Academic Studies Press is pleased to announce the publication of the  English language edition of Yoram Bilu’s Bahat prize winning book,  The Saints’ Impresarios: Dreamers, Healers and Holy Men in Israel’s  Periphery.

The astonishing revival of saint worship in contemporary Israel was ignited by Moroccan Jews, who had immigrated to the new country in the 1950s and 1960s.  The Saint’s Impresarios charts the vicissitudes of four new domestic shrines, established by Moroccan-born men and women in peripheral development towns, following an exciting revelation involving a saintly figure.  Each of the case studies discussing the life stories of the “saint impresarios” elaborates on a distinctive theme: dreams as psychocultural triggers for revelation; family and community responses to the initiative; female saint impresarios as healers; and the alleviation of life crises through the saint’s idiom. The initiatives are evaluated against the historical background of Jews in Morocco and the sociopolitical and cultural changes in present-day Israeli society. For readers interested in Israel and Jewish Studies, folk religion and mysticism, cultural and psychological anthropology, and Moroccan Jews.

THE THOUGHT OF R. JOSEPH ALBO
Esoteric Writing in the Late Middle Ages,
By Dror Ehrlich

The book is in Hebrew, published by Bar-Ilan University Press

This book is the first comprehensive, methodological analysis of the religious-philosophical thought of R. Joseph Albo, author of the Sefer ha-`Ikkarim. Albo was active in Christian Spain in the first half of the fifteenth century, a period in which the Catholic Church exerted great pressure on the Jews in order to convince them to convert to Christianity. During this same time there was an ongoing dispute among Jewish thinkers between conservatives and rationalists regarding the role of philosophy in the formation of religious concepts.

The book claims that Sefer Ha-`Ikkarim was written in an esoteric manner, similar to Maimonides` The Guide of the Perplexed, so that the author`s true beliefs are concealed in different philosophical and theological discussions. A close study of Albo`s discussions on many issues related to his theories on divinity, on humanity, onprovidence and on reward reveals his use of many literary and stylistic means of concealment. Analysis of his philosophical works in the light of the intellectual, cultural, social and political contexts in which he lived enables one to understand what caused Albo to write in this particular style. It is well know that there is a significant time gap between the original version of the first part of Sefer Ha-`Ikkarim and its final completion. This book reveals that there is also gap in content and in style between the first part and the three additional ones. This research sheds new light on Albo`s philosophy, which was considered by most scholars of medieval Jewish philosophy to be conservative, eclectic, apologetic and unoriginal. The conclusion is that the key to a fitting understanding of Albo`s thought lies in the identification and characterization of the art of his philosophic writing.

Gershom Scholem‘s essay on “The Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star: How the “Magen David” Became the Jewish Symbol” was turned into a book by Avraham Shapira, titled “Magen David – History of a Symbol.“ The new book looks into the religious, mystical, national and political aspects of the Star of David. Read a detailed review at the YNetNews.

Since Geert Kimpen‘s De Kabbalist (The Kabbalist) was published in 2007 in Dutc it has been translated to several languages including German and Spanish. According to the author’s website it “will” be published in English in 2009 in South East Asia, but the publisher’s website is too barebone to find it and I couldn’t locate any other information about the English edition. So I accepted my mother’s offer to get me a copy. I read it the first chance I had, which happened to be sitting on the tarmac of Heathrow airport in London for four hours.

The book is a fictionalized biography of Hayyim Vital, a 16th century kabbalist. He was the student of Isaac Luria another Kabbalist luminary. The book’s major theme is Vital’s struggle for independence, from stepping out of the shadow of his master. His ambition was to be known as the most famous re-founder of Kabbalah, but the book suggests, that he was destined to be known only as the disciple of Luria, who would be known throughout the ages. Vital’s biggest, recurring decision in the book had to be made between the greatness he longed for via Kabbalah and the love he felt for his master’s daughter. We follow several years of his tormented life, until the pressure of making this decision cease to exist for a number of reasons, I won’t spoil.

