Divine gender transformations in Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav

In several passages in the tales and teachings of Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav, the divine undergoes a process of gender transformation. “The holy one blessed be he”, becomes female, and the Shekhinah temporarily takes on a male persona. Characterizations of Hasidic thought as androcentric generally apply to R’ Nahman. There is an accepted hierarchy and polarization of gender which informs much of his oeuvre. This article argues, however, that in these particular passages R’ Nahman disrupts this hierarchy. Whereas Kabbalah and Hasidism normally view the feminine as an outer “garment” for the divine masculine, in these passages the devotee discovers the hidden inwardness of God, which turns out to be feminine. This radical imagery is nourishing for followers of R’ Nahman’s controversial brand of Hasidism. In particular, it provides a theological justification for their unexpectedly intimate encounters with the divine, as they engage in the meditative practice of personal, solitary prayer according to R’ Nahman’s directives

„From Przytyk to Rymanów”: The Body and the Contemporary World in the Tales by Polish Jews

Ateret Menahem, first published in 1910, is a Hebrew book written by a Polish Jew, Abraham Michelson of Zgierz. It is a collection of stories in praise of a Hasidic Jewish holy man from Poland, Menahem Mendl of Rymanüw. This article begins and concludes with a disturbing image from Ateret Menahem, which encapsulates the tension around modernity and the body expressed by this and other collections of Hasidic tales. The article first argues that Ateret Menahem should be seen as a Polish book, though it is not written in the Polish language, and as a work of literature worthy of attentive reading. Then, looking at the themes of Hasidic tales more generally, the author draws a connection between modernity and the body, which was not spelled out in the author's 2009 monograph on this topic, Imagining Holiness. Finally, several selections from Ateret Menahem, expressing tension around the body and modernity in a Polish Hasidic context, are presented, and close readings of these passages are offered

Women's Voices, Men's Laws: The Halakhic Process and Three Women's Accounts of Rape

In cases of rape, one might expect the rabbis to punish the transgressors, even if they could not be convicted under the stringent Talmudic rules of evidence. However, in the responsa on three late 18th century women the issue of punishment does not arise. Moreover, the halakhic process, in these cases, has proven capable only of solving problems of its own creation and incapable of listening to women or answering their calls for help

Carmen Caballero-Navas. The Book of Women's Love and Jewish Medieval Medical Literature on Women: Sefer Ahavat Nashim. London, New York, Bahrain: Kegan Paul, 2004.

В ВКР установлена тесная связь между умением выстроить диалогическое взаимодействие и уровнем профессионального становления. Работа имеет практическую значимость