"I am, as you will quickly discover if you don't know already, a raw newcomer to your field of expertise. I'm here because I believe I can shed some observations from my own field, Jewish mysticism and messianism, that may shed light on dark places in yours. I hope for your expert judgment as to … [Read more...]
“Sexualized Spirituality” and the Heretic Rabbi – Jonathan Eibeschuetz and the Moravian Connection
We talked about William Blake, a little bit. We talked a little bit about Jacob Frank, the 18th-century Polish-Jewish cult leader who carried the faith of the long-dead and even longer-discredited Messiah Sabbatai Zevi into previously undreamed of territories of weirdness and erotic … [Read more...]
The Tower of Babel – Moon Launch Platform?
No, it's not my idea. It was Jonathan Eibeschuetz, the "heretic rabbi" of 18th-century Prague, who came up with it. I discovered this a few months ago, while surfing the Hebrew-language Web. I came upon an article by one Noah Zevuluni, published in an Israeli newspaper in August 1962--right … [Read more...]
Conspiracy Theories Revisited – The Strange Case of Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschuetz (Part 3)
(This is part 3 of a three-part post. For part 1 click here; for part 2 click here.) In last week's post, I began to describe the scandalous book of Kabbalah that surfaced in Germany in 1725, with the title Va-avo ha-Yom el ha-Ayin, "I Came This Day to the Spring." Rumor had it that the book … [Read more...]
Conspiracy Theories Revisited – The Strange Case of Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschuetz (Part 2)
(This is part 2 of a three-part post. For part 1, click here.) “I came this day to the spring of wisdom … and now I shall enlighten you with words of understanding.” This is the beginning of what may have been the most controversial Jewish book of the 18th-century. It was a book of … [Read more...]
