Author Description

This is a ground-breaking study of an ideological miracle, a tale of seven hundred years of diverse Jewish theological creativity. Many extreme, radical, & even seemingly heretical schools of thought were integrated into a constructive, traditional Jewish ethics within the framework of Hebrew ethical literature. The ability of Jewish ethics to absorb & sustain conflicting ideas, which originated in schools that fought each other fiercely, presents a fascinating chapter in the history of Jewish ideas. Joseph Dan, the author, is the Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah at the Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Israel.