During the 20th century Kabbalah aroused renewed interest in the academic world. Modern research on Kabbalah was led by Prof. Gershom Scholem at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Professor Gershom Scholem was born in Berlin in 1897 and immigrated to Palestine, then under the British Mandate, in 1923. Scholem began his career as the curator of the Judaica Department of the then Jewish National and University Library, subsequently becoming Professor of Kabbalah at the newly established Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Scholem published some 700 scholarly books and articles on all aspects of Jewish Mysticism during his lifetime.

At his request, his enormous book collection (some 25,000 titles) was transferred to the National Library upon his death in 1982, and  the Gershom Scholem Collection for Kabbalah Research was instituted. This special reading room, which today contains approximately 35,000 titles, is one of the outstanding

treasures of the National Library, serving as the leading center for Kabbalah research in the world. It is here that scholars pour over the great works of Jewish Mysticism, such as De Lonzano's manuscript, paving the way for continued academic research for coming generations.