It was a three to one mixed experience to read the book. The positive aspects were the story, the style, and lessons. I kept finding myself surprised about the twists of Vital’s life. I thought there is nothing more that can happen to him, but in the next chapter something unexpected popped up and gave him a new direction. I also kept wondering how much of it was made up by the author, and how much is historical fact. Based on m limited factchecking a surprisingly large portion of the events seem to be real. The second aspect I enjoyed was the author’s and the translator’s style. I cannot judge the original, but I think Tamas Balogh did a great job with the translation. There were only a few places, where I felt that the flow of the language wasn’t the smoothest or where an expression seemed awkward. However the whole of the book was very much an enjoyable biography. The last positive aspect I want to mention was the integration of the novel with Kabbalistic teachings and principles. There weren’t too many of the latter to overwhelm the reader, but there were enough of them to teach them some of the basics. Just right proportions for me.

I have one grievance: I didn’t like the main character. I kept hoping that this is one of those character development stories, where the hero starts out being slightly on the bad side and through his tribulations learns to be good. I hoped for this, because it would have been corresponding to the book’s major theme of humility and putting God and the greater good ahead of your own fame and interest. But the Vital of this book never seemed to have reached that phase of evolution. He kept fighting the same demon: how can I be bigger than my master. One, ok I, would have thought that he can learn the lesson. I was mistaken. I would love to learn more about the characteristics of the historical figure.

Gershon Winkler edited a new book with a short kabbalistic quote for every day of a 365 days long year. This time it’s titled: Daily Kabbalah: Wisdom from the Tree of Life. His previous, similarly structured book, from five years ago was titled: Kabbalah 365: Daily Fruit from the Tree of Life. Here is the official description for the new one, from the publisher, North Atlantic Books:

From sorcery to animal totems, buzzard feathers to hawk spirits, talking trees to magical stones, sacred circles to healing rituals, the Kabbalah brings readers a rich body of ancient wisdom that has been long neglected and even longer misunderstood. The Kabbalah celebrates a quality of consciousness that enables one to experience magic in the ordinary, miracles in the natural course of events, and spirituality in the physical. Its roots are as old and rich as most aboriginal shamanic traditions, sharing in common with many of them the belief that all of creation is alive, from animals and plants to the sun and the moon.

The uniqueness of this book lies in its selections from this rare tradition of Jewish mystery wisdom. Culled from ancient and medieval Hebraic and Aramaic sources, much of this material has been hidden in dusty archives or obscure translations. These short selected readings are intended as contemplative, inspirational, and even entertaining extracts. As short as a few lines or as long as a page, they are translated and paraphrased here to render them accessible to readers of all backgrounds and spiritual paths.

NYU Press, the publisher of The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism has this to say about its offering

In this unique collection of essays, some of today’s smartest Jewish thinkers explore a broad range of fundamental questions in an effort to balance ancient tradition and modern sexuality. In the last few decades a number of factors—post-modernism, feminism, queer liberation, and more—have brought discussion of sexuality to the fore, and with it a whole new set of questions that challenge time-honored traditions and ways of thinking. For Jews of all backgrounds, this has often led to an unhappy standoff between tradition and sexual empowerment….

Rachel Barenblat in her review of the book in Forward goes a bit beyond and picks on a few of the 18 individual essays edited by Danya Ruttenberg into a single volume. Here is the section that prompted me to mention the tome in this blog.

Forward columnist Jay Michaelson’s essay “On the Religious Significance of Homosexuality” explores kabbalistic understandings of masculinity, femininity and the divine. If you already enjoy stretching your brain into the acrobatics of classical Kabbalah, this essay is for you. If you don’t, you may find yourself skimming until you reach his closing assertions about why sexuality matters.

You can read on lots of sites the standard description of Rachel Elior‘s book from last year: Dybbuks and Jewish Women in Social History, Mysticism, and Folklore, and I will share it at the end too. But first I would like to point your attention to a resources that goes beyond that short paragraph. It is an interview with the author from last September in Tablet Magazine, Here is a sound bite from the longer piece:

In your book, you argue that dybbuks provided women a means of escape from the expectations and demands of society. Are there contemporary parallels to dybbuks?

Today we would say an unhappy bride is depressed, or under great stress. Saying that the bride was possessed by a dead spirit—meaning she lost control of her body and soul—is not so different.

