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Shevet Musar and Psychology
Jewish Discipline for the Early Modern Soul Studies in Musar Series, Volume 3
Series: - Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Volume: 84/3
- Studies in Musar, Volume: 84/3
Author:
A best-selling manual in the Jewish tradition of spiritual instruction, Shevet musar (Istanbul, 1712) by Elijah ha-Kohen Itamari, confronts the contemporary reader with surprisingly modern psychological subtleness, as it tackles the matters of the soul by means of emotional manipulation, somatic grounding, and mindfulness of the mutual relations connecting humans to God and creation. In the first dedicated monographic study, Shevet musar is situated within the long-durée history of psychology, providing a non-Western, premodern contribution to the âdiscourse on and for the soul.â Through a close reading of key excerpts, the book explores how the text engages the reader by constructing a sense of selfhood (psychopoiesis), while steering behaviours and states of mind through emotional conditioning (psychagogy). A theoretical framework encompassing historical scholarship, psychology, and psychoanalysis, along with cultural and philosophical studies, reveals and illuminates the cosmos of an eighteenth-century Ottoman rabbi preoccupied with the wellness of Jewish souls.
Ilaria Briata, Ph.D. (1986), is a post-doctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Jewish Studies of the University of Hamburg. Her research specializes in Jewish ethics, Sephardic literature, and the history of emotions, with a particular interest for Jewish horror.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Musar and Psychology
1 Psychopoiesis
â1âSoul-Making and the Psychosomatic Shaping of Self
â2âAddressing Adam
â3âContrasting Identities
â4âThe Workings of the Soul
â5âFurther Workings of the Soul
â6âCorporeal Hardware and Organic Agency
â7âChannels of Holiness: Heart and Phallus
â8âEngine of the Meat Machine: Yetser
â9âPsychology of Sin
2 Psychagogy
â1âSoul-Guidance and the Emotion Machine
â2âThe Spectrum of Feeling
â3âDistress
â4âDisgust
â5âShame
â6âAnger
â7âEmotions in the Religious Ecosystem
â8âSpecial Feelings for Special People
â9âCollective Consciousness as National Uniqueness
3 Psychodynamics of Horror
â1âTransformative Powers of Fear
â2âAnatomy of Horror: Theorizing Fear
â3âPracticing Fear: A Gallery of Horrors
â4âDying
â5âRotting
â6âHell
â7âFrom Trauma to Hauntology
Conclusion: Disciplines of the Soul
Coda: (Biblioâ)Therapy for the Soul
References
Index
Introduction: Musar and Psychology
1 Psychopoiesis
â1âSoul-Making and the Psychosomatic Shaping of Self
â2âAddressing Adam
â3âContrasting Identities
â4âThe Workings of the Soul
â5âFurther Workings of the Soul
â6âCorporeal Hardware and Organic Agency
â7âChannels of Holiness: Heart and Phallus
â8âEngine of the Meat Machine: Yetser
â9âPsychology of Sin
2 Psychagogy
â1âSoul-Guidance and the Emotion Machine
â2âThe Spectrum of Feeling
â3âDistress
â4âDisgust
â5âShame
â6âAnger
â7âEmotions in the Religious Ecosystem
â8âSpecial Feelings for Special People
â9âCollective Consciousness as National Uniqueness
3 Psychodynamics of Horror
â1âTransformative Powers of Fear
â2âAnatomy of Horror: Theorizing Fear
â3âPracticing Fear: A Gallery of Horrors
â4âDying
â5âRotting
â6âHell
â7âFrom Trauma to Hauntology
Conclusion: Disciplines of the Soul
Coda: (Biblioâ)Therapy for the Soul
References
Index
The book is suitable for academic institutes and libraries specializing in Jewish studies, as well as intellectual history of the early modern period and psychology of religion.