updated June 2023
1
Jonathan Garb
Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah, Department of Jewish Thought,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
972-2-5880020 (work):
e-mail: jgarb@huji.ac.il
Website: http://huji.academia.edu/JonathanGarb
Education
2002:
Ben Gurion University. Department of Jewish Thought. PostDoctorate fellowship.
1998-2000:
Hebrew University. Jewish Thought. PHD (Summa cum laude).
Advisor: Professor Moshe Idel.
1994-1997:
Hebrew University. Jewish Thought. M. A.
1990-1994:
Hebrew University. Jewish Thought. B. A.
Academic Positions
2023–2026. Co-Editor. Tarbiz: A Quarterly for Jewish Studies.
2023. Azrieli Fellowship Committee.
2022. Fellow, Maimonides Center for Advanced Studies. University of Hamburg.
2021- . Editorial board, The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy.
2018, 2022. Member of committee for the Ben Zvi prize for research on the
Jewish Communities in the East.
2020-2022 Member of Hebrew University Central Promotions Committee.
2020- Editorial Board: The Maimonides Library for Philosophy and Religion. Brill
Publishers.
2019.
Fellow, Maimonides Center for Advanced Studies. University of
Hamburg.
2019.
Master-class, ‘Pantheism in Rabbinic Thought’ (With Prof. Itzhak
Melamed), Jewish Studies Program and Department of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins
University.
2019- Editorial Board: Studies in Musar, Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Brill
Publishers.
2018
Elected Member of Hebrew University Senate.
2017–2019.
Member, International Advisory Committee,
updated June 2023
2
Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
2017-2018.
Chair. Department of Jewish Thought. Hebrew University.
2015
Full Professor, Hebrew University.
2014.
Massive Open Online Course on Modern European Mysticism and
Psychological Thought, Coursera.
2013, 2014
Lectures, Center for Core Curriculum, Columbia University.
2013-2014
Head of “Amirim” Honors Program, Hebrew University.
2010-2013
Plenary Committee, Authority for Research Students.
2012-2022
Editorial Board: Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical
Texts.
2012
Fellow, Center for Law and Jewish Civilization, NYU.
2011
Associate Professor. Hebrew University.
2009-2011
Member of Steering Committee and Seminar Co-Leader, Doctoral
Honors Program, Hebrew University.
2008-9
Initiator and coordinator (with Prof. Philip Wexler), Research Group,
Institute of Advanced Studies. Topic: The Sociology of Contemporary
Jewish Mysticism in Comparative Perspective.
2008
Director. Integrative Program for Jewish Studies (within the Institute
of Jewish Studies).
2007
Visiting Lecturer, L'école des hautes études en sciences sociales,
Paris.
2007
Tenured Senior Lecturer. Humanities. The Department of Jewish
Thought, Hebrew University
2003
Lecturer. Humanities. The Department of Jewish Thought, Hebrew
University
1997-2008
Shalom Hartman Institute, Center for Advanced Studies.
Grants, Awards, and Honors
(see also below: Books).
2020-2023
Grant from the Israel Science Foundation: “Sod Yesharim by G.H.
Leiner in Inter-generational Context”.
2014
Gershom Scholem Prize for Research in Kabbalah. Israel Academy of
Sciences and Humanities.
2014-
Israel Science Foundation Grant for book publication, 25, 000$.
updated June 2023
2013-
3
Gershom Scholem Endowment Fund for Jewish Mysticism and
Kabbalah Studies.
2012 -
Co-Holder of Gershom Scholem Chair in Kabbalah.
2010-2014:
Knapp Foundation Donation. “Eighteenth Century Italian Kabbalah”.
2010-2014:
Knapp Foundation Donation. “Book Series on Contemporary Jewish
Mysticism in Comparative Perspective”.
2010:
President’s Prize for Outstanding Researcher (Pollack Family
Foundation). Hebrew University.
2010-2112:
Grant from the Israel Science Foundation. “Heart and Soul:
Psychological Theories in Modern Kabbalah”.
2008:
Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies Prize. The Academic
Society for the Research of Religions and Ideologies.
2008:
Levi Eshkol Institute Faculty Member Grant. “The Spiritual-Mystical
Renaissance in the Haredi World Today”.
2006, 2011:
List of Outstanding Lecturers, Faculty of Humanities.
2004-2005:
Grant from the Committee for Innovative Research headed by VicePresident for Research and Development. “Twentieth Century
Kabbalah”.
