The Erotic Content of the Song of Songs

The Erotic Content of the Song of Songs

9am - 9:45am

We will explore the inner erotic traditions exemplified in the Song of Songs, with examples from elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible and the contemporary cultures of the period. From the Second Temple period, Rabbinic Judaism has expressed stern disapproval of an erotic reading of the Song of Songs. In this session, facilitated by AJU's Rabbi Pinchas Giller, we will return to the inner logic of the work, arguing that it has a plot and a simple meaning, with lessons to be learned from that way of reading.

Rabbi Pinchas Giller was ordained at Yeshiva University and received his doctorate at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. Rabbi Giller has written four books on Kabbalah and the Zohar. He is Professor of Jewish Thought and chairman of the Jewish Studies department of the American Jewish University, Los Angeles