Inner Religion in Jewish Sources

Ron Margolin is Professor of Jewish thought and the study of religion at Tel Aviv University and Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is the author of many studies in Hasidism, modern Jewish thought, secular Judaism and comparative religion. Margolin’s Hebrew book The Human Temple: Religious Interiorization and the Structuring of Inner Life in Early Hasidism will soon be published in English by De Gruyter Press.

Ron Margolin is a professor of Jewish thought and the study of religion at Tel Aviv University and Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is the author of many studies in Hasidism, modern Jewish thought, secular Judaism, and comparative religion. Margolin’s Hebrew book The Human Temple: Religious Interiorization and the Structuring of Inner Life in Early Hasidism will soon be published in English by De Gruyter Press.

“[Inner Religion in Jewish Sources] … is an informative handbook with abounding materials… [Margolin’s] independent spirit, which, by the way, surpasses the scope of phenomenology and also applies itself to the domain of the research of Jewish mysticism … is one of the features that render this book a good read… What this book offers us is a comprehensive reader, a neat elaboration of all the human psyches, as well as human endeavors to search for connections with God.”

–Yutong Li, Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte, KU Leuven, Phenomenological Reviews

“This book is a brilliant and exciting leap forward in the study of religion—Judaism in general and Hasidism in particular. Through his inspired use of the phenomenological method, Margolin leads us to Hasidism’s fundamental idea, shedding new light on its sources, and providing a key to a religious world as yet unknown. His unique recourse to phenomenological hermeneutics and the comparative study of religions make this a groundbreaking study, opening up an unusual and valuable field of research.”

—Avi Sagi, Professor of Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University

“Ron Margolin offers us a tour de force of Jewish thought. His immense erudition is put at the service of a fundamental rereading of Jewish religion. Margolin presents us with a view of interiorization as a fundamental modality of the religious life, in Judaism as well as in other religions. If spiritual seekers to date have tended to gravitate to the Kabbalah in quest of spiritual experience and interiority, Margolin demonstrates the breadth and depth of religious interiority and how deeply embedded it is in all aspects of Jewish religion. This is a sophisticated theoretical book for scholars of religion. Its message is popular and can speak to spiritual seekers and to whoever cares deeply about Judaism and its enduring relevance.”

—Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Director, the Elijah Interfaith Institute