Bodies of the Zohar : Kabbalistic Views on the Human Body

Abstract: Through the Zohar, the major medieval kabbalistic work, the human body is used in order to symbolise the divine structure. Present throughout are also dire warnings against the dangers of the flesh – a sense of anxiety often surrounds matters of the body. This study examines how the central notion of the body as created in God’s image relates to the negative zoharic characterizations of the body and further, how notions of gender and Jewish religious affiliation are reflected in the zoharic views of the body. The results show that characterizations of the body can work to reinforce boundaries and define the own group. The female body is valued differently than the male, the Jewish differently than the non-Jewish body. The idealized human body belongs to the circumcised Jewish male who adheres to proper religious behaviour. The aim of this thesis is to enrich our understanding of the human body as depicted in the major kabbalistic tradition of the Zohar.