The Transcendent Beloved

Abstract This study takes the reader on a journey that traces the course of Platonic and Neoplatonic concepts of Eros as they shaped major patterns in medieval Islamic and Jewish thought. It shows the impact of the ancient Greek heritage on Arabic and Hebrew sources, culminating in their profound expression in the Zohar, the major work of Jewish mysticism, which emerged at the end of the thirteenth century. Since philosophical concepts played a central role in the formulation of kabbalistic traditions, this study positions the rise of medieval Jewish mysticism in the context of medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy, which are viewed here as a continuum. The study thus sets the notions of love in Jewish mysticism against the background of the vast literature on love in Arabic, which can be viewed as their immediate historical precedent. The rich dialogue to be found between various religious traditions affords a more sensitive decoding of the metaphysics that underlie Jewish mystical literature.