{"product_id":"mystical-bodies-mystical-meals-eating-and-embodiment-in-medieval-kabbalah-paperback-softback-9780814350935","title":"Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals; Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah (Paperback \/ softback) 9780814350935","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eMystical Bodies, Mystical Meals\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eEating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eJoel Hecker (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780814350935\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 26 September 2023\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e296 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.272 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHecker is to be highly commended for presenting a systematic study of the variegated aspects of eating within the non-systematic material found in the Zohar and related literature, such as Sefer Rimmonim ('The Book of the Pomegranates'). This work is accessible to non-specialists who subscribe to the popularity of present-day Kabbalah, as taught and practiced in popular culture; it was a pleasure to read.\" - \u003cem\u003eJournal of Religion and Popular Culture\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book is a superb and distinctive contribution to the study of ritual in Judaism in general, and Kabbalah in particular. By focusing on the meaning of food and the act of eating in medieval Kabbalah, Hecker broadens and deepens our understanding of the role of ritual performance in Jewish mysticism. A work of considerable methodological sophistication, it is also an important contribution to the history of religion.\" - Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Leiwant Chair of Jewish Studies, Mount Holyoke College\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hecker's book is notable for the fact that it does not strive to solve the interpretive difficulties presented by the Zohar but that it is able to capitalize on them to sketch a kabbalistic God that is simultaneously incarnate and carnal and a kabbalistic form of mystical experience that is simultaneously disembodies and embodied.\" - \u003cem\u003eHistory of Religions\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hecker's book offers an insightful and disciplined exploration of important themes in medieval religiosity.\" - \u003cem\u003eSpeculum Journal of Medieval Studies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This extraordinary text has proven to be an unending wellspring of insights into kabbalistic theology, devotional experience, and exegetical technique. Hecker has advanced the field in important new ways, offering an example to other scholars of the ways in which Kabbalah may be studied productively through the lens of lived religion and historical anthropology.\" - Eitan P. Fishbane, \u003cem\u003eAJS Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eFocusing on the Jewish mystical literature of late thirteenth-century Spain, author Joel Hecker analyzes how the \u003ci\u003eZohar\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing 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.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Wayne State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52681687204120,"sku":"9780814350935","price":21.56,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/mystical-bodies-mystical-meals-eating-and-embodiment-in-medieval-kabbalah-paperback-softback-9780814350935","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}