Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Cherub Press trilogy on ancient Jewish mysticism

MORE FROM CHERUB PRESS:
Cherub Press is proud to announce
A trilogy of studies in Hebrew on ancient Jewish mysticism by
Michael Schneider

THE FIRST TWO VOLUMES
ARE NOW AVAILABLE !

Volume I
The Appearance of the High Priest
Theophany, Apotheosis and Binitarian Theology
From Priestly Tradition of the Second Temple Period through Ancient Jewish Mysticism (in Hebrew)

מראה כהן
תיאופניה, אפותיאוזה, ותיאולוגיה בינארית
בין ההגות הכהנית בתקופת הבית השני לבין המיסטיקה היהודית הקדומה

Volume II
Scattered Traditions of Jewish Mysticism
Studies in Ancient Jewish Mysticism in Light of Traditions from the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha
Hellenistic Literature, Christian and Islamic Sources (in Hebrew)

המסורות הגנוזות של המיסטיקה היהודית
מחקרי המיסטיקה היהודית הקדומה
על פי עדויות של ספרים חיצונים, ספרות הלניסטית, מקורות נוצריים ומוסלמיים

Volume III
The Divine Retinue
Variety of Jewish Mysticism
(in Hebrew)

פמליא של מעלה
ריבוי פניה של המיסטיקה היהודית
(forthcoming, this summer)

The Divine Retinue: Variety of Jewish Mysticism, פמליא של מעלה: ריבוי פניה של המיסטיקה היהודית, by Michael Schneider (Sources and Studies in the Literature of Jewish Mysticism 32; 2012, in Hebrew, FORTHCOMING). This is the third book in a trilogy of studies on Jewish mythical and mystical traditions from the Second Temple period through the early medieval ages. One of the main purposes of this study is to show variegation in early Jewish mysticism that cannot be reduced to a few major trends. One of its cross-cutting themes is the images of multiplicity – like the rainbow and the multi-faced theophanic angels – as a revelation of the One God. The book traces mythic and mystical traditions and motifs through sources belonging to a variety of languages, cultures and religions, mainly Jewish, Christian, gnostic, Muslim, Zoroastrian and Buddhist.
ORDER HERE: Atlas Books

Scattered Traditions of Jewish Mysticism: Studies in Ancient Jewish Mysticism in Light of Traditions from the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha Hellenistic Literature, Christian and Islamic Sources המסורות הגנוזות של המיסטיקה היהודית: מחקרי המיסטיקה היהודית הקדומה על פי עדויות של ספרים חיצונים, ספרות הלניסטית, מקורות נוצריים ומוסלמיים, by Michael Schneider (Sources and Studies in the Literature of Jewish Mysticism 31; 2012, 336 pages, ISBN 1-933379-26-X, in Hebrew). This is the second volume in a trilogy of studies on Jewish mythical and mystical traditions from the Second Temple through the early medieval ages. The book includes three extensive studies. The first deals with pseudepigraphic book of Joseph and Aseneth and explores the topics of ritual, initiation, mystical transformation and sacred marriage. The second chapter contains a thorough revision of the scholarly consensus about the pargod as a medium of mystical vision in Hekhalot literature and in the Apocalyptic. The third chapter is devoted to the ‘Prince of peace’, the divine-angelic-human messianic figure that embodies the principle of ‘coincidentia oppositorum’.
ORDER HERE: Atlas Books

The Appearance of the High Priest – Theophany, Apotheosis and Binitarian Theology: From Priestly Tradition of the Second Temple Period through Ancient Jewish Mysticism, by Michael Schneider, מראה כהן: תיאופניה, אפותיאוזה, ותיאולוגיה בינארית – בין ההגות הכהנית בתקופת הבית השני לבין המיסטיקה היהודית הקדומה (Sources and Studies in the Literature of Jewish Mysticism 30; 2012, 384 pages, ISBN 1-933379-25-1, in Hebrew). This volume is the first of three volumes in a major scholarly reassessment of mystical traditions in the Second Temple period, which explores the variety of early religious traditions across diverse bodies of literature and in various languages. The symbolic, mythic and mystical features of these traditions, their transmission and migration histories and their reappearance in some medieval texts is further investigated. At the heart of this volume is the concept of the encounter and communion between the high priest and God, which implies an anthropomorphic theophany (the appearance of the God in human form) and the apotheosis (deification) of the high priest. This phenomenon is understood in the framework of a binitarian theology that distinguishes the hidden God from His visible appearance. These concepts appear as sources for many latter mystical traditions.
ORDER HERE: Atlas Books
Volume one has been noted already here.