2004-2005:
Hebrew University Research Fund Grant [Based on positive evaluation
of application to Israel Science Foundation]. “A Scientific Edition of
the work "Zror Hachaim" by the Kabbalist R. Joseph Ibn Sayah,
accompanied by an extensive introduction”.
2004:
Lubin Prize (supporting book publication). Hebrew University.
2002-2003:
Hebrew University Research Fund Career Development Award [Based
on application to Israel Science Foundation]. “A Scientific Edition of
the work "Zror Hachaim" by the Kabbalist R. Joseph Ibn Sayah,
accompanied by an extensive introduction”.
updated June 2023
4
List of Publications
Books
•
2023 (in press). Does God Doubt: The Thought of r. Gershon Henoch Leiner
in its Contexts. Brill: Leiden.
•
2020. A History of Kabbalah from the Early Modern Period to the Present
Day. Cambridge University Press. (awarded Polonsky Prize for Creativity and
Originality in the Humanistic Disciplines, Hebrew University, 2021).
•
2016. Modern Kabbalah as an Autonomous Domain of Research. Cherub
Press: Los Angeles (in Hebrew).
•
2015. The Yearnings of the Soul: Psychological Thought in Modern Kabbalah.
The University of Chicago Press.
•
2014. Kabbalist in the Eye of the Storm: R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto. Tel Aviv
University Press (in Hebrew).
•
2011. Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah. The University of Chicago
Press.
•
2009. "The Chosen will Become Herds": Studies in Twentieth Century
Kabbalah, Yale University Press: New Haven.
•
2005. "The Chosen will Become Herds": Studies in Twentieth Century
Kabbalah. Carmel Press: Jerusalem (in Hebrew).
•
2004. Manifestations of Power in Jewish Mysticism from Rabbinic Literature
to Safedian Kabbalah. Magnes Press: Jerusalem (in Hebrew).
Editing
−
2012. With Philip Wexler, After Spirituality: Studies in Mystical Traditions.
Peter Lang Publishing: New York.
−
2012. With Maren Niehoff and Ronit Meroz, And This is For Yehuda: Studies
Presented to our Friend, Professor Yehuda Liebes on the Occasion of his
Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Bialik Press and Mandel Institute: Jerusalem (in
Hebrew).
−
2011-2015 Series Editor (with Prof. Philip Wexler). After Spirituality: Studies
in Mystical Traditions. Peter Lang Publishing.
updated June 2023
5
Articles in English
- 2022. ‘Doubt and Certainty in Late Modern Kabbalah’, Maimonides Review of
Philosophy and Religion, pp. 79-106.
- 2021. ‘The Conversion of the Jews: Identity as Ontology in Modern Kabbalah’, Y.
Freidmann and C. Markschies (eds.), Religious Responses to Modernity. De Gruyter:
Berlin, pp. 33-48.
- 2020. ‘From Fear to Awe in Luzzatto’s Mesilat Yesharim’. European Journal of
Jewish Studies 14, pp. 285-299.
- 2020. ‘Surprised by God: R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk’s Approach to Divine
Worship and Its Influence in Tiberias,’ A. L. Glazer and N. Polen (eds.), From
Tiberias, With Love: A Collection of Tiberian Hasidism Volume 1: R. Menachem
Mendel of Vitebsk. Fons Vitae: Louisville, pp. 71-83.
−
2019. ‘Contemplation, Meditation and Metaphysics in Second-Generation Habad’,
P. Wexler (ed.), Jewish Spirituality and Social Transformation: Hasidism and
Society. Crossroad: New York, pp. 185-201.
– 2017. ‘Doubt and Certainty in Early Modern Kabbalah, G. Veltri (ed.), Yearbook of
the Maimonides Center for Advanced Studies. Walter de Gruyter: Berlin, pp. 239246.
−
2015. ‘Shame as an Existential Emotion in Modern Kabbalah’, Jewish Social
Studies 21, pp. 83-116.
−
2015. ‘Soul Time in Modern Kabbalah’, in: B. Ogren (ed.), Before and After:
On Time and Eternity in Jewish Esotericism and Mysticism. Brill: Leiden, pp.
151-161.
−
2015. ‘Moshe Idel: An Intellectual Portrait’, in H. Tirosh-Samuelson and A.
Hughes, Moshe Idel (Library of Contemporary Jewish Philosophers). Brill:
Leiden, pp. 1-29.
