Kabbalah and Eros [Hardcover]

Professor Moshe Idel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2005

In this book, the world’s foremost scholar of Kabbalah explores the understanding of erotic love in Jewish mystical thought. Encompassing Jewish mystical literatures from those of late antiquity to works of Polish Hasidism, Moshe Idel highlights the diversity of Kabbalistic views on eros and distinguishes between the major forms of eroticism.

The author traces the main developments of a religious formula that reflects the union between a masculine divine attribute and a feminine divine attribute, and he asks why such an “erotic formula” was incorporated into the Jewish prayer book. Idel shows how Kabbalistic literature was influenced not only by rabbinic literature but also by Greek thought that helped introduce a wider understanding of eros. Addressing topics ranging from cosmic eros and androgyneity to the affinity between C. J. Jung and Kabbalah to feminist thought, Idel’s deeply learned study will be of consuming interest to scholars of religion, Judaism, and feminism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Idel, with the brilliance and learning we have come to expect, has illuminated what went into ''the culture of eros'' among a large cast of rabbbinic and kabbalistic authors. His book makes for surprising and fascinating reading."Geoffrey Hartman, Yale University -- Geoffrey Hartman

About the Author

MOSHE IDEL is Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, and senior researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem. He is the author of Absorbing Perfections (winner of the Koret Prize for Jewish Thought), Kabbalah, and Messianic Mystics, all published by Yale University Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030010832X
• ISBN-13: 978-0300108323
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,108,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenging but extremely worthwhile., May 17, 2006

By 

Shachar Link (Douglaston, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kabbalah and Eros (Hardcover)

This book completely changed the way I understand Kabbalah. Idel's argument is that Eros is perhaps the major hermeneutic key that we need to understand the worldview of many Kabbalists. Once we have the groundwork that he lays, it becomes possible to see the erotic dimensions of one kabbalistic text and concept after another, thus further heightening the daring and provocative nature of Kabbalah that we already know. His book is meant for those already familiar with academic study of the Kabbalah, so if you are turned off by academic language, this book is not for you. But I think that in order to get into the deeper (and more interesting) aspects of Kabbalistic thinking, it is definitely worth the struggle of reading a world-class scholar like Idel. Also, the burgeoning research in Kabbalah since Scholem, that Idel is a part of and furthering, allows us to understand Kabbalah in ways that were not possible even 20 years ago, and this book is a product of all of this research. Another thing I liked about the book is that it is more coherent, I think, than Idel's "New Perspectives" -- Idel seems to be moving toward a more holistic underdstanding of Kabbalah, although he is always cautious not to oversimplify -- Kabbalah has many streams of thought and practice, and Idel has done much to identify the incredible diversity of Kabbalah. In this book he does so by focusing on various attitudes toward the erotic.