Idel address the preeminent status of the divine feminine power, also referred to as Female, within the theosophical structures of many important Kabbalist, Sabbatean thinkers, and Hasidic masters. The problem, he says, is that modern scholarship incorporates issues of sex and gender and applies these concerns to the study of Kabbalah, which was not concerned with with sex and gender. Among his topics are reification and the ontological status of thought and action in early Kabbalah, on the elevated status of the divine feminine in theosophical Kabbalah, R. Moshe Cordovero and R. Shlomo ha-Levi Alqabetz, the privileged female is some later Kabbalists in Ashkenaz, and some Hasidic examples of the three-phases gender theory. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
This volume addresses the complex topic of the preeminent status of the divine feminine power, to be referred also as Female, within the theosophical structures of many important Kabbalists, Sabbatean believers, and Hasidic masters. This privileged status is part of a much broader vision of the Female as stemming from a very high root within the divine world, then She was emanated and constitutes the tenth, lower divine power, and even in this lower state She is sometime conceived of governing this world and as equal to the divine Male. Finally, She is conceived of as returning to Her original place in special moments, the days of Sabbath, the Jewish Holidays or in the eschatological era. Her special dignity is sometime related to Her being the telos of creation, and as the first entity that emerged in the divine thought, which has been later on generated. In some cases, an uroboric theosophy links the Female Malkhut, directly to the first divine power, Keter. The author points to the possible impact of some of the Kabbalistic discussions on conceptualizations of the feminine in the Renaissance period.
Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts focuses on the Jewish textual tradition as well as the ways it evolves in response to new intellectual, historical, social and political contexts. Fostering dialogue between literary, philosophical, political and religious perspectives, this series, which consists of original scholarship and proceedings of international conferences, reflects contemporary concerns of Jewish Studies in the broadest sense. This series focuses on the Jewish textual tradition as well as the ways it evolves in response to new intellectual, historical, social and political contexts. Fostering dialogue between literary, philosophical, political and religious perspectives, this series, which consists of original scholarship and proceedings of international conferences, reflects contemporary concerns of Jewish Studies in the broadest sense.
