Chapter & Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah: Some Philosophical Observations on the Divine Androgyne Elliot R. Wolfson In recent years various writers have attempted to find a place for the voice ofthe feminine in Jevish religious expression, Some of ‘these writers have naturally tamed to the rich legacy of medieval ‘Jewish mysticism, known in scholarly literature as theosophic Jkabbalah, which characterizes the nature ofthe divine in terms of ‘masculine and feminine attributes. In the search fora traditional ‘corpus in which to ground feminine images of God, this haa been logical avenue of constructive theology. However, while I am not ‘unsympathetic to such a project on a personal level, I would raise ‘question regarding the viability of using the kabbaliatic iteratare to cull images of the feminine God without taking into consideration the precise nature of the cultural context that produced that literature. Tt is not sufficient to lit descriptions ofthe masculine tnd feminine out of their particular religous and socceultural milieu, as the issue of gender (and body more generally) cannot be isolated from such context, ‘The same critique may be leveled against mast scholars who Ihave discussed the role of gender in Kabbalistic symbolism and rth. Little attention has been paid to the specific cultural contexts ‘wherein the different kubbalistic ideas were expreaeed,_ Previous ‘scholarship on this ise has tended to take for granted the use of gender without analyzing the way that gender fonctions ina larger ‘environment Tn line with contemporary anthropologists, I assume that sex/ ‘gender types are sociocultural conatructs that are often expressed in 166 Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 167 biological terms.‘ When the discussion is cast in this light it will be seen how precarious is the attompt to bage current feminist theology in Judaism on these medieval sources. Such a project will succeed ‘only when itis understood that the feminine images of God that {inform one's theological posture must reflect current. cultural foncerns and cannot simply be extracted from sources roted in an entirely diferent context that is thoroughly androcentric A cial, ‘even deconstructive, orientation munt be applied to images ofthe fominine in theosophic kabbalah before they canbe wilized in contemporary feminist approaches to Judaism. ‘This prosentation brings together two eatentil elements in ‘kabbalistic theotophy: on tho one hand, the issue of femininity or fomaleness, particularly as it relate to the Godhead, and on the other, the problem of otherness, that which is distinet from or Independent of the divine. ‘The decidedly monistic tendency of abbalistic metaphysice as it haa developed over the centuriea, in ‘some cases even leaning toward panentheism, pantheism,” or ‘cosmism, makes positing an Other in any ultimate vense highly ‘roblematic. Ina universe where alls God, what is other than God? ‘Thu, in ite classical formulation, theveaphic Kabbalah cannot tolerate concept of hsolute otherness a8 posited by standard ‘ntological dualism. “If we are to speak of an Other within the ‘theoretical framework of kabbalah, it must bea relative Other, ie, ‘otherness in relation to something that may ultimately be disssived ‘From its incipient stages, kabbalistc speculation links the isoue of otherness to the feminine. The accepted gender stereotypes in ‘medieval Buropean society wherein theosophic Kabbalah flourished? ‘enhanced hy the patriarchal norms of rabbinic ulture? associates the masculine with holiness ight, the right aide of grace, and the {feminine with impurity (even the demonic), darkness, the left sie of Judgment and severity. These stereotypes were by ne means unique ‘to Jewish mysticiom, but they gained added currency through ‘Kabbalistic literature insofar as the ius of gender in this corpus intruded into theological discourse more profoundly than it did in the multiple currents of rabbinic Judaism. Even though feminine ‘mages wore employed in the classical aggadic and ancient esoteric tents to describe things pertaining to the divine, the fact remains that only in theosophic kabbelah does the imale-female polarity ‘become a central tenet that informs the theological imagination oo the level of ritual and belief, symbol and myth,168 Bie R. Wolfton In this study, I shall approach the problem of the feminine as Other in Kabbalah by exploring in detail a relatively neglected ‘spect ofthe myth ofthe primordial androgyny. ‘To do this, 1 shal select kabbalistic texts from the formative period of kabbela in the ‘orelfth and thirteenth centuries, Before proceeding tothe analysis ofthe relevant material, let me offer th following dscaimer: It is no lees a mistake to think ofa single kabbaistic perspective on the topic of woman as Other than it ia to think of a singular atitude with respect to any of the essential ideas in theosophie kabbalah ‘There isa great deal of diversity in kabbalstic texts related tothe lave of gender; here I propose to deal with one motif that has not, in my opinion, received sufiient notice by acholars: the moniatc framework of the kabbelatic myth of the divine androgyay. In the following pages, I shall argue that a basic tension lis at the heart of kabbalistic speculation regarding the androgynous nature of the divine and its reflection in the human sphere: an the ‘one hand, insofar as the divine ia characterized by & male-fomale syayey, the task of homo religious is to unite theoo two aspecta ia order to restore the primal unity of Ged; on the other hand, ab a consequence of the androcentric orientation that colored the saci religious environment of the kabbalists, the divine androgyny is Primarily male* That i not only are the masculine characteristics regarded as positive and the feminine as negative, but the latter i itaelf ultimately abvorbed by the former. Despite the larger role ‘ccorded the female in Kabbalistic mythology, the female continaes tobe subordinated tothe male ‘The redemptive task (prlepticaly realized by kabbalists in the performance of normative rituals with the proper mystical inten- tions) isto reintograte the female in the male or, to put the matter in terms of the wellknown gnostic motif expressed in the Gospel of Thomas, to "make the female male In the state of conjunctio ‘ppositorum, the two aro unified in a manner that the female Decomes male. Conversely, when the female is separated from male, or when the female is treated as an autonomous ‘power divorced from the upper nine emanations, the female either comes ‘under the dominion of the demonic ot assumes a demonic charac: ter” Ie san act of heresy to worship the feminine in isolation from. the masculine, and therein lis the paychological root of idolatry." ‘The demonization ofthe female in also expressed in terme of the ‘male becoming female, ic, the impotent or ealibate male—mythie- ally depicted in the Zohar and other kabbalistic works fom the late- Woman—Phe Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 169 thirtenthcentury Castile as the Edomite kings who symbolically ropresent Christianity on the histaricl plane’has the ane ont status as the female. This point ia expressed in striking terme at the very beginning of one of the more reeandite textual unite {included in the zobaric anthology, the Sifra di-Zeniuta (‘Book of Conceslment): "Before there waa a balance” they didnot lok face ‘fac, andthe primordial king died, their weapons were not found ‘and the land was destroyed." Tt is evident that the word "weap ons" in this passage functions as a metaphor for the membrum vir boli valence of females, ie, untompered forces of judgment. ‘Aa will be argued more fully below, although kabbalists (and later Hasidim drawing upon the Kabbalistic tradition) strove to discover the underlying unity of reality, this quest didnot lead to breakdown of either the social divisions between men and women Within the Jewish community or the religiou-cultural boundaries ‘between Jew and nonvJew. Nowhere in kabbalistie literature, a far ‘as I am aware, do we hear of a tandency to harmonize or ejuaise the social roles of men and women” It is certainly the case, ‘moreover, that