Kabbalah: New Perspectives (Moshe Idel)
An Outstanding Academic Work
[My 4-star Amazon review of “Kabbalah: New Perspectives” by Moshe Idel.]
As a Jewish-born mystic-philosopher, I've long been fascinated with the Kabbalah--but, unfortunately, a great book on it has yet to be written (and believe me, I'm aware of what's been written on the subject, including Qabalistic renditions by Crowley, Fortune, and others). Moshe Idel's "Kabbalah: New Pespectives" is a fine historical academic examination of the subject, but in no way does it begin to penetrate to the mystical-spiritual or theurgical-theosphical core of the Kabbalah.
As an academic book, "Kabbalah: New Pespectives" is a work of outstanding scholarship and a rewarding read for anyone looking to gain intellectual insight into the emergence and development of Kabbalistic mysticism and occultism--but it will take an electrical guru-thinker to provide the radical (or gone-to-the-root), demystifying exegesis that the Kabbalah so desperately needs.
[My 4-star Amazon review of “Kabbalah: New Perspectives” by Moshe Idel.]
As a Jewish-born mystic-philosopher, I've long been fascinated with the Kabbalah--but, unfortunately, a great book on it has yet to be written (and believe me, I'm aware of what's been written on the subject, including Qabalistic renditions by Crowley, Fortune, and others). Moshe Idel's "Kabbalah: New Pespectives" is a fine historical academic examination of the subject, but in no way does it begin to penetrate to the mystical-spiritual or theurgical-theosphical core of the Kabbalah.
As an academic book, "Kabbalah: New Pespectives" is a work of outstanding scholarship and a rewarding read for anyone looking to gain intellectual insight into the emergence and development of Kabbalistic mysticism and occultism--but it will take an electrical guru-thinker to provide the radical (or gone-to-the-root), demystifying exegesis that the Kabbalah so desperately needs.
