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| Boaz Huss | |
|---|---|
| Name | Boaz Huss |
| Native name | בועז חוס |
| Birth date | 1959 |
| Birth place | Jerusalem, Israel |
| Occupation | Scholar, Professor |
| Employer | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Known for | Academic research on Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, contemporary Jewish spirituality |
Boaz Huss
Boaz Huss is an Israeli scholar and professor noted for his research on Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, and contemporary Jewish thought. He has held academic positions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and contributed to studies intersecting religion and modernity, esotericism, and the transmission of mystical traditions. Huss’s work engages with historical texts, modern movements, and the reception of mystical ideas in popular culture.
Born in Jerusalem in 1959, Huss grew up amid the cultural and religious milieu of the State of Israel during periods of social and political change including the aftermath of the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. He pursued undergraduate and graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he completed degrees in Jewish studies and religious studies. Huss’s doctoral research focused on the history of Kabbalah and its textual transmission, drawing on archives and manuscripts from collections such as the National Library of Israel and the libraries of historic yeshivot in Safed and Vilna.
Huss began his academic career as a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later served as a senior faculty member in the university’s Department of Jewish Thought and the Center for the Study of Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism. He has held visiting appointments at institutions including University of Pennsylvania, School of Oriental and African Studies, Hebrew Union College, and the University of California, Berkeley. Huss has also been active in professional organizations such as the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities networks, the American Academy of Jewish Research, and international conferences on esotericism and comparative religion.
Huss’s scholarship addresses the history, doctrine, and cultural impact of Kabbalah from medieval Provence and Spain to early modern Safed and contemporary Israel. He has investigated the reception of the Zohar in different periods, the role of kabbalistic thought in Hasidism, and the interaction between mysticism and Zionism. Huss pioneered studies on the modern popularization of mystical texts, analyzing movements such as Kabbalah Centre and figures like Philip Berg and the influence of celebrities including Madonna on the public image of Kabbalistic teaching. His work situates mystical currents within broader networks comprising printers, manuscript collectors, rabbinic authorities like Isaac Luria and Abraham Abulafia, and intellectuals in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
Methodologically, Huss combines philological analysis of manuscripts and print history with sociological and cultural-theoretical approaches influenced by scholars associated with Benedict Anderson, Said, and researchers of esotericism such as Wouter Hanegraaff. He has contributed to mapping the contours of modern Jewish spirituality by tracing canonical and popular trajectories, including textual censorship, the economy of print in Venice and Amsterdam, and the migration of kabbalistic ideas into New Age milieus.
Huss authored and edited multiple monographs and edited volumes, including works on the historiography of Kabbalah and studies of contemporary reception. His publications examine the textual history of the Zohar, the mysticism of Isaac Luria, and the modern transformations of kabbalistic practice. He has published in journals associated with Jewish history, religious studies, and esotericism, contributing chapters to collections on Hasidism, Sephardic and Ashkenazic mysticism, and modern Israeli religious culture. Huss has also edited critical editions and bibliographic studies that draw upon manuscript collections from institutions such as the British Library and the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
Huss’s research has been recognized by academic prizes and fellowships from institutions including the Israel Science Foundation, the Minerva Stiftung, and the Warburg Institute fellowship programs. He has received research grants for projects on kabbalistic print culture and modern reception, and has been invited as a keynote speaker at conferences organized by the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture and the European Association for Jewish Studies.
Huss’s work has shaped contemporary scholarly debate on how Kabbalah migrated from elite textual worlds into popular culture and modern spirituality. His analyses of the Kabbalah Centre and the commodification of mysticism influenced media coverage and academic critiques involving figures such as Madonna and institutions like the Kabbalah Centre. Scholars in Jewish studies, religious studies, and cultural studies cite his research for its archival rigor and interdisciplinary reach; reviewers in journals of history and religion have noted his contributions to understanding textual transmission, print economies, and the sociology of mystical movements.
Huss has supervised doctoral students who have pursued research on topics including Hasidism, Sephardic mysticism, modern Israeli spirituality, and the interaction between Kabbalah and contemporary art. He has collaborated with scholars from institutions such as the Warburg Institute, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the University of Oxford, and the École Pratique des Hautes Études on projects examining manuscript cultures, ritual practices, and the global circulation of esoteric knowledge.
Category:Israeli academics Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Category:Scholars of Judaism