despite occasional references to women's epritual visions, the circles of Jewish mystica through the age including the ‘Hasidic groups in Eastern Europe ofthe eightaenth and nineteenth centuries)" were exclusively male fraternities” ‘Thus, there iz an __ essential homology between the structure ofthe myth af divine unity predicated on the transcondence of sexual opposites, on the. one hhand, and the structure of social relationships, on the ther. "That 4, just as in the former caso the female is subordinated tothe male, 10 too in the Inter. In the worldview of the medieval theosophic kabbelists asin a variety of ancient Gnostic sources, especially of Valentnien prove ‘nance, the culti retrieval of sexual unity isin facta "reconsstuted masculinity," ie, the union of the sexee results in making the female male The yearning to transcend otherness and separation (signs of exile and death) manifests ite ina reunification (redemp- tion or salvation) of malo and female in which the female is aby sorbed inthe male and the polarity of male and female is sboished ‘The myth of the divine androgyne in Kabbalistic sources, asin the170 Elliot R. Wolfeon Gnostic compositions of Late Antiquity, is yet another expression of 1 socially dominant androcentrism. ‘The ultimate goal of religious 4 bbehavior is the containment of the feminine left in the masculine right" or, to put the matter in slightly different terms, the neutral {zation of the female power in the unity of the androgynous mal In earlier strands of Jewish etotericism, ua one finds in more ‘exoteric modes of aggadic discourse, the anthropomorphic character: izations ofthe divine are decidedly masculine. ‘Thus, for example, in the Hekhalot texts it is evident that the central image ie that of the divine king sitting upon his throne of glory." In the more | radically anthropomorphic texts ofthe Shiur Qomah tradition, the Visible and measurable enthroned form is male in nature; indeed, explicit reference is made to the phallus even though ite exact ‘measure isnot given.” Finally, in another work of ancient Jewish esoteric, the Sefer Yezirah, reference is alao made to the divine lanthropos, depicted in terms of the ten sefrot corresponding tothe ‘ten fingers, five against five, withthe covenants of the tongue and phallus sot in the middle as the covenant of oneness.” Here the ‘masculine nature ofthe imagined form of the divine inthe pleroma (of sefirot is unparalleled by other tera, for the phallus itself ie ‘singled out as one of two foc of divine unity. It has been suggested bby some scholars that an underlying component of the ancient ‘Jewish esoteric tradition posited an androgynous element in the 4ivine pleroma, but the dominant characterization of the enthroned ‘and measurable glary is masculine, The move to an elaborate char- ‘ctarization of the divine anthropos as androgynous is distinctively the patrimony of theosophie kabbalists in the High Middle Ages, although allusions to such a thoological posture are found in the ‘writings of the Rhineland Jewish pitts as well” ‘There area variety of basic structures that inform the ieational character of theocophic kabbaluh. ‘One such structure ia that ofthe divine androgyny, referred to in the literature af the kabbalists at durparzufim, two-faced, the technical loeution employed in the ‘rabbinic aggadah to characterie the nature of Adam at creation = In Kabbalistic parlance, this term denotes the idea that God is simultaneously male and female, Le, that therein a masculine and fominine aspect to the divine.” Bracketing for the moment the question of the antiquity af this idea (or related images) in the history of Judaism, it is unquestionable that the notion of «divine ssyAyey isa critical component of Kabbalistic speculation, Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 171 Consider, for example, the following testimony of Todros ben ‘Josoph Abulafia regarding the aggadie motif af du parsuim: "Know that all the elements of tho proper tradition the qabbolah. he ‘nekhonah), in their principles and details, are all built upon this foundation, and they revolve around this point. It is & deep secret ‘upon which are hanging very high mountain." ‘The frst composition that espouses an elaborate and sustained theosophie position charactarisic of medieval kabbelah isthe Sof ‘a-Bahir. In that work, the idea ofthe ayzygy is contextualized in {teems of the primordial anthropos. Indeed, the Bahir unguaifvingly {Interprets the divine image (elem elohim) by toeans of which Adsia was created in terms of the correspondence between human and divine limbs. ‘Thus, in one instance seven limbs are specified: wo ‘hands, head, body, two thighs, and the male and female sex organs, which are considered as one (bert milah weauge hegkoinan had) In another passage eight extremitien are mentioned: two handa, two ‘ec, head, body, phallus, and the female who isthe counterpart to the male * ‘Unlike the former passage wherein the female Was considered as one entity with the male, in the latter passage the {male complements the malo and is enumerated as an autonomous Just asthe divine anthropos was characterized in these androgy- ‘ous terms, so the human below was expected ta emulate this stato ‘of harmony by the man cleaving to the woman and becoming one ‘leah, sated in Gon, 2:24, which eed inthe baie otest {under investigation. In another passage, the Bahir speaks of even holy forms of God that correspond to seven limbs tn the human being: the two thighs, wo hands, head, body, and phallon” and ef the Woman as a counterpart to the male” ‘The language of the text makes it clear thatthe female is considered part of the tale in the same way that Eve was part of Adam. Thus, the bahirie ‘authorship comments after delineating the six limbe ‘You sidther were veven! The seventh is his wif, aie writen, “IHence a man lave his father and mother ae cings toe ie] to that they become one lah" (Gen, 2:20) Thus she ws akon ‘rom hsb a itis writen, He tok oe oh ha ‘The androgynous nature of the divine ie also implied in another Yerae cited in this section, "in the image of Ged He creeted his, ‘male and female He created them" (Gen. 1:27) According to the172 Elliot R, Wolfion understanding of the Baki, reiterated in subsoquent Kabbalistic literature, the divine image by means of which Adam was crested comprises male and female. "Yet, itis evident that the feminine sment is contained within the masculine, and not vee versa. ‘This point is elucidated by the parable of the King’s seven sone that Introduces the text just cited. ‘Those gons are the seven holy forma that are compared to seven limbe that inclade either th fll form of ‘8 woman or the female gontals that complement the phallus. Th Drimordial androgyny is further illustrated by 2 second parable in the same context: ‘To what may this bo compared? To king who decid to plant in ‘ls gerden nine male ren and all of them were to be plea "Ho and, Iall of them willbe of the same apecin, they wil not be thle to sxot.Whet di he do? Tle planed a citon-re (er) ‘amongst thom, and it is ono ofthe nine that ere a ha nd tbe ‘ale but the cto i female™ ‘The fact that the tree that is female was initially one of the males symbolizes that the female aspect of the divine pleroma is itself part tf the masculine. The point is emphasized once again in the Bahir ‘where the citron is associated symbolically with the beloved des- ‘ribed in Song of Songs 6:10: “On account of her the female was ‘taken from Adam, for the upper and lower worlds could not exist without the female ‘While other passages from the Bahir dealing with the eyeyey ‘ould be cited, the texts discussed above permit the following ‘conclusions: Just asthe human below comprises male and female, ‘0 too the divine image above, and just as below the female is ‘comprisod within the male, so tao above the female axpoct i pat of ‘the male, Hence one cannot really speak ofthe female as Other in ‘any absolute sense. This point {s epitomized in another babirie passage where a purable is offered to explain why the glory (havad) is blessed independently when it is one ofthe divine patencee: ‘To what may tia be compared? ‘Te a man who has a beeiifal