Course ARK26T

Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism from Antiquity to Modernity

7.5 Credits
Second Cycle

Main field of study: Religious Studies

The course has no instances planned right now

Learning outcomes for the course

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • explain various forms of Jewish magic and mysticism from late antiquity to modernity with a focus on the Middle Ages and the early modern period
  • explain the most important Kabbalistic works and the Kabbalah‘s relationship to earlier rabbinic sources
  • reflect on the role of Kabbalah in Jewish religious practice and theology
  • analyse and discuss influencing factors that Jewish Kabbalah has had on Christian Kabbalah, esotericism, and later New Age and alternative religiosity
  • put Chassidism and later Jewish charismatics in their different historical contexts
  • apply and discuss the term “mysticism“, and reflect on and evaluate its applicability in Jewish religious phenomena
  • compare and draw conclusions about the academic perspectives that alternated in the study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism during the 20th century.