SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Body language constitutes a prominent feature of Hekhalot Rabbati's presentation of the mystical experience. This article compares the ways in which three types of movement - sitting on a chair, standing up before a status-higher person, kneeling and prostration - are presented in Hekhalot Rabbati and in classical rabbinic texts. The main questions are: Who is said to have performed the respective movement in which context? How does Hekhalot Rabbati's representation compare with rab­binic references? What does the literary presentation reveal about the social and theological concerns of the composers of the text? While the tradents and editors seem to have been familiar with biblical and rabbinic literature, they use these texts in eclectic and innovative ways, transforming established religious hierarchies and the very notion of Jewish religious practice. Precedence is given to the visionary experience of the divine as a supplement to and advancement over rabbinic Tora knowledge and observance.