SCHOLEM, GERSHOM (1897–1982), was the founder of a school of rigorous historical and philological study of Jewish mysticism (Qabbalah). Although earlier Jewish historians had treated Qabbalah, they generally regarded it either as disreputable or, at best, as a part of Jewish philosophy. Scholem showed that the mystical tradition was a discipline in its own right, and, by the discovery and dating of hundreds of manuscripts, he established its textual and intellectual history. A prolific writer, he issued his findings in numerous publications.

Scholem was born in Berlin to a family of printers. Although his parents were partly assimilated, Scholem became a passionate Jew and a committed Zionist. He taught himself Hebrew and acquired a Jewish education while still in secondary school. Opposed to World War I on Zionist grounds—that it was against the interests of the Jews—he was expelled from school for circulating a pamphlet...