about erw
overview
elliot wolfson began a career of textual interpretation as a young boy studying talmud with his father. almost as early, the songs in his head began to translate into poems on the page, later finding expression as color on canvas. drawn particularly to esoteric traditions of mysticism and philosophy, he has repeatedly found himself not only working across media but also traversing established boundaries of religious and scholarly identities and disciplines.
studies on elliot wolfson’s oeuvre in light of philosophy and poetry
on wings of moonlight: elliot r wolfson’s poetry in the path of rosenzweig and celan
By Barbara galli
on wings of moonlight focuses on the poetic nature of wolfson’s works through an exploration of his poems. barbara galli argues that wolfson’s poems resonate with a kabbalistic worldview that is also reflected iin his scholarly work and personal life.
on wings of moonlight – a phrase taken from one of the poems – illuminates the poetic and philosophic kinship between wolfson, franz rosenzweig, one of his influences since graduate school, and paul celan. displaying a deep knowledge of the literary, philosophical, jewish, and feminist traditions informing wolfson’s academic work, galli argues that his prose cannot be fully appreciated without consideration of its poetic dimensions.
elliot r wolfson: poetic thinking
By Hava tirosh-samuelson
elliot r. wolfson, a scholar of jewish mysticism and philosophy, uses the textual sources of judaism to examine universal philosophical topics such as the function and processes of the imagination, the paradoxes of temporality, and the mystery of poetic language.
education
wolfson received bachelor and master of arts degrees from queens college of the city university of new york, where he pursued the study of philosophy, focusing especially on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. he received master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from brandeis university, where he specialized in the study of the kabbalistic texts and traditions that have remained central to his scholarly work. he was the abraham lieberman professor of hebrew and judaic studies at new york university, where he taught from 1987 till early 2014. he currently holds the marsha and jay glazer endowed chair in jewish studies at university of california santa barbara.
academic membership
• association for jewish studies
(member of the program committee, 1994-2000)
• american academy of religion
(co-chair of the study of judaism section, 1992-98)
• medieval academy of america
• world union of jewish studies
• american society for the study of religion
• american academy of arts and sciences
• american academy of jewish research
editorial responsibilities
• editor: journal of jewish thought and philosophy
• editorial board: kabbalah: a journal for the study of jewish mystical texts; jewish quarterly review; brill series supplements to the journal of jewish thought and philosophy; ekstasis: religious experience from antiquity to the middle ages
academic awards & distinctions
• 2017 senior fellow at the maimonides center for advanced studies, universität hamburg
• 2013 elected as fellow of the american society for the study of religion
• 2012–2013 fellow at the herbert d. katz center for advanced judaic studies,
university of pennsylvania.
• 2012 winner of the american academy of religion’s award for excellence in
the study of religion in the category of constructive and reflective
studies.
• 2008-2009 visiting fellow at the institute for advanced studies, hebrew university, jerusalem. topic of seminar: the sociology of contemporary jewish mysticism in comparative perspective.
• 2008 elected as fellow of the american academy of arts and sciences
• 2007 visiting fellow at the humanities research institute, rice university
• 2006 winner of the national jewish book award for excellence in scholarship
• 1999-2000 visiting fellow at the institute for advanced studies, hebrew university,
jerusalem. topic of seminar: jewish and christian millennial speculation
in the middle ages
• 1998 elected as fellow of the american academy of jewish research
• 1996 visiting fellow at the institute for advanced study, princeton.
topic of seminar: messianism
• 1995 selected to participate in the citizen ambassador program religion and
philosophy delegation to russia
winner of the american academy of religion’s award for excellence in
the study of religion in the category of historical studies
winner of the national jewish book award for Excellence in Scholarship
• 1989-90 fulbright fellowship, Hebrew university, jerusalem.
presidential fellowship for junior faculty, new york university
• 1986-87 andrew w. mellon teaching-research fellowship in the humanities. cornell university
books
• heidegger and the kabbalah: hidden gnosis and the path of poiesis. bloomington: indiana university press, 2017.
• elliot r. wolfson: poetic thinking. library of contemporary jewish Philosophers. edited hava tirosh-samuelson and aaron w. hughes. leiden: brill, 2015.
• giving beyond the gift: apophasis and overcoming theomania. new york: fordham university press, 2014.
• a dream interpreted within a dream: oneiropoiesis and the prism of imagination. new york: zone books, 2011.
winner of the american academy of religion’s award for excellence in the
study of religion in the category of constructive and reflective studies, 2012.
• open secret: postmessianic messianism and the mystical revision of menahem mendel schneerson. new york: columbia university press, 2009.
• footdreams and treetales: 92 poems. new york: fordham university press, 2007.
• luminal darkness: imaginal gleanings from zoharic literature. london:
oneworld publications, 2007.
• alef, mem, tau: kabbalistic musings on time, truth, and death. berkeley: university of california press, 2006.
• venturing beyond—law and morality in kabbalistic mysticism. oxford: oxford
university press, 2006.
• language, eros, being: kabbalistic hermeneutics and poetic imagination.
new york: fordham university press, 2005.
winner of the national jewish book award for excellence in scholarship, 2006.
• pathwings: poetic-philosophic reflections on the hermeneutics of time and language. station hill/barrytown press, 2004.
• sprache, eros, dasein: kabbalistische hermeneutik und poetische einbildungskraft, translated by d. westerkamp. berlin: philo verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2002.
• abraham abulafia—kabbalist and prophet: hermeneutics, theosophy, and theurgy. los angeles: cherub press, 2000.
• abraham aboulafia—cabaliste et prophète: herméneutique, théosophie, et théurgie, translated by j.-f. sené. paris: éditions de l’éclat, 1999.
• along the path: studies in kabbalistic myth, symbolism, and hermeneutics. albany: state university of new york press, 1995.
• circle in the square: studies in the use of gender in kabbalistic symbolism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
• through a speculum that shines: vision and imagination in medieval jewish mysticism. princeton: princeton university press, 1994.
winner of the american academy of religion’s award for excellence in the
study of religion in the category of historical studies, 1995
winner of the national jewish book award for excellence in scholarship, 1995.
• the book of the pomegranate: moses de león’s sefer ha-rimmon. brown judaic series 144. atlanta: scholars press, 1988.
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