The Jewish-Sufi Mystics of Medieval Egypt

As part of a three-part collaboration with Esoterica & Seekers of Unity, this episode explores the life, teachings and movement of Abraham Maimonides, the son of the much more famous Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (d. 1204).

Sources/Suggested Reading:

Idel, Moshe (1987). "The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia". State University of New York Press

Kraemer, Joel L. (2010). "Maimonides: The Life and World of one of Civilization's Greatest Minds". Doubleday & Co Inc.

Lobel, Diana (2021). "Moses and Abraham Maimonides: Encountering the Divine". Academic Studies Press.

Russ-Fishbane, Elisha (2015). "Judaism, Sufism, and the Pietists of Medieval Egypt: A study of Abraham Maimonides and his times". Oxford University Press

#Judaism #Mysticism #Sufism

[LetsTalkReligion]

Check out the excellent videos by my collaborators!

[TheEsotericaChannel]

Wonderful working together again, Filip - I'm so blessed to call you both colleague and friend!

[lemonbalm]

thanks so much!! as a descendent of syrian and egyptian jews, this content is much up my alley. really appreciate you highlighting the shared culture between muslims and jews in the arab world.

[SeekersofUnity]

Beautiful episode Filip. It’s a pleasure to be exploring these great thinkers and moments alongside you. We have much to learn from them. Ramadan Mubarak. Love, Zevi

[mattinNYC]

Incredible output this week and timely given It’s both Ramadan and Passover.
Much love!

[alexandershepard]

Excellent video, I am a doctoral student in Islamic studies and gave a paper at a zoom conference organized by Leiden University this previous summer on this very topic.

[garrofwar]

It’s really touching to see how the Religious Studies community(?) has grown so much over the past several years on YouTube. It’s rich and in-depth, academic yet accessible, and most importantly: kind and honest. Religion for Breakfast, Esoterica, Let’s Talk Religion, and so many others have made my life infinitely richer. God Bless :)

[Morgenstern]

Phillip dropping knowledge like crazy these days

[icysaracen]

I love how you are unlocking the mysteries of the Islamic world 🌍

[brandonfrench]

Would it be possible to explore the early Christian pietists, the Desert Fathers, of the same region? It would be wonderful to see if there was a continuity of practice between the early Christian ascetics to the Sufis to the Jewish-Sufi mystics.

[othmaneantaki]

The level of intellect you provide in this channel is unparalleled I just want to say thank you please more and more and more

[ThisUnifiedField]

You, like Dr. Sledge of Esotericia, are a joy to listen to you! Thank you

[jmpht]

Maybe you've done this already and I've missed it, but a video looking at the overlap between this, Orthodox Christian mysticism - particularly the East Roman Hesychasts with their divine light from Tabor - and the Sufi parallels would be fascinating!

[jackpayne]

Abraham's own son Obadyah wrote the fascinating, deeply Sufistic 'Al-Maqala al-Hawdiyya' or 'The Treatise of the Pool'. An English translation was published by Octagon Press in 1981.

[sapir]

Sufism and Judaism share a lot in common as someone who studies Judaism and is interesting in Sufism (especially the kabbalistic part that focuses on the meaning of things in life)...

[lewiakk]

I never understood how some rabbis said that prostration isn’t a Jewish concept it’s all over the TaNaCH, Mishnah and both Talmuds.

[charlesrae]

Be as cool and contrarian as you like! It's fascinating to explore the not so well-known byways of religious thought. Thanks for introducing us to this Maimonides, unjustly overshadowed by his father.

[rakhelsimone]

Even if I was unable to hear your incredible presentation on this subject, the artwork along would make it worth watching!!

[goindabongo]

I cant help but be astonished by your work. Thank you for your effort in educating me.

[fractalshift]

I watched them all and really like the approach. Excellent explanations from all three of you!