Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals
Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah
Seiten
2023
Wayne State University Press (Verlag)
978-0-8143-5093-5 (ISBN)
Wayne State University Press (Verlag)
978-0-8143-5093-5 (ISBN)
Focusing on the Jewish mystical literature of late thirteenth-century Spain, author Joel Hecker analyses how the Zohar and other esoteric literature represent mystical attainment in their homilies about food.
Focusing on the Jewish mystical literature of late thirteenth-century Spain, author Joel Hecker analyzes how the Zohar and other esoteric literature represent mystical attainment in their homilies about food. What emerges is not only consideration of eating practices but, more broadly, the effects such practices and experiences have on the bodies of practitioners.
Drawing on anthropology, sociology, ritual studies, and gender theory, Hecker shows that Kabbalists conceived the internal topography of the body as itself mystical. Nourishment imagery is used throughout Kabbalistic texts as a metaphor signifying the flow of divine blessing from the upper worlds to the lower, from masculine to feminine, and from Israel to the Godhead. The body's spiritual continuity allows for unions between mystics and their food, table, chair, and wine and is exemplified in the practices and experiences surrounding the consumption of food. This continuity is also applicable to other aspects of embodiment, such as union with other people. Bringing this entire spectrum into focus, Hecker ultimately considers how Kabbalists use the oral cavity and stomach, and even the emotions associated with festive meals, to produce the soul of the mystical saint.
Focusing on the Jewish mystical literature of late thirteenth-century Spain, author Joel Hecker analyzes how the Zohar and other esoteric literature represent mystical attainment in their homilies about food. What emerges is not only consideration of eating practices but, more broadly, the effects such practices and experiences have on the bodies of practitioners.
Drawing on anthropology, sociology, ritual studies, and gender theory, Hecker shows that Kabbalists conceived the internal topography of the body as itself mystical. Nourishment imagery is used throughout Kabbalistic texts as a metaphor signifying the flow of divine blessing from the upper worlds to the lower, from masculine to feminine, and from Israel to the Godhead. The body's spiritual continuity allows for unions between mystics and their food, table, chair, and wine and is exemplified in the practices and experiences surrounding the consumption of food. This continuity is also applicable to other aspects of embodiment, such as union with other people. Bringing this entire spectrum into focus, Hecker ultimately considers how Kabbalists use the oral cavity and stomach, and even the emotions associated with festive meals, to produce the soul of the mystical saint.
Joel Hecker is professor of Jewish mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. A leading expert on the Zohar and medieval kabbalah, Hecker is the translator and commentator of volume 11 and volume 12 (with Nathan Wolski) of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, coeditor of the forthcoming Emotions and Jewish Mysticism, and author of numerous articles dealing with kabbalah, ritual, and emotion in Jewish mysticism. He holds a PhD from New York University and rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 07.06.2023 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology |
| Verlagsort | Detroit, MI |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 272 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Judentum | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-8143-5093-3 / 0814350933 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-8143-5093-5 / 9780814350935 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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