Embodied Theology in Jewish Tradition

Catalog description

TAUGHT BY GTU-CJS. Since antiquity, Christian theologians in particular have criticized Jews and Judaism for being excessively invested in the body, casting the tradition as carnal, corporeal, and even corpse-like. In some ways, the critique is indeed rooted in reality. There is hardly any trace of body-soul dualism in the Hebrew Bible, and classical Rabbinic formulations tended to resist against such distinctions. Generally speaking, Jewish tradition has prioritized practice over belief and actions over ideas. This course explores the theological dimensions of this carnality, asking what it means to grasp and express divinity through the body. We will engage in close readings of "embodied theologies," wherein somatic experiences catalyze theological insights or, even more radically, wherein theological meaning is fundamentally inseparable from bodily events. We will meditate especially on modern Jewish embodied theologies, such as in the writings of Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piaseczno, Martin Buber, and Judith Plaskow, as well as in contemporary movements of "earth-based" Judaism. This is an advanced course, but English translations will always be provided.