Peering Through the Lattices"
Subtitle: Mystical, Magical,  and Pietistic Dimensions in the Tosafist Period
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Published: June 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780814325315
Subjects: Jewish studies; Jewish Mysticism; Religion; History - General History; Jewish - General; Judaism - Talmud; Medieval; Judaism - General; History; Judaism; Magic, Jewish; Mysticism; To 1500; Tosafists
Description: "During the high Middle Ages, the tosafists flourished in northern Europe and revolutionized the study of the Talmud. These Jewish scholars did not participate in the philosophical and religious thought that concerned Christendom, and today they are seen as having played a limited role in mystical or esoteric studies.".

"Ephraim Kanarfogel now challenges this conventional view of the tosafists, showing that many individuals were influenced by ascetic and pietistic practices and were involved with mystical and magical doctrines. He traces the presence of these disciplines in the pre-Crusade period, shows how they are intertwined, and suggests that the widely available Hekhalot literature was an important conduit for this material."--BOOK JACKET.