Die Schechina

The “Shekhina” is often identified as the female side of God, especially in kabbalistic (con)texts. It follows that the figure has a remarkably broad reception history, which the article presents chronologically based on a central discussion: In the kabbalistic texts themselves and in the research literature, much energy is devoted to clarifying how central the role of this feminine aspect is to the constitution of the Divine. In this context, the classical characterization as a “passive feminine element in the divinity” (Gershom Scholem) can be effortlessly joined by texts that instead suggest an “active” role. However, already Scholem himself wrestled with the seemingly heretical potential of a female figuration of God as an active part of His dynamic essence. Before the forum of the Eranos circle, coined by C. G. Jung, Scholem attempted to understand this problem comparatistically; he compared the Shekhinah with Gnostic and Hindu constructions of divine femininity. But with this he formulated the old debate only in interreligious categories of the 20th century.