−
2013, ‘The Psychological Turn in Sixteenth Century Kabbalah’, in: G. Cecere,
M. Loubet and S. Pagani (eds.), Mystique juives, chréttiennes et musulmanes
dans L’Egypte médiévale (VIIe–XVIe siècle): Interculturalités et contextes
historiques. IFAO: Cairo, pp. 109-124.
updated June 2023
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6
2013. ‘Shamanism and the Hidden History of Modern Kabbalah’, in: A.
DeConick and G. Adamson (eds.), Histories of the Hidden God. Equinox:
Sheffield, pp. 175-192.
−
2012. ‘The Challenges of Teaching Mysticism’, Religious Studies Review 38.
(Review Article), pp. 207–212.
−
2012, ‘Contemporary Kabbalah and Classical Kabbalah: Breaks and
Continuities’, in: P. Wexler and J. Garb (eds.), After Spirituality: Studies in
Mystical Traditions Peter Lang Publishing: New York, pp. 19–46.
−
2012, With P. Wexler. ‘After Spirituality: Introducing the Volume and the
Series’, in: P. Wexler and J. Garb (eds.), After Spirituality: Studies in Mystical
Traditions. Peter Lang Publishing: New York, pp. 1–15.
−
2011. ‘The Circle of Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto in Its Eighteenth-Century
Context’. Eighteenth-Century Studies 44, pp. 189-202.
−
2011. ‘Towards the Study of the Spiritual-Mystical Renaissance in the
Contemporary Ashkenazi Haredi World in Israel’, in: B. Huss (ed.), Kabbalah
and Contemporary Spiritual Revival, Ben-Gurion University Press: Beer
Sheva, pp. 117–140.
−
2010. ‘Mystical and Spiritual Discourse in the Contemporary Ashkenazi
Haredi Worlds’. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 9, pp. 29-48.
−
2010. ‘The Modernization of Kabbalah: A Case Study’. Modern Judaism: A
Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience 30, pp. 1-22.
−
2008. ‘The Cult of the Saints in Lurianic Kabbalah’, Jewish Quarterly Review
98, pp. 203-229.
−
2007. ‘Moshe Idel's Contribution to the Study of Religion’, Journal for the
Study of Religions and Ideologies 18, pp. 116-129.
http://www.jsri.ro/new/?Current_issue (Reprinted in: S. Frunza and M. Frunza
(eds.), Essays in Honor of Moshe Idel, Provo Press: Cluj-Napoca. 2008. pp.
20-34.
−
2007. ‘Powers of Language in Kabbalah: Comparative Reflections’, in: S. De
La Porta and D. Shulman (eds.), The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics
of Sound and Sign. pp. 233-269. Brill: Leiden.
−
2006. ‘ "Alien" Culture in the Circle of Rabbi Kook’, in H. Kriesel (ed.),
Study and Knowledge in Jewish Thought. pp. 253-264. Ben Gurion University
Press: Beer Sheva.
updated June 2023
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7
2005. ‘Gender and Power in Kabbalah: A Theoretical Investigation’,
Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 13, pp. 79-108.
−
2004. ‘Rabbi Kook and his Sources: From Kabbalistic Historiosophy to
National Mysticism’, in M. Sharon (Ed.) Studies in Modern Religions,
Religious Movements and the Babi-Bahai Faiths.. pp. 77-96. Brill: Leiden.
−
2004. ‘Mystics' Critiques of Mystical Experience’, Revue de l' histoire des
religions, 221, pp. 293-325.
−
2002. ‘Fear and Power in Renaissance Mediterranean Kabbalah’, in A. Scott
and C. Kosso (Eds.), Fear and Its Representations: Arizona Studies in the
Middle Ages and Renaissance,. pp. 137-151. Berpols: Turnhout, Belgium.
−
2001. ‘Kinds of Power: Rabbinic Literature and Kabbalah’, Kabbalah: Journal
for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 6, pp. 45-71.
−
1998. ‘Paths of Power’, Journal of Religion 78, pp. 593-601 [Review Article]
−
1998, With Tamar Rapoport (PI). ‘The Experience of Religious Fortification:
The Coming of Age of Religious Zionist Young Women’, Gender and
Education 10, pp. 5-20. Reprinted in: S. Baader, H. Kelle and E. Kleinau
(eds.), Bildungsgeschichten: Geschlecht, Religion und Pädagogik in der
Moderne. 2006. pp. 49-68. Böhlau: Koln.
