A Second Existence: A. Almi, Spiritualism, and the Search for a Secular Jewish Mysticism

• In Event: Pneumatic and Bodily Experiences in Jewish Mysticism

Abstract

This paper will examine the life and work of A. Almi (the adopted name of Eliyahu Hayyim Sheps, 1892-1963), a Yiddish writer and journalist in his native Poland, in Canada, and in the United States. It will pay special attention to his 1921 book Di Tsveyte Existenz which was a favorable description of the doctrines of Spiritualism, which posits the possibility of communicating with the deceased in their “second existence” through séances, mediums, and automatic writing, among other methods. It will also deal with the reaction to the book in the Yiddish press, where it caused a considerable sensation. The controversy over the book will allow us to understand in a more nuanced way the growth of secular, Yiddishist culture in the early twentieth century and its relationship with contemporary trends in scientific, mystical and spiritual discourse.

author

• Ira Robinson, Concordia University