{"title":"On Equality and Irreducibility of Female to Male in Safedian Forms of Kabbalah","authors":"Moshe Idel","doi":"10.1163/18750214-bja10043","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n In kabbalistic writings equality between the male and female divine entities recurs in dozens of instances and this is also the case in Safedian forms of Kabbalah. However, there is an additional theme to equality, that is shared by the two main and extensive literary corpora, that of Moses Cordovero and the much later texts of his former disciple, that of R. Hayyim Vital: the irreducibility of the female principle to the male one during the sexual encounter. The present study explores the passages reflecting the details of this similarity, as well as the theurgical impact of the feminine soul, in the wider context of the relationship between some important ideas shared by those distinct kabbalistic writings.","PeriodicalId":40667,"journal":{"name":"Zutot","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Zutot","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18750214-bja10043","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In kabbalistic writings equality between the male and female divine entities recurs in dozens of instances and this is also the case in Safedian forms of Kabbalah. However, there is an additional theme to equality, that is shared by the two main and extensive literary corpora, that of Moses Cordovero and the much later texts of his former disciple, that of R. Hayyim Vital: the irreducibility of the female principle to the male one during the sexual encounter. The present study explores the passages reflecting the details of this similarity, as well as the theurgical impact of the feminine soul, in the wider context of the relationship between some important ideas shared by those distinct kabbalistic writings.
期刊介绍:
Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture aims to fill a gap that has become more and more conspicuous among the wealth of scholarly periodicals in the field of Jewish Studies. Whereas existing journals provide space to medium and large sized articles, they neglect the small but poignant contributions, which may be as important as the extended, detailed study. The Zutot serves as a platform for small but incisive contributions, and provides them with a distinct context. The substance of these contributions is derived from larger perspectives and, though not always presented in an exhaustive way, will have an impact on contemporary discussions. The Zutot covers Jewish culture in its broadest sense, i.e. encompassing various academic disciplines—literature, languages and linguistics, philosophy, art, sociology, politics and history—and reflects binary oppositions such as religious and secular, high and low, written and oral, male and female culture.