Gershom Scholem (born December 5, 1897 in Berlin, died February 21, 1982 in Jerusalem), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a German-born Jewish philosopher and historian. He is widely regarded as the modern founder of the scholarly study of Kabbalah in academic circles, becoming the first Professor of Jewish Mysticism at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי transliterated: Yehudi) is used in many ways but generally refers to a follower of Judaism, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, soul of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים) is one of Israels biggest and most important institutes of higher learning and research. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ...

It is important to note that no scholars of classical Judaism from within Orthodox or Haredi Judaism, the original sources of all classical knowledges about the Kabbalah, either approved of Scholem or validated his ideas and writings. Over at least the last two thousand years, Judaism has not been monolithic in practice, and has not had any centralized authority or binding dogma. ... Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... Haredi or Charedi Judaism, often also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. ...

Scholem is best known for his collection of lectures, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941) and for his biography Sabbatai Zevi, the Mystical Messiah (1973). His collected speeches and essays, published as On Kabbalah and Its Symbolism (1965), helped to spread knowledge of Jewish mysticism among non-Jews.

He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1958 and was elected president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1968. The Israel Prize is the most prestigious award handed out by the State of Israel. ... The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was set up in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between scholars from the sciences and humanities in Israel, to advise the government on research projects of national importance, and to promote excellence. ...

Early life

Scholem was born in Berlin to Arthur Scholem and Betty Hirsch Scholem. His interest in Judaica was strongly opposed by his father, a printer, but thanks to his mother's intervention, he was allowed to study Hebrew and the Talmud with an Orthodox rabbi. Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 7 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi...

He studied mathematics, philosophy, and Hebrew at the University of Berlin, where he came into contact with Martin Buber and Walter Benjamin, as well as Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ahad Ha'am, and Zalman Shazar. He was in Bern in 1918 with Benjamin, where he met Elsa Burckhardt, who became his first wife. He returned to Germany in 1919, and he got a degree in semitic languages at the University of Munich. Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mathematics Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles — A collection of articles on various math topics, with interactive Java... These five broad types of question are called analytical or logical, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic respectively. ... Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (German Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) is Berlins oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin (Universität zu Berlin) by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt whose university model has strongly influenced... Martin Buber (8 February 1878 - 13 June 1965) was a Jewish philosopher, translator, editor, and pedagogue, whose work centered around the ideals of religious consciousness, interpersonal relations, and community. ... Walter Benjamin (July 15, 1892-September 27, 1940) was a German Jewish Marxist literary critic and philosopher. ... Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Hebrew: שמואל יוסף עגנון; known as shay agnon, born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes) (July 17, 1888 – February 17, 1970) was the first Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1966). ... Hayyim Nahman Bialik (January 9, 1873–July 4, 1934), also commonly written as Chaim or Haim Nachman Bialik and in the Hebrew language as חיים נחמן ביאליק, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. ... Asher Ginsberg (1856 - 1927), also known by the pen name Ahad Haam (Hebrew: one of the people, compare with L.L. Zamenhofs Unuel), was one of the great pre-state Zionist thinkers. ... Zalman Shazar (Shneiur Zalman Robshov) (24 November 1889 - October 5, 1974) was an author, poet and the third president of Israel (1963 - 1973). ... Location within Switzerland The city of Bern, English traditionally Berne (Bernese German Bärn , German Bern , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland, and is the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... Main building of the Ludwig Maximilians University The Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (German: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München or LMU) is with approximately 48,000 students the second largest university in Germany (surpassed only by the University of Cologne) and generally considered one of the best universities of...

He wrote his doctoral thesis on the oldest known kabbalistic text, Sefer ha-Bahir. Drawn to Zionism, and influenced by Buber, he emigrated in 1923 to the British Mandate of Palestine, where he devoted his time to studying Jewish mysticism and became a librarian, and eventually head of the Department of Hebrew and Judaica at the National Library. He later became a lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The Bahir (Hebrew for Illumination) is a pseudepigraphic mystical work attributed to Nehunya ben ha-Kanah, a first century rabbinic sage, and a contemporary of Johanan ben Zakkai (first century), because it begins with the words, R. Nehunya ben ha-Kanah said. It was first published in the 12th century... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian) 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Map of the territory under the British Mandate of Palestine. ...

He taught the Kabbalah and mysticism from a scientific point of view, and became the first Professor of Jewish mysticism at the university in 1933, working in this post until his retirement in 1965, when he became an emeritus professor. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

In 1936, he married Fania Freud. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Scholem's brother Werner was a member of the ultra-left "Fischer-Maslow Group" and a member of the Reichstag, representing the Communist Party (KPD) in the German parliament. He was banned from the party and later murdered during the Third Reich. The Reichstag (German for Imperial Diet) was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... The Communist Party of Germany (in German, Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was formed in December of 1918 from the Spartacist League, which originated as a small factional grouping within the Social Democratic Party (SPD) opposed to the First World War on the grounds that it was an imperialist war in... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Theories and scholarship

Scholem directly contrasted his historiographical approach on the study of Jewish mysticism with the approach of the 19th-century school of the Wissenschaft des Judentums ("Science of Judaism"), which sought to submit the study of Judaism to the discipline of subjects such as history, philology, and philosophy. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... History studies the past in human terms. ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... These five broad types of question are called analytical or logical, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic respectively. ...

Jewish mysticism was seen as Judaism's "weakest" scholarly link. Scholem told the story of his early research when he was directed to a prominent rabbi who was an expert on Kabbalah. Seeing the rabbi's many books on the subject, Scholem asked about them, only to be told: "This trash? Why would I waste my time reading nonsense like this?" (Robinson 2000, p. 396)

The analysis of Judaism carried out by the Wissenschaft school was flawed in two ways, according to Scholem:

• It studied Judaism as a dead object rather than as a living organism.
• It did not consider the proper foundations of Judaism, the irrational force that, in Scholem's view, made the religion a living thing.

In Scholem's opinion, the mythical and mystical components were as important as the rational ones. In particular he disagreed with Martin Buber's personalization of Kabbalistic concepts, his ignorance of history, of the Hebrew language, and of the land of Israel of the Jewish people. Martin Buber (8 February 1878 - 13 June 1965) was a Jewish philosopher, translator, editor, and pedagogue, whose work centered around the ideals of religious consciousness, interpersonal relations, and community. ... This article concerns the concept of The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) in Jewish and Christian thought from its Biblical sources to the present day. ...

In the Weltanschauung of Scholem, the research of Jewish mysticism could not be separated from its historical context. Starting from something similar to the Gegengeschichte of Friedrich Nietzsche he ended up including a lot of the less normative aspects of the Judaism in the public history. A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (nēchə, -chē) (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) was a German philosopher, whose critiques of contemporary culture, religion, and philosophy centered around a basic question regarding the foundation of values and morality. ...

Specifically Scholem thought that Jewish history could be divided into three periods:

1. During the Biblical period, monotheism battles myth, without completely defeating it.
2. During the Talmudic period, some of the institutions — for example, the notion of the magical power of the accomplishment of the Sacraments — are removed in favour of the purer concept of the divine transcendence.
3. During the medieval period, the impossibility of reconciling the abstract concept of god of Greek philosophy with the personal God of the Bible led Jewish thinkers, such as Maimonides, to try to eliminate the remaining myths and to modify the figure of the living God. After this time, mysticism, as an effort to find again the essence of the God of their fathers, became more widespread.

The notion of the three periods, with its interactions between rational and irrational elements in Judaism, led Scholem to put forward some very controversial arguments. He thought that the messianic movement of the 16th century of the Sabattianism was developed from the medieval Lurianic Kabbalah. In order to neutralize sabattianism, as a Hegelian synthesis, Hasidism emerged. 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article discusses usage of the term Hebrew Bible. For the article on the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh. ... Monotheism (in Greek μόνος = single and θεός = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mythology. ... The Talmud (תלמוד) is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... The ancient symbol of the pentagram is often used as a symbol for magic. ... Wikimedia needs your help in its 21-day fund drive. ... Classical (or early) Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. ... At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHVH), the name of God. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Moshe ben Maimon (March 30, 1135–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Sabbatai Zevi, (שבתאי צבי Shabtai Tzvi in Hebrew) (also known as Shabbethai, Shabbetai, Sabbetai, or Shabtai; Zvi or Tzvi) (July 23, 1626–possibly September 30, 1676) was a claimed Messiah and Kabbalist. ... Isaac Luria (1534–August 5, 1572) was a Jewish scholar and mystic who was secretly believed by some to be the messiah. ... Hasidic Judaism (from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning pious, from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ...

Many of those who joined the Hasidic movement, because they had seen in it an orthodox congregation, considered it scandalous that their community should thus be associated with an heretical movement. Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary...

In the same way, Scholem produced the hypothesis that the source of the 13th century kabbalah was a Jewish gnosticism that preceded Christian gnosticism.

The historiographical approach of Scholem involved a linguistic theory too. In contrast to Buber, Scholem believed in the power of the language to invoke supernatural pheonomena. In contrast to Walter Benjamin, he put the Hebrew language in a privileged position with respect to other languages, as the only language capable of revealing the divine truth. Scholem considered the Kabbalists as interpreters of a pre-existent linguistic revelation. Walter Benjamin (July 15, 1892-September 27, 1940) was a German Jewish Marxist literary critic and philosopher. ...

Works

• Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 1941
• Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and the Talmudic Tradition 1960
• The Messianic Idea in Judaism translated 1971
• Sabbatai Zevi, the Mystical Messiah 1973
• Kabbalah, Meridian 1974, Plume Books 1987 reissue: ISBN 0452010071
• On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead : Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah 1997

References

• Biography at the Jewish Virtual Library
• Biography
• An analysis of Scholem's lifework from Commentary
• Biographical page
• Robinson, G. Essential Judaism, Pocket Books, 2000.

Further reading

• Biale, David. Gershom Scholem: Kabbalah and Counter-History, second ed., 1982.
• Bloom, Harold, ed. Gershom Scholem, 1987.
• Scholem, Gershom. From Berlin to Jerusalem: Memories of My Youth. Trans. Harry Zohn, 1980.