Ada Rapoport-Albert
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764807
- eISBN:
- 9781800343269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764807.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter talks about the attraction inherent in Sabbatianism that sectarian messianism held for women, which accounts for women's active involvement with both the overt and the clandestine ...
More
This chapter talks about the attraction inherent in Sabbatianism that sectarian messianism held for women, which accounts for women's active involvement with both the overt and the clandestine frameworks in which the movement persisted. It examines how women continued to be drawn to the sectarian fellowships as messianic prophetesses. It also describes Judaism that traditionally stressed a religious life bounded by the commandments. The chapter analyses the dense web of gendered prescriptions and rituals which segregated the sexes and assigned them different spheres of activity. It demonstrates how faith transcended the gender boundaries that were built into the halakhic system and opened a single arena of action to both sexes.Less
This chapter talks about the attraction inherent in Sabbatianism that sectarian messianism held for women, which accounts for women's active involvement with both the overt and the clandestine frameworks in which the movement persisted. It examines how women continued to be drawn to the sectarian fellowships as messianic prophetesses. It also describes Judaism that traditionally stressed a religious life bounded by the commandments. The chapter analyses the dense web of gendered prescriptions and rituals which segregated the sexes and assigned them different spheres of activity. It demonstrates how faith transcended the gender boundaries that were built into the halakhic system and opened a single arena of action to both sexes.
Ada Rapoport-Albert
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764807
- eISBN:
- 9781800343269
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764807.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Women are conspicuously absent from the Jewish mystical tradition. The chance survival of scant evidence suggests that, at various times and places, individual Jewish women did pursue the path of ...
More
Women are conspicuously absent from the Jewish mystical tradition. The chance survival of scant evidence suggests that, at various times and places, individual Jewish women did pursue the path of mystical piety or prophetic spirituality, but it appears that they were generally censured, and efforts were made to suppress their activities. This contrasts sharply with the fully acknowledged prominence of women in the mystical traditions of both Christianity and Islam. It is against this background that the mystical messianic movement centred on the personality of Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) stands out as a unique and remarkable exception. Sabbatai Zevi addressed to women a highly original liberationist message, proclaiming that he had come to make them 'as happy as men' by releasing them from the pangs of childbirth and the subjugation to their husbands that were ordained for women as a consequence of the primordial sin. This redemptive vision became an integral part of Sabbatian eschatology, which the messianists believed to be unfolding and experienced in the present. Their New Law overturned the traditional halakhic norms that distinguished and regulated relations between the sexes. This book traces the diverse manifestations of this vision in every phase of Sabbatianism and its offshoots. These include the early promotion of women to centre-stage as messianic prophetesses; their independent affiliation with the movement in their own right; their initiation in the esoteric teachings of the kabbalah; and their full incorporation, on a par with men, into the ritual and devotional life of the messianic community.Less
Women are conspicuously absent from the Jewish mystical tradition. The chance survival of scant evidence suggests that, at various times and places, individual Jewish women did pursue the path of mystical piety or prophetic spirituality, but it appears that they were generally censured, and efforts were made to suppress their activities. This contrasts sharply with the fully acknowledged prominence of women in the mystical traditions of both Christianity and Islam. It is against this background that the mystical messianic movement centred on the personality of Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) stands out as a unique and remarkable exception. Sabbatai Zevi addressed to women a highly original liberationist message, proclaiming that he had come to make them 'as happy as men' by releasing them from the pangs of childbirth and the subjugation to their husbands that were ordained for women as a consequence of the primordial sin. This redemptive vision became an integral part of Sabbatian eschatology, which the messianists believed to be unfolding and experienced in the present. Their New Law overturned the traditional halakhic norms that distinguished and regulated relations between the sexes. This book traces the diverse manifestations of this vision in every phase of Sabbatianism and its offshoots. These include the early promotion of women to centre-stage as messianic prophetesses; their independent affiliation with the movement in their own right; their initiation in the esoteric teachings of the kabbalah; and their full incorporation, on a par with men, into the ritual and devotional life of the messianic community.
