Journal of Religion and Theology
May 29, 2025
Julian Ungar-Sargon
1 citation
Divine revelation in Jewish textual traditions emerges not from the text alone but from the dialectic between immanence and transcendence, law and mystical yearning. This article examines how interpretive frameworks navigate this paradox by comparing the intellectual approach of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the hermeneutics of religious passion and restraint developed by the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin), and the contemporary philosophical perspectives of Elliot Wolfson, alongside cross-cultural insights from Slavoj Žižek, Moshe Idel, Allan Nadler, and Simone Weil. The analysis illuminates tensions between transcendence and immanence, nomian structure and religious enthusiasm, and the limits of religious language in textual engagement.
New Advances in Brain & Critical Care
January 16, 2026
Julian Ungar-Sargon
Forgetting may be not only neurological decline but a form of sacred release, akin to the Kabbalistic principle of tzimtzum—divine contraction that creates space for new being. Drawing on fifty years of clinical neurology, Jewish mystical theology, phenomenological philosophy, and contemporary neuroscience, the article argues that the medicalization of memory loss has obscured spiritually significant dimensions of human experience. It proposes a framework in which the patient experiencing memory loss is approached not as a failing system requiring repair but as a sacred text requiring interpretation, with implications for clinical practice.
American Journal of Medical and Clinical Research & Reviews
January 1, 2026
Julian Ungar-Sargon
Jewish theology contains an ongoing tension between viewing God as a personal 'Thou' and mystical experiences that dissolve the self into an infinite. This essay argues that Hasidism, particularly its existential and devotional streams, redirects mystical depth toward relational responsibility rather than self-loss. Drawing on scholarship in Jewish mysticism and Hasidic studies, it extends these insights into clinical ethics and addiction recovery, proposing that the I–Thou relation is an ethical discipline of presence. In therapy, this involves practices like tzimtzum (contraction), sacred not-knowing, and refusing premature explanations to preserve the patient's irreducibility.
Journal of Traditional Medicine & Applications
July 1, 2025
Julian Ungar-Sargon
Jewish mystical traditions, particularly Kabbalistic antinomianism and Sabbatian theology, reveal deeper dimensions of the heresy-orthodoxy dialectic in contemporary medical practice. The paradoxical necessity of heresy in these traditions provides insights for understanding resistance to medical orthodoxy. Concepts of divine concealment (tzimtzum), sacred transgression, and the redemptive function of apparent evil show how medical dissidents unconsciously echo ancient patterns of sacred rebellion against institutional authority. The antinomian principle that authentic spiritual realization sometimes requires violation of established law offers implications for medical practitioners seeking to transcend biomedical orthodoxy while honoring the sacred dimensions of healing.