−
1995, With Tamar Rapoport (PI), and Penso A. ‘Religious Socialization and
Female Subjectivity: Religious-Zionist Adolescent Girls in Israel’, Sociology
of Education 68, pp. 48-61.
−
1994, With Tamar Rapoport (PI), and Penso A. ‘Contribution to the Collective
by Religious-Zionist Adolescent Girls’, British Journal of Sociology of
Education 15, pp. 375-388.
Articles in Hebrew
−
2023 (accepted), ‘Mystical Techniques and Experiences in the Writings of R.
Isaac E. Safrin of Komarno’ in: A. Bar-Levav, M. Halbertal, R. Margolin
(eds.), Jubilee Volume. Idra Academic Press: Ramat Gan.
−
2022. ‘The Somatic-Medical model in R. Itzhak Haver's Or ha-Torah’,
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 27, pp. 189–221.
−
2019. ‘A Study of Tal Orot by R. Yaakov Meir Spielmann’, Kabbalah: Journal
for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 43, pp. 121-184.
updated June 2023
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8
2012. ‘The Political Model in Modern Kabbalah: A Study of Ramhal and his
Intellectual Surroundings’, in: B. Brown, M. Lorberbaum, Y. Stern and A.
Rosenak (eds.), Avi Be 'Ezri (Festschrift in honor of Aviezer Ravitzky). The
Zalman Shazar Center and Israel Democracy Institute: Jerusalem, pp. 13-45.
−
2011. ‘The Authentic Writings of R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto’, Kabbalah:
Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 25, pp. 165–222.
−
2011. 'A Renewed Study of the Self-Image of R. Moshe David Valle, as
Reflected in his Biblical Exegesis'. Tarbiz: A Quarterly for Jewish Studies 79,
pp. 265-306.
−
2009. 'Kabbalah Outside the Walls: The Response of Rabbi Hadayah to the
State of Israel', in: Z. Zohar (ed.), Rabbi Uziel and his Peers: Studies in the
Religious Thought of Oriental Rabbis in 20th Century Israel, pp. 13-27. Tel
Aviv University: Tel Aviv.
−
2006. 'On the Kabbalists of Prague', Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish
Mystical Texts 14, pp. 347-383.
−
2005. 'The "Secrets of Faith" in the Zohar', in: M. Halbertal, D. Kurzweil and
A. Sagi (eds.), On Faith: Studies on the Concept of Faith and its History in
Jewish Thought. pp. 294-311, 641-647. Keter: Jerusalem.
−
2005. 'The Concept of Power in the Circle of R. Kook', Jerusalem Studies in
Jewish Thought 19, pp. 753-770.
−
2004. 'Prophecy, Halakhah and Antinomianism in the "Shemonah Kevatsim"
by Rabbi Kook', in Z. Gries, H. Kriesel and B. Huss (eds.), Shefa Tal: Studies
in Jewish Thought and Culture presented to Bracha Sack, pp. 267-277. Ben
Gurion University Press: Beer Shev'a.
−
2004. 'Rabbi Kook: Nationalist Thinker or Mystical Poet', Da'at 54, pp. 69-96.
−
2004. 'Models of Sacred Space in Jewish Mysticism and their Impact in the
Twentieth Century', In: A. Ravitzky (ed.), The Land of Israel in Twentieth
Century Jewish Thought. pp. 1-25. Yad Yitzhak Ben Tvi: Jerusalem.
−
2004. 'Power, Ritual and Myth: A Comparative Methodological Proposal', In:
M. Idel and I. Gruenwald (eds.), Myths in Judaism: History, Thought,
Literature.. pp. 53-71. The Zalman Shazar Center: Jerusalem.
−
2004. 'Messianism, Anti-Nomianism and Power in Religious Zionism: The
case of the "Jewish Underground" ', in: A. Cohen (ed.), Religious Zionism: An
updated June 2023
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Era of Changes (Studies in Memory of Zvulun Hammer). 2004. pp. 323-363.
Bialik Institute: Jerusalem.
−
2004. 'The NRP Young Guard and the Ideological Roots of "Gush Emunim" ',
in: A. Cohen (ed.), Religious Zionism: An Era of Changes (Studies in Memory
of Zvulun Hammer), pp. 171-200. Bialik Institute: Jerusalem.
