>Mystical Theology and Social Dissent
More details
Year:
2006
Catalog number :
45-978508
ISBN:
978-1-904113-50-8
Pages:
254
Language:
Weight:
380 gr.
Cover:
Paperback

Mystical Theology and Social Dissent

The Life and Works of Judah Loew of Prague

Synopsis
Judah Loew, better known as the Maharal of Prague, was a pivotal personality in late medieval European Judaism. Best known from the popular legend that credited him with the creation of a golem‹an artificial human with superhuman powers - his true importance lay in his comprehensive exposition of a unique expression of Jewish mystical theology, his call for a reformation of Jewish communal life, and his influence on subsequent Jewish life and thought.

Byron Sherwin's lucid exposition of Loew¹s life and works, the legends that surrounded him, and the ideas developed in his massive writings 'reveals the concealed' by unravelling the often obscure nature of his mystical theology, his polemical jousts against past and contemporary Jewish scholars, and his innovative program for social and educational reform.
Reviews
'Very fine . . . a model of clarity and scholarship.'
Howard Schwartz, Jerusalem Post

'A solid contribution to our knowledge of the intellectual world of central and east European Jewry in the early modern era, an area and an era that deserves greater scholarly attention.' 
Ira Robinson, Association for Jewish Studies Newsletter

'The heart of the book, on Maharal's thought, is valuable for its careful and admirably clear explication of Maharal's complex views on Divine attributes, Torah, Jewish uniqueness, man and his perfection, and messianism . . . to be welcomed for its lucid presentation of major themes in the thought of a protean sixteenth-century Jewish thinker who influenced certain key Hasidic, Zionistic and semi-Mitnaggedic thinkers.' 
Hillel Goldberg, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

'[An] illuminating book.' 
David Katz, London Review of Books

'Excellent.' 
Chimen Abramsky, Times Literary Supplement