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Concealment and Revelation: Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications »

Book cover image of Concealment and Revelation: Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications by Moshe Halbertal

Authors: Moshe Halbertal, Jackie Feldman
ISBN-13: 9780691125718, ISBN-10: 0691125716
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Date Published: August 2007
Edition: (Non-applicable)

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Author Biography: Moshe Halbertal

Moshe Halbertal is professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and the Gruss Professor at New York University Law School. He is the author of "People of the Book" and the coauthor (with Avishai Margalit) of "Idolatry".

Book Synopsis

"Moshe Halbertal's book will be a revelation to anyone interested in religious, philosophical, psychological, or political concealment. It has wide implications for the political craving for transparency, and dazzling insights into depth psychology (such as Freud's) and esoteric tendencies in philosophy (such as Wittgenstein's). The book manifests not only immense learning and virtuosity in reading Jewish texts but also genuine wisdom."--Avishai Margalit, Institute for Advanced Study

"Halbertal's virtuosic exploration of a major dimension of medieval Jewish thought opens new vistas in Jewish philosophy and mysticism."--Moshe Idel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"This is the most conceptually penetrating book that I can imagine on concealment and revelation in premodern Jewish thought. An original foray into a subject that has not been well developed, it has the makings of a classic. In particular, the essay on esotericism is rich and substantial. There can be no question of the book's brilliance."--Noah Feldman, author of Divided by God

"Original, consistently interesting, and thought-provoking. This book exhibits the author's knack for synthesizing complicated technical material with clarity and verve, and making it accessible to both scholars in adjacent fields and to general readers."--Bernard Septimus, Harvard University

"This book's taxonomy of esoteric knowledge and attempt to establish its importance both as a thing in itself and as an object of study are absolutely fascinating and indeed captivating. The book made an important aspect of medieval Jewish intellectual and spiritual life much less forbidding to me than it had been before, and it should make similar bodies of esoteric knowledge and esoteric movements--like late antique gnosticism and late medieval Christian mysticism--more approachable also."--William Chester Jordan, Princeton University

Dov Schwartz - Journal of Religion

Halbertal's book outlines a challenging theory in the intellectual history of Jewish creativity. He does not rely on new material but offers a superb interpretation of available material. This book undoubtedly represents a major contribution to the discourse on the character and the varieties of ancient and medieval Jewish thought.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     ix
A Note on Editions Used     xi
Introduction     1
The Paradox of Esotericism: "And Not on the Chariot Alone"     8
The Hidden and the Sublime: Vision and Restriction in the Bible and in Talmudic Literature     13
The Ethics of Gazing: The Attitude of Early Jewish Mysticism Toward Seeing the Chariot     18
Concealment and Power: Magic and Esotericism in the Hekhalot Literature     28
Esotericism and Commentary: Ibn Ezra and the Exegetical Layer     34
Concealment and Heresy: Astrology and the Secret of the Torah     44
Double Language and the Divided Public in Guide of the Perplexed     49
The Breaching of the Limits of the Esoteric: Concealment and Disclosure in Maimonidean Esotericism     60
From Transmission to Writing: Hinting, Leaking, and Orthodoxy in Early Kabbalah     69
Open Knowledge and Closed Knowledge: The Kabbalists of Gerona-Rabbi Azriel and Rabbi Ya'akov bar Sheshet     77
Tradition, Closed Knowledge, and the Esoteric: Secrecy and Hinting in Nahmanides' Kabbalah     83
From Tradition to Literature: Shem Tov Ibn Gaon and the Critique of Kabbalistic Literature     93
"The Widening of the Apertures of the Showpiece": Shmuel Ibn Tibon and the End of the Era of Esotericism     105
Esotericism, Sermons, andCurricula: Ya'akov Anatoli and the Dissemination of the Secret     114
The Ambivalence of Secrecy: The Dispute over Philosophy in the Early Fourteenth Century     120
Esotericism, Discontent, and Co-Existence     135
Taxonomy and Paradoxes of Esotericism: Conceptual Conclusion     142
Notes     169
Index     191

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