Jehuda Leva ben Besalel - Maharal : Obrana uzavřeného světa v židovském myšlení raného novověku – Sládek Pavel (2020)

The monograph is dedicated to a significant Jewish theologian (circa 1525 – 1609), whose life and work are intertwined with Prague, and for whom the legend of the creation of the golem has completely overshadowed his importance for Jewish, as well as more broadly European, religious thought. In the introductory chapters, Maharal is presented in the context of Jewish culture at the end of the Renaissance, often based on printed and manuscript sources that have not yet been mentioned in connection with Maharal. The author characterizes Maharal's writings and his thought, outlining the most significant lines of Maharal's religious-philosophical, as well as social and political reflections. Special attention is paid to the ambivalent relationship of this Jewish scholar to the scientific discoveries of his time. The author presents the thesis that the main impulse for the creation of Maharal's work is the fear of influences that we would today perceive as signs of emerging modernity. "Maharal's attitude towards non-halakhic disciplines," the author writes in conclusion, "is thus the result of the interaction of penetrating intellectual openness and a relentless effort to petrify the existing paradigm. As one of the few Jewish scholars of his time, Maharal deeply understood the latest scientific trends, but ... at the same time he ...