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The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights 1st Edition

by Harris Lenowitz (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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In this book, Harris Lenowitz explores the fascinating history of Jewish messianic movements. Looking in detail at all of the Jewish messiahs about whom anything is known, he introduces each of these figures in turn, and offers extensive excerpts of the original texts that tell their stories. The messiahs whom we meet in these pages range from the inspiring to the tragic and bizarre. By examining the messianic idea in the tradition which gave birth to it, Lenowitz both sheds new light on this engrossing aspect of Jewish history and provides a firmer basis for understanding contemporary messianic groups.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0981652506
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195114928
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    November 19, 1998
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
  8. Print length
    312 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Jewish Messiahs is a detailed academic work that will be most useful to students of Jewish history and thought."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"This is the first text in English that focuses on primary texts relating to messianism as an active force in Jewish history...Lenowitz's study enriches the material available in English documenting messianic activism in Jewish experience. This material, and the provocative interpretation framing it, may point the way to studies comparing Christian and Muslim millenarian movements, and to further probing of the Jewish sources."--The Jewish Quarterly Review

"Rare sources are translated here, providing new insights into figures known primarily from the work of Gershom Scholem. Lenowitz has synthesized and presented in an accessible and reliable form many such texts, making this volume the standard English-language handbook on the subject."--Religious Studies Review

"Whereas we deal mostly with Jesus as Christian Messiah, theological entity, artistic representation, etc., Harris Lenowitz, professor of Hebrew, provides a different and thought-provoking context to messianism and the concept of messiah...In addition to the academic merits of the book, Lenowitz produces genuine pleasure for the reader with his choice of translations by others and his own rendering of messiah texts. These translations evoke the emotion and mystery surrounding these mythical figures with their hazy beginnings and seemingly futile ends."--Sixteenth Century Journal

About the Author

Harris Lenowitz is at University of Utah.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0195114922
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (November 19, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 312 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0981652506
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195114928
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.36 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Harris Lenowitz

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mike DePue, OFS
5.0 out of 5 stars Many Messiahs
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2018
“To my way of thinking, Jewish messiahs are central figures in rituals that are performed by Jewish societies in disarray; the rituals include their own sad endings, which are both inevitable and necessary. The accounts of the rituals participate, then go on to program later performances of the ritual.” (p. 5) The author comes to this conclusion “rather than defending the Jewish messiahs as deliverers whose societies failed them or condemning them as charlatans or madmen who deceived their societies for their own ends.” (ibid.)

The previous reviewer’s assertion that “one can pick it up [this book] and start anywhere and be drawn in” is spot-on. The available primary and secondary material, so painstakingly gathered from near and far, brings out the fanatic and the fantastic, the eccentric and the ecstatic, in living color. An example would be Moshe Hayim Luzzatto (+1747) who combined his messianic activities (he wrote 150 replacement psalms) with a very important role in the rebirth of Jewish poetry and drama. Yehoshua Heshel Tzoref (+ ca. 1700), a jeweler with limited education, lived an ascetic life; many Polish Jews made pilgrimages to see him and to hear his tales and prophecies on current events. New World messianic activity included Ines Pereira (Mexico, 1640s); her relatives expected her to give birth to the Messiah and developed a cult that reminds one of the veneration of the Virgin Mary, worshipfully placing her in the middle of the drawing room and surrounding her with burning candles.

A key contention: “The Jewish scholarly class is a leisured elite; messiahs don’t belong to it and the challenge they present to it as prophets threatens its security. …A messiah’s followers—women and children among them—also lack membership in this elite.” (p. 271)

A far less academic approach to this subject can be found in  50 Jewish Messiahs: The Untold Life Stories of 50 Jewish Messiahs Since Jesus and How They Changed the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Worlds .
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Michael Lewyn
3.0 out of 5 stars detailed, sometimes a little off
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2019
This book seems at first glance to be about false messiahs, but in fact casts a much wider net, including figures such as Hasidic rebbes who made no claim to be the Messiah, but were nevertheless something more than ordinary rabbis. What I liked most: the extensive use of primary, contemperaneous sources- including not just sources on the most famous false messiahs such as Sabbati Zvi, but also on would-be messiahs who were less well known (usually because their activities were confined to just one country). What I liked least: the discussion of Chabad, which I suspect overestimates the extent to which Lubavitch Hasidim believe their deceased rebbe to be the Messiah.
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james rowland
5.0 out of 5 stars the jewish messiahs
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2000
The Jewish Messiahs is a wonderfully informative book packed into one volume. Though, not light reading. One can pick it up and start anywhere and be drawn in. The level of research and care is very deep and should be a addition to any Jewish library or those interested in a subject beyond that of Jesus.
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