The Origins of Jewish Mysticism offers the first in-depth look at the history of Jewish mysticism from the book of Ezekiel to the Merkavah mysticism of late antiquity. The Merkavah movement is widely recognized as the first full-fledged expression of Jewish mysticism, one that had important ramifications for classical rabbinic Judaism and the emergence of the Kabbalah in twelfth-century Europe. Yet until now, the origins and development of still earlier forms of Jewish mysticism have been largely overlooked.
 In this book, Peter Schäfer sheds new light on Ezekiel's tantalizing vision, the apocalyptic literature of Enoch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writings of the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo, the rabbinical writings of the Talmudic period, and the esotericism of the Merkavah mystics. Schäfer questions whether we can accurately speak of Jewish mysticism as a uniform, coherent phenomenon with origins in Judaism's mythical past. Rather than imposing preconceived notions about "mysticism" on a great variety of writings that arose from different cultural, religious, and historical settings, he reveals what these writings seek to tell us about the age-old human desire to get close to and communicate with God.

The Origins of Jewish Mysticism

Religion & Spirituality

Peter Schäfer

Judaism

Princeton University Press

The History of the Jews in Antiquity

Taylor&Francis

Routledge

This third volume, which offers further insights into the most important source of late antique Judaism in relation to its cultural context, marks another step in a research project on the Talmud Yerushalmi initiated by the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Free University (Berlin) in 1994 and concluded by a conference held at Princeton University in November 2001. This volume focuses on a wide range of topics such as gender studies, aspects of everyday life, Roman festivals, magic, etc., hereby reflecting on the methodological problems inherent in intercultural studies. Thus, this collection of articles could also serve as a model for similar enterprises in other studies of Judaism in various cultural contexts.

The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman Culture I (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism)

History

Europe

Coronet Books Inc.

This third volume, which offers further insights into the most important source of late antique Judaism in relation to its cultural context, marks another step in a research project on the Talmud Yerushalmi initiated by the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Free University (Berlin) in 1994 and concluded by a conference held at Princeton University in November 2001. This volume focuses on a wide range of topics such as gender studies, aspects of everyday life, Roman festivals, magic, etc., hereby reflecting on the methodological problems inherent in intercultural studies. Thus, this collection of articles could also serve as a model for similar enterprises in other studies of Judaism in various cultural contexts.

The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman Culture III (Texte Und Studien Zum Antiken Judentum,)

Ancient Civilizations

Mohr Siebeck

Die Schlange war klug

C.H.Beck

Lexikon der Prozessrechnertechnik (German Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Siemens-Aktiengesellschaft, [Abt. Verl.]

Jesus in the Talmud (2010) ISBN: 4000240293 [Japanese Import]

Iwanami Shoten

Storia dell'antisemitismo: Dall'antichità a oggi

Donzelli

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Books by Peter Schäfer