Mysticism
Simply the BeshtFriday, April 26, 2013 by Glenn Dynner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Earlier biographers of the Ba'al Shem Tov had left him shrouded in the mists of legend. But Moshe Rosman insisted that "only by bringing the Besht down to earth will it be possible to evaluate his way in the service of heaven."
The Postmodern GolemTuesday, August 7, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
To Elizabeth Baer, the recent spate of golem literature, going beyond novels to comic books, artwork, even The X-Files, is an “intentional tribute to Jewish imagination as well as to the crucial importance of such imagination in the post-Holocaust period.”
Editors' Picks
Restoring the Grand Gesture Naftali Brawer, Jewish Chronicle. Whatever happened to the worship of God through a spontaneous outpouring of the soul?
Where Worlds Collide Eli Rubin, Chabad.org. "At Sinai—the Torah tells us—'God descended upon the mountain.' From this point on, man would be able to enjoy a direct relationship with the essentiality of the divine self."
Rage against the Rebbe Baruch Sterman, Huffington Post. The Pshiskhe Hasidim challenged the establishment belief that "only the great and holy Rebbe could bring salvation," maintaining instead that spirituality comes from within.
Philo's Esoteric Torah Lawrence H. Schiffman, LawrenceSchiffman.com. Influenced by the Hellenistic idea of the separation between body and soul, Philo was the first Jewish thinker to ascribe "outer" and "inner" rationales to the commandments—but by no means the last.
Religion without God Ronald Dworkin, New York Review of Books. In acknowledging a sense of value, mystery, and purpose in life, many non-believers live by a form of faith—and reject the naturalism of the New Atheists.
Judaism without Theology Levi Brackman, YNet. “The lack of a theology, beyond a generic belief in one God, is, to me, part of the beauty of biblical and talmudic Judaism.”
Still, Small Voice Rick Jacobs, Jewish Week. "Rationalists, such as Maimonides, and mystical poets, such as Judah Halevi, agree that at the end of the journey there is silence—that silence is the ultimate connection." (Interview by Alfredo Borodowski)
Kabbalah's Spiritual Home Daniela Berretta, Associated Press. Kabbalah is most widely known in its Madonna-patented celebrity version. But Jewish mysticism's real home is Safed, which attracts a different sort of tourist.