Gershom Scholem

An Intellectual Biography

Biography & Memoir, Philosophers, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Judaism
Cover of the book Gershom Scholem by Amir Engel, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Amir Engel ISBN: 9780226428772
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: March 17, 2017
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Amir Engel
ISBN: 9780226428772
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: March 17, 2017
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) was ostensibly a scholar of Jewish mysticism, yet he occupies a powerful role in today’s intellectual imagination, having influential contact with an extraordinary cast of thinkers, including Hans Jonas, Martin Buber, Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt, and Theodor Adorno. In this first biography of Scholem, Amir Engel shows how Scholem grew from a scholar of an esoteric discipline to a thinker wrestling with problems that reach to the very foundations of the modern human experience.
           
As Engel shows, in his search for the truth of Jewish mysticism Scholem molded the vast literature of Jewish mystical lore into a rich assortment of stories that unveiled new truths about the modern condition. Positioning Scholem’s work and life within early twentieth-century Germany, Palestine, and later the state of Israel, Engel intertwines Scholem’s biography with his historiographical work, which stretches back to the Spanish expulsion of Jews in 1492, through the lives of Rabbi Isaac Luria and Sabbatai Zevi, and up to Hasidism and the dawn of the Zionist movement. Through parallel narratives, Engel touches on a wide array of important topics including immigration, exile, Zionism, World War One, and the creation of the state of Israel, ultimately telling the story of the realizations—and failures—of a dream for a modern Jewish existence.
 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) was ostensibly a scholar of Jewish mysticism, yet he occupies a powerful role in today’s intellectual imagination, having influential contact with an extraordinary cast of thinkers, including Hans Jonas, Martin Buber, Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt, and Theodor Adorno. In this first biography of Scholem, Amir Engel shows how Scholem grew from a scholar of an esoteric discipline to a thinker wrestling with problems that reach to the very foundations of the modern human experience.
           
As Engel shows, in his search for the truth of Jewish mysticism Scholem molded the vast literature of Jewish mystical lore into a rich assortment of stories that unveiled new truths about the modern condition. Positioning Scholem’s work and life within early twentieth-century Germany, Palestine, and later the state of Israel, Engel intertwines Scholem’s biography with his historiographical work, which stretches back to the Spanish expulsion of Jews in 1492, through the lives of Rabbi Isaac Luria and Sabbatai Zevi, and up to Hasidism and the dawn of the Zionist movement. Through parallel narratives, Engel touches on a wide array of important topics including immigration, exile, Zionism, World War One, and the creation of the state of Israel, ultimately telling the story of the realizations—and failures—of a dream for a modern Jewish existence.
 

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Judicial Politics in Polarized Times by Amir Engel
Cover of the book We by Amir Engel
Cover of the book The Early History of the Ancient Near East, 9000-2000 B.C. by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Crime and Justice, Volume 42 by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Say No to the Devil by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Wittgenstein and Modernism by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Not Here, Not Now, Not That! by Amir Engel
Cover of the book The Marvelous Clouds by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Van Gogh on Demand by Amir Engel
Cover of the book You'll Know When You Get There by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Afternoon Men by Amir Engel
Cover of the book The Congressional Endgame by Amir Engel
Cover of the book When Peace Is Not Enough by Amir Engel
Cover of the book Institutional Foundations of Impersonal Exchange by Amir Engel
Cover of the book The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness by Amir Engel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy