Glad to hear you were able to locate both.
I take it you’re waiting for the remodeling to be completed before getting Theologies of the Mind. Driving across the state might be nice in the summer but in winter…
I’m looking forward to hearing about Sacred Enigmas once you do get it and have a chance to read it.
BJH1960 said
Has anyone read anything by Elliot Wolfson? If so, is there something you’d recommend?
Yes, ** you do not have permission to see this link **.
When I first got into the subject of Merkabah mysticism I noticed that this book was listed in almost every bibliography I read. That’s always a good sign that it’s one you’ll want to get. What particularly resonated for me in this one is that it focuses on the importance of imagination. I approached the subject through the writings of English visionary poet William Blake for whom imagination was a way of interpreting reality. (Blake famously wrote that “All gods exist within the human breast.” But for him this didn’t mean they didn’t exist! For Blake imagination is not imaginary if you’ll pardon the intentional paradox.)
Anyway I was drawn by the subject and interested in the view from the Jewish visionary tradition. In this book Wolfson deals with the precursors of Kabbalah (about which is an acknowledged expert) including Merkabah. Frankly, when I first got the book I wasn’t ready for this level of erudition. This is one I definitely need to revisit now that I’m a bit further down the path. One of Wolfson’s strengths is that he is fluent in contemporary lit/crit approaches and can use them as lenses to interpret the texts. So he doesn’t treat these systems as historical curiosities.
I notice that Amazon is asking absurd prices for this one. I paid considerable less than that.
Bruce, just to be nosey, in what context did you become aware of Wolfson?
Yes, ** you do not have permission to see this link **.
Thanks, Stephen. That’ll be the one I eventually get. I’m not willing to dish out $60 for the Kindle, so I suppose I’ll see if I can get it through an interlibrary loan once I’m back in the States.
I approached the subject through the writings of English visionary poet William Blake for whom imagination was a way of interpreting reality. (Blake famously wrote that “All gods exist within the human breast.” But for him this didn’t mean they didn’t exist! For Blake imagination is not imaginary if you’ll pardon the intentional paradox.)
I love Blake. ** you do not have permission to see this link ** has always been a favorite.
Bruce, just to be nosey, in what context did you become aware of Wolfson?
I was interested in Jewish panentheism and authors who wrote about it as scholars and not as advocates.
I was interested in Jewish panentheism and authors who wrote about it as scholars and not as advocates.
I’m a huge fan of Hebrew scholar James Kugel, and the book that did it was ** you do not have permission to see this link **. It’s a collection of essays about the different conceptions of god found in the Hebrew Bible. (The chapter about the figure of the Angel of the Lord alone is worth the price of admission.)
Relevant to the subject of panentheism is Kugel’s description of ancient Hebrew spiritual sensibility. He describes their concept of god as a “Field of Divine Presence”, not a distant, utterly transcendent ruler sitting in a remote heaven but a divine reality that is immediate, palpable, and woven into the very fabric of the world.
To these ancients the boundary between mind and the world was porous and fluid. Thoughts, dreams, and emotions were not viewed as internal psychological states but were experienced as intrusions from the “Great Outside”. There was no dualism here between “nature” and “supernature”. The spiritual realm was as palpable as the mundane world.
This explains why the divine could condense into the physical. God walks through the garden. One could encounter a traveler on the road or share a meal, and only later realize you were interacting directly with god.
In his book ** you do not have permission to see this link **, Kugel examines how and why he thinks this viewpoint changed. God became a distant, abstract, transcendent being who is encountered inwardly through prayer or conscience rather than as a stranger on a dusty road.
Thanks, Stephen. Both look good.
And the prices. Not even worth ** you do not have permission to see this link **about.
By the way, in looking at Wolfson’s books, I was struck by the title of the first, The Book of the Pomegranate, a critical Hebrew edition of a work by ** you do not have permission to see this link **, it’s never lost its mystical allure.
The pomegranate has such rich mythological symbolism, being the fruit whose seeds Persephone ate that bound her to the underworld. Of course it’s one of the multiple candidates for the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
I found this interesting ** you do not have permission to see this link **. Botticelli’s Madonna of the Pomegranate is very beautiful.
In my younger world traveler days I once had the opportunity to walk through an open air market in Cairo. Nothing so grand as Istanbul but I nevertheless experienced total sensory overload. The sights, the sounds, the smells! And the voices. I can imagine what it must have been like in ancient times.
What a great article.
Moses de León, in his thirteenth-century cabalistic text ** you do not have permission to see this link **, or the presence of God. The pomegranate contains all the commandments of God in its seeds; the divine inhabits it. In this realization of sanctity and wisdom, de León establishes a link to the Song of Songs and suggests that even those who are empty are filled with the commandments, like the pomegranate. This connection between the fruit and inherent holiness adds new meaning to the Song of Songs, where the love between two people can unknowingly be a divine revelation.
And, ah, the Botticelli.
I’ve never been to Cairo, but I’ve always imagined it to be a place (like Tokyo?) of sensory overload.
Istanbul is quite the city. I’ve only been once, which is downright embarrassing considering it’s only about 300 miles away. However, now that we’re both retired, it’ll be considerably easier. Smyrna (Izmir) and Ephesus are also of great interest as well as Cappadocia, where my wife’s grandfather was from.
BJH1960 said
Yes, Through the Speculum That Shines: Vision and Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism.
Thanks, Stephen. That’ll be the one I eventually get. I’m not willing to dish out $60 for the Kindle, so I suppose I’ll see if I can get it through an interlibrary loan once I’m back in the States.
Bruce, just to be nosey, in what context did you become aware of Wolfson?
I was interested in Jewish panentheism and authors who wrote about it as scholars and not as advocates.
Here is a brand spanking new interview with Prof Wolfson. I wish it had been longer!
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Well, I must never lose my capacity to be surprised. Given his specialty it just never occurred to me that Prof Wolfson might have some online presence.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Recent interviews and lectures:
** you do not have permission to see this link **
** you do not have permission to see this link **
** you do not have permission to see this link **
** you do not have permission to see this link **
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