My Friend Walter Benjamin by Gershom Scholem Before I made Walter Benjamin's personal acquaintance, I saw him in the autumn of 1913 at a meeting that took…
How I Came to the Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem My interest in the Kabbalah-Jewish mysticism-manifested itself early on, while I was still living in Germany, my native country. The…
The Holiness of Sin by Gershom Scholem An excerpt from a book by Gershom Scholem on Sabbatai Zevi and his followers.
Reflections on S. Y. Agnon by Gershom Scholem In order to understand the genius of a contemporary Hebrew writer such as S. Y. Agnon it is necessary first…
Jews and Germans by Gershom Scholem To speak of Jews and Germans and their relations during the last two centuries is, in the year 1966, a…
The Golem of Prague & The Golem of Rehovoth by Gershom Scholem When, a year ago, Gershom Scholem, the foremost authority of our day on Jewish mysticism, heard that the Weizmann Institute…
Religious Authority & Mysticism by Gershom Scholem It is sometimes said that mystics, with their personal striving for transcendence, live outside of and above the historical level,…
Martin Buber’s Hasidism by Gershom Scholem There can be no doubt that the contribution of Martin Buber to the Western world's knowledge of the Hasidic movement…
Jewish Messianism and the Idea of Progress:Exile and Redemption in the Cabbala by Gershom Scholem THE 19th century, and 19th-century Judaism, have bequeathed to the modern mind a complex of ideas about Messianism that have…
The Curious History of the Six-Pointed Star: How the “Magen David” Became the Jewish Symbol by Gershom Scholem The six-pointed star known as the Magen David or Shield of David, which is now emblazoned on the flag of…