THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, September 7, 1919

48

Prof. Gershom Scholem, Historian of Kabala

By MILTON J.
STEINHARDT

(Editor's Note: Dr. Mil-
ton J. Steinhardt, a fre-
quent contributor to The
Jewish News, offers a re-
view and commentary of

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David Biale's "Gershom
Scholem — Kabala and
Counter-History." The
Biale volume is published
by Harvard University
Press.)
Any study of Gershorn.
Scholem as a man and his-
torian is of major signifi-
cance, as it sheds light on
understanding the, role of
Jewish mysticis'm or
Kabala.
A brief resume of Scholem
the man will help us to
evaluate Scholem the histo-
rian.
He was born in 1897 to
assimilated parents in Be -
rlin. His only family contact
with Jewishness was an
uncle who was active in
Zionism. He joined the

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Zionist movement in 1911
at age 14 and taught him-
self fluent Hebrew. His
mother, probably unaware
of the full implication, pre-
sented him with a portrait
of Herzl as a Christmas gift.
Scholem showed his
courage and indepen-
dence when at age 17 he
opposed World War I and
found himself at variance
with his father who then
disowned him for lack of
patriotism. He also was
out of step with most of
his contemporaries and
with two important
Jewish figures — Buber
and Freud — both of
whom supported the
Kaiser. Buber even com-
pared the war (WWI) to
the MacCabees libera-
tion.

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To avoid being drafted
into the German army, he
feigned mental illness. He
must have succeeded in his
attempt as he was freed
from military service. He
published an underground
paper against the military
and was expelled from
school as an anti-war
agitator.
He urged the Zionist
youth movement to become
more involved in Jewish
education, and favored
aliya.
When forced out of his
father's home he moved into
a boarding house for East
European Jews and earned
a living translating Hebrew
and Yiddish into German.
Like Herzl before him
he discovered the rich
dynamic- world of East
European Jewry and
formed a lasting friend-
ship with, Zalman
Rubashoff (later to be-
come the third president
of Israel, Shazar, and S.Y.
Agnon, the Nobel Prize
winner in literature.
In 1919 he undertook the
study of Semitics in
Munich, received a degree
from that university and
wrote his thesis on Kabala.
In 1923 he left for Pales-
tine; and since he could
speak Hebrew (without
"Ulpan"), he secured a posi-
tion as librarian in the new
Hebrew University. He
then embarked on the study
of Jewish history, Kabala in
particular. His position be-
came more secure when he
was appointed lecturer and
professor of Jewish mysti-
cism. According to author
David Biale, his motivation
in the pursuit of his studies
was that "Kabala may be
the key to understanding
the survival of Judaism."
He joined the "itBrith
Shalom," the academia sec-
tion of the Peace Alliance,
that favored a bi-national
entity under the British,
thus arousing opposition
among those who
envisioned a Jewish state.
Scholem's Judaism
was a rebellion against
religious orthodoxy and
the school of rationalism
that regarded Kabala as
an aberration born of
ignorance and despair
which should be
excluded. Biale states
that "for Scholem
Zionism was more a cul-
tural revolt against old
values than an economic
solution to the Jewish
problem." He was closer
to the cultural Zionism of
Ahad Haam.

Though Scholem does not
call himself a Kabalist, he
maintains that Kabala re-
presents the psychology of
the Jews of the times, and
that it was a source of devo-
tion during many dismal
periods. His emphasis of the
historical basis of Judaism
is well illustrated by his
comment: "The Jewishness
of any period is measured by
what sincere Jews believe;
therefore, there is no single
essence of Judaism
throughout its history."
Since Kabala has various
historical manifestations

r

One historical fact is tha,
the Kabala flourished it
time of stress when peoplE
will turn to any savior. ThE
human mind, finding frusi
tration by cruel facts of life
will turn to the super!
natural, to a messiah. TI-1
wish becomes father to
thought. A rise of interest in'
Kabala, therefore, occurred
after the expulsion of Jews
from Spain in 1492, an6
after the Chmelnitsky mas
sacres in the 17th Century,
The two false messiahs
Shabtai Zvi and Frank
after raising the hopes u
thousands of fol"---7er
ended with orgies,
nations and mass cOnver
sions in 1666 in Salonika t
Islam, and in 1753
Galicia to Catholicism
incalculabl
causing
psychological trauma.
One notes that interes
in Kabala is furthere
when there is a tendenc
to turn inward, to media
tion, contemplation and
search for self-evaluatio
either because of ghee
restrictions or by stress
Meditation is currentl
an accepted form o
psychotherapy to reliev
anxiety and stress.
Since the religious ex
perience is as emotional
it is intellectual, pur
abstract concepts of deity d
not appeal to all individ'
als. Some prefer the con
crete, something they c
visualize in all details
others truly transcen
reality with ecstasy an
"union with God." The la
ter type experience is no
characteristic of the masses
The change in accen
from the scholar to th
"saintly" man also pre
ented the pitfall of the pe
sonality cult — allowing th
opportunist a position o
power — as it is easier t
fake saintliness than schol
arship.
The last maneuver b
Sabbatenism is the doctrin
of the holiness of sin. Aftei
Shabtai Zvi the Messiah
"Everything is pure, the
is no sin or harm" and ther
fore sexual intercourse h
no prohibitions. Th
mechanism has such a thi
disguise that no comment
needed.
Despite the eruditio
and scholarship of Davi-
Biale, this reviewe
found certain passage
lacking in clarity due
style and overuse o
technical terminology.
Gershom Scholem's con-
tributions offer us a bettei
understanding of 4
sence of Judaism.

,

the

GERSHOM SCHOLEN

and by its nature is impre-
cise, a brief definition fol-
lows:-
Kabala, or Jewish mysti-
cism, is a belief that direct
knowledge of God is attain-
able through insight, intui-
tion and illumination, and
that direct union with God
is possible through medita-
tion, penance, prayers and
moral discipline, and is be-
yond intellectual grasp.
Jewish mysticism con-
cerns itself with- God,
Creation and Redemp-
tion, and its basis is that
the religious impulse
cannot fully express itself
in established religion.
The saint is considered
superior to the scholar,
and the sincere prayers
of the ignorant are as
valuable as that of the
learned.
Other points of emphasis
are briefly enumerated: The
pre-existence and migra-
tion of the soul; hidden
meaning to numbers as re-
lated to the Hebrew al-
phabet; that evil began with
the separation of the power
of knowledge from the
power of loving, and that
God permits evil to prove
man's moral fortitude; and
that the final goal is the
Messiah and the redemp-
tion of Israel.
Scholem attributes to
Jewish messianism social
and historical goals and not
merely spiritual redemp-
tion which is characteristic
of Christianity. He further
adds that "Jewish histo-
rians generally chose to ig-
nore the fact that the
Jewish People paid a high
price for the Messianic Idea
— it compelled a life lived in
deferment in which nothing
can be definitive."
According to Scholem
"Zionism, unlike Mes-
sianism, was ready to iden-
tify itself with the fate of
Jews in all aspects religious
and secular," and he offers
the view that "the legiti-
mate differences between
Israel and Diaspora can be
turned into a fruitful in-
teraction that will give
Judaism new vitality."
This reviewer makes
no claim for scholarly
expertise in this area, but
accepted this task be-
cause of Scholem's fas-
cinating personality.
However, an effort is
made to present the com-
plex issues in clear and
intelligible terms.
A few exploratory com-
ments on the psychological
basis of this historical
phenomena may be in order:

d

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Checks with special irp
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cations equipment used ,bN
the embassy. •