Judaism

The emotions are an important feature of Jewish life and thought throughout the ages. From biblical descriptions of a God of pathos to early rabbinic and medieval works detailing the virtues, to mystical tracts focused on the inner life, and occasionally portraying emotion filled religious experiences of the adept, there have always been Jewish representations of the affective dimensions of life. In addition, the many ways Jews have actually participated in prayer and in the celebration of holidays, and in the construction of material objects and spaces in which such activities took place, also give evidence of emotional texture of the lives of Jews. John Corrigan's concluding observations in his introduction to Religion and Emotion: Approaches and Interpretations, in which he sets forth a model for future scholarship in this field, provide a standard against which to assess present investigations into Judaism and the emotions. Others who have produced methodologically astute scholarship adding significantly to the understanding of aspects of Jewish thought on the emotions are Michael Fishbane, Daniel Boyarin, and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson.