Gal Sofer
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Gal Sofer recently submitted his Ph.D. dissertation to the Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. His research focuses on Jewish and Christian magic, especially demonic magic, from the late Middle Ages to the modern period. He is particularly interested in Solomonic magic texts that have been translated into various languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Italian, French, Latin, Greek, and English. Within the JEWTACT project, Gal will be investigating translations of magical recipes, particularly the translations and transformations of amulets with their verbal and non-verbal components from the sixteenth century onwards.
Selected Publications:
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'The Jewish Reception of the Ars Notoria: Preliminary Insights into a Recent Discovery', Religions 15(3) (2024): 339-360
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“‘And You Should Also Adjure in Arabic:’ Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Formulas in the Solomonic Corpus,” in Esoteric Transfers and Constructions, ed. Mark Sedgwick and Francesco Piraino (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021): 57–71.