no change in him at all.

One of the problems considered in the Hebrew Kabbalah is the theological issue of the nature and origin of evil. Some Kabbalists conceive “evil” as a “quality of God”, asserting that negativity enters the essence of the Absolute. The foundational texts of Medieval Kabbalism conceived evil as a demonic parallel to the holy, called the Sitra Achra (the “Other Side”), and the qlippoth (the “shells/husks”) that cover and conceal the holy, are nurtured from it, and yet also protect it by limiting its revelation.

In Lurianic Kabbalah, evil originates from a primordial shattering of the sephirot of God’s Persona before creation of the stable spiritual worlds. In the divine view from above within Kabbalah, emphasised in Hasidic Panentheism, the appearance of duality and pluralism below dissolves into the absolute Monism of God, psychologizing evil. The mystical task of the righteous in the Zohar is to reveal this concealed Divine Oneness and absolute good, “converting bitterness into sweetness, darkness into light”.

Was Jesus a mystic?

Jesus was a teacher of teachers and a mystic of mystics in various ways. His teachings and actions brought the British Empire to its knees, while his mystical poetry and passion for levitations and visions of fire inspired Saint Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Matthew Fox, a progressive theologian and Dominican priest, dedicated an entire book, “The Coming of the Cosmic Christ”, to the mysticism of Jesus. Jesus’ teachings and actions influenced many mystics, including Krisha, Buddha, Gandhi, Saint Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross.

What happened to Gershom in the Bible?

In Exodus, Moses and Zipporah are seen at a night camp, possibly attacked by God or an angel until a circumcision is performed by Zipporah on Gershom. Later, Shebuel is identified as a “son” of Gershom, but this interpretation is anachronistic as Shebuel lived during King David’s time. The Hebrew word for “son” can also mean descendant, as even remote descendants of King David are often identified as “So-and-so son of David”.

Some biblical scholars argue that the priesthood was originally open to any tribe, and the restriction to Aaronim was purely an Aaronim invention. Aaronim claimed descent from Aaron, Moses’ brother, and any immediate descendant of Moses would not count among the Aaronim.

What is the spiritual meaning of the name Gershom?

The Hebrew masculine name Gershom, which translates to “stranger” or “exile,” was borne by Moses’s firstborn son with Zipporah. This name is a suitable choice for those raising babies in their faith, as it is believed to mean “stranger” or “exile.”

What is kabbalah in Islam?

Islamic scholars possess a vast treasure of divine wisdom, known as masoret or kabbalah, which was transmitted orally from Muhammad to his disciples. Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. Members of an institution with an active account can access content through IP-based access, which is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses.

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What is Kabbalah in Islam?

Islamic scholars possess a vast treasure of divine wisdom, known as masoret or kabbalah, which was transmitted orally from Muhammad to his disciples. Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. Members of an institution with an active account can access content through IP-based access, which is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses.

To get remote access when outside the institution, sign in through your institution using Shibboleth/Open Athens technology, which provides a single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

What does the Bible say about Gershom?

The text elucidates that the mother gave birth to a son named Gershom, who referred to him as a sojourner in a foreign land. The appellation “Gershom” was selected to symbolize the son’s status as a foreigner in an alien environment. Additionally, the mother gave birth to a son named Moses, who subsequently renamed him Gershom, thereby indicating his status as a foreigner. The son’s name was Gershom, which signifies that he was a resident alien in a foreign land.

Did Gershom Scholem believe in God?

Scholem, despite not adhering to the tenets of traditional Jewish theology, remained unwavering in his belief in the existence of a supreme being. He asserted that atheism was beyond his comprehension and that the notion of morality in the absence of religious belief was an illusion.

What is the mystical tradition of Judaism?

Contemporary Judaism primarily practices esoteric Lurianic Kabbalah and its later commentaries, various schools of Hasidic Judaism, and Neo-Hasidism in non-Orthodox Jewish denominations. Academic studies of Jewish mysticism, particularly since Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, distinguish between different forms of mysticism practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century southwestern Europe, is the most well-known form, but it is not the only typological form.

Previous forms include Merkabah mysticism (c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE) and Ashkenazi Hasidim (early 13th century). Kabbalah means “received tradition”, a term previously used in other Judaic contexts. Medieval Kabbalists adopted the term to express their belief in revealing the ancient hidden esoteric tradition of the Torah. Alternative views on the origin of the Zohar, the main text of Kabbalah, attributed to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the 2nd century CE, have opened up the study of Jewish mysticism.

Traditional Kabbalists view Kabbalah as originating in Tannaic times, redacting the Oral Torah, while academic scholars view it as a synthesis from the Middle Ages, incorporating earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, possible continuations of ancient esoteric traditions, and medieval philosophical elements.