The Privileged Divine Feminine in Kabbalah

Moshe Idel

Published by De Gruyter 2019

The Privileged Divine Feminine in Kabbalah

Moshe Idel

Volume 10 in the series Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110599800

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Moshe Idel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
1. Introduction – Theosophical Kabbalah: Complexity and Dynamism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Reification and the Ontological Status of Thought and Action in Early Kabbalah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. The Gender Addition to “Action” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
4. On the Elevated Status of the Divine Feminine in Theosophical Kabbalah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
5. The Father, the Head, and the Daughter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
6. Sefer Ma‘arekhet ha-’Elohut and its Reverberations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
7. R. Moshe Cordovero and R. Shlomo ha-Levi Alqabetz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
8. R. Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, His Kabbalist and Sabbatean Followers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
9. R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto: 1707–1746 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
10. The Privileged Female in Some Later Kabbalists in Ashkenaz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
11. Some Hasidic Examples of the Three-Phases Gender Theory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
12. Some Wider Terminological Considerations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
13. Concluding Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Primary Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Name Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	248

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Intellectuals interested in mysticism and its history.
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 251

eBook

Published: November 19, 2018
ISBN: 9783110599800

Hardcover

Published: December 3, 2018
ISBN: 9783110597448

Paperback

Published: December 7, 2020
ISBN: 9783110736434