tere, and stad the gun and cn oe thre sa beet fala. “AL dhe beginning be viata his garden andthe water ‘wont all over tho garden but not upon tht Seld whichis not ‘ranectd, eventhough eveything is ope. Therefore be opened lace frit and ivigatd it eparaaly = Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbolsh 478 ‘Just as the field is unified with yet separate from the garden, so the feminine potency ofthe divine i distinc’ from yet unified with the ‘other, masculine potencies. ‘Tho ultimate taak of homo religioous, ‘andthe final goal of the historical procees tel sto achieve state wherein the female is reintograted into the male Tn one section ofthe Bahir, a reworking ofthe aggndic interpre- tation ofthe word yinnon in Ps. 72:17 ab a reference to the proper ‘ame of the Messiah,* the kabbalist author reflects, "[The word -yinnon] has a double nan, the bent nun and the straight nun, fot Ithe redemption] must happen through the iasculine and’ the feminine." Commenting on this Scholem noted, "This ig Jewish ‘gross, in pronounced contrast to antinomian and encratist tenden ‘ea Scholem goes on to contrat the idea of redemption implied ‘nthe bahirc text with an apocryphal remark of Jeaus inthe Gospel of Phomos alin to abort the ft that redemption ie marked ‘siamph over the masculine and feminine... that rostablishen ‘heir original unity, but anys nothing of redemption ie resting ‘om the union ofthe masculine and feminine, The conjunction of {he two principles in cartsialy net the same x over thet a the restablshment ef an orginal androgynous tate ™ Lam not certain that Scholem’s attempt to contrast the Christian ‘gosta and the Jewish on this score can be upheld. That is it seems to me that the Jewish gnosis as expressed in the Bahir, and devel- ‘oped further in subsequent theosophie kabbalah, is predicated on notion of redemption that signifies a return to an original unity in the divine pleroma. In this unity, vexual differentiation is either transcended or the fominine ia reintgrated in the masculine, in ‘contrast to the continual coupling ofthe two potencies” ‘The view that I have attributed to the bahiric authorship ia confirmed in one of the few kabbalatic texta that may have been futhored by R. Abraham ben David of Posquiéres, widely regarded. by subsequent kabbaliste aa one of the first links in the chain of ‘transmission of this esoteric knowledge, The passage, a sustained raflection on the rabbinic notion that Adam was ereated di pareufim. (two-faced), has been studied by various scholars” However, given the central importance of this txt to the thematic of this analysis, ‘it would be prudent to cit iin full"AT Bit R. Wotfeon ‘The Rabad explained tha the reaton for the creation fo Ada at double faced (u-parzufn) wea 9 thatthe wornen woul ey her husband for her fie depends on him, and they should ot each go his or er own way, but rater there abosld be a lnenees ad friendship botwoen them without eparstion, ‘Then there wil be esce between them and harmony Ia their abide Thue ony fds ‘ith reupect to the agent of truth, whawe action ia truth" The enson forthe (ol fans indicates te things Peis kaos ‘that two opposites were emanated, one ef pare judgment (dit ‘gomur) and the other of pare mery rahamimn gear) I they ‘had not been emanated dble faced, each of them would neti atcordano wih a own atrbute, It would then appear aif they ‘wee two lepartel powers and cath one wold ac wtheat any Sonnestion to the other and without tw asntace, Bat new that they were crete doubleface, all ther action take pee Loge cr in'an evenly balanced manaer end perf unity, witout any ‘separation. Moreover i thay had nit bn rented deface no ‘erect unity could emerge from them, and the sttbute of ude ‘ment could ot ris to that ef mercy, nor that of mere a jgment. Now that they have boon created dsble face, cach of them draws clog and unites withthe other, and yearae and dsie oben tothe othe, so that th tabernace willbe one, Yu Bnd pret of ‘Bsn the fac hat each of tho livine] names refers to theater. ‘Thus you God that the Tetragrammaton the alibute of mers) {ndicaten the aitibute of judgment, ad Elohim fhe atirbuto af jngment] the atrbute of mercy as in “De Lord rained por Sodom and Gomorrah slfous Sr" (Gen. 19°24 He passed fom one attrite ta the ther ‘The two attributes of God, expressed in more or lees standard rabbinic terminology, are here correlated with the masculine and feminine aspects of the divine, which corespond to the earthly man, ‘and woman. ‘The author ofthis txt emphatizes that the attributes should not act independently but rather in concert, for to separate the attribute of judgment and that of merey would be akin to ‘eating a division in the Godhead between male and female or, ia ‘traditional terms, positing two divine powers. The union or conjunc tion of the two attributes enable the one to pass into the other 30 that acts of judgment can be ascribed to the name sociated with mercy (YHWH) and acts of merey to the name associated with Judgment (Elohim). This isthe mystical significance of the legend. ‘ary account of Adam's having been ereated double faced, the male and female emerging simultanoously Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 17% ‘The point chat I wish to underscore, however, is the hierarchical relationship established inthis passage: while the focus clearly i on the union ofthe two attributes, the masculine is privileged over the feminine, ‘This is evident at the very beginning ofthe text: "The ‘eason for the creation fof Adam] as double-faced was so that the ‘woman would obey her husband for her life depends on him, and they should not each go his or her own way, but rather there should be a closeness and friendship between them without separation ‘While any rupture inthe divine is detrimental, the severance of the female from the male is more problematic insofar as the female ‘cannot survive without the male. The unity ofthe male and female within th pleroma is ultimately predicated on the rle of subardinas tion or passivity on the part of the female. "When the theosophic structures are applied anthropologcally, the woman expresses the ‘union of the relationship by serving the man because ontcally she Arava her life fore from him" ‘The conjunction of male and female, so central to theosophic kabbalah in terms ofboth doctrine and practice, is prediceted on the reestablishment of the original androgynous alate. wherein, the femal aspect of judgment is cantained inthe male aspect of mercy, Such a view is reflected in the fellowing description of primordial ‘Adam found in the Zohar: "When the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘rented man He created him perfect, a it says, ‘God made man straight" (asherasah elohim et havadam yoshar) (Becee, 7.29) "Man? (et haadam): male and female, and the Temale was contained inthe ‘male; thus tis written straight" "The perfect human form is one Wherein the female is contained within the male. ‘The union of ‘ascaline and feminine is predicated on the reintegration of the latter inthe former. This is also depicted in the containment af the tribute of judgment (the left) in that of merey (right). ‘To cite two pertinent examples, both of which deal with the Ihierogamy in the divine pleroma: ‘When the Matra sis withthe King and they are jeinedface-- face, who will ome betwoon then? ‘Who wil sane cnet then? When they are joined the on is evestened® by the ster ‘Therforo the judgments are sweataned, one into othe, and the “upper and lower bugs are perfected ‘Te feminine emanats in er wide and cleaves to the side ofthe ‘masculine until she is separated trom hi side and comes to joa178 Blot R. Wolfen ‘with him facetoface. When they ae oind they spear ined one tay. Prom here its learat thatthe malo save eppecrs ae haltacbody (pelog gufa, all mers, nnd ao in wi the ‘al but when they are joined as ane everything appear edend ‘a one by... So tao whan a male snies with fale every ‘hing is ne Bod, and al the worlds ae joyous for everyting ‘lated fom the completa boy... From bere ican be deduced ‘the one who isnot found as mala and female i called half bad Without « mate of the opposite sex neither man nor woman is complete, Yet, true