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Joseph Dan (, 1935 – 23 July 2022) was an Israeli scholar of Jewish mysticism. He taught for over 40 years in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was the first incumbent of the
Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Myst ...
Chair in Jewish Mysticism at The Hebrew University.


Biography

Dan was born in 1935 in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
, from where, at the age of four, he and his family fled out of fear of Nazism, settling later in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. All the biographical documents about Joseph Dan (including his own website) give his birthplace as Bratislava,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, a version created by his father to escape repatriation by the British government in Palestine.Sheleg, Yair, ''Mystic Circles'', in ''ha-Aretz'', 23.10.08
/ref> In the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dan began a double major in Assyriology and Jewish Thought. Under the influence of the revered teacher Gershom Scholem, he was attracted towards Jewish mysticism. He received his doctorate in 1964 under the guidance of Isaiah Tishby, his thesis titled ''The Speculative Basis of the Ethical Teachings of
Chassidei Ashkenaz The Hasidim of Ashkenaz ( he, חסידי אשכנז, trans. ''Khasidei Ashkenaz''; "German Pietists") were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries. Background The leaders of the community ...
''.Hebrew: "הבסיס העיוני לתורת המוסר של חסידות אשכנז" Having written more than 60 books, he published recently the first three volumes of a project titled "Toledot Torat Hasod Ha'ivrit" ("History of Hebraic Mysticism and Esotericism", Zalman Shazar Center, Jerusalem), which he describes as "an attempt by one individual to write the entire history of Jewish mysticism: not some executive summary, but rather a full-blown academic survey abridgment for executives but with academic detail".


Awards

In 1997, Dan was awarded the Israel Prize, for Jewish thought.


See also

* List of Israel Prize recipients


References


External links


Joseph Dan's website at the Hebrew UniversityInterview with Joseph Dan in ''Haaretz''Articles written by Joseph DanIsraeli interview with Joseph Dan on the beginning of the Bible (Hebrew video)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Joseph 1935 births 2022 deaths People from Budapest Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in Jewish thought recipients Israeli Jews Hungarian Jews Jewish mysticism Judaic scholars Kabbalah Hungarian emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent