Academic Biographic Information

Dr. Elhanan Shilo holds a B.A in Jewish Philosophy and  General Studies (including Philosophy and Bible Studies)  from the  Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Master's degree in Jewish philosophy from Bar-Ilan University. The topic of his A.M. thesis: "Kabbalistic Strata in the Thought of Rabbi Kook and their Relationship to Hegel's Philosophy and to the Spirit of the Time", under the supervision of  Prof Aharon Shear-Yashuv. The topic of his Ph.D Thesis: "The Use and Literary Function of Kabbalah in the Works of S.Y.Agnon", was awarded  summa cum laude,  written under the supervision of  Prof. Yoav Elstein, in the Department of Literature of the Jewish People, Bar Ilan University.  Post-Doc: Jewish Philosophy at the  Hebrew University. In this framework, Shilo was a scientific project coordinator of  Prof. Jonathan Garb book:  Modern Kabbalah as an Autonomous Domain of Research.

Shilo's books: The Kabbalah in the Works of S.Y. Agnon and:The Story of the "Nablus Group" (1969-1973),

 A Forgotten Chapter in the History of the Settlements,  (Accepted for publication).

Shilo published a manuscript with commentary of the Lurianic Kabbalah and the Kabbalah of Ramchal written by Rabbi David Cohen (Hanazir), in Or Harazim and Pitche Hapardes.

He also wrote Creative thinking in the book: Existential Judaism, which comes to give an original foundation and a new perception for population that is between of  religious and secular.

Areas of interest:

The Zionist thought as an infrastructure for building a modern-Jewish identity. Connections between  philosophy and literature in the writings of modern creators such as Micha Josef Berdyczewski and A.B. Joshua; The way in which Kabbalah is expressed by modern creators, such as Rabbi Kook and Agnon;The fiction in  Rabbi Nachman of Braslav's tales;Jewish spirituality and revival in Israel and American Judaism;  Political history of the State of Israel.

Research Fields:

• Philosophy of Religion
• Ethics
• Metaphysics
• Abrahamic Religions
• Compertive Religion
• Rabbi Yizhak Isaac
• HaRav Kook
• Agnon S.I
• Ramchal
• Nablus Group
• Unio-Mystic