Huss, Jewish Mysticism in the University (2)

December 07

Jewish Mysticism in the University: Academic Study or

Theological Practice?

by Boaz Huss

p. 2 of 2

Moreover, there is certainly no

common element between the so-

called “mystical” cultural

formations within Jewish culture,

and the so-called “mystical”

phenomena in other cultures. I do

not see any significant

commonality between a Kabbalist

hearing the voice of the Shechina,

a Catholic nun who is spiritually

betrothed to Christ, or a Buddhist

monk who aspires to attain

Nirvana. The reductionist

assumption that all these

phenomena have a common

denominator, which stands in

stark contradiction to the self

perception of the so called

`mystics` themselves, is not

based on any fact, other than the

pre-existing assumption of the

researchers.

In other words, the problem with

using the category “mysticism” in

scientific study is not only that it

is opposed to the perception of

the subjects of the research, but

also that is puts together many different cultural formations, which have no connection

other than scholars’ assumption that behind them lies a common, universal

phenomenon. This is already sufficient reason to avoid using the category “mysticism” in

academic scholarship. However, even beyond the fact that the term is an inappropriate

essentialist term, there is also a third problem: that the very use of it supports a

particular theological position.

As I have argued above, the use of the term mysticism implies that people, in all

cultures, sometimes experience an encounter with the Divine, or a transcendent reality.

Using this assumption to categorize cultural formations and to establish academic fields

that are devoted to their study is based on the assumption that the cause of various

historical, cultural and social phenomena is the encounter with the Divine or the

Transcendent reality. Any assumption that God, or a transcendent entity, or a

metaphysical reality, is the cause of natural, historical, social or cultural events is a

theological assumption, which is fundamentally opposed to the way that academic

research is conducted in the study of natural science, the humanities, or the social

sciences. Just as academic study in the natural sciences rejects the theory of intelligent

design, and the academic study of history and social sciences cannot accept the will of

God as a valid explanation for historical and social events, we, too cannot accept that

encounters with the Deity or a transcendental reality can explain cultural phenomena—

neither in Judaism, nor in other cultures. Thus, in my opinion, there is no place in the

academy for the category “Jewish mysticism,” and consequently, no place for the debate

whether to teach `Jewish Mysticism` in a theoretical or an experiential manner.

I would like to emphasize that I do not deny the existence of the texts and practices that

scholars include in this problematic category; nor do I oppose their study as significant

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Page 1 of 4Zeek | Jewish Mysticism in the University: Academic Study or Theological Practice? |...

07/02/2008http://www.zeek.net/712academy/index.php?page=2

historical and social formations. I do not deny that people have indeed put their heads

between their knees, whispered hymns and praises, repeated names of angels, spent

time in solitude, or prostrated themselves upon the graves of saints; I do not doubt that

the people who employed these techniques experienced exceptional events which they

described as “Descending to the Chariot” [yerida la-merkava], prophecy [nevu’a], or

“cleaving to Nothingness” [devequt be-ayin]. I do not reject the important studies that

have examined these descriptions within their historical and social context. Rather, my

argument is directed against the assumption that these are all expressions of “Jewish

mysticism”, and against the research practices that ensue from this assumption, mainly

the use of comparative and phenomenological methods that are common in the study of

religions. I doubt that all these cultural formations, as well as other phenomena that

modern scholarship perceives as “mystical” in various cultures (Christian, Muslim,

Chinese, Japanese, Indian, American, and others) have any common factor (or factors)

that is exclusive only to them, which justifies categorizing them as “Mystical” and

establishing fields of study and methods of teaching and research, that are unique to

them. [9]

The Teaching of Theology in an Academic Context

Although I am arguing that the term “mysticism” is theological in nature, and

inappropriate as a category to be used in the framework of an academic research of

historical and sociological phenomena, I would like to emphasize again that I am not

opposed to theology, but only claim that it should not serve as the basis for academic

study, whether in the natural sciences, the humanities, or the social sciences. The only

question that remains is whether there is anywhere else to fit theological study into the

academy, outside the fields of natural sciences, humanities, or social sciences.

As we all know, leading and prestigious universities in the United States and Europe have

“divinity schools.” These schools teach theology, and train clergy. Should we establish

such divinity schools, or programs for the teaching of spiritual studies and the training of

Kabbalists within Israeli academic institutions? Should we set up academic frameworks

which will deal with spiritual and theological questions (such as the nature of encounters

with the Divine in various religions) and with mystical and religious practices— prayer,

meditation, and the experiential study of Kabbalistic texts, on the assumption that these

texts are an expression of some kind of universal mystical or spiritual experience?

The suggestion to set up study programs, departments, or schools for theology and

spirituality raises two basic questions. The first is what types of theology or spirituality

should be taught in academic frameworks: only Jewish theology, or also Muslim,

Christian, Buddhist, New Age, and other theologies? Furthermore, when teaching Jewish

theology and spirituality, should the “school for spirituality” teach liberal Orthodox,

Reform, and Conservative theologies, or the doctrines and practices of Merkaz Harav,

the Chabad movement, or the Kabbalah Centre? What methods of religious praxis should

they employ: meditation and experiential reading of texts, or also prayer, writing

amulets, and visiting the graves of saints? In brief, the question is: what criteria should

be used to decide what theologies and spiritual practices belong in an academic context,

and what should be the distinction between the theologico-spiritual activity in the

academy and the theologico-spiritual activity in yeshivot or other non-academic

institutions?

The second question, which is related to the first, is: what should be the criteria for

evaluating students, or hiring and promoting instructors, in the framework of a

theological school in the academy? What training should be required for an instructor of

theology or spirituality? Is an academic degree in liberal arts or social sciences at all

relevant for such an instructor, or should we prefer to hire theologians and spiritual

masters, such as Yitzhak Ginzburgh, Ohad Ezrachi, or Philip Berg? On what basis should

grades and degrees be granted to people who choose to attend a continuing education

program in theology or spiritual in an academic context?

I have no answers to these rather rhetorical questions. As I have said, my field is the

historical and social study of Kabbalah; I am neither a theologian nor a mystic. As an

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University of Wales

British Validated BA, MA

Degrees Bible,

Theology, Ministry,

online www.trinitysem.edu



academic scholar of Kabbalah, I find it important to examine the theological assumptions

that have shaped my discipline, and to critically analyze the category “Jewish mysticism”

and the “mystification” of Kabbalah.

Footnotes

[9] For a similar argument concerning the term `Religion,` see T. Fitzgerald, `Playing

Language Games And Performing Rituals: Religious Studies Ideological State

Apparatus`, Method & Theory 15 (2003), p. 249.

Professor Boaz Huss teaches in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Ben-Gurion

University of the Negev

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Huss, Jewish Mysticism in the University (2)