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The reception of the Kabbalah: Germany, 1900

Research project by Dr. Amir Engel 

Gershom Scholem, the preeminent scholar of the Kabbalah, has, it is often said, invented his field of studies ex nihilo. This is the impression Scholem himself gave in his work. He often criticized, even derided previous generations of scholars and intellectuals for ignoring a central aspect of the Jewish religion on of the Jewish experience, the Kabbalah. Ironically it was also Scholem who kept the memory of these previous scholars alive in his criticism when they were already all but forgotten. The truth of the matter, however, tells an entirely different story. The study of the Kabbalah, new translations, new renditions of ancient Kabbalistic texts, and even rituals and practices inspired by the Kabbalah were abound among Jewish and non-Jewish scholars, general audience and amateurs at least since the Renaissance. And no one, it would seem, was more aware of this fact than Gershom Scholem. In retrospective it seems that more than accurately describing the past, Scholem’s criticism was meant to wipe the slate clean before introducing his interpretation of the Kabbalah.

The objective of my study is to describe the reception of the Kabbalah by modern, mostly non-religious scholars in the first part of the 20thcentury. How was the Kabbalah perceived by scholars, authors, intellectuals, artists and spiritualists before Scholem came onto stage? The fact that such a wide reception of the Kabbalah existed since the beginning of modern times, complicates our understanding of the relation between religiosity and modern secular thinking. This study will show that the search for spirituality and a deeper insight of the occult is not a contemporary phenomenon, but belongs to the very structure of modern thinking. It will also show that the tension between these facets of human experience were not foreign to Jewish thinkers. Many of those, who studied and expounded upon the Kabbalah in the early 20thcentury were in search of new possibilities to integrate this secret lore with their own spiritual existence, as Jews living in a modern age.

The study about the reception of the Kabbalah will focus on the early 20thcentury and will concentrate on the German context. By doing so, this project aims to deepen our understanding of central European (mostly German) Jewish culture. The legacy of German Jewish intellectuals of the early 20thcentury is often associated with philosophers, novelists, and literature critics. A more intense study of the reception of the Kabbalah in this context would significantly diversify our understanding of this rich, complex and productive intellectual community. Furthermore, such a study would allow for a better understanding of Gershom Scholem’s work. Essentially, the reception of the Kabbalah in the generation before Scholem fundamentally shaped his work and defined his objectives because it is over and against this generation that Scholem was forced to define himself. In short, a careful study of the reception of the Kabbalah in the early 20thcentury in Germanywould allow for a new, more accurate understanding of its later developments, namely the contemporary reception of the Kabbalah. 

Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Christian Wiese

Co-operation partners: Prof. Boaz Huss and Dr. George Kohler, Ben-Gurion University, Israel  

Supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation 

Run-time: October 2011 – October 2013

Contact: Dr. Amir Engel and Prof. Dr. Christian Wiese