Dr. Shifra Asulin
M.A. in Jewish History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (with distinction)
B.A. in Hebrew Literature and Jewish history, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (with distinction)
Dr. Shifra Asulin is a scholar of Jewish mysticism and philosophy. The recipient of a Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture research grant and a Goldstein Goren scholarship, she is co-founder of the Zohar Chai Pluralistic Beit Midrash, and of the “Elul” Beit Midrash for Educators in Jerusalem. Currently, she is at work on a book of mystical interpretations of Song of Songs according to the Zohar’s teachings, as well as the role of the feminine in Jewish mysticism. She also serves as lecturer in the Hebrew University and Achva Academic College.
Selected Publications
“R. Yosef Angelet and Torat Hashmitot: Between the Zohar and the Nachmanides Kabbala,” AJS Review 43:2 (November 2019), pp. 1-25.
"Between Greatness and Smallness: Cycles and Development in the Self-Consciousness and Messianic Consciousness of R. Chaim Vital in the Book of Visions," Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mysticism 36 (2017), pp. 31-77. (Hebrew)
"Dialogues on the Exile of the Shechina: The Zohar of Lamentations and the Dialogue with and within it", The Zoharic Story: Literature, Theosophy and Mysticism in the Zoharic Epic, eds. Yehuda Liebes, Melila Hellner Eshed, and Jonatan Benarroch (Yad Ben-Zvi, 2017), pp. 134-214. (Hebrew)
"The Vanishing Midrash of Genesis Between Hebrew and Aramaic," And this is for Yehuda: Studies Presented to our Friend, Professor Yehuda Liebes, on the occasion on his Sixty-Fifth Birthday, eds. Maren R. Niehoff, Ronit Meroz, and Jonathan Garb (Bialik Institute, 2012), pp. 222-254. (Hebrew)
“The Flaw and its Correction: Impurity, The Moon and the Shekhinah – A Broad Inquiry into Zohar 3:79 (Aharei Mot),” Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 22 (2010). (Hebrew)
“The Stature of the Shekhina: The Place of the Feminine Divine Countenance (Parzuf) in Idra Rabba and Idra zuta,” in: Spiritual Authority: Struggles over Cultural Power in Jewish Thought, eds. H. Kriesel, B. Huss, and U. Ehrlich (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2009), pp. 83-103. (Hebrew)
“The Double Structure of the Figure of the Shekhina in Rabi Moshe Cordovero's Ma'yan 'Ein Yaakov' and it's Background in the 'Idrot' Literature,” in: R. Moshe Cordovero’s Ma'yan 'Ein Yaacov',” Critical Edition by Bracha Sack (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2009), pp. 61-111. (Hebrew)
“Conversion and Hebraism in Seventeen-Century Europe: Scrutinizing the Character of Johan Kempper of Uppsala, or Moshe Son of Aharon of Krakow,” in: The Sabbatian Movement and its Aftermath: Messianism, Sabbatianism, and Frankism, ed. Rachel Elior (The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, 2001), vol. 2, pp. 423-470. (Hebrew)