Saturn's Jews

On the Witches' Sabbat and Sabbateanism

Professor Moshe Idel (University of Jerusalem, Israel)

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English

Continuum Publishing Corporation
29 September 2011

Judaism: mysticism; Witchcraft

Series: The Robert and Arlene Kogod Library of Judaic Studies

This book explores the phenomenon of Saturnism, namely the belief that the planet Saturn, the seventh known planet in ancient astrology, was appointed upon the Jews, who celebrated the Sabbath, the seventh day of the Jewish week.

Moshe Idel details how the anonymous, late 14th century Sefer Ha-Peliyah was to have disturbing consequences in the Jewish world three centuries later, interweaving luminaries with the cultural, historical, religious, and philosophical concepts of their day, and demonstrating how cultural agents were inadvertently instrumental in the mid-17th-century mass-movement Sabbateanism that led to the conviction that Sabbatai Tzevi was the Messiah.

Exploring how the tragic misperception of the Jewish Sabbath by the non-Jewish world led to a linkage of Jews with sorcery in 14th and 15th-century Europe, associating their holy day with the witches' ‘Sabbat' gathering, Idel brings this wide-ranging study into the present day with an analysis of 20th-century scholarship and thought influenced by Saturnism, particularly lingering themes related to melancholy in the works of Gershom Scholem and Walter Benjamin.

By: Professor Moshe Idel (University of Jerusalem Israel)
Imprint: Continuum Publishing Corporation
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781441121448
ISBN 10: 1441121447
Series: The Robert and Arlene Kogod Library of Judaic Studies
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 29 September 2011
Audience: College/higher education , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface \ 1. From Saturn, Sabbath and Sorcery, to the Jews \ 2. From Saturn to Sabbatai Tzevi: A Planet that Became Messiah \ 3. From Saturn to Melancholy \ 4. Concluding Remarks \ Appendix \ Abbreviations \ Bibliography \ Index

Moshe Idel is Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Israel. He is an expert in Kabbalah and has been a recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize for excellence in the field of Jewish Philosophy.