Magnificent Rebels: Buber, Rosenzweig and Scholem Against the Jewish World

This course introduces Martin Buber (Vienna, 1878-1965), Franz Rosenzweig (Kassel, 1886-1929), and Gershom Scholem (Berlin, 1897-1982), each having reinvented themselves during their adolescence and early twenties, eventually becoming preeminent representatives of distinct pathways into and through Jewish life. Buber became a modern-day mystic, biblical humanist, and social revolutionary; Rosenzweig, a path-breaking educator, religious visionary, and enthusiast for observance; and Scholem, a pioneering scholar of Kabbalah, Jewish nationalist, and religious anarchist. Intriguingly, they knew each other well: We will listen in on their conversations, as it were, and decide who is most persuasive.