Kabbalah was once dismissed as medieval mumbo-jumbo that no self-respecting Jew in the West would give any time to.

Now the mystical tradition is widely recognised as the extraordinary product of the Jewish religious imagination and an enduring source of spiritual insight.

That is no small measure due to Gershom Scholem, the German-born Israeli scholar (1897-1982), who gave academic respectability to the study of Kabbalah.

On Monday to Wednesday next week, the Institute of Jewish Studies in London is devoting its summer conference to Scholem’s work.

Papers will be given by leading scholars from around the world.

The conference is free. For more details, see here.