Creativity And Sexuality: A Kabbalistic PerspectiveJudaism openly recognizes, as an integral part of human nature, the enigmatic relationship between yetzer, or physical desire, and yetzirah, or spiritual creativity. Creativity and Sexuality, written as a fictional dialogue, clearly delineates the psychic interdependence of these two drives, as well as the integration of the concepts as they are defined by both Jewish mysticism and modern psychology. Mordechai Rotenberg is interested in the impact of religion on the psychology of everyday life. He was prompted to write Creativity and Sexuality by the popularity of writings that explore Jewish texts on the subject of sexuality from a historical or literary point of view, but that do not hesitate to include psychological evaluations based on popular secondary psychological concepts. This work seeks to provide an accurate psychological analysis of sexuality and spirituality from a Jewish mystical perspective. As such, it both reconstructs the interdisciplinary bridge between Judaism and psychology and deconstructs some exegetical traditions. The goal is to present new paradigmatic options, which may help modern society struggle more efficiently with its sexuality. Ultimately, the author sees physical desire and spiritual creativity as a regulative continuum. People learn how to spend the tremendous power of energy that the sexual yetzer produces not only on physical sex, but on the spiritual yetzirah. In an introduction written especially for this new edition, the author explains the continuing relevance of Creativity and Sexuality, and the ongoing relationship between sexual desire and a healthy spiritual self-fulfillment. This volume will be of interest to students of Judaism, psychology, mysticism, and sexuality. |
From inside the book
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... meaning of hermeneutic , narrative , and behavioral patterns described in these texts in terms of their possible “ is ” and " ought " impact on everyday life . Nonetheless , I learned that unfortunately this effort is largely uni ...
... meaning of a documented experience with the tools and literature at our disposal today . The danger of relying exclusively on the described " ought " behavior may be illuminated by calling the reader's attention to Mendel Piekarz's ...
... meaning of such experiences as devekut . He states that our " common denominator is the attempt to make ' creative ' experien- tial use of hasidic leaders by twisting their contents and quite frequently , out of ignorance [ we ] distort ...
... meaning of people's efforts to attain physical or spiritual ecstasy may we understand the possible " is " in such behaviors described in the literature under the rubric of the aspiration to reach the spiritual state of devekut , or the ...
... meaning of living experiences . Another goal of this study is to deconstruct some hermeneutic tra- ditions so that new paradigmatic options may help modern Westerners to struggle more efficiently with the sexual dilemma in the AIDS ...
Contents
Creation and Procreation | 1 |
Contraction and Emanation as Reading and Writing | 21 |
The Yetzer and Romantic Imagination | 49 |
Manic Disorder versus Creative Ecstasy | 62 |
Romantic Flirting versus Sexual Harassment | 79 |
Harassing the Flirter | 89 |
Ecstatic Prophecy and Imagination | 105 |
The YetzerYetzira Genre and the Musar Movement | 121 |
The Theory of Vaginal Envy | 139 |
The Yetzer in the Sociopsychological Therapy Room | 157 |
Bibliography | 171 |
Kierkegaards Seduction Style 86 | 179 |