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Walter Benjamin: Pioneering Jewish Mysticism Amidst Zionist Ambivalence

2/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Walter Benjamin became the first professor of Jewish mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His correspondence with Gershom Scholem reveals a complex relationship, including ambivalence toward Zionism.
Benjamin's work focused on German Romanticism and Baroque theatre, though it faced rejection.
He later became a critic applying leftist thought to both high and popular culture, as in his 1928 One-Way Street.

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Story summary

Walter Benjamin became the first professor of Jewish mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His correspondence with Gershom Scholem reveals a complex relationship, including ambivalence toward Zionism.
Benjamin's work focused on German Romanticism and Baroque theatre, though it faced rejection.
He later became a critic applying leftist thought to both high and popular culture, as in his 1928 One-Way Street.