In this wide-ranging discussion of Kabbalah—from the mystical trends of medieval Judaism to modern Hasidism—one of the world’s foremost scholars considers different visions of the nature of the sacred text and of the methods to interpret it. Moshe Idel takes as a starting point the fact that the postbiblical Jewish world lost its geographical center with the destruction of the temple and so was left with a textual center, the Holy Book. Idel argues that a text-oriented religion produced language-centered forms of mysticism. Against this background, the author demonstrates how various Jewish mystics amplified the content of the Scriptures so as to include everything: the world, or God, for example. Thus the text becomes a major realm for contemplation, and the interpretation of the text frequently becomes an encounter with the deepest realms of reality. Idel delineates the particular hermeneutics belonging to Jewish mysticism, investigates the progressive filling of the text with secrets and hidden levels of meaning, and considers in detail the various interpretive strategies needed to decodify the arcane dimensions of the text.

Invited to answer questions about his relationship to Judaism, Jacques Derrida spoke through Franz Kafka: As for myself, I could imagine another Abraham.He explores the movement between growing up Jewish, becoming Jewish,and Jewish beingor existence. In his essay The Other Abraham,which appears here in English for the first time, he imagines other Abrahams in light of the proclaimed universalism of philosophy and its recent fragmentation into philosophemes.Thus we no longer confront Judaismbut Judeity,multiple Judaisms and Jewish existences, manifold ways of being and writing as a Jew--in Derrida's case, as a French-speaking Algerian deprived of, then restored to French nationality in the 1940s.Contributions contrast Derrida's thought with philosophical predecessors such as Rosenzweig, Levinas, Celan, and Scholem, and trace confluences between deconstruction and Kabbalah. Derrida's relationship to the universalist aspirations in contemporary theology is also discussed, and an evaluation is offered of his late autobiographical writings.

The fourth Guerrieri in the series. An investigation into the disappearance of a poor little rich girl in Southern Italy.

Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism is a clear, accessible 'primer' and introduction to the major teachings of the Jewish mystics, to various dominant forms of Jewish mystical experiences, as well as to many of the significant texts that constitute classical Jewish mystical literature, and to their authors. Rather than provide an historical approach, this introduction to Jewish mysticism delineates five 'models' of Jewish mystical theology and experience: Normal Mysticism, Mystical Intimacy, Addressing God's Needs, Drawing Down Divine Grace, and Prophetic Kabbalah. Sherwin not only presents primary texts in translation, but also offers an explanation of each selection and provides a bibliography for further study.

Written in southern Italy in the tenth century, Shabbatai Donnolo s "Sefer Hakhmoni" is one of the earliest commentaries on "Sefer Ye irah." The volume offers the critical text, an annotated English translation, and a comprehensive introduction to Donnolo and his works.

In this book, the world's foremost scholar of Kabbalah explores the understanding of erotic love in Jewish mystical thought. Encompassing Jewish mystical literatures from those of late antiquity to works of Polish Hasidism, Moshe Idel highlights the diversity of Kabbalistic views on eros and distinguishes between the major forms of eroticism. The author traces the main developments of a religious formula that reflects the union between a masculine divine attribute and a feminine divine attribute, and he asks why such an "erotic formula" was incorporated into the Jewish prayer book. Idel shows how Kabbalistic literature was influenced not only by rabbinic literature but also by Greek thought that helped introduce a wider understanding of eros. Addressing topics ranging from cosmic eros and androgyneity to the affinity between C. J. Jung and Kabbalah to feminist thought, Idel's deeply learned study will be of consuming interest to scholars of religion, Judaism, and feminism.

A Legacy of Catholic-Jewish Dialogue: The Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lectures chronicles the lecture series about faith, culture, and interreligious dialogue. Each lecture is written by some of the world's leading experts in the field of Catholic-Jewish relations.