Foreword

Abstract

It is with great pride that we present the second issue of the new annual journal, Jewish Thought, sponsored by the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. This issue is devoted to the topic of esotericism in Jewish thought. It consists of 22 articles – 16 in Hebrew and 6 in English. Many of the contributions are based on lectures on this topic given at the international conference in Jewish thought, sponsored by the center in May 2019. The head of the organizing committee was Prof. Oded Israeli, who was invited to be a guest editor of this issue. As in the case of the journal’s initial issue on faith and heresy in Jewish thought, most of the articles in this issue were written by established scholars, while some were written by young scholars who are at the beginning of their scholarly career. All articles that were submitted underwent a rigorous selection process involving at least two reviewers. In the course of working on this issue we learnt with great sorrow of the untimely passing of two participants in the conference who had wished to submit articles. The first was Dr. Tsippi Kauffman from Bar-Ilan University, an expert in Hassidic thought, whose research focused on the Hassidic religious experience and its kabbalistic context. Tsippi’s Hebrew talk at the conference, ‘The Mystical-Ethical Model: On Ethics as the Secret Stratum in Hassidism’ can be accessed at the following link: https://youtu.be/zHdgawH7CpI. The second was Prof. Ada Rapoport-Albert from University College London. Ada was a scholar of international renown in the field of Jewish thought. Her particular expertise was on the history of Sabbateanism and early Hassidism, with her focus being on topics involving gender. Her talk in Hebrew, ‘Jacob Frank’s “Massa Dumah” (The Burden of Silence)’, can be accessed at the following link: https://youtu.be/DbDSPqjjJBE. At the conference, a special session was devoted to the editor-in chief of this journal, Prof. Haim Kreisel, on the occasion of his retirement from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Three of his former students delivered papers at the session: Dr. David Ben-Zazon, Dr. Doron Forte and Prof. George Kohler. All three of them have articles in the current issue based on the themes of their papers. Close to the end of the process of preparing this issue for publication we were informed of the death of our esteemed colleague Prof. Gerald J. Blidstein. Prof. Blidstein was a member the Israel Academy of the Sciences and the 2006 Israel Prize laureate in the category of Jewish thought. Prof. Blidstein specialized in rabbinic thought, both legal and midrashic, in all periods, with a particular emphasis on the thought of Maimonides. He was a model scholar, an excellent teacher and first-rate mentor for the many doctoral students who completed their dissertations under his supervision. He was also the ideal colleague, always ready to help all who turned to him in any way he could. He was an inspiration to all of us, and without doubt the heart of the Goldstein-Goren Department for Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In addition, He was the founding head of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought. His presence is sorely missed by all members of the department, and we are sure by all who knew him. It is only fitting that we devote this issue to his memory.