After Spirituality

After Spirituality: Studies in Mystical Traditions is the first volume in a new series of the same name. The book is devoted to the comparative study of contemporary mysticism, bringing together papers presented as part of the 2008-2009 research group on the sociology of contemporary Jewish mysticism in comparative perspective, convened at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Jerusalem. Chapters written by leading scholars of Jewish, Buddhist and Christian Mysticism address the dramatic global proliferation and transformation of mystical traditions in recent decades. The volume seeks to establish the study of contemporary mysticism on a sound scholarly basis, employing the analytical tools of the social sciences, and using comparative methods in order to gain global perspective. This important volume will be suited for courses on contemporary or classical mysticism, comparative religion, sociology and anthropology of contemporary culture, psychology of religion, Jewish studies and Buddhist studies and social theory.

Philip Wexler is Professor of Sociology of Education and Unterberg Chair in Social and Educational Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of a number of books on the relation between social theory and education and social theory and religion, among them, Holy Sparks, Mystical Society, Mystical Interactions, and Mystical Sociology.
Jonathan Garb (PhD Hebrew University of Jerusalem) was awarded the Hebrew University President’s Prize for Outstanding Researcher in 2010. In 2011–2012, he is a fellow at the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at New York University. His publications include Manifestations of Power in Jewish Mysticism from Rabbinic Literature to Safedian Kabbalah (2004); ?The Chosen will Become Herds?: Studies in Twentieth Century Kabbalah (2009); and Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah (2011).