In this Book
- Forsaken: The Menstruant in Medieval Jewish Mysticism
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: Brandeis University Press
- Series: Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry & HBI Series on Jewish Women
summary
This book addresses a central question in the study of Jewish mysticism in the medieval and early modern periods: why are there no known female mystics in medieval Judaism, unlike contemporaneous movements in Christianity and Islam? Sharon Faye Koren demonstrates that the male rejection of female mystical aspirations is based in deeply rooted attitudes toward corporeality and ritual purity. In particular, medieval Jewish male mystics increasingly emphasized that the changing states of the female body between ritual purity and impurity disqualified women from the quest for mystical connection with God. Offering a provocative look at premodern rabbinical views of the female body and their ramifications for women’s spiritual development, Koren compares Jewish views with medieval Christian and Muslim views of both female menstruation and the possibility of female mystical experience.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-12
- I. Early Jewish Mysticism
- II. Medieval Kabbalah
- III. Mysticism & Menstruation in Islam & Christianity
- 8 Menstrual Impurity and Sufism
- pp. 127-143
- Conclusion
- pp. 172-176
- Bibliography
- pp. 237-276
Additional Information
ISBN
9781611680225
Related ISBN(s)
9781584659815, 9781584659822
MARC Record
OCLC
781678820
Pages
286
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2011