Isaac Luria (1534-1572) is one of the most extraordinary and influential mystical figures in the history of Judaism; a visionary teacher who helped shape the course of nearly all subsequent Jewish mysticism. Given his importance; it is remarkable that this is the first scholarly work on him in English. Most studies of Lurianic Kabbalah focus on Luria’s mythic and speculative ideas or on the ritual and contemplative practices he taught. The central premise of this book is that Lurianic Kabbalah was first and foremost a lived and living phenomenon in an actual social world. Thus the book focuses on Luria the person and on his relationship to his disciples. What attracted Luria’s students to him? How did they react to his inspired and charismatic behavior? And what roles did Luria and his students see themselves playing in their collective quest for repair of the cosmos and messianic redemption?
#1386596 in Books University of Nebraska Press 1996-01-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.99 x .83 x 5.00l; .92 #File Name: 0803299117342 pages
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. As I explore about Holocaust in History of Italy in ...By CustomerAs I explore about Holocaust in History of Italy in my fact-finding search as our U.S. History didn't reveal to me about facts in honestly. Recently; i have been able to find more about truth in new discoveries in a fact. Chassah0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An Important History LessonBy Lucy M.This was a history lesson I needed to have. We all know about the horrors that were executed at the hands of the Nazis; but Italy's role is less known.3 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Quite thoroughBy CuriousLimitations will easily exist for the historian who tries to reconstruct an episode of time that has such averse implications as the shoah. Victims may be somewhat unreliable; having perhaps repressed the worst and in some cases the worst has been taken from the historian with the deaths of the most maltreated. A few may have gilded the business a bit; while others may have put the best face on it; out of a need to 'live with circumstances' as they can best tolerate the memories. The antagonists; or persecutors; have clear reasons for either hiding from detection or avoiding cooperation in adding to the narrative. These limitations to single episodes are compounded in a collective review of such episodes.Within this framework; Zucotti's presentation is as clear and useful as a collection of various anecdotes can be said to be. There is some statistical effort; but this is limited to data the Nazis had which was irrefutable; though limited.Those who helped Jews (or Communists or other at risk groups such as Romani) are noted episodically as well.If there is some weakness; it is in the limitation of coverage of the less-ill treated in some of the southern Italian internment facilities. While these individuals were under limited house arrest; and escaped the worst; they probably represented a small minority (perhaps only a few thousand at the most); though nonetheless some acknowledgement of their relative number and situation could have been given a few pages.It has been the case that what history was to be had is vanishing as the survivors and their immediate families have died off or have lost ability to relate history. Given this; Zucotti's opus is likely to be the most useful source available for evaluation of the Shoah in the Italian region.