−
2002. 'The Understandable Revival of Mysticism Today: Innovation and
Conservatism in the Thought of Joseph Achituv', in: A. Sagi and Z. Zohar
(Eds.), Jewish Culture in the Eye of the Storm: Festschrift in Honor of Joseph
Achituv, pp. 172-199. Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuhad Press and Yaakov Herzog
Center: Ein Tzurim.
−
2001. ' "The Joy of Torah" in the Thought of David Hartman: A Critical
Examination of the Phenomenology of Halakhic Experience', in: A. Sagi and
Z. Zohar (Eds.), Renewing Jewish Commitment: The Work and Thought of
David Hartman, pp. 73-105. Shalom Hartman Institute and Ha-kibbutz HaMeuhad: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
−
2000. 'Magic and Mysticism: Between North Africa and Eretz Israel', Pe'amim
85, pp. 112-130.
−
1999. 'The Kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph Ibn Sayyah as a Source for the
Understanding of Safedian Kabbalah', Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of
Jewish Mystical Texts 4, pp. 213-255.
−
1997. 'Trance Techniques in the Kabbalistic Tradition of Jerusalem', Pe'amim
70, pp. 47-67
−
1996. 'The Fingers and the Senses: A Text from Even Hasoham by Josef Ibn
Sayyah', Pe'amim 67, pp. 120-124.
Encyclopedia Entries
−
Online. ‘Moses Chaim Luzzatto’, The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its
Reception. De Grutyer: Berlin.
−
2007. ‘Kabbalah in the Late Twentieth Century’, Encyclopedia Judaica
(Second Edition). XI, pp. 677-681. Macmillan Reference: Detroit.
updated June 2023
−
10
2007. ‘Idel, Moshe’, Encyclopedia Judaica (Second Edition). IX, pp. 707708. Macmillan Reference: Detroit.
Other Publications
−
2019. ‘A New Study of Maor ‘Enayim by R. Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl
(review of D. Zori, Not in the Hands of Heaven)’, Da’at 87, pp. 713-744.
−
2018. Review of J. Meir, Kabbalistic Circles in Jerusalem (1896-1948).
Studies in Contemporary Jewry 30, pp. 264-266.
−
2017. Review Article on J. Sheehan and D. Wahrman, Invisible Hands: SelfOrganization and the Eighteenth Century. The Journal of Politics, Religion
and Ideology 18. Online at:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2017.1298275
−
2015. A Review of D. Reiser, Vision as a Mirror: Imagery Techniques in
Twentieth Century Jewish Mysticism. Kabbalah 33, pp. 315-319 (in
Hebrew).
−
2014. A Review of R. Weinstein, Kabbalah and Jewish Modernity. Zion 80,
pp. 148-153 (in Hebrew).
−
2005. A Review of: J. H. Chajes, Between Worlds: Dybbuks,
Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism, Zion 70, pp. 122-126 (in Hebrew).
−
2003. ‘Towards a Post-Modern Anthropology of Jewish/Islamic Magic’,
Review of: Yoram Bilu, Without Bounds: The Life and Death of Rabbi
Ya'aqov Wazana, Anthropological Theory 3, pp. 127-128.
Papers in English
Panelist: ‘Haskalah, Hasidism, and Scepticism as “Gates to Modernity’, “Gates to
Modernity”: New Perspectives on Hasidism and Haskalah, Maimonides Center
for Advanced Studies, July 2022.
‘Awe of Sublimity in the Practice of Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto and his Mystical
Fraternity’, Minerva Summer Workshop, The University of Hamburg, June 2022.
– ‘The Four Modes of Capital Punishment in Early Modern Context,’ Emmy
Noether Junior Research Group: “Jewish Moralistic Writings of the Early
updated June 2023
11
Modern Period: 1600-1800,” Institute for Jewish Philosophy and Religion, the
University of Hamburg, July 2019 (Keynote Speaker).
−
‘Pantheism in Twentieth Century Jewish Thought (with Prof. Itzhak Melamed),
L'école des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, June 2019.
−
‘Indigenous Textual Scholarship in Modern Sephardic Kabbalah’, Columbia
University, IIJS, November 2017.
−
“Scholem’s Major Trends 75 Years Later’, Jewish Theological Seminary,
November 2017.
−
‘Is Traditional Jewish Thought Really Opposed to Pantheism?’ (with Prof. Itzhak
Melamed), Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies,
Pennsylvania University, November 2017.
−
‘Doubt and Certainty in Early Modern Kabbalah’, Maimonides Center for
Advanced Studies: Universität Hamburg, May 2017.
