Gershom Scholem
Even at the Hebrew University at mid-century, when the likes of Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem walked the halls, Pines stood out for his prodigious knowledge of everything.
In the words of Gershom Scholem, “Nonsense based on me!”
Prewar, no countries had wanted to take in Europe’s Jews. Postwar, many were poised to claim the spoils of the murdered—until an unprecedented group of experts stepped in.
By slaughtering roosters on an airplane.
What Gershom Scholem got wrong.
But who wrote the Zohar?
A subversive who never lost his faith in redemption.
The last Hebrew classic?
How an eccentric doctor created a national treasure.
Zalman Shazar and Shabbetai Tsvi.
A kinship between the artist and the outlaw.
How the hexagram became a Jewish symbol.
Translating Ḥayyim of Volozhin’s kabbalistic treatise.
The Argentinian author drew on a variety of Jewish ideas in his work.