The Zohar is one of the most sacred; authoritative; and influential books in Jewish culture. Many scholarly works have been dedicated to its ideas; its literary style; and the question of its authorship. This book focuses on other issues: it examines the various ways in which the Zohar has been received by its readers and the impact it has had on Jewish culture; including the fluctuations in its status and value and the different cultural practices linked to these changes. This dynamic and multi-layered history throws important new light on many aspects of Jewish cultural history over the last seven centuries. Boaz Huss has broken new ground with this study; which examines the reception and canonization of the Zohar as well as its criticism and rejection from its inception to the present day. His underlying assumption is that the different values attributed to the Zohar are not inherent qualities of the zoharic texts; but rather represent the way it has been perceived by its readers in different cultural contexts. He therefore considers the attribution of different qualities to the Zohar through time; and the people who were engaged in attributing such qualities and making innovations in cultural practices and rituals. For each historical period from the beginning of Zohar reception to the present; Huss considers the social conditions that stimulated the veneration of the Zohar as well as the factors that contributed to its rejection; alongside the cultural functions and consequences of each approach. Because the multiple modes of the reception of the Zohar have had a decisive influence on the history of Jewish culture; this highly innovative and wide-ranging approach to Zohar scholarship will have important repercussions for many areas of Jewish studies.
#703351 in Books Encounter Books 2003-08-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.94 x .80 x 6.44l; .93 #File Name: 1893554686218 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I would have liked to see more facts and context to support the ...By RuthieHmm..... a little too opinionated. A lot of it was interesting; and even true; but it was clearly biased. I would have liked to see more facts and context to support the claims; a lot of which I know to be true; however I think it could have been better presented. Some things I didn't know the facts on I was left wondering because I wasn't presented more than one side of the picture.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Things You'll Never Learn in Public SchoolBy Monty RaineyIn a word; BRILLIANT!!!! We seem to be surrounded today by people who have wrongly interpreted the intentions of the nation's founders regarding religion. Novak decisively eradicates the false theories being pushed on our society; even by our own judicial system. Novak superbly presents the case that the founders intent was not to eradicate religious belief; but rather to avoid divisions of religious sentiment and find common ground among the Hebrew and Christian faiths.When examining the founders; many fail to recognize what life was like under the Anglican Establishment; which the founders sought to end. While being against the national establishment of a secular religion; the founder's went so far as to support the state establishment of such.While the first half of the book examines the intent of the founders; the second half takes a look at some of the founders who have been often overlooked by historians for their religious views.Overall; this book is clear and accurate. I was thoroughly impressed by the authors' research. The book reads extremely well. I only had two complaints about the book; I wished it were another thousand pages; as I absolutely did not want this book to end; and the font size was a little small; making it difficult for us old codgers.This is a book I will keep on the bookshelf by my desk; as I am sure I will reference this magnificent work often. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone interested in learning the true intent behind the separation of church and state.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. informativeBy Irv BlankRecommended to me by former Senator Leiberman of CT and it is every bit as interesting and informative as he said. One gets a much clearer picture of the influence that organized religion played in the founding of our country when reading this very interesting book.
