Wisdom of love : man, woman & God in Jewish Canonical literature / Naftali Rothenberg ; [translated by Shmuel Sermoneta-Gertel].

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-220) and index.

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English.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Introduction. Love in the Canonical Literature: Dealing with Cognitive Dissonance -- SECTION I. THE ANDROGYNE UNITY; SEPARATION; DESIRE AND UNITY -- 1. The Androgyne Myth According to Plato -- Chapter One. THE ANDROGYNE MYTH ACCORDING TO PLATO -- Chapter Two. MALE AND FEMALE UNITY, PRIMORDIAL SIN AND REBELLION AGAINST THE GODS -- Chapter Three. IN THE MIDRASH: ANDROGYNOUS ADAM -- Chapter Four. IN THE KABBALAH: AN ETERNAL/DIVINE, SPIRITUAL AND HUMAN ANDROGYNE -- Chapter Five. THE REBIRTH OF THE ANDROGYNE: JUDAH ABRAVANEL CITES PLATO AND MOSES -- Chapter Six. SUMMARY: THE POWER OF MYTHS -- SECTION II. A PROFILE OF THE SAGE OF LOVE -- Chapter One. INTRODUCTION: THE PHILOSOPHER AS SAGE OF LOVE -- Chapter Two. THE LOVE OF RACHEL -- Chapter Three. THE SAGE OF LOVE "RESCUES" THE SONG OF SONGS -- Chapter Four. PRACTICE AND THEORY IN THE WISDOM OF LOVE -- Chapter Five. THE SAGE AND TEMPTATION -- Chapter Six. LOVE THY FELLOW AS THE BASIS OF HUMAN SOCIALISATION -- Chapter Seven. OPTIMISM OUT OF LOVE -- Chapter Eight. ULTIMATE LOVE -- Chapter Nine. THE ORCHARD OF LOVE -- Chapter Ten. SUMMARY: THE UNIVERSAL SAGE -- SECTION III. THE SAGE OF UNCONSUMMATED LOVE: JUDAH ABRAVANEL'S DIALOGHI D'AMORE -- Chapter One. INTRODUCTION: PHILO AND SOPHIA -- Chapter Two. THE SAGE'S DESIRE -- Chapter Three. LOVE AS A UNIVERSAL PHENOMENON -- Chapter Four. THE PARADOX OF ABSTRACT PERCEPTION -- Chapter Five. LOVE AND BEAUTY -- Chapter Six. WHEN AND WHERE WAS LOVE BORN? -- Chapter Seven. UNCONSUMMATED LOVE -- SECTION IV. WRITTEN FOR MEN BY MEN: FEMINIST REVOLUTION AND INNOVATION IN THE CANONICAL SOURCES -- Chapter One. INTRODUCTION: IDENTIFYING REVOLUTIONARY AND INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN CULTURAL SOURCES -- Chapter Two. A MONOGAMOUS MESSAGE TO A POLYGAMOUS CULTURE -- Chapter Three. ONAH: THE OBLIGATION TO HAVE SEX FOR PLEASURE -- Chapter Four. THE LOVE RELATIONSHIP AS PERFECTION: THE END OF MALE EXCLUSIVITY -- Chapter Five. SUMMARY: INNOVATION AND THE NORM -- SECTION V. CONTRAST AND HARMONY IN MARRIED LIFE: ON SPIRITUALITY AND ABSTINENCE -- Chapter One. INTRODUCTION: THE DUALISTIC APPROACH -- Chapter Two. MARRIAGE AND INTELLECTUAL GROWTH: HELP OR HINDRANCE? -- Chapter Three. CATEGORICAL REJECTION: ABSTINENCE IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH! -- Chapter Four. THE DILEMMA OF ABSTINENCE FOR INDIVIDUALS ON A HIGH SPIRITUAL PLANE -- Chapter Five. MOSES' ABSTINENCE -- Chapter Six. ABSTINENCE: A PRECONDITION FOR LOVE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RABBI BAHYA IBN PAKUDA -- Chapter Seven. RABBI JUDAH HALEVI'S REJECTION OF ABSTINENCE -- Chapter Eight. SUMMARY: MAINTAINING BALANCE -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

The Wisdom of Love strives to challenge the discrepancy between the way source texts relate to love and the way they are perceived to do so, introducing readers to the extensive, profound, and significant treatment of love in the Jewish canon. This is a book about love, not its repression; it is an opportunity to study the wisdom of love, not those who lack such wisdom and are unlikely to ever acquire it. The Wisdom of Love brings about not only a change in perception--recognizing the existence of the wisdom of love per se--but also the realization that this wisdom is the very foundation of religious wisdom as a whole, rather than a peripheral branch of it. All love derives from a single source: love between man and woman. It is from this source that all other manifestations of love, such as love of God, love of wisdom, and love of one's fellow, draw their meaning.

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