All Ascetism Texts

Jewish Mysticism
Zohar 2-89a; cf. 2-204b-205a

“For thus said the Lord- As far as the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who have chosen what I desire and they hold fast to My covenant, I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters, I will give them an everlasting name that shall not perish” (Isa. 56-4-5)- Who are the eunuchs? These are the comrades engaged in Torah. They castrate themselves the six days of the week and study Torah, and on the night of Sabbath they prepare themselves for intercourse, for they know the supernal secret concerning the time when the Matrona unites with the King. The comrades who know this secret direct their hearts to the Faith of their Master and they are blessed with the fruit of their loins on that night…. They are truly called eunuchs because they wait for the Sabbath, to discover the desire of their Master, as it is written, “who have chosen what I desire.” What is [the meaning of] “what I desire”? It is intercourse with the Matrona. “And they hold fast to My covenant,” it is all one. “My covenant,” without qualification. Praiseworthy is the portion of the one who is sanctified in this holiness and who knows this mystery.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “Eunuchs who Keep the Sabbath- Becoming Male and the Ascetic Ideal in Thirteenth Century Jewish Mysticism,” in Becoming Male in the Middle Ages, 151-185. Edited by J. J. Cohen and B. Wheeler. New York- Garland, 1997.

Zohar 3-49b

The sexual intercourse of [the Jewish] male is restricted to designated times so that he may direct his will to be conjoined to the Holy One, blessed be he. Thus they have taught- At midnight the Holy One, blessed be he, enters the Garden of Eden to take delight with the righteous, and the Community of Israel praises the Holy One, blessed be he, and this is the acceptable time to be conjoined to them. The comrades who are engaged in [study of] Torah join the Community of Israel in praising the holy King as they are occupied with the Torah. For the rest of the [Jewish] males this is the acceptable time to be sanctified in the sanctity of the Holy One, blessed be he, and to direct their intention to be conjoined to him. With respect to the comrades who are engaged in [study of] Torah, the time for their sexual intercourse is the time that another intercourse takes place, and this is on the eve of Sabbath.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “Eunuchs who Keep the Sabbath- Becoming Male and the Ascetic Ideal in Thirteenth Century Jewish Mysticism,” in Becoming Male in the Middle Ages, 151-185. Edited by J. J. Cohen and B. Wheeler. New York- Garland, 1997.

Ma‘arekhet ha-’Elohut, 120a.

Since intercourse is considered profane in relation to Adam after he had sinned, and it is performed through the sign of the holy covenant, it is appropriate not to engage in sexual intercourse except for the nights of Sabbath in order not to make from that which is holy something profane. On the eve of Sabbath he is in his potency and intercourse is then holy, for the days of the week, wherein the shells surround them below, are completed and finished on the day of Sabbath. This is the secret of [the tradition that] the time for scholars to fulfill their marital obligation is on the eve of Sabbath.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in, “Coronation of the Sabbath Bride- Kabbalistic Myth and the Ritual of Androgynisation,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997)- 301-344.

Sefer Hasidim, § 978

The essential strength of pietism is that, even though [people] insult him, he does not abandon his piety, and his intention is directed to God and he does not look at women whereas others apart from him do look. Thus he merits the abundant goodness that is hidden and his eyes will be satiated by the splendor of the Presence, ‘when your eyes behold a king in his beauty’ (Isa. 33-17), [that is] whoever does not look at women in their nakedness or at a virgin, as it says, ‘[I have covenanted with my eyes] not to gaze on a maiden’ (Job 31-1)….Every one whose [sexual] impulse does not derive pleasure from lewdness will merit to see the splendor of the Presence in the future.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “The Face of Jacob in the Moon- Mystical Transformations of an Aggadic Myth,” in The Seduction of Myth in Judaism- Challenge and Response, 235-270. Edited by S. Daniel Breslauer. Albany- State University of New York Press, 1997.

Eleazar of Worms, Sefer ha-Roqeah, § 20, p. 30

I should not restrain my spirit for the sake of my Creator for even a short while, and I should not take pleasure for even a short while in matters of adultery and impurity. I must accustom my eyes to [not] look at the face of a woman for she is fire….Everyone looks at the face of women, but he does not and this is the worship of the Creator in truth. One must avoid all physical pleasure with women, seeing them, touching them, sitting with them, seeing their lovely garments, hearing their voices in speech or song, speaking with them, whether married or single, with the exception of his wife.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “The Face of Jacob in the Moon- Mystical Transformations of an Aggadic Myth,” in The Seduction of Myth in Judaism- Challenge and Response, 235-270. Edited by S. Daniel Breslauer. Albany- State University of New York Press, 1997.