−
‘ “The Conversion of the Jews”: Identity as Ontology in Modern Kabbalah’,
International Conference on Religious Responses to Modernity, Israel
Academy of Sciences and Humanities/Berlin Brandenberg Academy of
Sciences, December 2015.
−
‘The Soul in Seventeenth Century Kabbalah’, Herbert D. Katz Center for
Advanced Judaic Studies, Pennsylvania University, November 2015.
−
‘Yearnings of the Soul: Psychological Thought in Modern Kabbalah’, Jewish
Studies Lecture, Indiana University, November 2014.
−
‘Eighteenth Century Kabbalistic Cosmology’, Potts Lecture in Jewish
Cosmology, The Johns Hopkins University, May 2014.
−
‘The Critique of Technique in American Buddhism and Some Israeli Parallels’,
Sixth Israeli Conference For the Study of Contemporary Religion and
Spirituality, Tel Aviv University, April 2014.
−
‘Dualistic and non-Dualistic (Animistic) Views of the Soul in Kabbalah’, The
Material Soul- Animism Revisited Workshop, The Cohn Institute for the
History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University with ETH
Departement Geistes-, Sozial- und Staatswissenschaften, March 2014.
−
‘Soul Time in Modern Kabbalah’, Eternity, Epoch and Soul: Jewish Mystical
Notions of Time, Rockwell Symposium, Rice University,
−
November 2013.
‘Kabbalistic Cultures in Jerusalem in the Early Twentieth Century’, Hochschule
für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg, July 2013.
updated June 2023
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12
‘European Kabbalah in Modern Intellectual History’, Program in Jewish
Studies, Princeton University, April 2013.
−
‘The Soul in the Later Writings of Rashab’. Conference: Epic Exposition: the
Ayin Bet Discourses and the Mystical Thought of Rabbi Shalom DovBer
Schneersohn of Lubavitch (RaShaB). Center for Jewish History. July 2012.
−
‘Recovering the Soul: Psychology of Religion and Modern Kabbalah‘, Jewish
Studies Program and Dean of Humanities Lecture, Rice University, April
2012.
−
‘Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah,’ Spring Religious Studies Lecture,
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, March 2012.
−
‘Learning, Heart and Soul in Habad Psychological Theory’, Conference: Habad
and the Academe. University of Pennsylvania. March 2012.
−
‘The Return of the Soul: Psychological Theories in Modern Kabbalah‘, Judaic
Studies Lecture Series, Yale University, March 2012.
−
'Gender and Sexuality in the Luzzatto Controversy in Early 18th-century Italy',
Lecture: Stanford University, December 2011.
−
'Mussar as a Modern Movement'. The Third International Conference on
Modern Religions and Religious Movements, Hebrew University. March 2011.
−
'Jewish, Christians and Muslim Mysticisms in Medieval Egypt: Inter-Religious
Phenomena and Historical Contexts'. International Conference: Institut
français d’archéologie orientale, Cairo. November 2010.
−
April 2010. 'Shamanism and the Hidden History of Modern Kabbalah', Founding
Conference of Program in Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism, Rice
University.
−
April 2010. Lecture Series, Xavier University, Cincinnati.
−
'The Modernization of Kabbalah: A Case Study'. Contemporary Jewish
Mysticism: Social and Comparative Perspectives, International Conference
at the Institute of Advanced Studies, July 2009.
−
2008. 'The Spiritual-Mystical Renaissance in the Contemporary Haredi World',
Kabbalah and Contemporary Spiritual Revival: International Workshop of
the Israel Science Foundation and Ben Gurion University,
−
2005. 'Autognosis in Kabbalah', Autognosis: A Theology of Self-Knowing:
International Workshop at the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
updated June 2023
−
13
2004. '"Alien Culture" in the Thought of Rabbi Kook's Circle', International
Conference on Study and Knowledge in Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion
University.
−
2003. 'Powers of Language in Kabbalah: Comparative Reflections', The Poetics
of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign: International
Workshop at the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
−
2000. 'Fear and Power in Kabbalah', Fear and its Representations: Arizona
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
−
2000. 'Rabbi Kook and his Sources: From Kabbalistic Historiosophy to National
Mysticism', First International Conference on Modern Religions and
Religious Movements, Hebrew University.
−
2000. 'Power in Kabbalah and Western Culture', Colloquium on Power and
Religion, Haifa University.
