Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322073 in Books
• Published on: 1978-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Customer Reviews

Fantastic and Exhaustive Survey Of Kabbalistic Literature & History
Scholem originally intended much of the material in this book to be entries in an encyclopedia and anyone approaching this book without that knowledge may find it's organization confusing. However his detailed & scholarly (dare I say intellectual) analysis of Kabbalah's fascinating history and colorful characters is unparalleled. He digs deep into the similarities and contradictions between the different Kabbalistic traditions & teachers, citing an exhaustive list of references in the process. The research into this material is quite deep and I have yet to see another work which comes as close to an indepth analysis of Kabbalistic history & literature as this one does.
Having said that, this book is NOT for the layperson. And by layperson I mean anyone not familiar with Judaism and the basic religious/spiritual Hebrew vocabulary. Despite the fact that this wasn't originally intended as a "book" per se, the writing is awkward at times even within the major chapters as he jumps from concept to concept with little transition. In order to really get an idea as to the full exposition of any one topic it is necessary to go to the index and refer back page by page as he does not organize material concisely or summarize anything.
All in all, this is a MUST for anyone seriously interested in Kabbalah--I do pronounce that this book has probably and might continue to separate the wheat from the chaff as far as serious students of Hebrew mysticism & dabblers are concerned. Anyone who can read this book and understand it's contents has already put in a great deal of study into the topic and those who don't understand but get called into a further understanding through additional investigation can honestly call themselves students of Kabbalah if they so wish. Everyone else may only be armchair enthusiasts and that's OK too - this book is not for the dabbler but for the serious student.

Excellent resource
Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem is not for the beginner. He traces the history and roots of Kabbalism and the Zohar. He was a professor of Jewish mysticism and writes as an academic. A beginner will be lost in the technical explanations. If you are familiar with Kabbalism, and want to understand the roots, history and how it has influenced everything from Freemasonry to Mormonism to mainstream Christianity, it is an excellent book. Gershom Scholem was the acknowledged authority on Kabbalism.

History of the Inner Circle of Pharisaism
The late professor G. G. Scholem has penned the second best historical record on the mystery cult of the Pharisees. Dr. C. David Ginsburg by far did the best job in his published 1865 essay to the Philosophy and Literature Society of Liverpool entitled Kabbalah: Doctrines, Development and Literature.