equality (signified by the oxymoron "samme but other” between male and female is envisioned only when the seraal ‘duality is finally overcome and the negative aspect ofthe feminine is neutralized or ameliorate by her containment in the mescaline, Hence, the alterty ofthe feminine in relation othe masculine is nak fn irreducible otherneas; on the contrary, the passage inthe Zohar resumes the poubility of eflacing the Other of the feminine by absorbing her within the masculine.” "The roots for such a siate ‘ay be projected in the preemanative stage, ie, before the process ‘of emanation unfolds, represented here by the double-faced.Adaay, ‘Again, one confronts the fact that the androgyny in kabbalit thoosophy is primarily and essentially male, the female being « secondary entity with a lower ontological and axiological status ‘In apparent contrast tothe tots discussed above, an alternative view may be derived from the following remark ofthe sixteenth: ‘century Safedian kabbalist, Moses Cordovero: ‘The emanation of Understanding Binah, the feminine element or ‘the Mather) didnot take place afer the competion ofthe em tion af Windom (okhmah, the masculine or the Father) but ater ‘afore Wisdom completed its statore (hur gomatak) Understand {ng was emanated. And this is precisely the reality with erp to {he durpersufin,Boanty (Tere, the Son) aad Kingdom (abut, the Deoghter far Kingdom was emanated before the completion of the stature of the masculine (aur gomat heather The ‘eas for this wes so thatthe feminine could be facet face with {he maselie, or ifthe masculine completed the entire emanation of ts limbs und afterwards the feminine would bi, abo would have always been fn the status of gl under iene Rather ‘the feminine began (to emanata its stature before the ewaplton ofthe stare ofthe masculine, and they mere emanated ogeher, Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 177 thin one taccording ois atature and the other one facsording to) lta etature, and they wee face to fca ‘This is a noble attempt by Cordovero to assign an equal value to the ‘masculine and feminine. Here he argues that the feminine forms (Binah and Malthut) emanate before the males (othmah and ‘Tiferet) wo that they may unite face-to-face with thelr respective ‘mates rather than being subvervient to them aa symbolized in the mage of the fotatoal Nevertheless, the weight of textual evidence indicates that Cordovero's formulation representa a departure from the earlier tradition that viewed the feminine as ontologealy inferior to the masculine.” In contrast to Cordovero, most kabbalists, following. ‘the aggndic sources that interpreted Ps, 120:5 a8 referring to the ‘androgynous nature of Adam, referred tothe masculine patency as the face and the female as the back. While the union of male and fomale involves a face-to-face encounter in the entic situation ‘flected inthe emanation of theve force, the male i the front and the female the back. In lasscal Kabbalistic theosophy, the beck (ahor ia clearly the Other (aher) and never quite attains the same status as the male in the way that Cordovero wuggeats ‘The masculine nature ofthe divine androgyne is further high- lighted in the following anonymous text, apparently representing early Geronese tradition. Here, the morphological correspondence of the divine anthropos and the limba of the human body are esta lished in relation to Gen, 1:26, "Let ua make Adam in our image and in our Hikenese' ‘The head of man corresponds tothe Supreme Crown UKter Rijn) ‘The brain andthe palate of man correspond ta Wisdom (oth ‘mah. His tongue corresponds to Understanding (Bina!) ‘The extension ofthe body corresponds ta Beaty (Tre) Ths ‘ars corresprad to Lave und Power, Loe ia the righ and Power the left. Love i the quality of mercy and Power judgement. His foot correspond to Endurance Nerah) aad Majenty (fe), Ear ance on the right and Bajety on the lf Foundation (ewod) arreepods tothe phallus which i atin the sidale. This the firm thet we have exlsned and it he hams, bndy for the nine sefrot are portrayed a an anthropos, A person should not err when be doce not ate the tenth mire, for when ‘Beauty was mentioned thre was enough lf an alusioe tod he ‘oteligent one will understand. When Aber saw the completion ot178 Blot R, Wolfeon the (fil eifice and he saw as well Kingdom (MalAhu?, the tenth atirbate, he cut the shoots and said, "Heaven rtd, perhape thre are two powers: He dl ot coord in his heart that the wife of «man is et aside and prepared for hit ll the time, in 0 orf union without any separation, hie the heat ofa man whch “This text, which graphically ustrats the point that I was making above regarding’ the dominant masculine nature of the divine tndrogyn, represent one ofthe erat atompts on th pat af {thirteenth century Keats to dpi the divine entropies ata orreapondene to human limba. Ones mmediatly toc by the fac hat tho divine image in depicted here an mele anthrop: ‘morphic frm. ‘The feminine noc fhe divine the tnth abe or Kingtom, is reat either asthe apoone ofthe sith ecmnaton, Bonuty ora the hear of tis frm, but aot as an sutnemay entity Wl ober names of th tenth emanation are ven the a of the passage, they are nat read ety fo he image of he Stthrope. The eel pin ie that this image primary maces in fe enn et cpl win a "apuasege inthe Zohar provide the conceptual wnderpoing the mythic natare of the androgyay in share thsmophy Ady implication, of the one statan ofthe feminine a Other Inthe opening comment atthe very bolnning of the Zohar on the Sink word of Seriptar,berehi, "nthe beginning” we res, Tn the beginning of the will of the King, the bardeed spark engraved engraving in the siperoal splendor, end there emerged ‘rom within the coneald ofthe concealed the beginning lor corel] ofthe Infinite, a vaporous mass fed In ing, aot wh, black, ‘ed or green, ov any clr at all When the mare extended It ‘proce colors to shine within. Within the aprk there emerged & Spring whence the clara were farmed below, ‘The concealed ofthe foncaled, the mystery ofthe Infinite, broke and id not break {hrough sa ura. Is ot known a ll wnt fom the fore es penetration n single pint shone, the superal canccled one Bejond this pint nothing io known at all Therefore fe elled rahi, tho fs fall holga ‘This text offers a profound mythical dopiction of the process of ‘emanation from the stat of undiferentiated oneness tothe differen: tinted many. By concontrating onthe implicitly sexual elements in Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbaleh 179 this mythic portrayal, wo can delve more deeply into the principle of the feminine as Other in Kabbalistic symbolism. The key to und standing the sexual dynamic implied in the myth of divine eutogene- sisi the notion of the Borina de-gardinuta, which! have translated above as the “hardened spark" This spark, also referred tres the basis of Jer. $1:9, a8 the gav ha-middah (ine-of measure), ‘serves as the divine tool that gives shape and dimension fo the ‘fit in the emanative process Scholars, following the lead of Kabbalite themselves, including a key paaeage in Zohar Sh" generally consider this aspect of the Godhead to be a vehicle of divine judgment. They derive this interpretation from the connce. tion with limitation and boundary, characteristics that are associat ‘ed in the standard kabbalistc symboliam with divine judgment and ‘hence the feminine aspect ofthe divine persona, ‘Yet, it seoms clear that several of the eoutial characteristics tributed to the spark are decidedly phalic in orientation and thus shouldbe associated with the principe of masculinity or te ari. ‘ute of merey. Indeed, the inherent nature of this spark is outward Brojection or elongation (iamshathah) and spreading out hitpash- fut attributes of the male potency." Particularly telling in this ‘egard is the expression meshiha (ot mlsKhata)assoviated in several fontexts with this spark" While the principal meaning of this ‘expression i "measure," a second connotation i implied, insofar a the root mashah can also mean “to anoint” Both meanings have ‘decidedly phallic implications, for it ia the nature ofthe phallos be erect thence related to methika in the sense of "to