Mystical Theology and Social Dissent The Life and Works of Judah Loew of Prague

Judah Loew, better known as the Maharal of Prague, was a leading kabbalist of the sixteenth century and a pivotal personality in late medieval European Judaism. Best known from the legend that credited him with creating the golem-an artificial human with superhuman powers-his true importance lay in his influence on subsequent developments in Jewish mysticism and hasidism. Byron Sherwin analyses the legends and their influence on modern literature and ethics. He also 'reveals the concealed' in Loew's mystical theology. His lucid text unravels the obscurities of kabbalism and Loew's mystical speculation regarding the fundamental ideas of Jewish theology, while his notes demonstrate Loew's relationship to the mystical tradition which preceded him. (PRINT ON DEMAND)