Journal Article

The Female Body and the Male Gaze

Gondos, Andrea

2025

Overview

This paper explores the treatment of the female body with a particular focus on its (re)generative properties by critically examining Jewish handbooks of magic written primarily by ba’ale shem, or masters of the (divine) name. These manuscript compilations written in east central Europe between 1600 and 1800 in Hebrew and Yiddish, with occasional Slavic loanwords, integrate diverse genres: practical kabbalah, Jewish magic, medicine, and artisanal practices. Foregrounding the male gaze as a central pivot of analysis, the essay demonstrates that the female body represented a unique epistemological space for the ba’ale shem—a hidden axis mundi—where knowledge of reproduction, creation, and regeneration could be accessed and controlled. As gateways to the sacred or the demonic, parts of the female body (the womb, the breasts, and bodily fluids) demanded urgent attention to prevent illness, death, or physical defect. The essay also analyzes the dichotomous mythical construction of gender espoused by ba’ale shem that contrasted the sacred female figure of Eve/Shekhinah/Jewish woman with the demonic Lilith. The gaze of ba’ale shem and their expert use of apotropaic amulets aimed to enforce the sacrality of the Jewish woman’s body and her household, while at the same time forestalling the persistent demonic attacks of Lilith. Close reading of amulets, charms, and spells shows that the ba’ale shem’s preoccupation with women’s reproductive health aimed to reinforce the holiness and continuity of the Jewish community, which was ultimately dependent on the Jewish woman.

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Subject: Bible / Cookbooks / Females / Hopelessness / Human body / Kabbalah / Liminality / Males / Medicine / Patients / Treatment methods / Women