From Separation to Displacement: The Problem of Women inSefer Hasidim

Abstract

A gender analysis of some of the representations of women inSefer Hasidimand related texts finds that the German-Jewish pietiests of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries express a profound ambivalence toward women. WhileSefer Hasidimplaces 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.