LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL FOLKLORE: THE STORY OF LILITH
LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL FOLKLORE: THE STORY OF LILITH

Summary/Abstract: Jewish religious thought evolved in constant oscillation between law and legend. Along the time, the rabbinic tradition often found itself at odds with mysticism, and particularly with the mythology which mysticism was trying to reinstate in religion. However, this border was never clear, because most mystics were in fact rabbis. This was how mythical figures found their way into the most devout religious practices. Religion thus became impregnated not only with moral values but also with legendary symbols and motifs. One of these motifs was Lilith. Very probably of Babylonian origin, this character emerged in mystical literature in the 8th century, although in oral tradition she must have already been two centuries old by then, and has made a fulminating career ever since. Crossing borders between states and religions, from Judaism to Christianity and Islam, and from mythology to religion, philosophy and ultimately literature and arts, Lilith has become the symbol and embodiment of the most varied, sometimes even opposite, conceptions. It is therefore the argument of this paper that not only religious values but also religious motifs and symbols shape human thinking and conduct, crossing the borders of religions, states and means of expression.

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