The Jewish Theological Seminary
Eitan Fishbane
Eitan P. Fishbane is assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Thought of The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in the literature and history of Jewish mysticism, from medieval Kabbalah to modern Hasidism.
Dr. Fishbane's research focuses on the nature of mystical experience, theories of selfhood in kabbalistic thought, and the intersection of literature and religion in the study of mysticism. His first book, As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist, was published in June 2009 by Stanford University Press, and received a grant from the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. Dr. Fishbane's scholarship has also been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Jewish Quarterly Review, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and Journal of Religion. Theological essays have appeared in Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility and CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism.
Dr. Fishbane is presently at work on a second book project, entitled Mystical Drama and Narrative Form: The Literary Craft of the Zohar—a monograph that sets out to chart a new literary approach to the masterpiece of medieval Jewish mysticism and consider the lyric and narrative dimensions of the Zohar with the critical tools of modern literary studies. Over the last two years, Dr. Fishbane has delivered invited lectures on this topic at JTS, UCLA, Harvard University, and at a conference devoted to the Zohar in Prato, Italy. Dr. Fishbane is also the co-editor of two forthcoming volumes, entitled Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections (Jewish Lights Publishing) and Jewish Renaissance and Revival in America: Essays in Memory of Leah Levitz Fishbane (University Press of New England).
Dr. Fishbane is a frequent scholar-in-residence and guest speaker at congregations across North America, and is actively involved in continuing education and enrichment for rabbis in the field. The recipient of many honors and awards, Dr. Fishbane holds a BA, summa cum laude, and a PhD from Brandeis University. In recognition of his doctoral dissertation, the Brandeis Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies awarded him the Nahum and Anne Glatzer Prize for Outstanding Achievement.
In addition to his Littauer award for the publication of As Light Before Dawn, Dr. Fishbane has also received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.
Dr. Fishbane's Speaker's Bureau Bio
October 2009
Published Works
As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009.
"The Scent of the Rose: Drama, Fiction, and Narrative Form in the Zohar," forthcoming in Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History.
"Symbolism, Exegesis, and Poetics in the Zohar," forthcoming in Jewish Mysticism: New Insights and Scholarship, edited by Frederick Greenspahn. New York: New York University Press.
"Opening to the Mystery," Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, October 2009.
"God as the Breath of Life," CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism, Fall 2009.
"Revelation and Creativity in the Life of a Medieval Mystic," Text/Context Supplement to the New York Jewish Week, May 2009.
"A Chariot for the Shekhinah: Identity and the Ideal Life in Sixteenth Century Kabbalah," Journal of Religious Ethics 37:3 (2009): 385–418.
"The Speech of Being, the Voice of God: Phonetic Mysticism in the Kabbalah of Asher ben David and his Contemporaries," The Jewish Quarterly Review 98:4 (2008): 485–521.
"Wisdom, Balance, Healing: Reflections on Mind and Body in an Early Hasidic Text." In Healing and the Jewish Imagination, edited by William Cutter: 63–74. Woodstock, VT, 2007.
Review of Joel Hecker, Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals: Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah, AJS Review 31 (2007): 388-391.
"From the Hidden to the Revealed: Kabbalah as a Spiritual Resource in Our Day," CCAR Journal (Fall 2007): 86–98.
Review of McAuliffe, Walfish, and Goering, eds., With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Jewish Quarterly Review 96:2 (2006): 268–271.
"Jewish Mystical Hermeneutics: On the Work of Moshe Idel," Journal of Religion 85:1 (January 2005): 94–103.
"Authority, Tradition, and the Creation of Meaning in Medieval Kabbalah: Isaac of Acre's Illumination of the Eyes," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 72:1 (2004):59–95.
"Tears of Disclosure: The Role of Weeping in Zoharic Narrative," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 11:1 (2002): 25–47.
"Mystical Contemplation and the Limits of the Mind: The Case of Sheqel ha-Qodesh," Jewish Quarterly Review 93:2 (2002): 1–27.
Recent Courses:
- Hasidic Mystics on the Meaning of the Holidays
- Jewish Philosophical Texts: Thought and Theology in Medieval Times
- The Literary Craft of the Zohar
- Medieval Kabbalah
- Jewish Mysticism in the Twentieth Century: Sefer Netivot Shalom
- Self, Identity, and the Ideal Life in Sixteenth-Century Kabbalah
- The Spiritual Meaning of Shabbat in Hasidic Mysticism
- Perceptions of Greatness: Constructions of the Holy Man in Jewish Mystical Literature
Recent Public Lectures
- What is Jewish Mysticism? Understanding the Kabbalah
- Shabbat as Spiritual Transformation in Jewish Mysticism
- Entering the Word, Opening the Heart: The Mystical Experience of Prayer
- The Layers of Torah: A Path to God in Jewish Mysticism
- The Virtue of Humility and the Pursuit of Wisdom: Mysticism and Ethics in Judaism
- Mystical Theology: Ideas of God in the Kabbalah
- The Zohar: Reading the Masterpiece of Jewish Mysticism
