Politics, Kabbalah, and Beyond: Jewish Studies and the Study of Religion

Area studies often are defined by their object of inquiry in substantive terms: the study of a more or less defined set of cultural characteristics or civilizations encompassed in a historical, geographical, or linguistic horizon. Among these, one of the area studies that first emerged was Jewish studies, which focuses on the study of Judaism and Jewish communities throughout the world in different historical times. And while it is certainly important to study Jewish history on its own terms, this can hardly be done without observing the cultural context in which that history developed and took form.

In this week’s podcast, Dr. Carsten Wilke talks to Sidney Castillo about the different processes that Judaism and Jewish identities underwent throughout modern European history. Wilke first briefly presents the scope of research of Jewish studies and then outlines how Jewish identity, belief, and community have been shaped by elements of local culture in Europe and beyond.

To further delve into this relationship, Wilke discusses the topic of his presentation at the international conference “Imperial Mysticisms: Piety and Power in Early Modern Empires from a Global Perspective” held at Central European University last November 2019. There he analyzed how the spread and development of modern Kabbalah corresponded with the migration of Sephardic Jews from Iberian empires (Portuguese and Spanish) to Ottoman Palestine.

No doubt this podcast will spark interest in those who are studying/researching in area studies, mysticism, or early modern history, and are actively looking for ways of problematizing their own scope of research.