measure, ‘extend, o stretch") and to emit seminal fd (meshiha in the sense of "to pour al), ‘The above soharic passage describes the Infinite’s breaking ‘rough its own sura and theroby producing the first point of ‘emanation, The aura, as traditional commentators on the Zohar have noted, is the first sefrah or the Crown (ter), which io ‘gertensive with the Infinite, while the point is Wisdom (Hlokhmah) ‘The aura, it seems, isa principle of femininity vis-a-vis he Infinite which is the masculine element" More specifically, it i the bosina de-qardinuta, the hardened spark, which exemplifies the Principle of masculinity in relation tothe ether or aura that sur, rounds the divine ight" Given the phalke nature of this entity, tho reading bozina de-qardinuta aa opposed to bocin de-gadrinsg (he black or dark Mame) seems preferable, thereby conveying the notion of an erect penis180 Biot R, Wolfeon Perhaps it would be more accurate to speak here not of the phallus, but rather of the aspect of the brain that functionally ‘corresponds to it! The hardened spar, therefore, maybe referred twas the upper phallus in a funcional rather than ontological sense, ‘This is the implication as well of the further identification of spark as the lineof:measure, ie, the extended line, sometimes aaa associated with the letter waw, or in one ease in Tlggune Zohar, the teow that extends from the yo, Le, the line that i drawn out rm ‘the point ‘To return tothe zoharic paasage: The spark ix characterized ag ‘engraving engravings within the superna luster. It can be shown from a number of other passages In the Zohar that the act of ‘engraving or inscription is viowed as a decidedly phallic activity sometimes designated by the more overtly phallic terme *etriking” or "knocking A nexus is thus established between writing and {intercourse euch that the hardened spark or ine-of-mearure func tions asa kind of (phallic) stylus and the suparnal luster, the sefirah of Keter, as a (feminine) tablet or writing surface upon which the inseribing is accomplished." Other phallicike activities applied to the spark include its extending forward to produce colors, the ‘omergonce af a apring, the paradoxical breaking through and not ‘breaking through of the aura,” the panctrtion that results in the illumination of a point. “The continuation of the text highlights the erotic nature of thin activity in the divin: {And the ealghtoned will shine lke the splendor ofthe sky and ‘hee who tur the many to ighteounoa ke the sare forever and ver (Dan, 123). Zohar, the Concealed of the Concealed stack Ssgaint ls aura, fri touche and didnot auch this pnt. "Thon ‘hs Boginningemanniod and made taf «plac fo gary and pralae, ‘There it sowed the seed cf hanes to give birth fr the ‘Benet ofthe universe... Zahar sowed sed fort gry, ke ‘the eed of ae parle sk, fr i rape Salt within nd makes Ital place whichis its prise and beast to al The erotic dynamic betwoen the (masculine) spark and the (femi- nine) aura is thus repeated in the next stage wherein the fist point of emanation, the sefrah of Wisdom (Hakhmah), produces for itself 1 palace, the sefirah of Understanding (Binah) wherein it places ita eed Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophie Kabbalsh 181 ‘This text shows, moreover, thatthe kabbalist,dedignated aa the righteous (caddigim) are illuminated o enlightened by the splendor Gohan), which is the concealed epark that strikes aguinat the eure Of the many interpretations of the eachatalogical promise of Dan 123 in zaharic literature, the verse that provided the tile for the work, the one that is particularly relevant to this discussion inter, ‘rete the eplendor as Yevod (Foundation), the gradation that ‘xrresponds tothe phallus ofthe divine anthropos * This txt thes links the kabbalists specifically to Yesod, the splendor with which Tee ae we cia sa arr ty Scher ememereetenne store Serine oes come oe Sonera a aema seer iontotoemacare tment Taga aiaadereeine Singcemtntieaaeteeracn Ericoe road enoememn staat alternate aera icra SSE Se cae mer ere coe sentence ate erates aie soya are neh nay aoa oe Sa ai se cs Skee Ft are hae who know how ering ot upper sere {eth sd they new bow to etre nl aed sxpepinis without wabarruant. Thus wens ed te cliched wil shine Ike Un lender ef he thy" Whee Sep arene apak produces meas iis gathered toes, se {tin in ach and every grade tn that gathering ed it esas them ARarvars Ion ocala lyn a ice ‘dons nd own, and evrything malar o Ten182 Eliot R. Wolfson what shines shines and it omits rivers and waler to irgnto varying. Until here ith secrete the hardened spark to init ll appt of fl. ‘The hardened spark exo thee which ‘are concealed, rises and desconds The one who Knows the aeret (f wiodom can comprehtad and can produce a oearure ial ‘opera, unl be knowe the superna eco, the secrets of le ‘master, the acres of wisdom ne that he ay Know a compre: ‘bend. Fortunate she portion ofan who Kaows and contemplates in this world and in the weridtrcome, for hy moana of this ‘rinciples person should erangs hi fst uth that he eta rem behind he curtain and walks in stenight wa. Fortune's hei {his world nd in the wordtcome,™ Interestingly, the gnosis atained by the mystics as a result of the illumination by the hardened spark is characterized interme of the ‘measure applied by the Kabbaists themselves to the form of the divine anthropos. “As Yehuda Lisbes has noted, the praise at the end of this citation betrays the influence of the well-known state: ‘ment contained in some of the rocensions of the Shur Qomah ‘regarding the virtue of one who knows the measure and praise cf the Crestor "Whoever knows the mete of ur Crete and Hi ‘rive in guaranteed tobe inthe wordtocome*™ Tr thus flows, { Lsbes antl eric, tht te bana de-gardiut sat eal ‘ool inthe hands ofthe Creator, butt athe same time "a ee in the hands of the habla who cotamplaey and seks to comprehend the secrete ofthe divine atibutee"®. The kabelt is ntrmtd withthe tak of constocing the divine form ihr ‘hough sriptral expoitons or though specific muta inten. tine in prey In bath coe the a6 of measuring i hnked Sspedally to what one might call the phalic imagination of the "tbe interpretation of be rns de gardinuta that Thaveofeed challengens generally septa imprenson reflected in the ochaary irate fein often aod’ that sexual’ hare are {npplcsle to the highest recess ofthe Godhend™ Te be ure, ‘Such view i expresedscasonally inthe writing ofthe kabul intthemecives, Ye, the mythial account of te soare wether, ‘hich had a profnd impact expecly on Lorian kala dicated on the presumption of primordial andrgyae tha ie Compra opposioram,«tymbal tte fsion of lean femal The primeval andromyneia omponed nto fhe nd mater, ba rather of single sndrogymovs paest who is pamariy male Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 188 “eft ee en et as i SGEe eset ear? seat ad a pa igeecon ae ease i ats shia ric cries piston eaten neater Tete en tatty pei recta dustin tseraytenareroe rage cme ned Secretariat mama a atone mace te Socuiwairanraws anne a SUkew any anak ehorrccs ene It hae beon taught: When the Holy Ansest One, Conoaledof the Concealed Ute), desired of th oder fo reais he sang ‘everything ax mal and fale ts the place where male ad frale were merged hi). They didnot exe exopt in aneer slate (Givyuma chro)" as malo and fale When tis Wiss (ak ‘mah, the principle of everything, emerged ad wan ilusinated fiom the Holy Ancient One, itd not shine except nl nod female. For that Wisdom emanated and there came forth from it Understanding’ Binah), oUt there was’ male’ and female Wisdom a Frther and Understanding ar Mother. Wisdom end Understanding are weighed on the toe sale Gehod mates ligt), male and female.