Venturing Beyond: Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism [Hardcover]

Elliot R. Wolfson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0199277796 | ISBN-13: 978-0199277797

Are mysticism and morality compatible or at odds with one another? If mystical experience embraces a form of non-dual consciousness, then in such a state of mind, the regulative dichotomy so basic to ethical discretion would seemingly be transcended and the very foundation for ethical decisions undermined. Venturing Beyond - Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism is an investigation of the relationship of the mystical and moral as it is expressed in the particular tradition of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah. The particular themes discussed include the denigration of the non-Jew as the ontic other in kabbalistic anthropology and the eschatological crossing of that boundary anticipated in the instituition of religious conversion; the overcoming of the distinction between good and evil in the mystical experience of the underlying unity of all things; divine suffering and the ideal of spiritual poverty as the foundation for transmoral ethics and hypernomian lawfulness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Over the past two decades Elliot Wolfson has offered some of the most in-depth and iconoclastic readings of Kabbalah of any working scholar. ...We need to navigate between the extremes of pious apologetic and moral dogmatism." --Journal of Religion

About the Author

Elliot R. Wolfson is Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199277796
• ISBN-13: 978-0199277797
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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