Reviewed by: The Origins of Jewish Mysticism Eliezer Segal The Origins of Jewish Mysticism, by Peter Schäfer. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009. 398 pp. €99.00. The Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1) identified a number of topics in the rabbinic curriculum that could not be taught openly, among which the most secret was "the work of the chariot," the Ma'aseh Merkavah. It is clear that this esoteric discipline...