Customer Reviews

Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals: Eating And Embodiment In Medieval Kabbalah (Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The day I looked, Amazon.com referenced 63,954 items relevant to `food'; fourteen of them dealt with eating as a mystical undertaking. Joel Hecker's Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals is not just an introduction to issues of food preparation and eating in Medieval Kabbalah, it opens the door to a wider, carefully studied understanding of one segment of Jewish mysticism. Dr. Hecker has been well-trained in academic appreciation of the relationship between bodily and mystical adventures. After a prologue dealing with food and food-laws in pre-medieval Judaism, he shows how much of Kabbalah, especially the Zohar, is effected by dining. Idealized foods, mystical satiation, and etiquette are among the issues of focus; the conversations of the Zoharic companions, and their eating practices, are the data from which generalizations are drawn.

The study became more interesting and clearer for me as he approached the possibility of exerting influence on the Creator, as it were. Following the quotation "Blessing does not rest on an empty place", he investigates that possibility, known as theurgy. Dr. Hecker suggests that talismanic theurgy, the use of a material object to bring Divine energies into the world, is most relevant in the study of pre-, para-, and post-prandial Zoharic meetings, conversations, and illuminations.

Since it is possible to prepare and eat food only for the sake of the body, the author is careful to differentiate this approach from the mystical intentions described in the Zohar and other sources, and yet to show how important the body is for an understanding of the mystical mission. It has been argued by Gershon Scholem, and others, that, in mystical pursuits, the "craving for food and sleep or anything else is annihilated." Again, this book shows how that concept is not entirely, or perhaps not even generally true in Jewish mysticism. Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals is not for the absolute beginner; one would want to be already comfortable with medieval studies, or with cultural approaches to food and meals, or with mysticism generally, or, more helpfully, with Jewish mysticism particularly. Given that, however, and a willingness to dig deeply into what becomes a fascinating, careful review, the book is highly recommended.

In "Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals," Joel Hecker has written a fascinating work on eating in Medieval Kabbalah. Since the uninitiated may not be aware of the central role played by food in the Kabbalah, it suffices to point out that the Zohar itself opens by drawing an analogy between Knesset Yisrael and the Kiddush cup. So Hecker's book goes to the very heart of the Kabbalah.

The book is meant primarily as a meticulous work of academic scholarship, and so the novice reader may find it difficult going at first; in this case it would be helpful to consult an introduction to the Kabbalah, such as that found in Daniel Matt's "Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment."

And yet the charm of this book is that its theme - food - makes it accessible to all. For example, as an observant Jew, I found that the insights of the Kabbalah into common practices deeply enriched my own observance. To cite just one example - the somewhat perplexing practice of eating a festive meal on the eve of the Yom Kippur fast - the book quotes the Zohar as suggesting that this may have the function of making the fast more challenging - enabling us to better fulfill the Torah's admonition to "afflict your souls".

In short, this book is to be heartily recommended, not just for the scholar of the Kabbalah, but also for all those who are interested in the role of food in Jewish practice and thought.