The father of Jewish mysticism: the writing of Gershom Scholem

Introduction: Intellectual history and writing : what it means to read Gershom Scholem

Revolt and romanticism : a first language

Confusion and polemics : taking a position

Asceticism and silence : gaining authority

Esoteric Zionism : politics and language

Victory's despair : reality and crisis

Looking back : rewriting the past

Language and truth : first steps

Lamentations : thinking language

Tradition, teaching, doctrine : a Jewish form of truth

Paradox : fragments of a system

Prophecy and messianism : rethinking history

Revelation : problematic foundations

Philology : poetically spoken

History of religion : a paradigm

Myth and mysticism : fundamental concepts

Gnosticism, misunderstanding, and symbolism : more operative terms?

History of messianism : continuity and rupture?

Explosion and historical test : the essential plot

Jewish modernity : a test of the present

Conclusion: Authority and silence.