JDS 680SEM - Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism)

What is kabbalah? How does it work? Whose is it anyway? This course explores Jewish Mysticism from its earliest sources in the Torrah and the Talmud to its manifestations on the internet in the present. Focus on the developments of its symbols, where they came from, and how they signify. The role that bodies play- how much does it matter what its practitioners do, and how they do it? Also, gender categories, and how they organize thought and action in a kabbalistic cosmos. Finally considering the notion of authenticity. Who has a right to claim its symbols, its texts, its cosmological models, and its powers as their own? Students will become familiar with the core texts in kabbalah, they will have a good grasp of its cosmological models, knowledge of the range of ideas about how the texts work, and of the scholarly literature on these topics. Credits: 3