Kabbalah & Hasidism

The course will investigate the major concepts and the historical development of Kabbalah and Hassidism, from the late Middle Ages to our day. We will examine major Kabbalistic and Hassidic concepts and practices regarding God, the human body and soul, and the interaction between human agents and the Divine realms. We will discuss the question of the origins of Kabbalah, and the major movements and central texts of Kabbalah and Hassidism including the Zohar, Abraham Abulafia and Prophetic Kabbalah, Sabbateanism, the Early Hassidic movement, Habad and Breslov Hassidism, as well as modern and contemporary forms of Kabbalah and Hasidism. The course will investigate the major concepts and the historical development of Kabbalah. We will examine principal Kabbalistic themes, such as theosophy, theurgy, the problem of evil and the structure of the human psyche, and discuss the question of the origin of Kabbalah, as well as the major movements and central texts of late medieval and early modern Kabbalah, including the Bahir, Abraham Abulafia, the Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalah. The course will include a joint “hevruta” reading of primary Kabbalistic texts, from Zohar Parashat Noah.

About the Teacher

Boaz Huss is the Aron Bernstein Chair in Jewish History at the dept. of Jewish Thought and the chairperson of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought at the Ben-Gurion University. His research interests include history of Kabbalah, Contemporary Kabbalah, Western Esotericism, New Age Culture and New Religious Movements in Israel. His recent publications include The Cosmic Movement: Sources, Contexts, Impact (Bialik Press, 2021, together with Julie Chajes), Mystifying Kabbalah: Academic Scholarship, National Theology, and New Age Spirituality, Oxford University Press, 2020, and The Zohar: Reception and Impact, Liverpool University Press, 2016.