Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer (17 May 1927 - 22 February 1992) was a Jewish scholar of Jewish mysticism. Schatz Uffenheimer was a student of
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...
.
Biography
Rivka Schatz-Uffenheimer was born in Poland and raised in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. She received her BA, MA, and Ph.D. at the
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
in Jerusalem where she was later employed as a Professor of Jewish mysticism.
[Kook, Abraham Isaac. Abraham Isaac Kook: The Lights of Penitence, The Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, essays, letters, and poems. No. 7. Paulist Press, 1978.] Her main research was in the realm of Hasidism, particularly regarding the ''Maggid'' Rabbi
Dov Ber of Mezeritch
Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch (; died December 4, 1772 Old Style, O.S.), also known as the ''Maggid of Velyki Mezhyrichi, Mezeritch'' or ''Mezeritcher Maggid'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Has ...
' and his students. She also wrote about Rabbi
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbina ...
, and many other figures in modern
Jewish Mysticism
Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's ''Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbal ...
. She and her students collected hundreds of copies of manuscripts of the
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...
in order to prepare a multi-volume critical edition, but due to her premature death, the project was never actualized. After her death much of her library, including the Zohar manuscript copies, and copies of manuscripts of Rabbi Kook, became part of the
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...
Collection at the
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...
.
Publications
Books
* Hasidism as mysticism, Quietistic elements in eighteenth century Hasidic thought, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1993.
* מגיד דבריו ליעקב, למגיד דב בער ממזריטש, מהדורה ביקורתית על פי כתבי-יד עם מבוא, פירוש, הערות ומפתחות, ירושלים: הוצאת ספרים ע"ש י"ל מאגנס, תשל"ו-1976 (מהדורה שנייה מורחבת ומתוקנת: תש"ן-1990).
Other
* Schatz-Uffenheimer, R. (1987). Maharal's Conception of Law: Antithesis to Natural Law Theory. The Jewish Law Annual, 6, 109–125.
* Schatz-Uffenheimer, Rivka. "Self-redemption in Hasidic thought." In Types of Redemption. Contributions to the Theme of the Study-Conference Held at Jerusalem 14 to 19 July 1968, pp. 207–212. Brill, 1970.
* Schatz-Uffenheimer, R. (1985). Confession on the Brink of the Crematoria. The Jerusalem Quarterly, 34, 126–41.
* Schatz-Uffenheimer, R. (1963). Die Stellung des Menschen zu Gott und Welt in Bubers Darstellung des Chassidismus. Martin Buber, 275–302.
See also
*
Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior (; born 28 December 1949) is an Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her principal subjects of research have been Hasidism and the history of early Jewish mysticism.
Academic career
Elior is ...
References
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Brazilian Jews
1992 deaths
1927 births
20th-century Polish Jews
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