Eros Exiled into the Sexual: Marc Gafni

Exiled Into the Sexual

Now let’s go back to our lost ark and its cherubs situated in the inner sanctum of the Temple. The ark in particular and the Temple in general are the mythic symbols of the Shechina, that is, of the erotic experience. That is precisely what the mystery texts mean when they say the Shechina dwells between the cherubs atop the ark. The fall of the Temple is thus not a mere historical event. In myth, the fall of the Temple is the fall of eros. This experience is called by the Kabbalistic masters the exile of the Shechina.
Now open your hearts and minds to hear the next sentence. The exile of the Shechina means no less than the exile of the erotic.

But where did it go? To where was eros exiled? The answer is that the exile of the Shechina is the exile of the erotic into the sexual. That is to say, when the only place we access the core qualities of eros is in the sexual, then eros, or the Shechina, is in exile. When the only time I feel like I am on the inside is in great sex, then the Shechina is in exile. When intense desire is a feeling I touch only before exploding in orgasm, then my life is poor indeed. The Shechina is exiled. Eros has fallen.

marc gafni
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