Sefer Hasidim, § 2, pp. 4-5

If the evil inclination overpowers you to transgress or to do [a sinful action], consider as if you were in the time of the religious persecution (bi-she‘at ha-shemad), you would have experienced suffering or death for the sake of the blessed holy One. “Therefore do maidens love you” (Song of Songs 1-3), to the point of death they love you. If they wanted to murder you or to torture you until death was chosen rather than life, you would have endured it. All the more so regarding this matter, which is not so great, and your desire overcomes you, but you receive a great reward, for it is better for a person to control his desire more than fulfilling one hundred commandments.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson, “Martyrdom, Eroticism and Asceticism in Twelfth Century Ashkenazi Piety,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, 171-220. Edited by J. van Engen and M. Signer, Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

Sefer Hasidim, § 815, p. 206

The yearning for children and wives, the jesting with friends, excursions, and the innovation of useless things cause one to neglect the words of Torah. Thus, [it is written] “with all your heart and all your soul” (Deut. 6-4) with respect to the love and worship [of God], so that one might abandon them on behalf of the blessed holy One. He should worship and love the blessed holy One, “in all your ways know him” (Prov. 3-6), “to love the Lord” (Deut. 11-13), for the soul is filled with love, and it is bound in joy, and that joy drives away from his heart the pleasures of the body and the delight of the world. That joy is so strong and augmented in his heart that even if a young man who has not had intercourse with his wife for many days, and he has a great desire, and when he ejaculates his semen like an arrow he has pleasure, this is nothing in comparison to the strength and the vigor of the joy of the love of the Lord. All the love of the joyance of the heart of the one who loves the Lord with all his heart and all of his thoughts are on how to execute the will of the Creator, to exonerate the masses, to fulfill the sanctification of the Lord, and to offer himself in the love of the Creator … and the love should be like Phinehas who offered himself for the sake of the Creator, and Abraham our father who feared the Lord, as it says, “I swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap” (Gen. 14-22-23), and Elisha who did not want to take from Naaman. That love prevents a person from abrogating the words of Torah on account of joking and toying around with his children, or on account of the love of seeing women and [engaging in idle] speech, and it also enables him to abandon excursions, and it causes him to sing sweet songs in order to fill his heart in the joy of the love of the Lord, and he toils and labors in the path that is the will of the Creator.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson, “Martyrdom, Eroticism and Asceticism in Twelfth Century Ashkenazi Piety,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, 171-220. Edited by J. van Engen and M. Signer, Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

Eleazar of Worms, Sefer ha-Roqeah (Jerusalem, 1967), pp. 5-6

The soul is full of love of God and it is bound with ropes of love in joy and the goodness of the heart. He is not like one who serves his master against his will; rather, even if there were those who tried to hinder him, the love burns within his heart to worship and he is glad to fulfill the will of his Creator. … He does not worship for the sake of his benefit or for his glory. He says- What am I? Despised and helpless, here today and tomorrow in the grave, beaten by transgression, I am filled with excrement, yet I have been chosen and I have been created to be a servant of the glorious king. … The lover thinks not about the pleasure of this world, and he is not concerned about the excursions of his wife, nor about his sons and daughters, and everything is as nothing for him apart from fulfilling the will of his Creator, to render others meritorious, to sanctify his name, and to give himself in the love of him as Abraham, “I swear [to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth], I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap” (Gen. 14-22-23), and as Phinehas who gave of himself when he killed Zimri (Num. 25-14). They do not elevate themselves, speak trivial words, look at the faces of women, and they listen to their reproach but do not respond, and all of their thoughts are with their Creator, and they sing sweet songs to their Creator, and all the designs of their thoughts burn from the fire of his love.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson, “Martyrdom, Eroticism and Asceticism in Twelfth Century Ashkenazi Piety,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, 171-220. Edited by J. van Engen and M. Signer, Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

 

Eleazar of Worms, Perushei Siddur ha-Tefillah la-Roqeah, p. 451

Whoever fears the word of the Lord is not anxious about the love of his wife or the delight of his children, but only with the darts of fire of the heavenly flame. … and every man who has the spirit of wisdom and understanding is not concerned with the pleasures of the world … and he does not speak of idle things.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson, “Martyrdom, Eroticism and Asceticism in Twelfth Century Ashkenazi Piety,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, 171-220. Edited by J. van Engen and M. Signer, Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

Eleazar of Worms, Sefer ha-Shem, MS London, British Museum 737, fol. 213a

The unique name is only revealed to one who has nullified the desire for women and to one whose heart is anxious.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson, “Martyrdom, Eroticism and Asceticism in Twelfth Century Ashkenazi Piety,” in Jews and Christians in Twelfth Century Europe, 171-220. Edited by J. van Engen and M. Signer, Notre Dame- University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.