Gershom Scholem
He resurrected the Kabbalah from obscurity, treating Jewish mysticism not as heresy but as a vital, scholarly field worthy of the university.
1897–1982 (age 85)·Israeli philosopher and historian·Birthday: December 5·The Lost Generation
Biography
Gershom Scholem performed an intellectual miracle: he convinced the academic world to take Jewish mysticism seriously. Born in Berlin to an assimilated family, he rebelled by diving headlong into Hebrew and the very texts his father dismissed as 'nonsense.' Emigrating to Palestine in 1923, he carried with him a mission and a vast collection of books. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he built the study of Kabbalah from the ground up, employing rigorous philological and historical methods to map its complex evolution from antiquity to Hasidism. His monumental biography of Sabbatai Zvi redefined how scholars viewed messianic movements. More than just a historian, Scholem was a central figure in the circle of German-Jewish intellectuals that included Walter Benjamin, and his work provided a deep, mystical counter-narrative to the purely rationalist story of Jewish thought, forever altering Jewish self-understanding.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Gershom was born in 1897, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Gershom Was Born
The biggest hits of 1897
Gershom's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1897Born
President: William McKinley
1902Started school
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1910Became a teenager
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1913Could drive
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1915Could vote
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1918Turned 21
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 30
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 40
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1947Turned 50
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1957Turned 60
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1967Turned 70
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1977Turned 80
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1982Died at 85
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
Key Achievements
- Founded the modern academic study of Kabbalah, establishing it as a legitimate discipline within Jewish studies.
- Authored the definitive historical biography 'Sabbatai Zvi: The Mystical Messiah,' a landmark work on Jewish messianism.
- Was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1933, a position created for him.
- His collected works and lectures, particularly 'Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism,' became foundational texts for generations of scholars.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend and correspondent of the philosopher Walter Benjamin and oversaw the publication of Benjamin's work after his death.
He taught himself Hebrew as a teenager and had a fierce, lifelong political commitment to Zionism.
His brother, Werner Scholem, was a prominent Marxist politician in Germany who was later murdered in the Holocaust.
He had a famous, decades-long intellectual rivalry with the historian of Jewish philosophy, Julius Guttmann.
“"It is the task of the historian of Kabbalah to uncover the hidden life which pulsates under the cover of the texts."”
