The late Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton 1933-2020) wrote The Kabbalistic Tree of Life (KS Books, 2025), a metaphysical scheme based on ancient, medieval and modern views of its principles, which describes the structure and dynamic of cosmic laws that operate throughout the four Worlds of Jacob's Ladder and humanity. Halevi also wrote The Anointed (KS ... Show More
Oct 8
Scott D. Seligman, "The Chief Rabbi's Funeral" (U Nebraska Press, 2024)
On July 30, 1902, tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of New York’s Lower East Side to bid farewell to the city’s chief rabbi, the eminent Talmudist Jacob Joseph. All went well until the procession crossed Sheriff Street, where the six-story R. Hoe and Company printin ... Show More
55m 46s
Oct 5
Cooper Smith, "Allusive and Elusive: Allusion and the Elihu Speeches of Job 32-37" (Brill, 2022)
Within the Book of Job, Elihu is one of the most diversely evaluated characters. For example, are Elihu’s speeches so insignificant he’s absolutely ignored afterward, or do they actually form an introduction to the speeches of the LORD? What are we to make of Elihu? Find out as w ... Show More
31m 12s
Oct 5
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson, "Music at World's End: Three Exiled Musicians from Nazi Germany and Austria and Their Contribution to Music in Iceland" (SUNY Press, 2025)
A fascinating story of how three musicians, who escaped the Nazis, inspired Iceland's modern classical music. In Iceland in the 1930s, classical music was only beginning to be seriously practiced, at the same time when musicians of Jewish heritage were fleeing Nazi Germany and Au ... Show More
55m 47s
Dec 2022
Music in Jewish Mysticism
In this episode, we explore the history of music in Jewish mysticism, from the ancient prophets to the Hasidim of today.
Sources/Suggested Reading:Idel, Moshe (1987). "The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia". State University of New York Press.Idel, Moshe (1988). "Studies in ... Show More
23m 34s
Jan 2024
What is Jewish Mysticism?
We continue our series on mysticism by exploring Judaism and its mystical tradition, including the famous Kabbalah but also going beyond it.
Sources/Recomended Reading: Dan, Joseph (1986). "The Early Kabbalah". Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Paulist Press. Fine, Lawrenc ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 2023
Dženita Karić, "Bosnian Hajj Literature: Multiple Paths to the Holy" (Edinburgh UP, 2022)
Dženita Karić's new book Bosnian Hajj Literature: Multiple Paths to the Holy (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) maps the diverse understandings of the hajj in relation to Islamic geography by Bosnian Muslim authors who wrote in different genres from the 16th to the 21st centuries ... Show More
59m 38s
Feb 2024
Adam Bursi, "Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)
Adam Bursi’s Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam (Edinburg University Press, 2024) uses writings by early Muslims to map a history of material objects, relics, and tombs of prophetic figures as they were conceptualized in the 8th and 9th centuries. The ... Show More
56m 59s