Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism (Jewish Studies (Lewiston, N.Y.), V. 25.) [Hardcover]

Dina Ripsman Eylon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 077346736X | ISBN-13: 978-0773467361 | Publication Date: August 2003

This work shows that the rabbinic belief-system regarding the afterlife and the human soul was the paramount influence on the development of the doctrine of reincarnation that was crystallized in the "Sefer ha-Bahir" (The Book of Clarity/Illumination), a 12th-century work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" ... Dr. Eylon provides an important window into how reincarnation became integrated into medieval Jewish thought ... " - SirReadaLot.org 

" ... a fascinating and difficult study of the different views of the afterlife in early Jewish literature and Gnosticism, and the emergence of a theory of reincarnation in the Bahir...Professor Francis Landy, University of Alberta  --Publisher

Dr. Eylon admirably succeeds in presenting a readable and informative discussion... Anyone who is interested in the fascinating topic of reincarnation will greatly profit from consulting this book. --Professor Mark Verman, Wright State University

About the Author

Dina Ripsman Eylon has a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. For the past fourteen years, she has served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal, a gender-related publication, which has engaged and promoted new feminist scholarship in Jewish Studies.
Eylon has written extensively on literary theory, women's literature, feminism, and religion. Her book Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnostism was published by Edwin Mellen Press in 2003. Some of her articles and poems appeared in American Writers Classics, The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, Encyclopedia of Rape, Convergence: Poets for Peace, Kinesis, American National Biography, Reader's Guide to Judaism, and in the anthologies Enchanted Crossroads, Letters to the World and Stress(full) Sister(hood). Eylon founded and chaired the Vaughan Poets' Circle and serves as the Thornhill branch manager of the Ontario Poetry Society.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Pr (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 077346736X
• ISBN-13: 978-0773467361
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,645,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author and publisher, Dina Ripsman Eylon has a Ph.D. in Post-biblical Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Toronto. For the past 13 years, she has served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal. This gender-related publication has engaged and promoted new feminist scholarship in Jewish Studies.
In her book Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnostism (2003), Ripsman Eylon examines the development of the concept of reincarnation, gilgul, in the first kabalistic work that deals with the topic, the late-12th-century Sefer ha-Bahir (The Book of Clarity). She discusses background historical information on the theory of reincarnation in eastern and western thought, the soul and afterlife in Talmudic and Midrashic literature and in the Nag Hammadi library, and the doctrine of reincarnation in the Bahir itself. Some of Eylon's articles and poems appeared in The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, American Writers Classics, Encyclopedia of Rape, Kinesis, American National Biography, and Reader's Guide to Judaism.
Dina is the founder of the Vaughan Poets' Circle and serves as the Thornhill branch manager of the Ontario Poetry Society. Her poems were published in various magazines and journals and in the anthologies Convergence: Poets for Peace, Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po Listserv, Enchanted Crossroads and Stress(full) Sister(hood). Her chapbook Songs of Love and Misgivings was published in September 2006 and in 2007, she edited a collection of poems entitled Waging Change: Vaughan Poets Engage in Politics. In 2010, Dina's new chapbook In the Heart of the City was published by Sisterhood Press. Forthcoming is her poetry collection in Hebrew, published by Eked Publishing, Tel-Aviv.

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism, November 15, 2009

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This review is from: Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism (Jewish Studies (Lewiston, N.Y.), V. 25.) (Hardcover)

The centerpiece of Eylon's study is the seminal kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Bahir. This dense and difficult work was viewed by Gershom Scholem, the pioneer of the academic study of Jewish mysticism, as the earliest work of the Kabbalah. Embedded within the midrash-like homilies of the Bahir are a number of allusions to the afterlife of the soul. Although Scholem identified these as referring to the concept of reincarnation, Eylon offers the first systematic and methodical analysis of these texts. She provides a comprehensive presentation of the pertinent selections of the Bahir, as well as the Rabbinic sources of the material.

Eylon also offers an overview of reincarnation in Gnostic literature. Focusing primarily on the Nag Hammadi corpus, she presents a wealth of interesting sources. This not only establishes a background for the dissemination of the doctrine, but helps situate the Bahir as a Jewish expression of a gnostic orientation.

Overall, a readable and informative discussion of a key aspect of the Jewish mystical tradition. This is especially praiseworthy, owing to the scope and complexity of the material.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent treatment of the Bahir's theory of reincarnation, July 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism (Jewish Studies (Lewiston, N.Y.), V. 25.) (Hardcover)

"...a fascinating and difficult study of the different views of the afterlife in early Jewish literature and Gnosticism, and the emergence of a theory of reincarnation in the Bahir, which is generally recognized as the earliest Kabbalistic work. Eylon shows with remarkable assiduity how the author of the Bahir constructed his theory through careful exegesis of the relevant Talmudic and Midrashic passages, but also marked his novelty and points of departure through the creation of Midrashim on texts for which now preexistent tradition existed."