A Kiss is Just a Kiss? Mystical Union, Personal Salvation and World Redemption through Kabbalistic Kissing - a talk by Professor Joel Hecker
In this talk, Professor Joel Hecker will discuss the diverse meanings ascribed to kissing in Jewish mystical literature. The Zohar, Judaism’s central and canonical mystical text, depicts kissing as the avenue through which an individual unites with God, angels, the Torah, and one’s fellow (same- or other-sex). There is a reciprocal transfer that occurs in human kissing that leaves two individuals forever changed, infused with holiness and bliss.