A History of Jewish Mysticism - Paperback

This work systematically dismantles the assumption that Jewish mysticism is a monolith, instead exposing it as a reactive, volatile tradition shaped by the constant friction between institutional halakhic rigidity and the irrepressible urge for direct divine immanence. By tracing the development from early Merkabah ascent literature through the architectural complexities of medieval Kabbalah and into the ecstatic ruptures of Hasidism, this analysis reveals a recurring paradox: the very mechanisms designed to formalize contact with the infinite-symbolism, ritual, and linguistic permutation-frequently function to destabilize the orthodox structures they were intended to uphold. Rather than offering a sanitized historical overview, this narrative highlights the transgressive nature of the mystical endeavor, where practitioners continuously renegotiate the boundary between the knowable law and the experiential abyss, often prioritizing subjective revelation over communal consensus.