H-Judaic is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joseph Dan (1935-2022), emeritus professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, where he held the inaugural Gershom Scholem chair; winner of the Israel Prize; and the foremost scholar of his time in the field of Jewish mysticism and thought. Born in Budapest, Dan and his parents immigrated ("illegally") to Palestine to escape the Nazis. He studied at the Hebrew University where he worked with Profs. Scholem, Tishby and Urbach. He proceeded to publish widely across all areas of Jewish literature from the Second Temple to the present, specializing in Kabbalah, mysticism, Hasidut, Ethical literature and Homiletical literature. Toward the end of his life he published,in Hebrew, a thirteen-volume scholarly overview of Jewish esoteric literature.May his memory be for a blessing.[...]
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