Ellen D. Haskell is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Haskell's revelation of arguments against Christian claims throughout the Zohar transforms our understanding of this central work of medieval Jewish mysticism and illuminates Jewish resistance to a persecuting society. This original and provocative book persuasively demonstrates that coerced sermons and disputes, attacks on Jewish books and beliefs, and the triumphalist religious art and architecture of thirteenth-century Spain fomented an anti-Christian polemic, hidden in plain sight in the Zohar's pages. -Judith R. Baskin, Philip H. Knight Professor of Humanities and Associate Dean for Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon An innovative contribution to the study of the Zohar and the construction of religious otherness in medieval Europe. Haskell ranges deftly through a varied landscape of sources and methodological lenses-from careful readings of zoharic sources to a cultural history of Jewish-Christian polemics and the aesthetics of medieval Christian architecture and sculpture. This approach presents a fresh and compelling contribution, studying the Zohar through the lens of resistance literature-the dynamic interplay of power, powerlessness, and creativity in religious culture. Haskell makes strong use of theoretical literature related to the 'hidden transcripts' of reaction and resistance to political subordination, examining this phenomenon through the Zohar's use of coded phrases and myths. --Eitan P. Fishbane, Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, The Jewish Theological Seminary This concise volume illustrates with help of a good selection of texts from the Zohar how Jewish mysticism was engaged in the theological-political 'discourse' of its time...Haskell s clear use of primary sources and pertinent references to essential secondary literature both from Jewish studies and other academic fields such as philosophy, gender studies, and art history makes this volume an efficient introduction to a number of relevant topics in Jewish mysticism and surely is a commendable basis for further studies. --H-Net Reviews [T]his monograph adds to our knowledge of the role played by the kabbalists and brings new methodological perspectives to bear in the area of medieval Jewish-Christian relations. --Reading Religion