Saturn's Jews : on the witches' Sabbat and Sabbateanism / by Moshe Idel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Idel, Moshe, 1947- author.

Series:

Kogod library of Judaic studies.

The Kogod library of Judaic studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shabbethai Tzevi, 1626-1676.

Shabbethai Tzevi.

Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940.

Benjamin, Walter.

Scholem, Gershom, 1897-1982.

Scholem, Gershom.

Astrology.

Human beings--Effect of Saturn on.

Human beings.

Jewish messianic movements--History.

Jewish messianic movements.

Messiah--Judaism.

Messiah.

Sabbat.

Sabbathaians--History.

Sabbathaians.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (244 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"This book explores the phenomenon of Saturnism, namely the belief that the planet Saturn, the seventh known planet in ancient astrology, was appointed upon the Jews, who celebrated the Sabbath, the seventh day of the Jewish week. Moshe Idel details how the anonymous, late 14th century Sefer Ha-Peliyah was to have disturbing consequences in the Jewish world three centuries later, interweaving luminaries with the cultural, historical, religious, and philosophical concepts of their day, and demonstrating how cultural agents were inadvertently instrumental in the mid-17th-century mass-movement Sabbateanism that led to the conviction that Sabbatai Tzevi was the Messiah. Exploring how the tragic misperception of the Jewish Sabbath by the non-Jewish world led to a linkage of Jews with sorcery in 14th and 15th-century Europe, associating their holy day with the witches' 'Sabbat' gathering, Idel brings this wide-ranging study into the present day with an analysis of 20th-century scholarship and thought influenced by Saturnism, particularly lingering themes related to melancholy in the works of Gershom Scholem and Walter Benjamin."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Preface

1. From Saturn, Sabbath and Sorcery, to the Jews

2. From Saturn to Sabbatai Tzevi: A Planet that Became Messiah

3. From Saturn to Melancholy

4. Concluding Remarks

Appendix

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [119]-188) and indexes.

ISBN:

9781472548672

1472548671

9781441137319

1441137319

OCLC:

881028869