Joseph Dan is an
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i scholar of Jewish mysticism. He taught for over 40 years in the Department of
Jewish ThoughtJewish Thought is a field of Jewish Studies that deals with the products of Jewish thought and culture throughout the ages, and their historical development...
at the
Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's oldest university....
. He was the first incumbent of the
Gershom ScholemGershom Scholem , also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a Jewish philosopher and historian raised in Germany...
Chair in Jewish Mysticism at The Hebrew University.
Dan was born in 1935 in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
,
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
, from where, at the age of four, he and his family fled out of fear of the
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
, settling later in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
. All the biographical documents about Joseph Dan (including his own website) give his birthplace as
BratislavaBratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...
,
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
, a version created by his father to escape repatriation by the British government in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
.
In the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dan began a double major in
AssyriologyAssyriology is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia and the related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers not just Assyria but also that nation's eventual conqueror, Babylonia, together with the predecessor of both civilizations, Sumer...
and Jewish Thought.
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Joseph Dan is an
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i scholar of Jewish mysticism. He taught for over 40 years in the Department of
Jewish ThoughtJewish Thought is a field of Jewish Studies that deals with the products of Jewish thought and culture throughout the ages, and their historical development...
at the
Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's oldest university....
. He was the first incumbent of the
Gershom ScholemGershom Scholem , also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a Jewish philosopher and historian raised in Germany...
Chair in Jewish Mysticism at The Hebrew University.
Biography
Dan was born in 1935 in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
,
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
, from where, at the age of four, he and his family fled out of fear of the
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
, settling later in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
. All the biographical documents about Joseph Dan (including his own website) give his birthplace as
BratislavaBratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...
,
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
, a version created by his father to escape repatriation by the British government in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
.
In the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dan began a double major in
AssyriologyAssyriology is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia and the related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers not just Assyria but also that nation's eventual conqueror, Babylonia, together with the predecessor of both civilizations, Sumer...
and Jewish Thought. Under the influence of the revered teacher Gershom Scholem, he was attracted towards Jewish mysticism.
Having written more than 60 books, he published recently the first three volumes of a project titled "Toledot Torat Hasod Ha'ivrit" ("History of Jewish Mysticism and Esotericism", Zalman Shazar Center, Jerusalem), which he describes as "an attempt by one individual to write the entire history of Jewish mysticism: not some executive summary, but rather a full-blown academic survey abridgment for executives but with academic detail".
External links