Description
CAMBRIDGE Kabbalah and Ecology Gods Image in the More-Than-Human World 2015 Edition by David Mevorach Seidenberg
Kabbalah and Ecology is a groundbreaking book that resets the conversation about ecology and the Abrahamic traditions. David Mevorach Seidenberg challenges the anthropocentric reading of the Torah, showing that a radically different orientation to the more-than-human world of nature is not only possible, but that such an orientation also leads to a more accurate interpretation of scripture, rabbinic texts, Maimonides and Kabbalah. Deeply grounded in traditional texts and fluent with the physical sciences, this book proposes not only a new understanding of God's image but also a new direction for restoring religion to its senses and to a more alive relationship with the more-than-human, both with nature and with divinity. Table of contents :- Acknowledgments; Notes on translation, transliteration, and bibliography; Overview of Kabbalah and Ecology; Introduction. Jewish ecological thought and the challenge for scriptural theology; Part I. Midrash: 1. Tselem Elohim (God's image) in Midrash and commentary, part 1: the angels and the heavens, the chain of Being, intellect and speech; 2. Tselem Elohim in Midrash and commentary, part 2: the body, gender, dominion, and ethics; 3. Tselem, dignity, and the 'infinite value' of the other; 4. The soul and the others: humans, animals and other subjectivities; 5. Ethics and the others: moral fellowship with animals and beyond animals; Intermediate conclusions: from Midrash to Kabbalah; Part II. Kabbalah: 6. Tselem Elohim in Kabbalah, part 1: the Sefirot, the soul and body, the hypostases, and the heavens; 7. Tselem Elohim in Kabbalah, part 2: the more-than-human world - holism and unifications, trees, birds, animals, and colors; 8. Of rocks, names, and codes: the letters of Creation; 9. Adam Qadmon: the universe as God's image; 10. Gaia, Adam Qadmon, and Maimonides; 11. Qomah: the stature of all beings; Intermediate conclusions: from Kabbalah to ecotheology; Part III. Ecotheology: 12. Nigun, Shirah, the singing of Creation, and the problem of language; 13. Further theological reflections; Conclusions: a new ethos, a new ethics; Excursus 1. Nefesh and related terms; Excursus 2. The prayer of P'ri 'Ets Hadar; Appendix. The Sefirot, the Tree of Life, and a brief history of Kabbalah; Bibliography of primary Jewish sources; General index; Index of scriptural verses; Index of scriptural sources.