Yehuda Liebes
Professor Emeritus Yehuda Liebes | |
---|---|
יהודה ליבס | |
Born | 1947 (age 76–77) |
Nationality | Israeli |
Known for | Kabbalah scholarship |
Spouse | Esther |
Children | 3 |
Awards | Israel Prize (2017) |
Academic background | |
Education | PhD, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1976 |
Thesis | Peraḳim be-milon sefer ha-Zohar (Chapters in the Dictionary of the Book of the Zohar) (1976) |
Doctoral advisor | Gershom Scholem |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Main interests | Kabbalah, Zohar, Jewish myth, Sabbateanism |
Website | http://liebes.huji.ac.il/ |
Part of a series on |
Kabbalah |
---|
Yehuda Liebes (
Biography
Yehuda Liebes was born in Jerusalem.[1] His father, Joseph Gerhard Liebes (1910–1988), a noted Hebrew translator of classic literature, left his native Germany at the age of 18 to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He returned to his homeland to continue his education, but was expelled from his university due to the Nuremberg Laws. He then undertook agricultural training in Latvia with a Zionist movement. There he married his first wife, with whom he settled in Pardes Hanna in Mandatory Palestine and had two daughters before they divorced. In 1941 Liebes married his second wife, Mira, a native of Riga who had grown up in Berlin.[2] They had two children, a daughter (Tamar, today head of the Department of Communications at Hebrew University) and a son (Yehuda).[2] On his mother's side, Liebes was a cousin of Israeli intellectual Yeshayahu Leibowitz.[2]
Liebes was acquainted with
Liebes graduated from the
In 1967, Liebes began his studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[1] After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees, he pursued his doctoral research under Scholem.[4][5] Scholem gave Liebes access to handwritten note cards he had prepared for a lexicon of Zohar terminology that he never wrote,[5] and Liebes submitted his dissertation on Peraḳim be-milon sefer ha-Zohar (Chapters in the Dictionary of the Book of the Zohar) (1976).[2]
Liebes and his wife, Dr. Esther Liebes, have three children. In 1977, after he completed his doctorate, they joined the nucleus of the new
Liebes identifies politically with the right wing of Israeli politics and religiously with Religious Zionism.[2]
Academic career
Liebes began lecturing in the Hebrew University's Department of Jewish Thought in 1971. He became a full professor in 1993.[2] His course subjects include Kabbalah, Jewish myth, and the Zohar.[1] He has also taught on Zohar at the University of Chicago.[1]
I do not really like the term 'Jewish mysticism'. The order of the words is not correct. You have to say 'mystical Judaism', because Kabbalah is first and foremost an interpretation of an aspect of the Jewish religion. … The inclusion of all mystical phenomena under the heading 'mysticism' is a mistake, because it causes people to think everything is the same—Christian mysticism, Jewish mysticism, Muslim mysticism. The Kabbalah is an interpretation of the Jewish religion, of
mitzvot, of the people and the land of Israel".
–Yehuda Liebes, 2017[3]
Liebes is considered a leading scholar of Kabbalah.
Liebes has also translated Greek, Latin, and Arabic religious poetry into Hebrew.[1][2]
Views and opinions
Challenging the traditional ascription of the Zohar to the 2nd-century disciples of Shimon bar Yochai in Israel, Liebes asserts that a group of 13th-century Spanish Kabbalists, which included Moses de León, composed the work, each reflecting his own approach to Kabbalah.[4] Liebes claims that the Ketem Paz on the Zohar and the Kabbalistic hymn Bar Yochai were written by two different authors with similar names, not the one Shimon Lavi who is traditionally credited with authoring both works.[11] Liebes also finds Christian and Sabbatean inspiration in the ideas of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov[4] and, at the same time, Sabbatean influences on the disciples of the Vilna Gaon who opposed Hasidism.[2]
Liebes angered National Religious Jews in Israel when he claimed to find a Christian allusion in the Amidah, the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. Liebes asserted that the conclusion of the 14th blessing, "keren yeshua" ("horn of salvation") refers not to David, but to Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew).[2]
Liebes publishes in Hebrew and has expressed opposition to the study of Jewish thought in English. He has allowed only a few of his works to be translated into English, in conjunction with his academic degree and tenure.[2]
Awards and recognition
Liebes received the 1997
- וזאת ליהודה: קובץ מאמרים המוקדש לחברנו, פרופ׳ יהודה ליבס, לרגל יום הולדתו השישים וחמישה [And This to Yehuda: A collection of articles dedicated to our friend Professor Yehuda Liebes on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday] (in Hebrew). Mosad Bialiḳ. 2012.
Published works
- חטאו של אלישע: ארבעה שנכנסו לפרדס וטבעה של המיסטיקה התלמודית [The Sin of Elisha: Four Entered the Orchard and the Nature of Talmudic Mysticism] (in Hebrew). Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 1986.
- מחקרי שבתאות [Sabbatean Studies] (in Hebrew). Am Oved. 1991. (with Gershom Scholem)
- סוד האמונה השבתאית: קובץ מאמרים [The Secret of the Sabbatean Faith: A Collection of Articles] (in Hebrew). Mosad Byaliḳ. 1995.
- תורת היצירה של ספר היצירה [The Creative Theory of the Book of Creation] (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv. 2000.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - עלילות אלהים: המיתוס היהודי, מסות ומחקרים [The Words of God: The Jewish Myth, Essays and Studies] (in Hebrew). Karmel. 2008.
- פולחן השחר: יחס הזוהר לעבודה זרה [The Cult of the Dawn: The Attitude of the Zohar Towards Idolatry] (in Hebrew). Karmel. 2011.
- Studies in Jewish Myth and Messianism. SUNY Press. 2012. ISBN 978-1438410852.
- Studies in the Zohar. SUNY Press. 2012. ISBN 978-1438410845.
- לצבי ולגאון: משבתי צבי אל הגאון מווילנא : קובץ מחקרים [To Tsvi and the Gaon: From Shabbetai Tsvi to the Gaon of Vilna: A collection of studies] (in Hebrew). Idra. 2017.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Israel Prize to Hebrew University's Prof. Yehuda Liebes". Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Karpal, Dalia (13 March 2009). "דמותו של פרופ' יהודה ליבס: חוקר קבלה שנוי במחלוקת ודתי ציוני" [Professor Yehuda Liebes: A Controversial Kabbalah Scholar and Religious Zionist]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Horowitz, Ariel (17 February 2017). "לאהוב מבלי להיבלע" [To Love Without Being Swallowed Up]. Makor Rishon (in Hebrew). Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Unterman, Alan (2018). "Reinterpreting Mysticism and Messianism". myjewishlearning.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ a b Liebes, Yehuda. "Gershom Scholem's Milon HaZohar Card Index". National Library of Israel. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ISBN 0804733872.
- ISBN 0804741212.
- ISBN 0520249941.
- ISBN 978-9004221185
- ISBN 978-3110407778.
- ^ "ר' שמעון לביא" [Rabbi Shimon Lavi] (in Hebrew). National Library of Israel. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "Gershom Scholem Prize for Kabbalah Research". Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ "Emet Prize Laureates". Emet Prize for Science, Art and Culture. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "Israel Prize for Kaballah to Professor Yehuda Liebes". Israel National News. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
External links
- Personal website (Hebrew)