And now the obligatory introduction of what the book is about:

How and why a person comes to be possessed by a dybbuk (the possession of a living body by the soul of a deceased person), and what consequences ensue from such possession, form the subject of this book. While possession by a dybbuk may have been understood as punishment for a terrible sin, it may also be seen as a mechanism used by desperate individuals – often women – who had no other means of escape from the demands and expectations of an all-encompassing patriarchal social order. Dybbuks and Jewish Women examines these and other aspects of dybbuk possession from historical and phenomenological perspectives, with particular attention to the gender significance of the subject.

Michael Arditti‘s novel titled The Enemy of the Good was published in the UK in April and is coming it in the US next February. Based on the description of the book at the author’s site  I believe Kabbalah is not a major theme as it seem to influence only one of the characters. Not having read the book itself I cannot judge yet, neither can judge what colors the discipline is painted in this novel. Nevertheless here is the aforementioned summary

The Glanvilles are an extraordinary family. Edwin is a retired bishop who has lost his faith. Marta, a child of the Warsaw Ghetto, is a controversial anthropologist. Their son, Clement, is a celebrated gay painter traumatized by the death of his twin. Their daughter, Susannah, is a music publicist recovering from an affair with a convicted murderer.
Over three remarkable years, the family goes through a sequence of events that causes it to reassess its deepest values and closest relationships. Clement’s work and reputation are violently attacked and his private life exposed. Susannah’s exploration of the Kabbalah takes her into the closed world of Chassidic Jews and a seemingly impossible love. Edwin’s illness forces Marta to confront the horrors of her past. Each must find a way to escape the abyss.

P.s. I first read about the book in The Oxford Times.

I added 16 books to the site/database:

• Cohn-Sherbok, Dan: A Dictionary of Kabbalah and Kabbalists
• Fishbane, Eitan: As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist
• Garb, Jonathan: The Chosen Will Become Herds: Studies in Twentieth-Century Kabbalah
• Glazer, Aubrey L.: Contemporary Hebrew Mystical Poetry: How It Redeems Jewish Thinking
• Halbertal, Moshe: Concealment and Revelation: Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications
• Hellner-Eshed, Melila: A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar
• Icon Group International: Kabbalah: Webster’s Timeline History, 777 – 2007
• Idel, Moshe: Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism
• Idel, Moshe: Old Worlds, New Mirrors: On Jewish Mysticism and Twentieth-Century Thought
• Jospe, Raphael: Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages
• Ogren, B.: Renaissance and Rebirth: Reincarnation in Early Modern Italian Kabbalah
• Oliver, Paul: Mysticism: A Guide for the Perplexed
• Schneider, Sarah Yehudit: Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Feminine and Masculine
• Weinstein, R. Vb.: Juvenile Sexuality, Kabbalah, and Catholic Reformation in Italy: Tiferet Bahurim by Pinhas Barukh Ben Pelatiyah Monselice
• Wolfson, Elliot R.: Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson
• Wolfson, Elliot R.: Through a Speculum That Shines

The Book Giveaway is a simple website, where every week anyone can enter to win one of five books, no strings attached. This week, till Friday, one of the selected books are M.J. Rose‘s The memorist. The description of the book at the site explains why I mention it in this blog.

THE MEMORIST follows the compelling adventures of a memory expert, Meer Logan and her father Jeremy – a Kabbalist, known as the Jewish Indiana Jones – from New York City to the ancient cobblestone streets of Vienna as they attempt to learn the meaning behind Meer’s hauntingly vivid memories. What they discover could reveal a frighteningly powerful secret hidden for generations by one of the greatest composers of all time.
As a child, Meer suffered from the dreads: memories of another time and place always accompanied by the faint strains of elusive music. Now the dreads are back. The past has reached out again in the form of a strange letter that sets her on a search to unlock the mystery of who she once was.
With each step she comes closer to remembering the connections between a clandestine reincarnationist society, a lost flute linked to Ludwig van Beethoven, and David Yalom, a journalist who understands all too well how the past affects the future.
David knows loss firsthand – terrorism is a reality that cost him his family. He’s seen every solution promised by security experts around the world – and he’s seen every solution fail. Now in a concert hall in Vienna, he plans to force the world to understand the cost of those failures in a single violent act. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.