Golem : Jewish magical and mystical traditions on the artificial anthropoid / Moshe Idel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Idel, Moshe, 1947-

Contributor:

Pincas, Abraham.

The Library of Chaim Potok (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

SUNY series in Judaica

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Golem.

Mysticism--Judaism--History.

Mysticism.

Mysticism--Judaism.

History.

Penn Provenance:

Potok, Adena (donor) (Potok Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xxxi pages, 1 unnumbered page, 323 pages, 3 unnumbered pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of color plates : color illustration ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

[Albany] : State University of New York Press, [1990]

Summary:

Idel's thesis is that the role of the golem concept in Judaism was to confer an exceptional status to the Jewish elite by bestowing it with the capability of supernatural powers deriving from a profound knowledge of the Hebrew language and its magical and mystical values.

Contents:

Part One. Ancient Traditions: Ancient parallels; Sefer Yezirah; Talmud and Midrash

Part Two. Medieval Elaborations: Tempering magic: geonic and rationalistic attitudes; Ashkenazi Hasidic views on the Golem; The northern France discussions; The Golem in Ecstatic Kabbalah; R. Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi; Psychological implications of the Golem; Theosophical interpretations of the Golem

Part Three. Renaissance Period: Sixteenth and seventeenth century discussions in the west; r. Moses ben Jacob Cordovero's view

Part Four. Early-Modern and Modern Reverberations: R. Eliyahu, the Master of the Name, of Helm; Golem in Halakah; Golem and sex; Vicissitudes of the Golem techniques; Golem and Hasidic mysticism; Modern reverberations; Golem: imaginaire, anomian, and silent; Summary

Part Five. Appendixes: Golem and Zelem; Golem: some semantic remarks; Was there a macranthropos named 'Emet?

Notes:

"Paintings on cover and in text by Abraham Pincas."

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Local Notes:

Potok Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Adena Potok.

Potok Collection copy has yellow post-it with ms. annotation about Golem.

ISBN:

079140160X

0791401618

OCLC:

19123029