“ Whea they were jane they tore rth ‘and Faith” Ge, Beauty and Kingdom mae and fers) ‘anated.. ~The two (Wisdom and Understanding) are jie together and the Son is in them, the pricple of everything, containing male and female. Through their arangmont io the Perfection of everything, the entsnmeat of everything Fate ‘tod Mother, Son and Daughter" ‘The significant point for this study is that inthe primary stage the Principle of femininity, that which is Other, is itelf part of the ‘masculine divine rather than a distinct reality. In the lafinite all ‘pportes coincide, as the Zohar itself in one place puts it Rac said: When the Holy One, blamed be He, created the World and wanted to reveal the depth aut ofthe kiddennes and the Hight fom within the darkness, they were contained within one184 Eliot R, Wolfen ‘another... And all things were cnatained on within the other, ‘the good incintion and te er inclination, right and Tf Iara Although the imagery of male and female isnot employed here, iis ‘evident from other passages in the Zohar thatthe gender types are ‘correlated with the other items listed in the asymmetrically valued pairs. Within the infinite depth ofthe divine, therefore, male and female were perfectly belanced. The beginning of the process of ‘emanation is marked by a dsrupture ofthis balanes, ortho activa: tion ofthe sexual play between masculine and feminine, the pare tion of right and left, Israel andthe nations, holy and profane ‘The implications of the zobaric idea are fully drawn hy the author of Tggune Zohar, who in ane place comments, Inthe begining of the wll othe King, when the bardenad perk Sp and tocomen sb (ny thee ‘haa bersh Be rehi, he peti it palacn™ ‘The primorilly androgynous quality ofthe divine is graphically ‘opresuned by ke inl mem, wins guns ccd eel fk dex. ‘The aquare represents wholenan, te perfec balance, and tity of masculine sd feminine. In the ultimate sate, gender Alorences are overeome rather han held in dali tension, Th Setivity ofthe pallu, aymblized by the hardened spark er Ue letarsnu,ernten a rupture in the Godhead, symbalaed by te final mem being broken ita a et and soo, but tia rope ie ‘eceeary forthe eretve precast unl Hence the bet formed ffom the final mem iself becomes the receptacle to recive the tareoine point, which cantina the semen that wil produce the lower sefirotin the otalogel chain. Inthe primary ae male and female are inaeparable ant ltmatalyinditnguishble. Too lace implication ofthis is drawn ina small ext onthe myer f te di ‘parzfin composed by David ben Yehuda be Had ‘Aer describing the erual polarity that characterizes the lower seven sir, R David cations the reader: Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 185 ‘But in the primordial word (Le, Keter thee i no loo vison, snd the feminine power aot separa from tho sea he rma Hine, Thin in wuciat for th ane who wnderstands, For all the sous emerge om therein pars, and they retr ther. Since hey 9 out Grom there male and female st in eident thet they go oct {Som the abeoltaly simple free and Uy donot sepera If they were separated there would be, at were, om ant divion, ‘This fs wuicient fr one Who understands ad to the wae an ‘soon fis enough. ‘The secret transmitted by this kabbalist concerns the fact that in ‘the primordial worl of Keter the masculine and feminine elements ‘are completaly unified in the simple unity ofthe divine wherein all ‘ppositas coincide. Only in the lower realm ofthe verte edifice fare the masculine and feminine distinguished as distinct powers. 1 goes without saying that for the theasophie kabbelist, the ‘purpose of religious life isto restore the harmony ofthe mascoline ‘and feminine aapecta of God. On the basis of «careful reading of tho relevant biblical passages, the zoharic authorship, following ther theosophic kabbalists, maintained thatthe divine image rls ‘lokim) with which Adam Was reated—ie, the form of the sefirte pleroma—comprises both maleness and fémalenees: “Any image Wherein male and female are not found is nat a supernal image Herein les the foundation ofthe kabbalistc understanding of divine unity that the Zohar refers to in any number of conterta et the secrot of faith or the perfection of everything” “This is the praise ofthe superna faith to know that YHWH is Elohim, the male ‘is completed in the female, the one contained in the other, the male ‘is built within the female, and this inthe perfec union, for there is ‘no perfection except when male and female are one All human ‘activity, expecially the conjugal union of aman and his wife Is empowered with the theurgical eapacity to affect the union of the ‘masculine and feminine attributes above” It is a commonplace that the motif of hieros gamos ia central to Jkabbalistic anthropology and theology, fr theultimate fanetion of prayer, Torah study, and indeed all th traditional commandments {is to promote the union of masculine and feminine attributes of the Godhead. In the absence of such unity the divine is ruptured and ‘consequently impotent. As the sobaric authorship tn another ssage succinctly expresses it, "aking without a matrona ia not & king One can go even further and say that the meseianic186 Elliot R. Wolfson Impulse reflected in the Zohar and other theasophic writings invariably turns on the issuo of unification of masculine and feminine: The historical state of exile signifies division in the Godhead and redemption marks a restoration of that union" The issue that I have raised, however, concerns the nature of this hicrogamy: does the kabbalistic emphasis on sexual union and coupling inthe divine realm imply the conjunction of two principles that nevertheless remain distinet, or the reestablishment of an original androgynous state wherein gender differences are tran scended? I cited above Scholem's remark, which contrasted Jewish ‘and Christian gnosis on this very scare. A careful examination of the relevant sourees indiates, however, that the image of union affirmed in Kabbalistic texts is predieaied on the overcoming of ‘sexual differences achieved by the containment or reintegration of the feminine lef side in the masculine right. “On occasion the ‘dualistic language of male and female gives way to a more monistie ‘approach. A striking example ofthat ia found in the kabbalistie {estment ofthe rit of circumcision. Following normative rabbinic hhalakhab,® the kabbaliats distinguish two stages in this ritual, ‘milah (cutting the foreskin) and pervah (uncovering the corona), ‘ach one aymbolicaly corresponding to one ofthe last two ofthe ten femanations. According to some kabbalists, the corona of the penis ‘corresponds tothe Diadem (Atarah), ie, the Shebhinah or feminine Presence. The feminine aspect of God, therefore, becomes localized 1s part of the phallus itself Thus, to cite one of many relevant fexamples, the Zohar comments on the vere, “Blessings light upon the head of the righteous" (Prov. 10: “The head of the righteous (Ge, the sefrah of Yesod, which corresponds to the phallus) is the ‘oly corona “The aet of uncavering the corona ia myetieally ‘transformed into an occasion forthe revelation ofthe divine Diadem, indeed, the ritual of circumcision is understood in kabbalistic literature asa theophanie moment, ‘The following account is given by Moses de Leén: And contemplate thatthe secret of the covenant (nd haber) in the way of comprehensive th (ere Aa ena). When the Soreakin is removed from the phallus—this isthe secret of futh ‘Yet the removal ofthe area to enter into the secret of the faith lis not camplte until ene pals dwn (the mambrane and the ‘orona in revealed. When ono reates the crvaa ane eaters int ‘he myatery of the way of th and x boond to fh ™ Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalah 187 In stcond work Moses de Leén returns to this motif, but there he ‘emphasizes the visionary clement ofthe experience: ‘he foreskin the sell anding onthe outa and te pall in the core oa the inside. "This ath ecret ofthe proper mate hen'a person entre th acret of tit Conering th sac ‘say, “All our male shall appear before the Lard your Ga” (De. 16:16) Por coe must cleave fo the divine] and chow that les (eho phalia in ts sure, the Branch inte Hoot, townie ery ‘hog in the bond ofthe secret of His unity, with one bond and ope secret n that "the Lord wil boone and His name wl bone? (Peek 149) Through the mechani ofthe circumcised phallus, Jewish males cleave tothe vino Presence m0 that thare wil be anise Between the masculine and feminine, the Lord and His nota te their text ti epecally evident thatthe corona af he pals, closed in the socnd ac ofthe ccuméaion ritual speech feminine Presence. This indicates quite