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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... sexuality , the following question has often been raised : If the etymological fact that physical sexuality ( yetzer ) and spiritual creativity ( yetzira ) , which are derived from the same root , was used by the Jewish ethical ...
... sexual and spiritual energies . In other words , it is claimed that Judaism presents a broadened functional model of energy in which physical and spiritual sexuality nourish each other . Examining this yetzer - yetzira channeling system ...
... sexual paradigm in which physical and spiritual desires may be chan- neled to nourish each other , Creativity and Sexuality will be intriguing for the modern reader . Mordechai Rotenberg Jerusalem January 2005 Preface If sexuality ...
A Kabbalistic Perspective. Preface If sexuality constitutes the epitomizing core and heart of human psy- chology , my immersion into scrutinizing the dialogic relationship be- tween yetzer ( physical desire ) and yetzira ( spiritual ...
... 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 sexual passion associated with the ...
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 |