Moshe Idel ( he, משה אידל; born January 19, 1947) is a Romanian-Israeli historian and philosopher of Jewish mysticism. He is Emeritus Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

, Jerusalem, and a Senior Researcher at the

Shalom Hartman Institute Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America. The institute' ...

Life and scholarship

Born in

Târgu Neamț Târgu Neamț (; german: Niamtz, hu, Németvásár, he, נאמץ טרגו, la, Ante Castrum Nempch) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, on 19 January 1947. Idel was a precocious child, with a passion for reading which made him read all the books in the town, cooperative, then High school Library, in addition to buying more books with the money earned by singing at weddings. Although the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

did not directly affect the Jewish population of Târgu Neamț, they were affected by the so-called “population displacements”. In 1963 he immigrated with his family to Israel, settling in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. Enrolled at the

, he studied under

Shlomo Pines Shlomo Pines (; ; August 5, 1908 in Charenton-le-Pont – January 9, 1990 in Jerusalem) was an Israeli scholar of Jewish and Islamic philosophy, best known for his English translation of Maimonides' ''Guide of the Perplexed''. Biography Pines was ...

. After earning his doctorate with a thesis on

Abraham Abulafia Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia ( he, אברהם בן שמואל אבולעפיה) was the founder of the school of "Prophetic Kabbalah". He was born in Zaragoza, Spain in 1240 and is assumed to have died sometime after 1291, following a stay on the ...

, he eventually succeeded Scholem to the chair of Jewish Thought. He has served as visiting Professor at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. Idel has undertaken a systematic revision of the history and analysis of

Jewish mysticism Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's ''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), distinguishes between different forms of mysticism across different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 1 ...

. His explorations of the mythical, theurgical, mystical, and messianic dimensions of Judaism have been attentive to history, sociology, and anthropology, while rejecting a naïve historicist approach to Judaism. His 1988 work, ''Kabbalah: New Perspectives'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

), is said to have revolutionised

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

studies.

Charles Mopsik Charles Mopsik (2 September 1956 – 13 June 2003) was a French thinker, researcher and writer who renewed the study of the Cabbala and of Jewish mysticism. Biography He was one of the important figures in the revival of Jewish studies in Fran ...

, ''Moshé Idel, lauréat du prix Israël'', Association Charles Mopsik, en ligne His historical and phenomenological studies of rabbinic, philosophic, kabbalistic, and Hasidic texts have transformed the understanding of Jewish intellectual history and highlighted the close relationship between magic, mysticism, and liturgy. He is also a three-time fellow at the

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization. History The Katz Center is t ...

Awards

In 1999, Idel was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for excellent achievement in the field of Jewish philosophy, and in 2002 the

EMET Prize The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society. Prizes are awarded in the fol ...

for Jewish Thought. In 2003, he received the Koret Award for Jewish philosophy for his book ''Absorbing Perfections''. He has been conferred

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by the universities of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Iasi and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. In 1993, he received the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Biali ...

for Jewish thought.

Book awards

* 1989:

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. * 2007: National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship for ''Ben: sonship and Jewish mysticism''

