Studies on Astral Magic in Medieval Jewish Thought

Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-90-04-14234-3
Verlag: Brill Academic Publishers

Buch, Englisch, Band 20, 254 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 632 g

Reihe: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism

The book describes a fascinating encounter between astrology and magic, exposing how Hermetic magic seeped into Jewish literature and Jewish philosophy. Following astral magic in its convoluted course, this original work sheds new light on rationalist Jewish thought in the Middle Ages. Having attained its authority mostly from its use in medical practice, astral magic also developed a theology and provided a key to biblical interpretation. Judah Halevi, Nahmanides, and others explained the meaning and influence of the commandments according to magic-astral models and techniques, generating a new perspective within medieval Jewish philosophy. The book is intended for scholars of philosophy, Jewish thought, astrology and magic, as well as for the general public with an interest in these areas.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schwartz, Dov

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Okkultismus und andere religiöse Praktiken

Über Autor(innen)

Dov Schwartz has been associated with the Department of Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University, currently as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. Two of his recent publications include Faith at the Crossroads (Brill, 2002) and Contradiction and Concealment in Medieval Jewish Thought (in Hebrew, Bar-Ilan University Press, 2002). He is currently editing a fifteenth century commentary on The Kuzari, Heshek Shelomo by R. Shlomo b. Yehuda of Lunel.