Background
Idel, Moshe was born in 1947 in Timisoara, Romania.
Philosopher of Jewish mysticism
Idel, Moshe was born in 1947 in Timisoara, Romania.
PhD, 1976, Hebrew University.
Lecturer, Associate Professor, then Professor, of Jewish Mysticism, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Visiting Professor, Harvard University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1976.
Idel’s two books on Abulafia are based on his doctoral thesis. He differs from Scholem as to the reasons for the development of mystical and ecstatic traditions within Judaism, emphasising internal and linguistic sources, as well as the political and social. He utilizes every nuance in the Hebrew language, itself possessing a tiny vocabulary and therefore lending itself to multiple interpretations, to explain the sometimes radical attitude to the Jewish tradition of Abulafia. Idel’s researches emphasize language-based mysticism and ecstatic Kabbalah. His disagreements with Scholem have led to criticism, especially in Israel, but he is generally highly regarded, especially in America, for his openness to the text itself, utilizing contemporary attitudes to textual analysis rather than the ‘dry’ German approach inherited by Scholem. Idel also emphasises the importance of the traditional Jewish interpretations, and does not regard research as a purely cerebral activity.