Works

The following is a list of Idel’s publications in English. * ''Kabbalah: New Perspectives'' (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1988). * ''The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia'' (tr. from the Hebrew by Jonathan Chipman. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1988). * ''Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah'' lbany, N.Y., State University of New York Press, 1988* ''Language, Torah and Hermeneutics in Abraham Abulafia'' (tr. Menahem Kallus. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1989). * ''Golem: Jewish magical and mystical traditions on the artificial anthropoid'' (Albany, State University of New York Press, 1990). * ''Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic'' (SUNY Press, Albany, 1994). * ''Mystical Union and Monotheistic Faith, An Ecumenical Dialogue'', eds. M. Idel, B. McGinn (New York, Macmillan, 1989; 2nd edn, Continuum, 1996). * ''Messianic Mystics'' (Yale University Press, New Haven, London, 1998). * ''Jewish Mystical Leaders and Leadership'', eds. M. Idel, M. Ostow (Jason Aronson, Northvale, 1998). * ''Abraham Abulafia, An Ecstatic Kabbalist, Two Studies'' (ed. Moshe Lazar, Labyrinthos, CA, 2002). * ''Absorbing Perfections, Kabbalah and Interpretation'' (Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002). * ''Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders'' (CEU, Budapest, 2005). * ''Enchanted Chains: Techniques and Rituals in Jewish Mysticism'' (The Cherub Press, Los Angeles, 2005). * ''Kabbalah and Eros'' (Yale University Press, New Haven, 2005). * ''Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism'' (Continuum, London, New York, 2007) * ''Old Worlds, New Mirrors, On Jewish Mysticism and Twentieth-Century Thought'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2009). * ''Kabbalah in Italy 1280-1510'' (Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011). * ''Saturn’s Jews, On the Witches’ Sabbat and Sabbateanism'' (Continuum, London, New York, 2011). * ''Mircea Eliade: From Myth to Magic'' (Peter Lang, New York, 2014). * ''Representing God'', eds. H. Samuelson-Tirosh, A. Hughes (Leiden, Brill, 2014). * Vocal Rites and Broken Theologies: Cleaving to Vocables in R. Israel Ba'al Shem Tov's Mysticism (Crossroad, New York, 2020).

Students

* Prof. Adam Afterman,

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

* Dr. Avishai Bar-Asher,

* Prof.

Jonathan Garb Jonathan Garb ( he, יהונתן גארב, born 1967) is an Israeli scholar of Kabbalah. He is holder of the Gershom Scholem chair in Kabbalah (together with Prof. Yehuda Liebes) in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of J ...

, Hebrew University * Dr. Batsheva Goldman-Ida, Tel Aviv Museum of Art * Dr. Iris Felix, Hebrew University * Prof. Yuval Harari,

Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

* Prof.

Boaz Huss Boaz Huss (born 1959) is a professor of Kabbalah at the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is a leading scholar in contemporary Kabbalah. Early life and education Boaz Huss was born in Jerusalem ...

, Ben-Gurion University * Dr. Menachem Kallus,

Haifa University The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

* Dr. Tsippi Kauffman z”l,

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

* Dr. Zvi Leshem,

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mystici ...

Collection,

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

* Dr. Esther Liebes, formerly Gershom Scholem Collection, National Library of Israel * Prof. Ron Margolin, Tel Aviv University * Prof. Zvi Mark, Bar-Ilan University * Prof. Ronit Meroz, Tel Aviv University * Dr. Elke Morlok,

Goethe University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

* Prof. Haviva Pedaya, Ben-Gurion University * Prof. Daniel Reiser,

Herzog College Herzog College ( he, מכללת הרצוג, ''Mikhlelet Herzog'') is an Israeli teachers' college with campuses in Jerusalem, Alon Shvut and Migdal Oz. History Herzog College is named for Yaakov Herzog, an Israeli diplomat, scholar and son of Isr ...

* Prof. Michael Schneider z”l, Bar-Ilan University * Dr Sandra Valabreque-Peri, researcher and artist * Dr. Ron Wachs, Herzog College * Prof. Tzahi Weiss, the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel ( he, האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CH ...

References

External links

Faculty page at Hebrew University

Faculty page at Shalom Hartman Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idel, Moshe 1947 births Living people Israeli historians 20th-century Romanian historians 21st-century Romanian historians Jewish historians Jewish philosophers Religious studies scholars Judaic scholars Jewish mysticism Kabbalah Romanian philosophers Romanian historians of philosophy Philosophers of Judaism Philosophers of religion Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in Jewish thought recipients Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients who were historians Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients who were philosophers EMET Prize recipients in the Humanities People from Târgu Neamț Romanian Jews Moldavian Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli Jews Mysticism scholars