On angels and biblical exegesis in thirteenth-century Ashkenaz

This chapter continues the theme of esoteric interpretation, considering the Ashkenazic cultural context. The traditions of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, which often build upon the earlier rabbinic traditions of Heikhalot mysticism, emphasize such tools as the use of gematria and the invocation of angelic names, which sets them apart from contemporaneous kabbalistic and philosophical modes of exegesis. Through the delineation of the continuity of tradition from the ancient Near East to medieval German Jewry, the chapter echoes the broad time-span that unifies Fishbane's work on ancient myth and later mythmaking.