Some of the subjects discussed in this book: Lurianic kabbalah, shabbateanism and hasidism From youth to leadership and from kabbalah to hasidism Hidden polemical letters on the nature of hasidism The sacred and the profane in R. Kook's philosophy R. Kook, Spinoza and Goethe The concept of Truth in the star of redemption The theological implications of the rescue of the Belzer Rebbe Three Warsaw mystics The neutralisation of messianism and the apocalypse

Some of the subjects discussed in this book: From the biblical hymn to the mystical hymn The four empires of Daniel, chapter 2, in the light of texts from Qumran God's humility The concept of Pleroma in Hekhalot mystical literature Judah Halevi's synesthetic theory of prophecy and a note on the Zohar R. Joseph Gikatilla's definition of symbolism and its versions in kabbalistic literature Sefer Ezrat Ha-Shem On the secret of cause and effect in the writings of R. Shabbetai Sheftel Horovitz of Prague The confrontation with the duty of Kawwana Time and space - a theological-philosophical controversy between Miguel Cardoso and Nathan of Gaza Is there a phenomenology of religion? A profile of R. Naphtali Katz of Frankfort and his attitude towards Shabbateanism An anonymous commentary on Idra Raba by a member of the saruq school

Some of the subjects discussed in this book: The religious meaning of Sefer Yezira The symmetry of history in rabbinic literature The characterization of Ruth in the Midrash ascetism and self-mortification Towards a study of the author of Emek Ha-Mekekh Mind and inclinations in the thinking of Rabbi Salanter Between tradition and modernity: Rabbi Sivitz and Jewish preaching in America Philosophy, Kabbalah and science in the culture of the Italian ghetto (English) S.L. Steinheim's critique of messianism (English)

Proceedings of the second international conference on the history of Jewish mysticism. The essays in this volume: God, the Divine Glory, and the Angels according to a 2nd Century Theology Jewish Mysticism's Transition from Sefer Yesira to the Bahir The Problem of the Sources of the Bahir Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol's Use of the Sefer Ysira and a Commentary on the Poem "I Love Thee" A Re-evaluation of the "Ashkenazi Kabbalah" The Theology of the Iyyun Circle ad a Possible Source of the Term "Ahdut Shava" "Flaw" and "Correction" in the Concept of the Godhead in the Teachings of Rabbi Isaac the Blind "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" in the Works of the Gerona Kabbalists The Divine Powers of Amen and their Variations in the Thought of Rabbi Azriel of Gerona The Conception of Time in the Works of Rabbi Azriel The Relationship between Sefer ha-Yeshar and the Gerona Circle The Relations Between Mysticism and Philosophy in the Teachings of Rabbi Isaac Ibn Lafit Was the Kabbalah in Castile a Continuation or a Revolution? – A Study of the Concept of Evil in Castilian Kabbalah Rabbi Isaac Ibn Sahola's Commentary in the Song of Songs Astrology in Jewish Mysticism from the Sefer Yesira to the Zohar (English) Ma'aseh Merkabah in Sefer Hasidim (English)

Proceedings of the first international conference on the history of Jewish mysticism. The essays in this volume: God, the Divine Glory, and the Angels according to a 2 nd Century Theology Jewish Mysticism's Transition from Sefer Yesira to the Bahir The Problem of the Sources of the Bahir Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol's Use of the Sefer Ysira and a Commentary on the Poem "I Love Thee" A Re-evaluation of the "Ashkenazi Kabbalah" The Theology of the Iyyun Circle ad a Possible Source of the Term "Ahdut Shava" "Flaw" and "Correction" in the Concept of the Godhead in the Teachings of Rabbi Isaac the Blind "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" in the Works of the Gerona Kabbalists The Divine Powers of Amen and their Variations in the Thought of Rabbi Azriel of Gerona The Conception of Time in the Works of Rabbi Azriel The Relationship between Sefer ha-Yeshar and the Gerona Circle The Relations Between Mysticism and Philosophy in the Teachings of Rabbi Isaac Ibn Lafit Was the Kabbalah in Castile a Continuation or a Revolution? – A Study of the Concept of Evil in Castilian Kabbalah Rabbi Isaac Ibn Sahola's Commentary in the Song of Songs Astrology in Jewish Mysticism from the Sefer Yesira to the Zohar (English) Ma'aseh Merkabah in Sefer Hasidim (English)

The articles in this volume: The Ephraimite exodus from Egypt- a revaluation - Gerald Blidstein Miracle, faith and merit of the fathers- conceptual development in the Sages' writings - Rimon Kasher The secrets of the Guide of the perplexed: between te thirteenth and twentieth centuries - Aviezer Ravitzky Talmud Torah as means of apprehending God in Maimonides' teachings - Hannah Kasher The concept of Satan in the Guide of the perplexed - Avraham Nuriel Negating moral virtue as the ultimate human end - Raphael Jospe Aggadic interpretation in the derashot of Rabbi Joshua Ibn Shu'eib - Carmi Horovitz Hasdai Crescas and Bernat Metge on the soul - Zev Harvey Rationalism and mysticism in the fifteenth century Jewish thought - Shaul Regev New writings in Sabbatian Kabbalah fron the circle of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschuetz - Yehuda Liebes The status of Halakhah in the literature of the Haskalah (the attitude toward Maimonides' codification) - Yehuda Friedlander Beyond the Kabbalistic symbol - Joseph Dan Summeries in English of all the articles at the end of the volume.

This volume is dedicated to Dov Noy on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Topics range from The Stereotype of the Jew in Polish Folklore to Folklore Treasures of Oriental Jews.