Selected Papers in Hebrew
−
2017. ‘Hasidism, Shamanism and Islam: A New Perspective’. Contexts and
Controversies: Conference in Honor of Professor Sara Stroumsa. Hebrew
University.
−
2017. ‘Ramhal and Schools of Modern Italian Kabbalah’, The House of
Luzzatto: Family, Community and Tradition. Dahan center, Bar Ilan
University and The Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art.
−
2017. ‘Psychology in the Early Writings of R. Menahem Mendel Schneerson’,
Joint Conference of Departments of Jewish Thought, Bar Ilan University.
−
2010. 'The Mystical Renaissance in the Hasidic World in the Last Decade'.
Hasidism: Between the Holy and the Mundane, 34th Annual Conference of
the Israeli Historical Society.
−
2007. 'R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto: Experience, Messianism and Power',
Conference Marking Three Hundred Years To the Birth of Ramhal: Yad
Ben Zvi and the Hebrew University.
−
2006. 'Sacred Spaces and Sacred Persons in Twentieth Century Kabbalah',
Ethnographic Critique of Connection and Disconnection: Israeli
Anthropological Association.
updated June 2023
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14
2005. 'Research of the Kabbalah and Involvement with the Kabbalah: Possibilities
and Dangers', Fourteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies.
−
2003. 'The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Comparative Method of
Research of Jewish Mysticism', Conference on Research Directions and
Methods in Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion University.
−
2002. 'A Kabbalistic Response to the Establishment of the State of Israel',
Conference on Sephardi Sages and Oriental Jews in Israel 1948-1967, Tel
Aviv University.
−
2001. 'Kabbalah and Sufism in the Sixteenth Century', Bannet Lecture,
Hebrew University.
Advising
Post-doctoral advisees
2020-
Dr. Ori Meitlis.
2020-2021
Dr. Anna Sierka. Minerva Fellow.
2015
Dr. Yehudit Weiss, Lady Davis Fellow.
2014
Dr. Dustin Atlas, Lady Davis Fellow.
2014
Dr. Daniel Reiser.
2012-2016
Dr. Elhanan Shilo.
2010-2011
Dr. Uriel Barak. Lady Davis Fellow. With Professor Moshe Idel.
Doctoral degree students
2022202220192019201920192007–2012
Mr. Aviya Yekutiel.
Mr. Tom Parnas.
Mr. Tzvi Luboshitz. Presidential Honors Fellow.
Mr. Asher Corsia.
Ms. Jianyu Shen (With Professor Andrew Plaks, Princeton University).
Mr. Noam Lev-El. Rothschild Honors Fellow.
Ms. Avital Sharon. Subject: “Kabbala and Halacha in the Hida's
writings”.
2007– 2012
Mr. Patrick Koch (Minerva Fellow). Subject: “Human Self-Perfection:
A Re-Assessment of Kabbalistic-Mussar Literature in SixteenthCentury Safed”. Published in book form by Cherub Press: Los Angeles,
2015.
updated June 2023
15
2004 –2012
Ms. Sachi Ogimoto. Subject: “R. Joseph Ibn Sayyah's SuperCommentary on R. David Ben Yehudah ha-Hassid's commentary on
Prayer and its Sources”.
2004 –2012
Ms. Ruth Yosian. Subject: “Existentialist and Pragmatist Dimensions of
the Thought of Joseph Schechter”.
Master's degree students
In Process. Mr. Barak Hoffman.
2022. Ms. Tanya Behr Winchester. “Avnei Milu'im: Mystical Language in R. Ze’ev Wolf
of Zhitomir’s Or HaMeir”.
2021. Mr. Aviya Yekutiel. “The commentary on Lurianic Kabbalah in the first half of
the 20th Century”. Graded Summa cum laude.
2019-2021. Ms. Yael Karrie. “Hidden Lion and Snake upon the Path: A Study of R.
Shlomo Elyashiv.”
Mr. Tom Parnas. Title of Thesis: “'The Key of Faith': Nehemiah
2020-2021.
Hiyya Hayon and the Sabbatean Kabbalah of the early 18th century.” Graded Summa
cum laude.
2020-2021.
Mr. Yaakov Shetreet. “The Phenomenology of the WILL in the
Writings of Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneerson (“the R. Rashab")”.
2020.
Mr. Dov Bergman. “R. Eliezer Zusia Portugal of Sculen: The Thought and
Ethos of a Later Hasidic Master. ”
2016-2020.