convincingly that witha the abinliaticradition thee i concpton of te feminine thar mon integral part of rater thn ditne fom, te maralne, Tekno the formulation of Mircea Hlade, may be aad that cicumcon ftom th kabalsieperpectve se rita at ymbatc androgen {ion ‘The phallus i not merely the sigur tat conesaanty tar the ference between sexes and effaces tha dilarene by ting a the copula that connect them” the para in kabsle, {ic aymbaiam ie more profund, or he pha isthe lus of ath ener the Label te pal othe Kata the halls provides sso the (minis ‘ener not oly by filing inthe nck byt rete form basse by sorting the fominin an art of is very plows! (ond implication, semological structure. Hence, na rea of he sg af Sreumcision tho corona is dsised and ‘an opening in cea {he male by that correoponda othe opening fn te ivne Tala, ‘the fminine Presene, to gate thoogh whch the mystic enters {2 approach the mascline ing. By vite ofthe cramcocd pnt, {hereto the male Jew cnn unite wih the Presence in thie loton ‘tie mya mae and the dn eae tho same ritual has a feminizing aspect tg well The Presence ean dwell on th mle who has bao Cecumeled becaoe the cremesion has opened the mal to recive te dine alloy188 Ellie R. Wolfson thus the male is female visd-vis the divine™ The feminizing of ‘the masculine effected by circumcision is predicated on the ontalogie ‘al fact that femalenese is part of maleness. It is the same ontic assumption that allows for the mascolinization of the feminine. ‘Thus, in a variety of contexte the feminine aspect of the divine fa treated as masculine, Le, there i a transmutation of gender characteristics such thatthe female becomes male, Indeed, the third gradation, Binah, is identified as the Mothe ‘or the female consort to Hokhmah, the Father, yet that very {gradation is referred to on any number of occasions a8 the king (nelekh, for when she overflows and produces the lower gradations she asaummes the posture of « male” ‘the goodnoss and all the light comes out from it"™* “Even though inah] isthe supernal king tis feminine in relation to the super- nal point (Hobhmah) that is most concealed, bat itis masculine in relation to the King who is below (Shekhinah)*"" ‘The feminine Presence is designated melokh, King, of sometimes Malkhut, king: ship, for she too is considered ' king vis-dcvie the lower realms of being insofar as the later emanate out of and are sustained by her." In one passage the Shebhinah is explicitly described aa the, eta wins mal nd ter ee ale, When i ‘ottows blessings upon th word iin malo adi alld nal 4 man who bestows blessings upia a womaa. So ton it batows ‘wring upon te werd When i standa in judgement upon the ‘word iis called femal, ks a woman whois pregnant tho led ‘ith judgement, and then she i ealed female Ths it tae {Une masculine and sometimes famine. Tee all ne meter ‘This inversion of gender attribution ie related to a larger principle in Kabbalistic ontology that is predicated on the valorization ofthe ‘masculine: In relation to what is above it,» particular attribute is feminine for it receives; but in relation to what is below it, that sumo attributo is masculine for it overflows, ‘The feminine ari ‘tes, Binah and Malkhut, become male when they overflow to the srades beneath them. Only when they abolish thir own femaleneat fad aaeume the characteristic ofthe male are they viewed peitvely. Jost asthe spiritual ideal, the eeeretof faith, ia one in which the female is united with the male, the rot of idolatry i the separation ofthe female from the male. ‘This i expreseed in two waye that I Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbaloh 180 alluded to above: the reification of the feminine asa distnet divine power or the emasculation of the masculine. ‘The former atate is elated exegetically to various sins recorded in the Bible, incding tho sin of Adam and Eve eating from the troo of knowledge, Noals drunkenness, the building of the Tower of Babel, and the construc. ton ofthe golden calf, to name some of the better-known episodes, ‘The separation of the female from the male in all there cases {volves the last of the emanation, the Shekhinah.™ In this connection it is important to recall that according tothe tharic tradition there i a profound ambivalence with respect to the ‘Shekhinah and ita relationship tothe demonic realm. While the ‘zoharic authorship sometimes sharply contrasts the Shethinah with her demonic feminine counterpart, Lilith, on other oecsions the line ‘separating the two is blurred and the characteristics of Lilith are applied to the Shekhinah = In the latter state i, tho emasculated male (symbolized aswell as the celibate), the primeval forees of unbalanced judgment are ‘liminated from the economy ofthe divine before the spiting ofthe ‘primeval androgyne into masculine and feminine. ‘These forces are designated by various names in zoharictheosophy, including that of the Edomite kings who rule before Israel (based on Gen, 36°91~30), ‘This designation is significant for it carta the discussion in an historical and polemical ligt: the ontie source of Christianity ta ‘iewed as deriving from the demonic, aymbolized as the unbalanced forces of the Edomite kings that must be eliminated before th holy forces of the Godhead, symbolized asthe androgynous Israc, unfold, ‘To bo sure, even here one must be eareful about not lapaing into ‘gid dualism, forthe judgmental powers are themselves part ofthe divine. “This is highlighted in one particular text in terms of imagery that calls to mind Esau and Jacob, ic, the elder is Banu, Christianity or the demonic fore, and the younger ie Jaco, Israel, the side of bolness, the androgynous that is expressed asa balance of right and let, male and female.” However, when dscusood ia rulation to larac, the nations are associat with the lft or demon. {and Israel with the right or holy. The following passage from the Zohar may be considered exemplary Inca is fom the right side and thy donut leave tothe lef or fr thay mised together with i. When they ai they cause the "ight tobe subdued and the lef a be aroused.” = Te has bees190 Bie R. Wolfen aught: there is right and ale, mery and judgement, rea on the right and dhe dlatrousaations onthe if Given the further association ofthe left with the feminine and the right with the masculine, it is plausible to assume that the gentile nations take on the status of the woman vis-tvisTarac, which i the male ‘This introduces still anothor dimension ofthe feminine at Other in kabbalistic symbolism, a dimension reflected in stil another zaharie passage.” There, the nations ofthe world, symbolized by the woman, derive from the demonic, other side characterized a2 severity or harsh judgment. Hence, the gentile woman is Other in ‘elation tothe male Jew; ifthe latter should cross the boundary and hhave relations with her, then the demonic force overpowers the bol. By contrast, the Jowess, who is also by nature judgmental, can ‘exorcise mercy if she cleaves to a male Jew through semual inter: ‘course, symbolized by the metaphor of tasting. Once mare we se the ‘subordinate function accorded the woman, for abe is merely a vessel ‘hat assumes the character of that which is poured into it. In the final analysis, the union of man and woman isto facilitate the male 0 that he may be united with the Shekhinah and to ameliorate the Judgment of the fomale, ie, to eradicate the femalenest of the female; even in sexual intercourse the goal is to masculinize the feminine."