Abstract
The essay presents a dialogic, co-authored reflection on the uses of Jewish and Christian mystical texts in exploring post-Shoah possibilities for Jewish-Christian encounter and dialogue, specifically in the context of the college classroom.The authors explore Buber’s thesis that the heart of each religion is to be found in its mystical dimension, and address the lack of scholarly attention to mystical experience as a dialogic medium of communication and as a means to heal historic trauma.
Highlights
In 1909, Martin Buber (1878-1965) published Ecstatic Confessions: The Heart of Mysticism, a collection of firstperson accounts of mystical experiences.[1]
The source materials, though heavily weighted toward Christian mysticism, include Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, and Taoist texts authored between c. 400 BCE and the early 19th century
Multi-centered assembly of female and male authors, Buber asserted that human dignity and an individual’s power to self-define without injury are upheld through inner experiences (Erlebnisse) of the Divine
Summary
In 1909, Martin Buber (1878-1965) published Ecstatic Confessions: The Heart of Mysticism, a collection of firstperson accounts of mystical experiences.[1]. Wiethaus: I felt a great urgency to develop new pedagogies, because the two-fold focus of our course, dialog and mysticism, demand a more nuanced and a more accurate exploration than traditional pedagogies derived from the Socratic Method or the analytic focus of critical studies. These pedagogies don’t allow for exploring the fullness and richness and complexity of both dialog and mysticism, so I saw a lack of available cognitive tools, if you wish, in traditional humanities pedagogies
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