While the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, seeks to de-eroticize the life of God, Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah as it is traditionally known, seeks to restore eros to the life of God, he continued. Also, the sense of mystery has a great attraction to people. Eroticism and Jewish mysticism was the topic of Wolfson's discussion Friday. At the heart of traditional Kabbalah is an erotic, spiritual relationship with God, as written about in Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, in the Hebrew Bible, Wolfson said.
Many religions have mystic aspects that emphasize relationships between god and humans.
The New Testament portrayed Paul's mysticism as he sought unification with Christ. Today, ecstatic Christianity sometimes takes an evangelical form. Modern Jewish mysticism is very different than its original form, dating back to 12th-century Spain, Wolfson said. For hundreds of years, only Jewish elites were allowed to study Kabbalah and only then after years of training. Today, it is entirely different, Wolfson said.