Gershom Scholem and the mystical dimension of Jewish history /

In 1923 Gershom Scholem published his PhD dissertation on the book Bahir, the first book of the Kabbalah. In the following decades, hardly a year passed in which he did not write another basic and primary study on the symbolism in Jewish mysticism and all its major trends, all of them full of brilliant and often radical ideas, products of a mind with an incredibly wide range of knowledge, coupled with a penetrating insight into the relationship of Jewish mysticism to the world of myth and ritual, sacred Scriptures, rabbinics, messianism, Hasidism, and the authority of Halakhah. His more than 40 books and more than 700 studies are carefully perused by Dan, who shows why Scholem is the recognized pioneer-historian in the study of Jewish esoteric teachings. Dan defends brilliantly Scholem's historical veracity, accuracy, and methodology. But the volume is somewhat limited in scope: it appears to be a bibliographical update of Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), but nowhere is this stated; it is student-oriented, but there is a limited index and no glossary; and it speaks in superlatives regarding specifics and dismisses critics in a paragraph, thereby discouraging scholarly exchange. Furthermore, the lack of a statement of intent leaves the reader with a query: What is the connective link in a series on Jewish masters as diversified as Sholem Aleichem (Yiddishist), Franz Kafka (litterateur), and Moses Hess (ideologue of Zionism)? However, Dan's comprehensible chapters and worthwhile notes make a satisfying read. Highly recommended for college, community college, and public libraries.-Z. Garber, Los Angeles Valley College

Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) is without question a ``master'' of Jewish studies, particularly Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. Indeed, he once commented that when he began his studies, ``All I found were scattered, shabby pages, and I transformed them into history.'' Here Dan, who is Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presents an excellent overview of the history of Jewish mysticism, from its early beginnings to contemporary Hasidism, and Scholem's role in creating this history from the ``scattered, shabby pages.'' While this is a scholarly and complex work, with extensive notes (mostly primary sources), it is accessible to the intelligent general reader as well. Recommended. Marcia G. Fuchs, Guilford Free Lib., Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.