Mr. Noam Lev-El (Mandel fellow). Title of Thesis: “Organization,
Clarification and Reception of Kabbalistic Knowledge: Moses Cordovero and
Menachem Azaria da Fano.” graded summa cum laude.
2017-2019.
Ms. Shani Qedem. Title of Thesis: “The Image and Function of the “Holy
Man” in Mei Ha-Siloach and Torat Emet.”
2017-2019.
Ms. Jianyu Shen. Title of Thesis: “Image of the Saints: A Research of
Comparative Mysticism through the Lens of Hagiographical Narratives in the Jewish
and the Daoist Traditions”.
2016.
Mr. Zvi Lubovitz. Title of Thesis “Wanderings and Knowledge:
Studies in R. Immanuel Hay Ricchi`s Biography and Writings.” Graded summa cum
laude.
updated June 2023
2016-2018.
16
Mr. Asher Corsia. Title of Thesis: “Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto, Naftlai
Bakrakh and Yaakov Kopel Lipschitz as Commentators on Lurianic
Doctrine”.
2013 –2015 Ms. Yifat Lev. Title of Thesis: “The Tension between the Izbicha and Gur
Hasidic Courts as Reflected in the Homilies on Judah and Joseph.”
Graded summa cum laude.
2013–2014 Mr. Yonatan Schreiber. Title of Thesis: “A Cognitive Model for Mystical
Experience Applied to the Writings of R. Yitzḥak Isaac Safrin of
Komarna.” Graded summa cum laude.
2011 –2012
Mr. Yaakov Meir. Title of Thesis: “The Formation of a Hasidic
Scholarship: The Bio-Bibliography of R. Yitzḥak Isaac Safrin of
Komarna.”
2007 –2013
Mr. Daniel Feuerstein. Title of Thesis: “ ‘Hakal Tapuhin Kadishin’: The
Zoharic Symbol and its Origins.” Graded summa cum laude.
2009 –2012
Mr. Amiel Vick. Title of Thesis: “ ‘Through which all of Israel can
Ascend,’ - On the composition of Nusah HaAri by R. Shneur Zalman
of Liadi.”
2009 -2011
Mr. Avishai Bar-Asher. Title of Thesis: “The White Appearance:
Interpretation and Performance in the Kabbalah of R. Ya’akov Abi
Hasira”. Graded summa cum laude.
2006-2009
Ms. Noga Bar-Or. Title of Thesis: “Studies of Slonim Hasidism in the
Twentieth Century”.
2006-2007
Ms. Lital Avital-Lieberman. Title of Thesis: “Saint or Impure: The
Image and Identity of R. Ya'aqov Wazana”.
2005-2006
Mr. Yedidyah Shiprovitz. Title of Thesis: “The Concepts of Lack and
Sin in the Thought of Maharal of Prague”, Graded summa cum laude.
2005-2006
Mr. Guy Hegler. Title of Thesis: “Fear and Awe in 13th Century
Kabbalah.”
2003-2005
Ms. Moran Hellerstein. Title of Thesis: “Christian Kabbalah from Its
Beginnings to the "New Age" Movement”, Graded summa cum laude.
updated June 2023
17
Related Professional Activity
•
External reviewer (articles) for the following international journals (as well as
numerous journals in Israel): American Ethnologist, American Jewish Studies
Review, Ars Judaica, History of Religions, Jewish History, Jewish Quarterly
Review, Jewish Studies Quarterly, Journal for the Study of Religions and
Ideologies, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, The Journal of
Jewish Thought and Philosophy, The Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, The
Journal of Religion, The Journal of Ritual Studies, Journal for the Study of
Religions and Ideologies, Psychology Research and Behavior Management,
Religious Studies, Revue des études juives, Studia Religiologica, Zutot.
•
External reviewer for the following Presses: Bar-Ilan University Press, Bialik
Press, Brill, Cambridge University Press, Cherub Press (Los Angeles), HaKibbutz Ha-Meuhad Press, Machon Ben Tzvi Press, Magnes Press, Merkaz
Zalman Shazar Press, Oxford University Press, Pennsylvania University
Press, Rabbi Rosen Foundation, Stanford University Press, Tel Aviv
University Press, The University of Chicago Press, Van Leer Institute.
•
External reviewer of grant proposals for the Israel Science Foundation (2005,
2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022), of research proposals for the
EURIAS consortium (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), ANR (2017) and
of a study program for the Council for Higher Education of Israel (2016).