Kabbalah: Jews, Mysticism, and Magic

Catalog description

What are the relationships between Man, God, and the World? Over the centuries, Jewish mystics have sought and found many different answers to this question. In doing so, they created new spiritual formations for Judaism to supplant rational philosophy as bearer of the truth about the Cosmos. We will examine the most important mystical texts produced by Jews to understand this crucial strand of Jewish - and Human - religious, spiritual, and cultural development. Among other books, we will read from the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah, the false messianic testimonies of the Sabbathean movement, Hasidism, and the thought of Martin Buber. Enrollment limited to 20.