* This is not to deny the fact that sexual ethics in Kabbalistic literature reflect a genuine concern for the dignity and well-being of the woman. ‘The relevant text indicate that the ‘man isnot to treat the woman as a mere sex object, but rather as a partner in the task of realizing the sacred union above and main- taining the divine image by prolonging the chain of being.” Nevertheless, the fact is that the woman ia assigned a passive role in relation to the active male, and in those instances where ahe does fascume a more active Tole she takes on the persona of a male "Thus, we are led to conclude that, despite the larger role assigned tothe feminine in kabbaliste spirituality, the androcentrie ‘emphasis of medieval rabbinie culture had a profound impact on the Aepiction of the woman as Other in this major trend of Jewish ‘nyticiom, ‘The woman is indeed the Other, the back side of divine judgment that, in the moment of union, i turned around so that she Stands face-toface with the masculine attribute of mercy. In this facing, however, her otherness is effaced as he becomes reintegrated into the male.” The element of female otherness vanishes ae the Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophie Kabbalah 19 | feminine left is absorbed in the masculine right." Inthe absorp- tion of the female in the male, the union is consummated so that there is only one body in actuality and otherness is dissolved in tality. Nores 1 Soe tho review ofthis problematic in th introduction of Jala Epstein nd Ksting Stra, Body Guarde: ‘The Cultural Politic of Gender Ambiguity ew York and Landon, 1961, 1-28 2 Fer the misogynist tendencies in, madieral Chistian cultor, of Caroline Walker Bynum, "And Woman His Hamanity. Fenale Iinagery in the Religious Writing af the Later Middle Agen in Gender ‘and Religion: On the Complexity of Symbol, Carel Wale Byam, ‘Stevan Harrell, and Paula Richman Boeton, 1988) 257-85 and othe ‘ferences given on 280-81 an. 1-2, Seo slo Kai Elisabeth Boreoen, “God's lege, Is Woman Excloded? Medieval Interpretation af Gen 1.37 and I Cor. 11,7" n Image of God and Gender Model in Judaco Christian Tradition, dl. Kar Hinboth Barren (Oslo, 1901), 208-27 See, however, Maryunne Cline Horowits, The image of Godin Man—1o Woman Included” Harvord heolgta! Revew "2 (1998) 175-206, or a general survey onthe status af women within medival Jewish ‘ecitts, se Jaith Baskin, “Jewish Women inthe Mie Agee" in Slexish Women in Historical Perspective, of. Judith 8. Baskin (Beto, 161) ot-114. 8. The literature on this topic Is already quite exentve and groving rapidly. Her I ite only sme representative sais listed in chrome: logial order. CE Saul Berman, “The Status of Women in alec Sodalom," Tradition 14 (LOTS) 6-28; Leonard Swit, Women in ‘Tudaism: The Satu of Woren in Formative Judaiom (Metuchen, 1976); Judith Hauptmann, “images of Women in the Tal” in Raigion and Sesom: Images of Woman inthe euish ond Christian ‘Traditions, od. RnemaryTadfortRucther (New York 1970), 184-212, ‘Jesh Neuase, Method and Meaning in Ancient Juaiom (stole, ‘Most, 1979), 80-86 Bu Greenberg. On Woman and dadatom: A View ‘from Tradition (Philadelphia, 1981; Rachal Bale, Women and deck ‘Less (New York, 1984) Judith R. Baskin, “The Separation of Women in abbinic Judaism,” in Warn, Religion, and Sos Change Yronne Yesbeck Haddad and Elion Banks Find (Albany, NY 1989, 9-15 Judith Romney Wegner, Chattel or Person? The Status of Women in the Mishoah (New York, 1988) Bla Greenberg, "Female Sexuality and Bodily Functions in the Jewish Tradition” in Women, Religion, and Sexuality: Studies the Impact of Religious Toochngs on Warn,192 Blot R. Wolfson ‘Janne Becher (Philadephia, 1990), 1-44; Judith Romney Wagaes, "Th Image and Status of Women in Clamical Rabbinic Judai," n Jesh Women in HatricalPeopective, 65-08. Alla thee stdies tarp ty paint a portrait ofthe socal role of women within Jewish rose i ‘Lato Antiquity onthe bavi of rabbinic Mteratare chat stam fa sndocentric elite, Fra diftrent methodaogel approach, ct Rows 8. ‘Krnomer, “ewish Women inthe Diaspora World of Uta Anil ia Jewish Woman in Histarcal Perspective, 9-61, and relerence ta eee Felevent studies on 62-60 0.8. See alo Bons Kraemer in tis volume, hap. ‘4 My formulation here bas bres nflueneed by Wendy Donigar OPlaheiy, Waren Andrognes, and Other Mythical Beasts (Cicage end London 1960), 28-29, 284, 286,831, 399-84. Regarding the ono sx they in the primarily andrecente’ Western caters, soe ‘Themen Laquear, Making Sx: Body and Gender from the Grecks to Freud (Cassbage ‘and London, 1890) 5 A’similar claim has been made fr ancient Gnowicism. Soe the evidence adduced by Michal A. Willams, "Urs of Geter imagery ia ‘Ancient Gnostic Texts,” in Gender and Religion: On the Comes of ‘Symbols, 197-86; and co reference to stay of MacDonald ced below, ‘216, Wiliam’ own poston is more uated, however, arging for ¢ ‘are of diferent opinions in Gao iterate ©. Ck Gaspl of Thomas, lion 114, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, wd. J.B. Roblnzn, 38 oi (San Pranic, 188), 138, Se, however, logon 2, 9p. it, 129, where the formulation or entering the ingom isto "mae the to one e that th male not be male nor ‘he female female” Tn the Tater case too, however, the fas le sbolishing the polarity of male and female a thatthe later could be shuorbed inthe firmer. CE Philo, Quoestons et Slutione ix Genet 249, Quoetones et Salutionee i Bsodum 18; Cleat of Alexa ‘Stromateir 3.1392 612 100. Cf Jao Jervel, Image De. Gem 1267 lim Spthudentum, in der Qnosi, und im den patlinsschen Bieler (Goingen, 1080), 181-65; Raber M. Grant, “The Mystery of Marriage {in the Gospel of Philip” Vatlice Christanac 15 (1860, 126-4, Mircea llade, The Tuo andthe One, tana J. M. Coben (Chicagy, 1968), 109-8; Richard A. Baer, Je, Phil's Um of the Catgortes Male nd Female (Leiden, 1970, 48-49, 9-71; Wayne A. Meeks “The Image of the Androgyne’ Seme Uses of a Symbol in Earliest Chritanty Hiatry of atigiong 13 878-16 195-96; J. M.Sevrin, "Las Noses spintules dana Tvungle aclon Philippe,” Le Mascon 87 (1874 163-86; Car G. Jung, Mysterium Coniunetons, tana BP. C. Hall (Princeton, Nd, 1877), 378-74, M.W. Meyer, ‘Making Mary Male: The Cetepures Male’ and "Female inthe Gonpl of Thotnan,” New Teta ‘ment Studies 31 (1985 854-T0, Peter Browa, The Body and Soy ‘Men, Women, and Serual Renunciation in Barly Chron (ew ‘Woman—The Feminine as Other in Theosophic Kabbalch 198 ‘York, 1968, 100-21; Kari Vogt, "Becoming Mal A Gaostic and Early Christian Metaphor" in fmage of Ga and Gender Models Tudace- Christian Tradition, 172-87; Kar Piaabeth Borrosen, ‘Go's Image, ‘Man's Imags? Patrtic Interpretation of Gen. 127 andl Cor 13.109. it, 188-207; Elizabeth Castel, °t Will Make tary Male” icin of the’ Body and Gender Transformation of Chien Women in Late Aatiguty" in Body Guards, 29-48, 1. Gf Zohar 186, Sab, 530", Tbe“, 89m, 214-b, 62; 21940, 2376 ‘3428 Iniah Tih, The Wiedom of the Zohar, tana, David 4 CE Alexander Altmann, Studia in Religious Philosophy ond Mystciam. (hace, NY, 1966), 199m. 60. 9. CE Yehuda Lisbes, "The Masia of the Zohar” in The Messianic Keo in Jewish Thought:A Study Coneenes in Honour ofthe Bighith Birthday of Gerehom Scholem (Hebrew) Jeroalm, 1989), 184-87, 219-21, 10, The word I have rendered aa “blanc in matgelo, which means “weight” (in Hebrew: mishgaD, tram the root tg, ta weigh CE ‘Zohar 225¢a, Ragarding tha ver in te mari context anda posse Brcedent in the writings of Flac the Blind, tea Yehuda Lice Peragim bedillon Sefer ha-Zohar(Jorvasless, 1970), 629-20, tees, “The Messiah,” 198, 1. Zohar 23785. ME Cf. Zohar 81264, 1350, 1428, 2926, 1 Another way of expressing thin i that there is no expt stu! by ‘means of which the socioreligiou vison between nea sad wom it ‘Jevish communities trenseanded mich atone fad for example ia the baptinmal rite of certain early Christian churches at may’ bo sudduced from Gal, 327-28 (Cal 39-11), C& Meck, “The Image fhe Androgyne.” 186, 180-85. (For different reading ofthe Paine tls in Gal. 825, cf. 16). Soe op. city 189-87, where Meeks iscumes other stualsin Gnesi souren, including at inportantly ‘the mystery of the Bridal Chamber, intended to ranew or restore the ‘androgynous Image. Noram {aware of any ital of bsewue!bonevine {in the cas of Judalam as a meana of tating the masculine and feminine. For examples of such a phenomenen in the history of shamaniom, ef Eliade, The Two and the One, 116-1, 14, Polloving the conjctro of 8. A Horosesky Ho lasidtswe-ho- Hoi ddim, vl 4 (Tel-Aviv, 1851), 63-71, many sehalary have taitained ‘that a Haid worn were acorded amore piv and eal socal role due to the popularization of sutericam and the overcoming af "bin intelletalam by psistic emotional. Fora riqo of tls Fomantic portrait of Hasiisn, ef. Jacob Kate, Tradition and Crit: ‘Jewish Sevty af the Bnd of the Mile Agee iNew York, 1977), 248 ‘Ada Repeport-Albert, ‘On Waren in Hasiiam, SA. Horafecky andthe