From Separation to Displacement: The Problem of Women in Sefer Hasidim

A gender analysis of some of the representations of women in Sefer Hasidim and related texts finds that the German-Jewish pietiests of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries express a profound ambivalence toward women. While Sefer Hasidim places great importance on happy marital relations, its authors...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Baskin, Judith Reesa 1950- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Pennsylvania Press 1994
In: AJS review
Year: 1994, Volume: 19, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-18
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Summary:A gender analysis of some of the representations of women in Sefer Hasidim and related texts finds that the German-Jewish pietiests of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries express a profound ambivalence toward women. While Sefer Hasidim places great importance on happy marital relations, its authors also see potential adulteries at every turn. Moreover, in their mystical yearning to transcend the physical pleasures of the material world, they go beyond rabbinic norms in their displacement of women in favor of devotion to the divine. This essay suggests that situating this ambivalence, and the frequent objectification of women which results from it, within the larger context of medieval social history can expand and enhance our knowledge of Jewish social norms, family life, and spirituality in medieval Ashkenaz.
ISSN:1475-4541
Contains:Enthalten in: Association for Jewish Studies, AJS review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400005341